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REPORT OF

THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION

ON THE ASSASSINATION OF

PRESIDENT KENNEDY
John Fitzgerald Kennedy

35th President of the United States May 29, 1917-November 22, 1963
REPORT OF

THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON THE

ASSASSINATION OF

President John F. Kennedy

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON, D.C.

t ^^:l. f

. OL ^
169234

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

OCT 5 1S64

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1964

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 20402 Price $2,50 Paper Covers; $3.25 Cloth Bound
PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION

ON THE

ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY

Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chairman

Senator Richard B. Russell Representative Gerald R. Ford

Senator John Sherman Cooper Mr. Allen W. Dulles

Representative Hale Boggs Mr. John J. McCloy

J. Lee Rankin, General Counsel

Assistant Counsel

Francis W. H. Adams Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Joseph A. Ball Wesley J. Liebeler

David W. Belin Norman Redlich

William T. Coleman, Jr. W. David Slawson

Melvin Aron Eisenberg Arlen Specter

Burt W. Griffin Samuel A. Stern

Leon D, Hubert, Jr. Howard P. Wh-lens*

Staff Members

Phillip Barson

Edward A. Conroy

John Hart Ely

Alfred Goldberg

Murray J. Laulicht

Arthur Marmor

Richard M. Mosk

John J. O'Brien

Stuart Pollak

Alfredda Scobey

Charles N. Shaffer, Jr. Lloyd L. Weinreb

*Mr. Willens also acted as liaison between the Commission and the Department of

Justice.

EAia WARREN,

CiMirnwtl RICHARD B. RUSSELL JOHN SHERMAN COOPER

HALE BOCGS GERALD R. FORD

JOHN J. McCLOY ALUN W. DULLES

President's Commission ON THE

Assassination op President Kennedy

200 Maryland Ave. N^.

Warfiington. D.C. 20002 Telephone 543-1400 September 2h, I96U

J. lee RANKIN.

Ctntf*\ Catnul

The President

The White Hoxxse Washington, D. C. Dear ^fe*. President: Your Cosmission to investigate the assassination

of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963^ having completed

its assignment in accordance vith Executive Order No. III30

of Noveinber 29, 1963* herewith submits its final report.

Respectfully,

)hn J. McCloy •"

Foreword

President Lyndon B. Johnson, by Executive Order No. 11130 dated

November 29, 1963,^ created this Commission to investigate the

assassination on November 22, 1963, of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the

35th President of the United States. The President directed the

Commission to evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding

the assassination and the subsequent killing of the alleged assassin

and to report its findings and conclusions to him.^

The subject of the Commission's inquiry was a chain of events which saddened and shocked the people of the United States and of

the world. The assassination of President Kennedy and the simultaneous wounding of John B. Connally, Jr., Governor of Texas, had

been followed within an hour by the slaying of Patrolman J. D. Tippit

of the Dallas Police Department. In the United States and abroad,

these events evoked universal demands for an explanation.

Immediately after the assassination. State and local officials in

Dallas devoted their resources to the apprehension of the assassin.

The U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for the protection of the

President, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation began an investigation at the direction of President Johnson. Within 35 minutes of the

killing of Patrolman Tippit, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested by

the Dallas police as a suspect in that crime. Based on evidence provided by Federal, State, and local agencies, the State of Texas

arraigned Oswald within 12 hours of his arrest, charging him with

the assassination of President Kennedy and the murder of Patrolman

Tippit. On November 24, 1963, less than 48 hours after his arrest,

Oswald was fatally shot in the basement of the Dallas Police Department by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner. This shooting took

place in full view of a national television audience.

The events of these 2 days were witnessed with shock and disbelief

by a Nation grieving the loss of its young leader. Throughout the

world, reports on these events were disseminated in massive detail. Theories and speculations mounted regarding the assassination. In

many instances, the intense public demand for facts was met by partial

and frequently conflicting reports from Dallas and elsewhere. After

Oswald's arrest and his denial of all guilt, public attention focused

both on the extent of the evidence against him and the possibility of a conspiracy, domestic or foreign. His subsequent death

heightened public interest and stimulated additional suspicions and

rumors.

ix
THE COMMISSION AND ITS POWERS

After Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby, it was no

longer possible to arrive at the complete story of the assassination

through normal judicial procedures during a trial of the alleged

assassin. Alternative means for instituting a complete investigation were widely discussed. Federal and State officials con- ferred on the possibility of initiating a court of inquiry before a State

magistrate in Texas. An investigation by the grand jury of Dallas

County also was considered. As speculation about the existence of a foreign or domestic conspiracy became widespread, committees in both

Houses of Congress weighed the desirability of congressional hearings

to discover all the facts relating to the assassination.

By his order of November 29 establishing the Commission, President Johnson sought to avoid parallel investigations and to concentrate factfinding in a body having the broadest national mandate.

As Chairman of the Commission, President Johnson selected Earl

Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, former Governor and at- torney general of the State of California. From the U.S. Senate, he

chose Richard B. Russell, Democratic Senator from Georgia and

chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, former Governor

of, and county attorney in, the State of Georgia, and John Sherman

Cooper, Republican Senator from Kentucky, former county and cir- cuit judge, State of Kentucky, and U.S. Ambassador to India. Two

members of the Commission were drawn from the U.S. House of Representatives : Hale Boggs, Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana and majority whip, and Gerald R. Ford, Republican, U.S.

Representative from Michigan and chairman of the House Republican

Conference. From private life. President Johnson selected two

lawyers by profession, both of whom have served in the administrations of Democratic and Republican Presidents: Allen W. Dulles,

former Director of Central Intelligence, and John J. McCloy, former

President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, former U.S. High Commissioner for Germany, and during

World War II, the Assistant Secretary of War.

From its first meeting on December 5, 1963, the Commission viewed

the Executive order as an miequivocal Presidential mandate to conduct

a thorough and independent investigation. Because of the numerous

rumors and theories, the Commission concluded that the public interest

in insuring that the truth was ascertained could not be met by merely

accepting the reports or the analyses of Federal or State agencies. Not

only were the premises and conclusions of those reports critically re- assessed, but all assertions or rumors relating to a possible conspiracy, or the complicity of others than Oswald, which have come to the at- tention of the Commission, were investigated.

On December 13, 1963, Congress enacted Senate Joint Resolution

137 (Public Law 88-202) ^ empowering the Commission to issue subpoenas requiring the testimony of witnesses and the production of evi- dence relating to any matter under its mvestigation. In addition, the
resolution authorized the Commission to compel testimony from wit- nesses claiming the privilege against self-incrimination under the fifth amendment to the U.S. Constitution by providing for the grant of

immunity to persons testifying under such compulsion. Immunity

under these provisions was not granted to any witness during the

Commission's investigation.

The Commission took steps immediately to obtain the necessary

staff to fulfill its assignment. J. Lee Kankin, former Solicitor General of the United States, was sworn in as general counsel for the

Commission on December 16, 1963. Additional members of the legal

staff were selected during the next few weeks. The Commission has

been aided by 14 assistant counsel with high professional qualifications,

selected by it from widely separated parts of the United States. This

staff undertook the work of the Commission with a wealth of legal

and investigative experience and a total dedication to the determination of the truth. The Commission has been assisted also by highly

qualified personnel from several Federal agencies, assigned to the

Commission at its request. This group included lawyers from

the Department of Justice, agents of the Internal Revenue Service, a senior historian from the Department of Defense, an editor from

the Department of State, and secretarial and administrative staff supplied by the General Services Administration and other agencies.

In addition to the assistance afforded by Federal agencies, the Commission throughout its inquiry had the cooperation of representatives

of the city of Dallas and the State of Texas. The attorney general of

Texas, Waggoner Carr, aided by two distinguished lawyers of that

State, Robert G. Storey of Dallas, retired dean of the Southern

Methodist University Law School and former president of the American Bar Association, and Leon Jaworski of Houston, former president of the Texas State Bar Association, has been fully informed at

all times as to the progress of the investigation, and has advanced

such suggestions as he and his special assistants considered helpful to the accomplishment of the Commission's assignment. Attorney General Carr has promptly supplied the Commission with pertinent information possessed by Texas officials. Dallas officials, particularly those

from the police department, have fully complied with all requests

made by the Commission.

THE INVESTIGATION

During December and early January the Commission received an

increasing volume of reports from Federal and State investigative

agencies. Of principal importance was the five-volume report of

the Federal Bureau of Investigation, submitted on December 9, 1963,

which summarized the results of the investigation conducted by the

Bureau immediately after the assassination. After reviewing this

report, the Commission requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation

to furnish the underlying investigative materials relied upon in the

xi
summary report. The first investigative reports submitted in re- sponse to this request were delivered to the Commission on December 20, 1963. On December 18, the Secret Service submitted a detailed

report on security precautions taken before President Kennedy's trip to Texas and a summary of the events of November 22, as witnessed

by Secret Service agents. A few days later the Department of State

submitted a report relating to Oswald's defection to the Soviet Union

in 1959, and his return to the United States in 1962. On January 7

and 11, 1964, the attorney general of Texas submitted an extensive

set of investigative materials, largely Dallas police reports, on the

assassination of President Kennedy and the killing of Oswald.

As these investigative reports were received, the staff began analyzing and summarizing them. The members of the legal staff, divided

into teams, proceeded to organize the facts revealed by these investigations, determine the issues, sort out the unresolved problems, and

recommend additional investigation by the Commission. Simultaneously, to insure'that no relevant information would be overlooked,

the Commission directed requests to the 10 major departments of the

Federal Government, 14 of its independent agencies or commissions,

and 4 congressional committees for all information relating to the

assassination or the background and activities of Lee Harvey Oswald

and Jack Euby.

After reviewing the accumulating materials, the Commission di- rected numerous additional requests to Federal and State investigative agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret

Service executed the detailed requests for statements of witnesses

and examinations of physical evidence with dispatch and thoroughness. All these reports were reviewed and analyzed by the Commission. Additional investigative requests, where appropriate, were

handled by Internal Revenue Service, Department of State, and the

military intelligence agencies with comparable skill. Investigative

analyses of particular significance and sensitivity in the foreign areas were contributed by the Central Intelligence Agency. On occasion

the Commission used independent experts from State and city governments to supplement or verify information. During the investigation

the Commission on several occasions visited the scene of the assassination and other places in the Dallas area pertinent to the inquiry.

The scope and detail of the investigative effort by the Federal and

State agencies are suggested in part by statistics from the Federal

Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service. Immediately after

the assassination more than 80 additional FBI personnel were trans- ferred to the Dallas office on a temporary basis to assist in the investigation. Beginning November 22, 1963, the Federal Bureau of

Investigation conducted approximately 25,000 interviews and reinterviews of persons having information of possible relevance to the in- vestigation and by September 11, 1964, submitted over 2,300 reports

totaling approximately 25,400 pages to the Commission. During the same period the Secret Service conducted approximately 1,550 interviews and submitted 800 reports totaling some 4,600 pages. xn
Because of the diligence, cooperation, and facilities of Federal in- vestigative agencies, it was unnecessary for the Commission to employ

investigators other than the members of the Commission's legal staff. The Commission recognized, however, that special measures were re- quired whenever the facts or rumors called for an appraisal of the acts of the agencies themselves. The staff reviewed in detail the actions of

several Federal agencies, particularly the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the

Department of State. Initially the Commission requested the agencies

to furnish all their reports relating to the assassination and their rela- tionships with Oswald or Ruby. On the basis of these reports, the

Commission submitted specific questions to the agency involved.

Members of the staff followed up the answers by reviewing the relevant

files of each agency for additional information. In some instances,

members of the Commission also reviewed the files in person. Finally,

the responsible officials of these agencies were called to testify under

oath. Dean Rusk, Secretary of State; C. Douglas Dillon, Secretary

of the Treasury ; Jolm A. McCone, Director of the Central Intelligence

Agency; J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ; and James J. Rowley, Chief of the Secret Service, appeared

as witnesses and testified fully regarding their agencies' participation

in the matters under scrutiny by the Commission.

COMMISSION HEARINGS

In addition to the information resulting from these investigations,

the Commission has relied primarily on the facts disclosed by the sworn testimony of the principal witnesses to the assassination and

related events. Beginning on February 3, 1964, the Commission and

its staff has taken the testimony of 552 witnesses. Of this number,

94 appeared before members of the Commission ; 395 were questioned

by members of the Commission's legal staff; 61 supplied sworn affi- davits; and 2 gave statements.* Under Commission procedures, all witnesses were advised that they had the right to the presence and the

advice of their lawyer during the interrogation, with the corollary

rights to raise objections to any questions asked, to make any clarifying

statement on the record after the interrogation, and to purchase a copy

of their testimony.^

Commission hearings were closed to the public unless the witness

appearing before the Commission requested an open hearing. Under

these procedures, testimony of one witness was taken in a public hearing on two occasions. No other witness requested a public hearing.

The Commission concluded that the premature publication by it of

testimony regarding the assassination or the subsequent killing of

Oswald might interfere with Ruby's rights to a fair and impartial

trial on the charges filed against him by the State of Texas. The

Commission also recognized that testimony would be presented before

it which would be inadmissible in judicial proceedings and might

xiii
prejudice innocent parties if made public out of context. In addition

to the witnesses who appeared before the Commission, numerous

others provided sworn depositions, affidavits, and statements upon

which the Commission has relied. Since this testimony, as well as that taken before the Commission, could not always be taken in logical sequence, the Commission concluded that partial publication of testi- mony as the investigation progressed was impractical and could be

misleading.

THE COMMISSION'S FUNCTION

The Commission's most difficult assignments have been to uncover

all the facts concerning the assassination of President Kennedy and

to determine if it was in any way directed or encouraged by unknown

persons at home or abroad. In this process, its objective has been to identify the person or persons responsible for both the assassination

of President Kemiedy and the killing of Oswald through an examination of the evidence. The task has demanded miceasing appraisal of

the evidence by the individual members of the Commission in their

effort to discover the whole truth.

The procedures followed by the Commission in developing and

assessing evidence necessarily differed from those of a court conducting

a criminal trial of a defendant present before it, since under our system there is no pro^dsion for a posthumous trial. If Oswald had

lived he could have had a trial by American standards of justice where

he would have been able to exercise his full rights mider the law.

A judge and jury would have presumed him innocent until proven

guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He might have furnished information which could have affected the course of liis trial. He could

have participated in and guided his defense. There could have been an examination to determine whether he was sane under prevailing

legal standards. All witnesses, including possibly the defendant,

could have been subjected to searchmg examination under the adversary system of American trials. The Commission has functioned neither as a court presiding over an adversary proceeding nor as a prosecutor determined to prove a

case, but as a factfinding agency committed to the ascertainment of

the truth. In the course of the investigation of the facts and rumors

surrounding these matters, it was necessary to explore hearsay and

other sources of information not admissible in a court proceeding

obtained from persons who saw or heard and others in a position to observe what occurred. In fairness to the alleged assassin and his

family, the Commission on February 25, 1964, requested Walter E.

Craig, president of the American Bar Association, to participate in

the investigation and to advise the Commission whether in his opinion

the proceedings conformed to the basic principles of American justice.

Mr. Craig accepted this assignment and participated fully and without limitation. He attended Commission hearings in person or through his appointed assistants. All working papers, reports, and

xiv
other data in Commission files were made available, and Mr. Craig

and his associates were given the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, to recall any witness heard prior to his appointment, and to suggest witnesses whose testimony they would like to have the Commission hear. This procedure wa« agreeable to counsel for Oswald's

widow.

THE COMMISSION'S REPORT

In this report the Commission submits the results of its investigation. Each member of the Commission has given careful consideration to the entire report and concurs in its findings and conclusions.

The report consists of an initial chapter summarizing the Commission's basic findings and conclusions, followed by a detailed analysis

of the facts and the issues raised by the events of November 22, 1963,

and the 2 following days. Individual chapters consider the trip to Dallas, the shots from the Texas School Book Depository, the identity

of the assassin, the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald, the possibility of a conspiracy, Oswald's background and possible motive, and arrangements for the protection of the President. In these chapters, rather

than rely on cross references, the Commission on occasion has repeated

certain testimony in order that the reader might have the necessary

information before him while examining the conclusions of the Commission on each important issue. With this report the Commission is submitting the complete testi- mony of all the witnesses who appeared before the Commission or gave sworn depositions or affidavits, the accompanying documentary

exhibits, and other investigative materials which are relied upon

in this report. The Commission is committing all of its reports and

working papers to the National Archives, where they can be permanently preserved under the rules and regulations of the National

Archives and applicable Federal law.

XV

Contents

Page

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL vii FOREWORD ix Chapter I. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 1 Narrative of Events 1 Conclusions 18

Recommendations 25

Chapter II. THE ASSASSINATION 28

Planning the Texas Trip ' 28

Advance Preparations for the Dallas Trip 29

Preventive Intelligence Activities 29

The Lmicheon Site 30

The Motorcade Route 31

Dallas Before the Visit 40

Visits to Other Texas Cities 42

Arrival at Love Field 42

Organization of the Motorcade 43

The Drive Through Dallas ..." 46

The Assassination 48

The Time 48

Speed of the Limousine 49

In the Presidential Limousine 49

Reaction by Secret Service Agents 50

Parkland Memorial Hospital 52

The Race to the Hospital 52

Treatment of President Kennedy 53

Treatment of Governor Connally 56

Vice President Johnson at Parkland 56

Secret Service Emergency Security Arrangements ... 57

Removal of the President's Body 58

The End of the Trip 59

Swearing in of the New President 59

Retiu-n to Washington, D.C 59

The Autopsy 59

Chapter III. THE SHOTS FROM THE TEXAS SCHOOL

BOOK DEPOSITORY 61

The Witnesses 61

Near the Depository 63

On the Fifth Floor 68

At the Triple Underpass 71

The Presidential Automobile 76

xvii

730-900 0-64—

2
Chapter III. THE SHOTS FROM THE TEXAS SCHOOL

BOOK DEPOSITOEY—Continued Page

Expert Examination of Rifle, Cartridge Cases, and Bullet

Fragments 79

Discovery of Cartridge Cases and Rifle 79

Discovery of Bullet at Parkland Hospital 79

Description of Rifle 81

Expert Testimony 84

The Bullet Wounds 85

The President's Head Wounds 86

The President's Neck Wounds 87

The Governor's Wounds 92

The Trajectory 96

Films and Tests 96

The First Bullet That Hit 97

The Subsequent Bullet That Hit 109

Number of Shots 110

The Shot That Missed Ill

The First Shot Ill

The Second Shot 115

The Third Shot 115

Time Span of Shots 117

Conclusion 117

Chapter IV. THE ASSASSIN 118

Ownership and Possession of Assassination Weapon 118

Purchase of Rifle by Oswald 118

Oswald's Palmprint on Rifle Barrel 122

Fibers on Rifle 124

Photograph of Oswald With Rifle 125

Rifle Among Oswald's Possessions . 128

Conclusion 129

The Rifle in the Building 129

The Curtain Rod Story 129

The Missing Rifle 130

The Long and Bulky Package 131

Location of Bag 134

Scientific Evidence Linking Rifle and Oswald to Paper Bag 135

Conclusion 137

Oswald at Window 137

Palmprints and Fingerprints on Cartons and Paper

Bag 140

Oswald's Presence on Sixth Floor Approximately

35 Minutes Before the Assassination 143

Eyewitness Identification of Assassin 143

Oswald's Actions in Building After Assassination .... 149

Conclusion 156

xviii
Chapter IV. THE ASSASSIN—Continued Page

The Killing of Patrolman J. D. Tippit 156

Oswald's Movements After Leaving Depository

BuHding 157

Description of Shooting 165

Eyewitnesses 166

Murder Weapon 171

Ownership of Revolver 172

Oswald's Jacket 175

Conclusion 176

Oswald's Arrest 176

Statements of Oswald During Detention 180

Denial of Rifle Ownership' 180

The Revolver 181

The Aliases ^'HideU" and '^O. H. Lee" 181

The Curtain Rod Story 182

Actions During and After Shooting 182

Prior Attempt To KiU 183

The Attempt on the Life of Maj. Gen. Edwin A.

Walker 183

Richard M. Nixon Incident 187

Oswald's Rifle Capability 189

The Nature of the Shots 189

Oswald's Marine Training 191

Oswald's Rifle Practice Outside the Marines 192

Accuracy of Weapon 193

Conclusion 195

Conclusion 195

Chapter V. DETENTION AND DEATH OF OSWALD ... 196

Treatment of Oswald in Custody 196

Chronology 198

Interrogation Sessions 199

Oswald's Legal Rights 200

Activity of Newsmen 201

On the Thhd Floor 201

Oswald and the Press 206

The Abortive Transfer 208

Possible Assistance to Jack Ruby in Entering the Basement 216

Adequacy of Security Precautions 225

News Coverage and Police Policy 231

Responsibility of News Media 240

Chapter VL INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE CONSPIRACY 243

Circumstances Surrounding the Assassination 245

Selection of Motorcade Route 245

Oswald's Presence in the Depository Building 246

Bringing Rifle Into Building 247

xix
Chapter YI. INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE CONSPIRACY—Continued

Circumstances Surrounding the Assassination—Con. Page

Accomplices at the Scene of the Assassination 248

Oswald's Escape 252

Background of Lee Harvey Oswald 254

Residence in the Soviet Union 254

Associations in the DaUas-Fort Worth Community . . 280

Political Activities Upon Retiu'n to the United States

287

Contacts With the Cuban and Soviet Embassies in

Mexico City and the Soviet Embassy in Washington,

D.C 299

Investigation of Other Activities 312

Oswald Was Not an Agent for the U.S. Government

325

Oswald's Finances 328

Possible Conspiracy Involving Jack Ruby 333

Ruby's Activities From November 21 to November

24, 1963 333

Ruby and Oswald Were Not Acquainted 359

Ruby's Background and Associations 365

Conclusion 374

Chaptee VII. LEE HARVEY OSWALD: BACKGROUND

AND POSSIBLE MOTIVES 375

The Early Years 377

New York City 378

Return to New Orleans and Joining the Marine Corps . . . 383

Interest in Marxism 388

Defection to the Soviet Union 390

Return to the United States 394

Personal Relations 400

Employment 402

Attack on General Walker 404

Political Activities 406

Interest in Cuba 412

Possible Influence of Anti-Kennedy Sentiment in Dallas.

415

Relationship With Wife 416

The Unanswered Questions 421

Conclusion 423

Chapter VIII. THE PROTECTION OF THE PRESIDENT. 425

The Nature of the Protective Assignment 426

Evaluation of Presidential Protection at the Time of the

Assassination of President Kennedy 428

Intelligence Functions Relating to Presidential Protection at the Time of the Dallas Trip 429

Liaison. With Other Government Agencies 444

Other Protective Measures and Aspects of Secret

Service Performance 444

XX
Chapter VIII. THE PEOTECTION OF THE PRESIDENT—Continued Page

Recommendations 454

Assassination a Federal Crime 454

Committee of Cabinet Officers 456

Responsibilities for Presidential Protection 457

General Supervision of the Secret Service 460

Preventive Intelligence 461

Liaison With Local Law Enforcement Agencies 465

Inspection of Buildings 466

Secret Service Personnel and Facilities 466

Manpower and Technical Assistance From Other

Agencies 467

Conclusion 468

Appendix I. EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 11130 471

Appendix IL WHITE HOUSE RELEASE 472

Appendix III. SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 137 473

Appendix IV. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 475

Members of Commission 475

General Counsel 476

Assistant Counsel 476

Staff Members 477

Acknowledgments 481

Appendix V. LIST OF WITNESSES 483

Appendix VI. COMMISSION PROCEDURES FOR THE

TAKING OF TESTIMONY 501

Resolution Governing Questioning of Witnesses by Members of the Commission Staff 501

Appendix VIL A BRIEF HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL

PROTECTION 504

Before the Civil War 504

Lincoln 505

The Need for Protection Further Demonstrated 507

Development of Presidential Protection 510

Appendix VIIL MEDICAL REPORTS FROM DOCTORS

AT PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, DALLAS,

TEX 516

Appendix IX. AUTOPSY REPORT AND SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT 538

xxi
Page

Appendix X. EXPERT TESTIMONY 547

Firearms and Firearms Identification 547

General Principles 547

The Rifle 553

Rifle Cartridge and Cartridge Cases 555

The Rifle Bullets 557

The Revolver 558

Revolver Cartridges and Cartridge Cases 559

Revolver Bullets 559

The Struggle for the Revolver 560

The Paraffin Test 560

The Walker Bullet 562

Fingerprints and Palmprints 563

General Principles 563

Objects in the Texas School Book Depository Building 556

Questioned Documents 566

The Mail Order for the C2766 Rifle, the Related Envelope, and the Money Order 569

Mail Order for the V510210 Revolver 570

Post Office Box Applications and Change-of-Address

Card 570

The Spurious Selective Service System Notice of Classification and U.S. Marine Corps Certificate

of Service 571

The Hidell Notice of Classification 571

The Hidell Certificate of Service 576

The Vaccination Certificate 577

The Fair Play for Cuba Committee Card 578

The Unsigned Russian-Language Note 578

The Homemade Wrapping Paper Bag 579

Wound Ballistics Experiments 580

Purpose of the Tests 580

The Testers and Their Qualifications 580

General Testing Conditions 581

Tests on Penetration Power and BuUet Stability. ... 581

Tests Simulating President Kennedy's Neck Wound

582

Tests Simulating Governor Connally's Chest Wounds. 582

Tests Simulating Governor Connally's Wrist Wounds

583

Conclusions From Simulating the Neck, Chest, and

Wrist Wounds 584

Tests Simulating President Kennedy's Head Wounds

585

Hairs and Fibers 586

General Principles 588

Photographs 592

Appendix XL REPORTS RELATING TO THE INTERROGATION OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD AT THE

DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT 598

xxii
Page

Appendix XII. SPECULATIONS AND RUMORS 637

The Source of the Shots 639

The Assassin 642

Oswald's Movements Between 12:33 and 1:15 p.m 648

Murder of Tippit 650

Oswald After His Arrest 654

Oswald in the Soviet Union 655

Oswald's Trip to Mexico City 658

Oswald and U.S. Govermnent Agencies 659

Conspiratorial Relationships 661

Other Rumors and Speculations 664

Appendix XIII. BIOGRAPHY OF LEE HARVEY

OSWALD 669

Early Years , . 669

Marines 681

Soviet Union 689

Fort Worth, Dallas, New Orleans 713

Mexico City 730

Dallas 737

Appendix XIV. ANALYSIS OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD'S

FINANCES FROM JUNE 13, 1962, THROUGH NOVEMBER 22, 1963 741

Appendix XV. TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN LEE HARVEY OSWALD AND MARINA OSWALD, AND THE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE OF THE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 746

Issuance of Passport in 1959 746

Oswald's Attempts To Renounce His U.S. Citizenship 747

Return and Renewal of Oswald's 1959 Passport 752

Negotiations Between Oswald and the Embassy 752

Legal Justification for the Return and Reissue of

Oswald's Passport 759

Authorization for Marina Oswald To Enter the United

States 761

Negotiations Between Oswald and the Embassy 761

Legal Justification for the Decisions Affecting Marina

Oswald 766

Oswald's Letter to Senator Tower 769

The Loan From the State Department 770

Oswald's Return to the United States and Repayment of His Loan 773

Issuance of a Passport in June 1963 773

Visit to the Russian Embassy in Mexico City 777

Conclusion 777

xxiii
Page

Appendix XVI. A BIOGRAPHY OF JACK RUBY 779

Family Background 779

Childhood and Youth (1911-33) 780

Psychiatric Report 781

Placement in Foster Homes 782

Subsequent Home Life 783

Education 784

Activities 784

Temperament 785

Young Manhood (1933-43) 786

San Francisco (1933-37) 786

Occupations and Activities 786

Chicago (1937-43) 787

Military Activities (1943-46) 790

Postwar Chicago (1946-47) 791

Dallas (1947-63) 792

The Move to Dallas 792

The Change of Name 793

Nightclub Operations 794

Employee Relationships 796

Financial Data and Tax Problems 797

Other Business Ventures 799

Arrests and Violations 800

Police Associations 800

Underworld Ties 801

Travels 801

Character and Interests 802

Family Relationships 802

Social Relationships 803

Affection for Dogs 804

Religious Interests 804

Physical Activities and Violence 804

Generosity to Friends and the Need for Recognition

806

Appendix XVII. POLYGRAPH EXAMINATION OF JACK

RUBY 807

Preliminary Arrangements 807

Administration of the Test 809

Interpretation of the Test 813

Appendix XVIII. FOOTNOTES 817

INDEX 880

XXIV
CHAPTER I

Summary and Conclusions

THE ASSASSINATION of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was a cruel and shocking act of violence

directed against a man, a family, a nation, and against all mankind. A young and vigorous leader whose years of public and

private life stretched before him was the victim of the fourth Presidential assassination in the history of a country dedicated to the concepts of reasoned argument and peaceful political change. This

Commission was created on November 29, 1963, in recognition of the

right of people everywhere to full and truthful knowledge concerning

these events. This report endeavors to fulfill that right and to appraise this tragedy by the light of reason and the standard of fair- ness. It has been prepared with a deep awareness of the Commission's

responsibility to present to the American people an objective report

of the facts relating to the assassination.

NARRATIVE OF EVENTS

At 11 :40 a.m., c.s.t., on Friday, November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy, and their party arrived at Love Field, Dallas,

Tex. Behind them was the first day of a Texas trip planned 5 months

before by the President, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and

John B. Connally, Jr., Governor of Texas. After leaving the White

House on Thursday morning, the President had flown initially to San

Antonio where Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson joined the party

and the President dedicated new research facilities at the U.S. Air

Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Following a testimonial dinner

in Houston for U.S. Representative Albert Thomas, the President flew

to Fort Worth where he spent the night and spoke at a large breakfast

gathering on Friday.

Planned for later that day were a motorcade through downtown

Dallas, a Imicheon speech at the Trade Mart, and a flight to Austin

where the President would attend a reception and speak at a Democratic fundraising dinner. From Austin he would proceed to the

Texas ranch of the Vice President. Evident on this trip were the
varied roles which an American President performs—Head of State,

Chief Executive, party leader, and, in this instance, prospective candidate for reelection.

The Dallas motorcade, it was hoped, would evoke a demonstration

of the President's personal popularity in a city which he had lost in

the 1960 election. Once it had been decided that the trip to Texas

would span 2 days, those responsible for plamiing, primarily Governor

Connally and Kenneth O'Donnell, a special assistant to the President, agreed that a motorcade through Dallas would be desirable.

The Secret Service was told on November 8 that 45 minutes had been

allotted to a motorcade procession from Love Field to the site of a luncheon planned by Dallas business and ci\dc leaders in honor of the

President. After considering the facilities and security problems of

several buildings, the Trade Mart was chosen as the luncheon site. Given this selection, and in accordance with the customary practice

of affording the greatest number of people an opportunity to see the

President, the motorcade route selected was a natural one. The route was approved by the local host committee and \Yhite House representatives on November 18 and publicized in the local papers starting on November 19. This advance publicity made it clear that the motorcade would leave Main Street and pass the intersection of Elm and

Houston Streets as it proceeded to the Trade Mart by way of the

Stemmons Freeway.

By midmorning of November 22, clearing skies in Dallas dispelled

the threat of rain and the President greeted the crowds from his open

limousine without the "bubbletop," which was at that time a plastic

shield furnishing protection only against inclement weather. To the

left of the President in the rear seat was Mrs. Kennedy. In the

jump seats were Governor Connally, who was in front of the President,

and Mrs. Connally at the Governor's left. Agent William K. Greer

of the Secret Service was driving, and Agent Koy H. Kellerman was

sitting to his right.

Directly behind the Presidential limousine was an open "followup"

car with eight Secret Service agents, two in the front seat, two in the

rear, and two on each running board. These agents, in accordance with

normal Secret Service procedures, were instructed to scan the crowds,

the roofs, and windows of buildings, overpasses, and crossings for signs

of trouble. Behind the "followup" car was the Vice-Presidential car carrying the Vice President and Mrs. Johnson and Senator Kalph W.

Yarborough. Next were a Vice-Presidential "followup" car and sev- eral cars and buses for additional dignitaries, press representatives,

and others.

The motorcade left Love Field shortly after 11 :50 a.m., and proceeded through residential neighborhoods, stopping twice at the

President's request to greet well-wishers among the friendly crowds.

Each time the President's car halted, Secret Ser^dce agents from the

"followup" car moved forward to assume a protective stance near the

President and Mrs. Kennedy. As the motorcade reached Main Street, a principal east-west artery in downtown Dallas, the welcome became
tumultuous. At the extreme west end of Main Street the motorcade

turned right on Houston Street and proceeded north for one block in

order to make a left turn on Elm Street, the most direct and convenient

approach to the Stemmons Freeway and the Trade Mart. As the

President's car approached the intersection of Houston and Elm

Streets, there loomed directly ahead on the intersection's northwest cor- ner a seven-story, orange brick warehouse and office building, the Texas

School Book Depository. Eiding in the Vice President's car. Agent

Eufus W. Youngblood of the Secret Service noticed that the clock atop

the building indicated 12:30 p.m., the scheduled arrival time at the

Trade Mart.

The President's car which had been going north made a sharp turn

toward the southwest onto Elm Street. At a speed of about 11 miles

per hour, it started down the gradual descent toward a railroad over- pass under which the motorcade would proceed before reaching the

Stemmons Freeway. The front of the Texas School Book Depository was now on the President's right, and he waved to the crowd as- sembled there as he passed the building. Dealey Plaza—an open,

landscaped area marking the western end of downtown Dallas

stretched out to the President's left. A Secret Service agent riding

in the motorcade radioed the Trade Mart that the President would

arrive in 5 minutes.

Seconds later shots resounded in rapid succession. The President's

hands moved to his rieck. He appeared to stiffen momentarily and

lurch slightly forward in his seat. A bullet had entered the base

of the back of his neck slightly to the right of the spine. It trav- eled downward and exited from the front of the neck, causing a nick in the left lower portion of the knot in the President's necktie.

Before the shooting started. Governor Connally had been facing

toward the crowd on the right. He started to turn toward the left and suddenly felt a blow on his back. The Governor had been hit

by a bullet which entered at the extreme right side of his back at a point below his right armpit. The bullet traveled through his chest

in a downward and forward direction, exited below his right nipple,

passed through his right wrist which had been in his lap, and then

caused a wound to his left thigh. The force of the bullet's impact

appeared to spin the Governor to his right, and Mrs. Connally pulled

him down into her lap. Another bullet then struck President Kennedy

in the rear portion of his head, causing a massive and fatal wound.

The President fell to the left into Mrs. Kennedy's lap.

Secret Service Agent Clinton J. Hill, riding on the left running

board of the "followup" car, heard a noise which sounded like a fire- cracker and saw the President suddenly lean forward and to the left. Hill jumped off the car and raced toward the President's limousine.

In the front seat of the Vice-Presidential car. Agent Youngblood

heard an explosion and noticed unusual movements in the crowd.

He vaulted into the rear seat and sat on the Vice President in order

to protect him. At the same time Agent Kellerman in the front seat of the Presidential limousine turned to observe the President. See-3
ing that the President was struck, Kellerman instructed the driver, "Let's get out of here ; we are hit." He radioed ahead to the lead car, "Get us to the hospital immediately." Agent Greer immediately ac- celerated the Presidential car. As it gained speed, Agent Hill managed to pull himself onto the back of the car where Mrs. Kennedy had

climbed. Hill pushed her back into the rear seat and shielded the

stricken President and Mrs. Kennedy as the President's car proceeded

at high speed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, 4 miles away.

At Parkland, the President was immediately treated by a team of

physicians who had been alerted for the President's arrival by the

Dallas Police Department as the result of a radio message from the

motorcade after the shooting. The doctors noted irregular breathing

movements and a possible heartbeat, although they could not detect a

pulsebeat. They observed the extensive wound in the President's

head and a small wound approximately one-fourth inch in diameter in

the lower third of his neck. In an effort to facilitate breathing, the

physicians performed a tracheotomy by enlarging the throat wound

and inserting a tube. Totally absorbed in the immediate task of trying to preserve the President's life, the attending doctors never turned

the President over for an examination of his back. At 1 p.m., after all heart activity ceased and the Last Rites were administered by a priest,

President Kennedy Avas pronounced dead. Governor Connally underwent surgery and ultimately recovered from his serious wounds.

Upon learning of the President's death. Vice President Johnson left Parkland Hospital under close guard and proceeded to the Presidential plane at Love Field. Mrs. Kennedy, accompanying her husband's

body, boarded, the plane shortly thereafter. At 2:38 p.m., in the

central compartment of the plane, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 86th President of the United States by Federal District Court

Judge Sarah T. Hughes. The plane left immediately for Washington,

D.C, arriving at Andrews AFB, Md., at 5 :58 p.m., e.s.t. The President's body was taken to the National Naval ^Medical Center, Bethesda,

Md., where it was given a complete pathological examination. The

autopsy disclosed the large head wound observed at Parkland and the

wound in the front of tlie neck which had been enlarged by the Parkland doctors when they performed the tracheotoni}'. Both of these

wounds were described in the autopsy report as being "presumably of

exit." In addition the autopsy revealed a small wound of entry in

tlie rear of the President's skull and another wound of entry near the

base of the back of the neck. The autopsy report stated the cause of

death as "Gunshot wound, head,*' and the bullets which struck the

President were described as having been fired "from a point behind

and somewhat above the level of the deceased."

At the scene of the shooting, there was evident confusion at the outset concerning the point of origin of the shots. Witnesses differed in

their accounts of the direction from which the sound of the shots emanated. Within a few minutes, however, attention centered on the

Texas School Book Depository Building as the source of the shots. The building was occupied by a private corporation, the Texas School
Book Depository Co'., which distributed school textbooks of several

publishers and leased space to representatives of the publishers. Most

of the employees in the buildin<r worked for these publishers. The

balance, including a 15-man warehousing crew, were employees of the

Texas School Book Depository Co. itself. Several e^^ewitnesses in front of the building reported that they saw

a rifle being fired from the southeast corner window on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. One eyewitness, Howard L.

Brennan, had been watching the parade from a point on Elm Street

directly opposite and facing the building. He promptly told a policeman that he had seen a slender man, about 5 feet 10 inches, in his

early thirties, take deliberate aim from the sixth-floor comer window

and fire a rifle in the direction of the President's car. Brennan thought

he might be able to identify the man since he had noticed him in the

window a few minutes before the motorcade made the turn onto Elm

Street. At 12 :34 p.m., the Dallas police radio mentioned the Depository Building as a possible source of the shots, and at 12 :45 p.m., the

police radio broadcast a description of the suspected assassin based

primarily on Brennan's observations.

^AHien the shots were fired, a Dallas motorcycle patrolman, Marrion

L. Baker, was riding in the motorcade at a point several cars behind

the President. He had turned right from Main Street onto Houston

Street and was about 200 feet south of Elm Street when he heard a

shot. Baker, having recently returned from a week of deer hunting, was certain the shot came from a high-powered rifle. He looked up

and saw pigeons scattering in the air from their perches on the Texas

School Book Depository Building. He raced his motorcycle to the

building, dismounted, scanned the area to the west and pushed his way

through the spectators toward the entrance. There he encountered

Roy Truly, the building superintendent, who offered Baker his

help. They entered the building, and ran toward the two elevators in

the rear. Finding that both elevators were on an upper floor, they

dashed up the stairs. Not more than 2 minutes had elapsed since the

shooting.

'\^nien they reached the second-floor landing on their way up to the top of the building. Patrolman Baker thought he caught a glimpse

of someone through the small glass window in the door separating the

hall area near the stairs from the small vestibule leading into the

lunchroom. Gun in hand, he rushed to the door and saw a man about

20 feet away walking toward the other end of the lunchroom. The

man was emptyhanded. At Baker's command, the man turned and

approached him. Truly, who had started up the stairs to the third

floor ahead of Baker, returned to see what had delayed the patrolman.

Baker asked Truly whether he knew the man in the lunchroom.

Truly replied that the man worked in the building, whereupon Baker

turned from the man and proceeded, with Truly, up the stairs. The

man they encountered had started working in the Texas School Book

Depositoiy Building on October 16, 1963. His fellow workers de-
scribed him as very quiet—a "loner." His name was Lee Harvey

Oswald.

Within about 1 minute after his encounter with Baker and Truly,

Oswald was seen passing through the second-floor offices. In his hand

was a full "Coke" bottle which he had purchased from a vending machine in the lunchroom. He was walking toward the front of the

building where a passenger elevator and a short flight of stairs provided access to the main entrance of the building on the first floor. Approximately 7 minutes later, at about 12 -AO p.m., Oswald boarded a bus at a point on Elm Street seven short blocks east of the Depository

Building. The bus was traveling west toward the very building from

which Oswald had come. Its route lay through the Oak Cliff section

in southwest Dallas, where it would pass seven blocks east of the roominghouse in which Oswald was living, at 1026 North Beckley Avenue.

On the bus was Mrs. Mary Bledsoe, one of Oswald's former landladies

who immediately recognized him. Oswald stayed on the bus approximately 3 or 4 minutes, during which time it proceeded only two blocks

because of the traffic jam created by the motorcade and the assassination. Oswald then left the bus.

A few minutes later he entered a vacant taxi four blocks away and

asked the driver to take him to a point on North Beckley Avenue

several blocks beyond his roominghouse. The trip required 5 or 6

minutes. At about 1 p.m. Oswald arrived at the roominghouse. The

housekeeper, Mrs. Earlene Roberts, was surprised to see Oswald at midday and remarked to him that he seemed to be in quite a hurry. He

made no reply. A few minutes later Oswald emerged from his room

zipping up his jacket and rushed out of the house.

Approximately 14 minutes later, and just 45 minutes after the

assassination, another violent shooting occurred in Dallas. The victim was Patrolman J. D. Tippit of the Dallas police, an officer with a good record during his more than 11 years with the police force. He was shot near the intersection of 10th Street and Patton Avenue,

about nine-tenths of a mile from Oswald's roominghouse. At the time

of the assassination, Tippit was alone in his patrol car, the routine

practice for most police patrol cars at this time of day. He

had been ordered by radio at 12:45 p.m. to proceed to the central

Oak Cliff area as part of a concentration of patrol car activity around

the center of the city following the assassination. At 12 :54 Tippit

radioed that he had moved as directed and would be available for

any emergency. By this time the police radio had broadcast several

messages alerting the police to the suspect described by Brennan at the scene of the assassination—a slender white male, about 30 years

old, 5 feet 10 inches and weighing about 165 pounds.

At approximately 1 :15 p.m., Tippit was driving slowly in an easterly

direction on East 10th Street in Oak Cliff. About 100 feet past the

intersection of 10th Street and Patton Avenue, Tippit pulled up alongside a man walking in the same direction. The man met the general

description of the suspect wanted in connection with the assassination.

He walked over to Tippit's car, rested his arms on the door on the right6
hand side of the car, and apparently exchanged words Avith Tippit

through the window. Tippit opened the door on the left side and

started to walk around the front of his car. As he reached the front

wheel on the driver's side, the man on the sidewalk drew a revolver and

fired several shots in rapid succession, hitting Tippit four times and

killing him instantly. x\n automobile repairman, Domingo Benavides,

heard the shots and stopped his pickup truck on the opposite side of the

street about 25 feet in front of Tippit's car. He observed the gunman

start back toward Patton Avenue, removing the empty cartridge cases from the gun as he went. Benavides rushed to Tippit's side. The patrolman, apparently dead, was lying on his revolver, which was out of

its holster. Benavides promptly reported the shooting to police head-

(luarters over the radio in Tippit's car. The message was received

shortly after 1 :16 p.m.

As the gunman left the scene, he walked hurriedly back toward Patton Avenue and turned left, heading south. Standing on the northwest corner of 10th Street and Patton Avenue was Helen Markham,

who had been walking south on Patton Avenue and had seen both the

killer and Tippit cross the intersection in front of her as she waited on

the curb for traffic to pass. She witnessed the shooting and then saw

the man with a gun in his hand Avalk back toward the corner and cut

across the lawn of the corner house as he started south on Patton

.Vvenue. In the comer house itself, Mrs. Barbara Jeanette Davis and her sis- ter-in-law, Mrs. Virginia Davis, heard the shots and rushed to the

door in time to see the man walk rapidly across the lawn shaking a revolver as if he were emptying it of cartridge cases. Later that day

each woman found a cartridge case near the house. As the gunman

turned the corner he passed alongside a taxicab which was parked on

Patton Avenue, a few feet from 10th Street. The driver, William W.

Scoggins, had seen the slaying and was now crouched behind his cab on the street side. As the gunman cut through the shrubbery on the

lawn, Scoggins looked up and saw the man approximately 12 feet

away. In his hand was a pistol and he muttered words which sounded

to Scoggins like "poor dumb cop" or "poor damn cop."

After passing Scoggins, the gunman crossed to the west side of Patton Avenue and ran south toward Jefferson Boulevard, a main Oak

Cliff thoroughfare. On the east side of Patton, between 10th Street and Jefferson Boulevard, Ted Callaway, a used car salesman, heard

the shots and ran to the sidewalk. As the man with the gun rushed

past, Callaway shouted "What's going on?" The man merely

shrugged, ran on to Jefferson Boulevard and turned right. On the next

corner was a gas station with a parking lot in the rear. The assailant ran into the lot, discarded his jacket and then continued his flight west on Jefferson.

In a shoe store a few blocks farther west on Jefferson, the manager,

Johnny Calvin Brewer, heard the siren of a police car moments after

the radio in his store announced the shooting of the police officer in Oak

Cliff. Brewer saw a man step quickly into the entranceway of the
store and stand there with his back toward the street. When the police car made a U-turn and headed back in the direction of the Tippit

shooting, the man left and Brewer followed him. He saw the man

enter the Texas Theatre, a motion picture house about 60 feet away,

without buying a ticket. Brewer pointed this out to the cashier, Mrs.

Julia Pastal, who called the police. The time was shortly after

1 :40 p.m.

At 1 :29 p.m., the police radio had noted the similarity in the descriptions of the suspects in the Tippit shooting and the assassination. At

1 :45 p.m., in response to Mrs. Postal's call, the police radio sounded the

alarm: "Have information a suspect just went in the Texas Theatre on West Jefferson.'' Within minutes the theater was surrounded.

The house lights were then turned up. Patrolman M. N. McDonald

and several other policemen approached the man, who had been

pointed out to them by Brewer.

McDonald ordered the man to his feet and heard him say, "Well,

it^s all over now." The man drew a gun from his waist with one hand and struck the officer with the other. McDonald struck out with his right hand and grabbed the gun with his left hand. After

a brief struggle McDonald and several other police officers disarmed

and handcuffed the suspect and drove him to police headquarters,

arriving at approximately 2 p.m.

Following the assassination, police cars had rushed to the Texas

School Book Depository in response to the many radio messages re- porting that the shots had been fired from the Depository Building,

Inspector J. Herbert Sawyer of the Dallas Police Department arrived

at the scene shortly after hearing the first of these police radio messages at 12:34 p.m. Some of the officers who had been assigned to the area of Elm and Houston Streets for the motorcade were talking

to witnesses and watching the building when Sawyer arrived. Sawyer

entered the building and rode a passenger elevator to the fourth floor,

which was the top floor for this elevator. He conducted a quick

search, returned to the main floor and, between approximately 12 :37 and 12 :40 p.m., ordered that no one be permitted to leave the building.

Shortly before 1 p.m. Capt. J. Will Fritz, chief of the homicide

and robbery bureau of the Dallas Police Department, arrived to take

charge of the investigation. Searching the sixth floor. Deputy Sheriff

Luke Mooney noticed a pile of cartons in the southeast comer. He

squeezed through the boxes and realized immediately that he had

discovered the point from which the shots had been fired. On the floor were three empty cartridge cases. A carton had apparently been

placed on the floor at the side of the window so that a person sitting on

the carton could look down Elm Street toward the overpass and

scarcely be noticed from the outside. Between this carton and the

half-open window were three additional cartons arranged at such an

angle that a rifle resting on the top carton would be aimed directly at the motorcade as it moved away from the building. The high stack

of boxes, which first attracted Mooney's attention, effectively screened

a person at the window from the view of anyone else on the floor.
Mooney's discovery intensified the search for additional evidence on the sixth floor, and at 1 :22 p.m., approximately 10 minutes after

the cartridge cases were found. Deputy Sheriff Eugene Boone turned

his flashlight in the direction of two rows of boxes in the northwest

corner near the staircase. Stuffed between the two rows was a bolt- action rifle with a telescopic sight. The rifle was not touched until

it could be photographed. When Lt. J. C. Day of the police identification bureau decided that the wooden stock and the metal knob

at the end of the bolt contained no prints, he held the rifle by the

stock while Captain Fritz ejected a live shell by operating the bolt. Lieutenant Day promptly noted that stamped on the rifle itself was

the serial number "C2766" as well as the markings "1940" "MADE

ITALY" and "CAL. 6.5." The rifle was about 40 inches long and when

disassembled it could fit into a handmade paper sack which, after the

assassination, was found in the southeast comer of the building within

a few feet of the cartridge cases. As Fritz and Day were completing their examination of this rifle on the sixth floor, Roy Truly, the building superintendent, approached

with information which he felt should be brought to the attention of

the police. Earlier, while the police were questioning the employees,

Truly had observed that Lee Harvey Oswald, 1 of the 15 men who

worked in the warehouse, was missing. After Truly provided Oswald's

name, address, and general description, Fritz left for police headquarters. He arrived at headquarters shortly after 2 p.m. and asked two detectives to pick up the employee who was missing from the Texas

School Book Depository. Standing nearby were the police officers who

had just arrived with the man arrested in the Texas Theatre. When

Fritz mentioned the name of the missing employee, he learned that the

man was already in the interrogation room. The missing School Book

Depository employee and the suspect who had been apprehended in

the Texas Theatre were one and the same—Lee Harvey Oswald.

The suspect Fritz was about to question in connection with the

assassination of the President and the murder of a policeman was

born in New Orleans on October 18, 1939, 2 months after the death

of his father. His mother. Marguerite Claverie Oswald, had two older

children. One, John Pic, was a half-brother to Lee from an earlier

marriage which had ended in divorce. The other was Robert Oswald,

a full brother to Lee and 5 years older. When Lee Oswald was 3, Mrs. Oswald placed him in an orphanage where his brother and halfbrother were already living, primarily because she had to work.

In January 1944, when Lee was 4, he was taken out of the orphanage,

and shortly thereafter his mother moved with him to Dallas, Tex.,

where the older boys joined them at the end of the school year. In May

of 1945 Marguerite Oswald married her third husband, Edwin A. Ekdahl. While the two older boys attended a military boarding school,

Lee lived at home and developed a warm attachment to Ekdahl, occasionally accompanying his mother and stepfather on business trips

around the country. Lee started school in Benbrook, Tex., but in

the fall of 1946, after a separation from Ekdahl, Marguerite Oswald

730-900 0-64—

3
reentered Lee in the first grade in Covington, La. In January 1947,

while Lee was still in the first grade, the family moved to Fort

Worth, Tex., as the result of an attempted reconciliation between

Ekdahl and Lee's mother. A year and a half later, before Lee was

9, his mother was divorced from her third husband as the result of a divorce action instituted by Ekdahl. Lee's school record during

the next 61/^ years in Fort Worth was average, although generally

it grew poorer each year. The comments of teachers and others who

knew him at that time do not reveal any unusual personality

traits or characteristics.

Another change for Lee Oswald occurred in August 1952, a few

months after he completed the sixth grade. Marguerite Oswald and

her 12-year-old son moved to New York City where Marguerite's oldest son, John Pic, was stationed with the Coast Guard. The ensuing

year and one-half in New York was marked by Lee's refusals to attend school and by emotional and psychological problems of a seemingly serious nature. Because he had become a chronic school

truant, Lee underwent psychiatric study at Youth House, an institu- tion in New York for juveniles who have had truancy problems or

difficulties with the law, and who appear to require psychiatric observation, or other types of guidance. The social worker assigned to his case described him as "seriously detached" and "withdrawn" and

noted "a rather pleasant, appealing quality about this emotionally

starved, affectionless youngster." Lee expressed the feeling to the

social worker that his mother did not care for him and regarded him

as a burden. He experienced fantasies about being all powerful and

hurting people, but during his stay at Youth House he was apparently

not a behavior problem. He appeared withdrawn and evasive, a boy

who preferred to spend his time alone, reading and watching tele- vision. His tests indicated that he was above average in intelligence

for his age group. The chief psychiatrist of Youth House diagnosed Lee's problem as a "personality pattern disturbance with schizoid features and passive-aggressive tendencies." He concluded that

the boy was "an emotionally, quite disturbed youngster" and recom- mended psychiatric treatment. In May 1953, after having been at Youth House for 3 weeks, Lee

Oswald returned to school where his attendance and grades temporarily improved. By the following fall, however, the probation officer reported that virtually every teacher complained about the boy's behavior. His mother insisted that he did not need psychiatric assist- ance. Although there was apparently some improvement in Lee's behavior during the next few months, the court recommended further

treatment. In January 1954, while Lee's case was still pending.

Marguerite and Lee left for New Orleans, the city of Lee's birth.

Upon his return to New Orleans, Lee maintained mediocre grades

but had no obvious behavior problems. Neighbors and others who

knew him outside of school remembered him as a quiet, solitary and in- troverted boy who read a great deal and whose vocabulary made him

10
quite articulate. About 1 month after he started the 10th grade and 11

days before his 16th birthday in October 1955, he brought to school a note purportedly written by his mother, stating that the family was moving to California. The note was written by Lee. A few days later

he dropped out of school and almost immediately tried to join the

Marine Corps. Because he was only 16, he was rejected.

After leaving school Lee worked for the next 10 months at several

jobs in New Orleans as an office messenger or clerk. It was during

this period that he started to read communist literature. Occasionally, in conversations with others, he praised communism and

expressed to his fellow employees a desire to join the Communist

Party. At about this time, when he was not yet 17, he wrote to the

Socialist Party of America, professing his belief in Marxism.

Another move followed in July 1956 when Lee and his mother re- turned to Fort Worth. He reentered high school but again dropped

out after a few weeks and enlisted in the Marine Corps on October 24,

1956, 6 days after his iTth birthday. On December 21, 1956, during

boot camp in San Diego, Oswald fired a score of 212 for record with the

M-1 rifle^2 points over the minimum for a rating of "sharpshooter" on a marksman/sharpshooter/expert scale. After his basic training,

Oswald received training in aviation fundamentals and then in radar

scanning.

Most people who knew Oswald in the Marines described him as a "loner" who resented the exercise of authority by others. He spent

much of his free time reading. He was court-martialed once for possessing an unregistered privately owned weapon and, on another occasion, for using provocative language to a nonconunissioned officer. He

was, however, generally able to comply with Marine discipline, even though his experiences in the Marine Corps did not live up to his

expectations.

Oswald served 15 months overseas until November 1958, most of

it in Japan. During his final year in the Marine Corps he was sta- tioned for the most part in Santa Ana, Calif., where he showed a marked interest in the Soviet Union and sometimes expressed politically radical views with dogmatic conviction. Oswald again fired

the M-1 rifle for record on May 6, 1959, and this time he shot a score of

191 on a shorter course than before, only 1 point over the minimum

required to be a "marksman." According to one of his fellow marines,

Oswald was not particularly interested in his rifle performance, and

his unit was not expected to exhibit the usual rifle proficiency. During this period he expressed strong admiration for Fidel Castro and

an interest in joining the Cuban army. He tried to impress those

around him as an intellectual, but his thinking appeared to some as shallow and rigid.

Oswald's Marine service terminated on September 11, 1959, when

at his own request he was released from active service a few months

ahead of his scheduled release. He offered as the reason for his re- lease the ill health and economic plight of his mother. He returned to Fort Worth, remained with his mother only 3 days and left for New - 11
Orleans, telling his mother he planned to get work there in the shipping

or import-export business. In New Orleans he booked passage on the

freighter SS Marion Lykes^ which sailed from New Orleans to Le

Havre, France, on September 20, 1959.

Lee Harvey Oswald had presumably planned this step in his life for quite some time. In March of 1959 he had applied to the Albert

Schweitzer College in Switzerland for admission to the spring 1960

term. His letter of application contained many blatant falsehoods

concerning his qualifications and background. A few weeks before

his discharge he had applied for and obtained a passport, listing the

Soviet Union as one of the countries which he planned to visit. During his service in the Marines he had saved a comparatively large sum

of money, possibly as much as $1,500, which would appear to have

been accomplished by considerable frugality and apparently for a

specific purpose.

The purpose of the accumulated fund soon became known. On

October 16, 1959, Oswald arrived in Moscow by train after crossing

the border from Finland, where he had secured a visa for a 6-day

stay in the Soviet Union. He immediately applied for Soviet citizenship. On the afternoon of October 21, 1959, Oswald was ordered

to leave the Soviet Union by 8 p.m. that evening. That same after- noon in his hotel room Oswald, in an apparent suicide attempt,

slashed his left wrist. He was hospitalized immediately. On

October 31, 3 days after his release from the hospital, Oswald

appeared at the American Embassy, announced that he wished to renounce his U.S. citizenship and become a Russian citizen, and

handed the Embassy officer a written statement he had prepared for

the occasion. When asked his reasons, Oswald replied, "I am a Marxist." Oswald never formally complied with the legal steps

necessary to renounce his American citizenship. The Soviet Government did not grant his request for citizenship, but in January 1960 he was given permission to remain in the Soviet Union on a year-to-year

basis. At the same time Oswald was sent to Minsk where he worked

in a radio factory as an unskilled laborer. In January 1961 his per- mission to remain in the Soviet Union was extended for another year. A few weeks later, in February 1961, he wrote to the American Embassy in Moscow expressing a desire to return to the United States. The following month Oswald met a 19-year-old Russian girl, Marina

Nikolaevna Prusakova, a pharmacist, who had been brought up in

Leningrad but was then living with an aunt and uncle in Minsk.

They were married on April 30, 1961. Throughout the following

year he carried on a correspondence with American and Soviet authorities seeking approval for the departure of himself and his wife to the United States. In the course of this effort, Oswald and his wife

visited the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in July of 1961. Primarily on

the basis of an interview and questionnaire completed there, the

Embassy concluded that Oswald had not lost his citizenship, a decision subsequently ratified by the Department of State in Washington, D.C. Upon their return to Minsk, Oswald and his wife filed 12
with the Soviet authorities for permission to leave together. Their

formal application was made in July 1961, and on December 25, 1961,

Marina Oswald was advised it would be granted.

A daughter was bom to the Oswalds in February 1962. In the

months that followed they prepared for their return to the United

States. On May 9, 1962, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization

Service, at the request of the Department of State, agreed to waive a

restriction under the law which would have prevented the issuance of

a United States visa to Oswald's Kussian wife until she had left the

Soviet Union. They finally left Moscow on June 1, 1962, and were as- sisted in meeting their travel expenses by a loan of $435.71 from the

U.S. Department of State. Two weeks later they arrived in Fort

Worth, Tex.

For a few weeks Oswald, his wife and child lived with Oswald's

brother Robert. After a similar stay with Oswald's mother, they

moved into their own apartment in early August. Oswald obtained

a job on July 16 as a sheet metal worker. During this period in

Fort Worth, Oswald was interviewed twice by agents of the FBI.

The report of the first interview, which occurred on June 26, described

him as arrogant and unwilling to discuss the reasons why he had

gone to the Soviet Union. Oswald denied that he was involved in

Soviet intelligence activities and promised to advise the FBI if Soviet

representatives ever communicated with him. He was interviewed

again on August 16, when he displayed a less belligerent attitude and

once again agreed to inform the FBI of any attempt to enlist him in

intelligence activities. In early October 1962 Oswald quit his job at the sheet metal plant

and moved to Dallas. While living in Forth Worth the Oswalds

had been introduced to a group of Russian-speaking people in the

Dallas-Fort Worth area. Many of them assisted the Oswalds by providing small amounts of food, clothing, and household items. Oswald himself was disliked by almost all of this group whose help

to the family was prompted primarily by sympathy for Marina Oswald

and the child. Despite the fact that he had left the Soviet Union,

disillusioned with its Government, Oswald seemed more firmly

committed than ever to his concepts of Marxism. He showed disdain

for democracy, capitalism, and American society in general. He was

highly critical of the Russian-speaking group because they seemed devoted to American concepts of democracy and capitalism and were

ambitious to improve themselves economically.

In February 1963 the Oswalds met Ruth Paine at a social gathering. Ruth Paine was temporarily separated from her husband and

living with her two children in their home in Irving, Tex., a suburb

of Dallas. Because of an interest in the Russian language and

sympathy for Marina Oswald, w^ho spoke no English and had little funds, Ruth Paine befriended Marina and, during the next 2 months,

visited her on several occasions.

On April 6, 1963, Oswald lost his job with a photography firm.

A few days later, on April 10, he attempted to kill Maj. Gen. Edwin

13
A. Walker (Kesigned, U.S. Army) , using a rifle which he had ordered

by mail 1 month previously under an assumed name. Marina Oswald

learned of her husband's act when she confronted him with a note

which he had left, giving her instructions in the event he did not

return. That incident and their general economic difficulties impelled Marina Oswald to suggest that her husband leave Dallas and

go to New Orleans to look for work.

Oswald left for New Orleans on April 24, 1963. Ruth Paine, who

knew nothing of the Walker shooting, invited Marina Oswald and

the baby to stay with her in the Paines' modest home while Oswald

sought work in New Orleans. Early in May, upon receiving word

from Oswald that he had found a job, Ruth Paine drove Marina

Oswald and the baby to New Orleans to rejoin Oswald.

During the stay in New Orleans, Oswald formed a fictitious New

Orleans Chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. He posed

as secretary of this organization and represented that the president was A. J. Hidell. In reality, Hidell was a completely fictitious per- son created by Oswald, the organization's only member. Oswald was

arrested on August 9 in connection with a scuffle which occurred while

he was distributing pro-Castro leaflets. Tlie next day, while at the

police station, he was interviewed by an FBI agent after Oswald

requested the police to arrange such an interview. Oswald gave the

agent false information about his own background and was evasive

in his replies concerning Fair Play for Cuba activities. During the

next 2 weeks Oswald appeared on radio programs twice, claiming

to be the spokesman for the Fair Play for Cuba Conmiittee in New

Orleans.

On July 19, 1963, Oswald lost his job as a greaser of coffee processing

machinery. In September, after an exchange of correspondence with

Marina Oswald, Ruth Paine drove to New Orleans and on September

23, transported Marina, the child, and the family belongings to Irving^

Tex. Ruth Paine suggested that Marina Oswald, who was expecting

her second child in October, live at the Paine house until after the

baby was born. Oswald remained behind, ostensibly to find work

either in Houston or some other city. Instead, he departed by bus for

Mexico, arriving in Mexico City on September 27, where he promptly

visited the Cuban and Russian Embassies. His stated objective was

to obtain official permission to visit Cuba, on liis way to the Soviet

Union. The Cuban Government would not grant his visa unless the

Soviet Government would also issue a visa permitting his entry into

Russia. Oswald's efforts to secure these visas failed, and he left for

Dallas, where he arrived on October 3, 19.63. When he saw his wife the next day, it was decided that Oswald

would rent a room in Dallas and visit his family on weekends. For

1 week he rented a room from Mrs. Bledsoe, the woman who later saw him on the bus shortly after the assassination. On October 14, 1963,

he rented the Beckley Avenue room and listed his name as O. H. Lee. On the same day, at the suggestion of a neighbor, Mrs. Paine phoned

the Texas School Book Depository and was told that there was a job

14
opening. She informed Oswald who was interviewed the following

day at the Depository and started to work there on October 16, 1963.

On October 20 the Oswalds' second daughter was born. During October and November Oswald established a general pattern of weekend

visits to Irving, arriving on Friday afternoon and returning to Dallas

Monday morning with a fellow employee, Buell Wesley Frazier, who

lived near the Paines. On Friday, November 15, Oswald remained in

Dallas at the suggestion of his wife who told him that the house would

be crowded because of a birthday party for Euth Paine's daughter.

On Monday, November 18, Oswald and his wife quarreled bitterly

during a telephone conversation, because she learned for the first time

that he was living at the roominghouse under an assumed name. On

Thursday, November 21, Oswald told Frazier that he would like to drive to Irving to pick up some curtain rods for an apartment in

Dallas. His wife and Mrs. Paine were quite surprised to see him since

it was a Thursday night. They thought he had returned to make up

after Monday's quarrel. He was conciliatory, but Marina Oswald was

still angry.

Later that evening, when Mrs. Paine had finished cleaning the

kitchen, she went into the garage and noticed that the light was burning. She was certain that she had not left it on, although the incident

appeared unimportant at the time. In the garage were most of the

Oswalds' personal possessions. The following morning Oswald left while his wife was still in bed feeding the baby. She did not see him

leave the house, nor did Ruth Paine. On the dresser in their room he

left his wedding ring which he had never done before. His wallet

containing $170 was left intact in a dresser- drawer.

Oswald walked to Frazier's house about half a block away and placed

a long bulky package, made out of wrapping paper and tape, into the

rear seat of the car. He told Frazier that the package contained curtain rods. When they reached the Depository parking lot, Oswald

walked quickly ahead. Frazier followed and saw Oswald enter the

Depository Building carrying the long bulky package with him.

During the morning of November 22, Marina Oswald followed

President Kennedy's activities on television. She and Ruth Paine

cried when they heard that the President had been shot. Ruth Paine

translated the news of the shooting to Marina Oswald as it came over

television, including the report that the shots were probably fired from

the building where Oswald worked. When Marina Oswald heard

this, she recalled the Walker episode and the fact that her husband still owned the rifle. She went quietly to the Paine's garage

where the rifle had been concealed in a blanket among their other

belongings. It appeared to her that the rifle was still there, although

she did not actually open the blanket.

At about 3 p.m. the police arrived at the Paine house and asked

Marina Oswald whether her husband owned a rifle. She said that he

did and then led them into the garage and pointed to the rolled up

blanket. As a police officer lifted it, the blanket hung limply over

either side of his arm. The rifle was not there. 15
Meanwhile, at police headquarters, Captain Fritz had begun ques- tioning Oswald. Soon after the start of the first interrogation, agents

of the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service arrived and participated in

the questioning. Oswald denied having anything to do with the assas- sination of President Kennedy or the murder of Patrolman Tippit.

He claimed that he was eating limch at the tim.e of the assassi- nation, and that he then spoke with his foreman for 5 to 10

minutes before going home. He denied that he owned a rifle and when

confronted, in a subsequent interview, with a picture showing him

holding a rifle and pistol, he claimed that his face had been superimposed on someone else's body. He refused to answer any questions

about the presence in his wallet of a selective service card with his

picture and the name "Alek J. Hidell."

During the questioning of Oswald on the third floor of the police

department, more than 100 representatives of the press, radio, and tele- vision were crowded into the hallway through which Oswald had to pass when being taken from his cell to Captain Fritz' office for interrogation. Reporters tried to interview Oswald during these

trips. Between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning he appeared

in the hallway at least 16 times. The generally confused conditions

outside and inside Captain Fritz' office increased the difficulty of police questioning. Advised by the police that he could communicate

with an attorney, Oswald made several telephone calls on Saturday in an effort to procure representation of his own choice and discussed the

matter with the president of the local bar association, who offered to obtain counsel. Oswald declined the offer saying that he would first try to obtain counsel by himself. By Sunday morning he had not yet

engaged an attorney.

At 7 :10 p.m. on November 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was formally

advised that he had been charged with the murder of Patrolman J. D.

Tippit. Several witnesses to the Tippit slaying and to the subsequent

flight of the gunman had positively identified Oswald in police lineups.

While positive firearm identification evidence was not available at the

time, the revolver in Oswald's possession at the time of his arrest was

of a type which could have fired the shots that killed Tippit.

The formal charge against Oswald for the assassination of President Kennedy was lodged shortly after 1 :30 a.m., on Saturday, November 23. By 10 p.m. of the day of the assassination, the FBI had

traced the rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book

Depository to a mailorder house in Chicago which had purchased it from a distributor in New York. Approximately 6 hours later the

Chicago firm advised that this rifle had been ordered in March 1963

by an A. Hidel for shipment to post office box 2915, in Dallas, Tex., a box rented by Oswald. Payment for the rifle was remitted by a money order signed by A. Hidell. By 6 :45 p.m. on November 23, the

FBI was able to advise the Dallas police that, as a result of handwriting analysis of the documents used to purchase the rifle, it had

concluded that the rifle had been ordered by Lee Harvey Oswald.

16
Throughout Friday and Saturday, the Dallas police released to the

public many of the details concerning the alleged evidence against

Oswald. Police officials discussed important aspects of the case, usually in the course of impromptu and confused press conferences in

the third-floor corridor. Some of the information divulged was er- roneous. Efforts by the news media representatives to reconstruct the

crime and promptly report details frequently led to erroneous and

often conflicting reports. At the urgings of the newsmen. Chief of

Police Jesse E. Curry, brought Oswald to a press conference in the

police assembly room shortly after midnight of the day Oswald was

arrested. The assembly rooim was crowded with newsmen who had

come to Dallas from all over the country. They shouted questions at Oswald and flashed cameras at him. Among this group was a 52-yearold Dallas nightclub operator—Jack Ruby.

On Sunday morning, November 24, arrangements were made for

Oswald's transfer from the city jail to the Dallas County jail, about

1 mile away. The news media had been informed on Saturday night

that the transfer of Oswald would not take place until after 10 a.m. on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, between 2 :30 and 3 a.m., anonymous

telephone calls threatening Oswald's life had been received by the

Dallas office of the FBI and by the office of the county sheriff. Nevertheless, on Sunday morning, television, radio, and newspaper representatives crowded into the basement to record the transfer. As

viewed through television cameras, Oswald would emerge from a door

in front of the cameras and proceed to the transfer vehicle. To the

right of the cameras was a "down" ramp from Main Street on the

north. To the left was an "up" ramp leading to Commerce Street on

the south.

The armored truck in which Oswald was to be transferred arrived

shortly after 11 a.m. Police officials then decided, however, that an unmarked police car would be preferable for the trip because of

its greater speed and maneuverability. At approximately 11 :20 a.m. Oswald emerged from the basement jail office flanked by detectives on

either side and at his rear. He took a few steps toward the car and was

in the glaring light of the television cameras when a man suddenly

darted out from an area on the right of the cameras where newsmen

had been assembled. The man was carrying a Colt .38 revolver in his

right hand and, while millions watched on television, he moved quickly

to within a few feet of Oswald and fired one shot into Oswald's

abdomen. Oswald groaned with pain as he fell to the ground and

quickly lost consciousness. Within 7 minutes Oswald was at Parkland

Hospital where, without having regained consciousness, he was pronounced dead at 1 :07 p.m.

The man who killed Oswald was Jack Ruby. He w^as instantly

arrested and, minutes later, confined in a cell on the fifth floor of the

Dallas police jail. Under interrogation, he denied that the killing

of Oswald was in any way connected with a conspiracy involving the

assassination of President Kennedy. He maintained that he had

killed Oswald in a temporary fit of depression and rage over the

17
President's death. Ruby was transferred the following day to the

county jail without notice to the press or to police officers not directly

involved in the transfer. Indicted for the murder of Oswald by the

State of Texas on November 26, 1963, Ruby was found guilty on March 14, 1964, and sentenced to death. As of September 1964, his case was pending on appeal.

CONCLUSIONS

This Commission was created to ascertain the facts relating to the

preceding summary of events and to consider the important questions

which they raised. The Commission has addressed itself to this task

and has reached certain conclusions based on all the available evi- dence. No limitations have been placed on the Commission's inquiry

;

it has conducted its own investigation, and all Government agencies

have fully discharged their responsibility to cooperate with the Commission in its investigation. These conclusions represent the reasoned

judgment of all members of the Commission and are presented after an investigation which has satisfied the Commission that it has ascer- tained the truth concerning the assassination of President Kennedy

to the extent that a prolonged and thorough search makes this

possible.

1. The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the sixth floor window at the southeast comer of the Texas School Book Depository. This determination

is based upon the following:

(a) Witnesses at the scene of the assassination saw a rifle being

fired from the sixth floor window of the Depository Building,

and some witnesses saw a rifle in the window immediately after

the shots were fired. (h) The nearly whole bullet found on Governor Connally's

stretcher at Parkland Memorial Hospital and the two bullet fragments found in the front seat of the Presidential limousine were

fired from the 6. 5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on

the sixth floor of the Depository Building to the exclusion of all other weapons.

(c) The three used cartridge cases found near the window on

the sixth floor at the southeast comer of the building were fired

from the same rifle which fired the above-described bullet and

fragments, to the exclusion of all other weapons.

(d) The windshield in the Presidential limousine was struck

by a bullet fragment on the inside surface of the glass, but was not

penetrated.

(e) The nature of the bullet wounds suffered by President

Kennedy and Governor Connally and the location of the car at the time of the shots establish that the bullets were fired from

above and behind the Presidential limousine, striking the President and the Governor as follows

:

18
(1) President Kennedy was first struck by a bullet which

entered at the back of his neck and exited through the lower

front portion of his neck, causing a wound which would not

necessarily have been lethal. The President was struck a sec- ond time by a bullet which entered the right-rear portion

of his head, causing a massive and fatal wound.

(2) Governor Connally was struck by a bullet which

entered on the right side of his back and traveled downward

through the right side of his chest, exiting below his right

nipple. This bullet then passed through his right wrist and

entered his left thigh where it caused a superficial wound.

(/) There is no credible evidence that the shots were fired from

the Triple Underpass, ahead of the motorcade, or from any other

location.

2. The weight of the evidence indicates that there were three shots

fired.

3. Although it is not necessary to any essential findings of the Commission to determine just which shot hit Governor Connally, there is very persuasive evidence from the experts to indicate that the same

bullet which pierced the President's throat also caused Governor Connally's wounds. However, Governor Connally's testimony and certain

other factors have given rise to some difference of opinion as to this

probability but there is no question in the mind of any member of the

Commission that all the shots which caused the President's and Governor Connally's wounds were fired from the sixth floor window of

the Texas School Book Depository.

4. The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded

Governor Connally were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. This conclusion is based upon the following

:

(a) The Mannlicher-Carcano 6. 5-millimeter Italian rifle from

which the shots were fired was owned by and in the possession of

Oswald.

(h) Oswald carried this rifle into the Depository Building on the morning of November 22, 1963.

(c) Oswald, at the time of the assassination, was present at the window from which the shots were fired. (d) Shortly after the assassination, the Mannlicher-Carcano

rifle belonging to Oswald was found partially hidden between some cartons on the sixth floor and the improvised paper bag in

which Oswald brought the rifle to the Depository was found close

by the window from which the shots were fired. (e) Based on testimony of the experts and their analysis of

films of the assassination, the Commission has concluded that a rifleman of Lee Harvey Oswald's capabilities could have fired

the shots from the rifle used in the assassination within the

elapsed time of the shooting. The Commission has concluded

further that Oswald possessed the capability with a rifle which

enabled him to commit the assassination.

19
(/) Oswald lied to the police after his arrest concerning important substantive matters.

{g) Oswald had attempted to kill Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker

(Resigned, U.S. Army) on April 10, 1963, thereby demonstrating

his disposition to take human life.

5. Oswald killed Dallas Police Patrolman J. D. Tippit approximately 45 minutes after the assassination. This conclusion upholds

the finding that Oswald fired the shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally and is supported by the

following

:

{a) Two eyewitnesses saw the Tippit shooting and seven eyewitnesses heard the shots and saw the gunman leave the scene

' with revolver in hand. These nine eyewitnesses positively identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the man they saw.

{h) The cartridge cases found at the scene of the shooting were

fired from the revolver in the possession of Oswald at the time

of his arrest to the exclusion of all other weapons.

{c) The revolver in Oswald's possession at the time of his ar- rest was purchased by and belonged to Oswald.

{d) Oswald's jacket was found along the path of flight taken

by the gunman as he fled from the scene of the killing.

6. Within 80 minutes of the assassination and 35 minutes of the

Tippit killing Oswald resisted arrest at the theatre by attempting to shoot another Dallas police officer.

7. The Commission has reached the following conclusions concern- ing Oswald's interrogation and detention by the Dallas police

:

{a) Except for the force required to effect his arrest, Oswald

was not subjected to any physical coercion by any law enforcement officials. He was advised that he could not be compelled

to give any information and that any statements made by him

might be used against him in court. He was advised of his right

to counsel. He was given the opportunity to obtain counsel of

his own choice and was offered legal assistance by the Dallas Bar

Association, which he rejected at that time.

(b) Newspaper, radio, and television reporters were allowed

uninhibited access to the area through which Oswald had to pass

when he was moved from his cell to the interrogation room and

other sections of the building, thereby subjecting Oswald to harassment and creating chaotic conditions which were not conducive to orderly interrogation or the protection of the rights of the

prisoner.

(c) The numerous statements, sometimes erroneous, made to the press by various local law enforcement officials, during this

period of confusion and disorder in the police station, would have

presented serious obstacles to the obtaining of a fair trial for

Oswald. To the extent that the information was erroneous or misleading, it helped to create doubts, speculations, and fears in

the mind of the public which might otherwise not have arisen.

20
8. The Commission has reached the following conclusions concern- ing the killing of Oswald by Jack Euby on November 24, 1963

:

(a) Ruby entered the basement of the Dallas Police Department shortly after 11 :17 a.m. and killed Lee Harvey Oswald at 11 :21 a.m.

(b) Although the evidence on Ruby's means of entry is not

conclusive, the weight of the evidence indicates that he walked

down the ramp leading from Main Street to the basement of the

police department.

{c) There is no evidence to support the rumor that Ruby may

have been assisted by any members of the Dallas Police Department in the killing of Oswald.

(d) The Dallas Police Department's decision to transfer

Oswald to the county jail in full public view was unsound. The

arrangements made by the police department on Sunday morning,

only a few hours before the attempted transfer, were inadequate.

Of critical importance was the fact that news media representatives and others were not excluded from the basement even after

the police were notified of threats to Oswald's life. These deficiencies contributed to the death of Lee Harvey Oswald.

9. The Commission has found no evidence that either Lee Harvey

Oswald or Jack Ruby was part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign,

to assassinate President Kennedy. The reasons for this conclusion

are

:

(a) The Commission has found no evidence that anyone assisted

Oswald in planning or carrying out the assassination. In this

connection it has thoroughly investigated, among other factors,

the circumstances surrounding the planning of the motorcade

route through Dallas, the hiring of Oswald by the Texas School

Book Depository Co. on October 15, 1963, the method by which

the rifle was brought into the building, the placing of cartons of

books at the window, Oswald's escape from the building, and the

testimony of eyewitnesses to the shooting.

(h) The Commission has found no evidence that Oswald was

involved with any person or group in a conspiracy to assassinate

the President, although it has thoroughly investigated, in addition

to other possil3le leads, all facets of Oswald's associations, finances,

and personal habits, particularly during the period following his return from the Soviet Union in June 1962.

(c) The Commission has found no evidence to show that Oswald was employed, persuaded, or encouraged by any foreign

government to assassinate President Kennedy or that he was an

agent of any foreign government, although the Commission has

reviewed the circumstances surrounding Oswald's defection to the Soviet Union, his life there from October of 1959 to June of

1962 so far as it can be reconstructed, his known contacts with the

Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and his visits to the Cuban and

Soviet Embassies in Mexico City during his trip to Mexico from

21
September 26 to October 3, 1963, and bis known contacts witb

tbe Soviet Embassy in the United States. {d) The Commission has explored all attempts of Oswald to identify himself with various political groups, including the Communist Party, U.S.A., the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and

. the Socialist Workers Party, and has been unable to find any evi- dence that the contacts which he initiated were related to Oswald's

subsequent assassination of the President.

{e) All of the evidence before the Commission established that

there was nothing to support the speculation that Oswald was

an agent, employee, or informant of the FBI, the CIA, or any

other governmental agency. It has thoroughly investigated

Oswald's relationships prior to the assassination with all agencies

of the U.S. Government. All contacts with Oswald by any of

these agencies were made in the regular exercise of their different

responsibilities.

(/) No direct or mdirect relationship between Lee Harvey

Oswald and Jack Ruby has been discovered by the Commission,

nor has it been able to find any credible evidence that either knew

the other, although a thorough investigation was made of the

many rumors and speculations of such a relationship.

{g) The Commission has found no evidence that Jack Ruby

acted with any other person in the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald.

{h) After careful investigation the Commission has found no

credible evidence either that Ruby and Officer Tippit, who was

killed by Oswald, knew each other or that Oswald and Tippit

knew each other.

Because of the difficulty of proving negatives to a certainty the

possibility of others being involved with either Oswald or Ruby

cannot be established categorically, but if there is any such evi- dence it has been beyond the reach of all the investigative agencies

and resources of the United States and has not come to the atten- tion of this Commission.

10. In its entire investigation the Commission has found no evidence

of conspiracy, subversion, or disloyalty to the L^.S. Government by

any Federal, State, or local official. 11. On the basis of the evidence before the Commission it concludes

that Oswald acted alone. Therefore, to determine the motives for the

assassination of President Kennedy, one must look to the assassin himself. Clues to Oswald's motives can be found in his family history, his

education or lack of it, his acts, his writings, and the recollections of

those who had close contacts with him throughout his life. The Commission has presented with this report all of the background information bearing on motivation which it could discover. Thus, others

may study Lee Oswald's life and arrive at their own conclusions as

to his possible motives.

The Commission could not make any definitive determination of

Oswald's motives. It has endeavored to isolate factors which con- 22
tributed to his character and which might have influenced his decision

to assassinate President Kennedy. These factors were:

(a) His deep-rooted resentment of all authority which was

expressed in a hostility toward every society in which he lived

;

(h) His inability to enter into meaningful relationships with

people, and a continuous pattern of rejecting his environment in

favor of new surroundings

;

(c) His urge to try to find a place in history and despair at times over failures in his various undertakings

;

(d) His capacity for violence as evidenced by his attempt to

kill General Walker

;

(e) His avowed commitment to Marxism and communism, as he understood the terms and developed his own interpretation of

them; this was expressed by his antagonism toward the United

States, by his defection to the Soviet Union, by his failure to be

reconciled with life in the United States even after his disenchantment with the Soviet Union, and by his efforts, though frustrated,

to go to Cuba.

Each of these contributed to his capacity to risk all in cruel and

irresponsible actions.

12. The Commission recognizes that the varied responsibilities of

the President require that he make frequent trips to all parts of the

United States and abroad. Consistent with their high responsibilities

Presidents can never be protected from every potential threat. The

Secret Service's difficulty in meeting its protective responsibility varies

with the activities and the nature of the occupant of the Office of President and his willingness to conform to plans for his safety. In appraising the performance of the Secret Service it should be understood

that it has to do its work within such limitations. Nevertheless, the

Commission believes that recommendations for improvements in

Presidential protection are compelled by the facts disclosed in ,this

investigation.

(a) The complexities of the Presidency have increased so rapidly in recent years that the Secret Service has not been able to develop or to secure adequate resources of personnel and facilities to fulfill its important assignment. This situation should be

promptly remedied.

(h) The Commission has concluded that the criteria and procedures of the Secret Service designed to identify and protect

against persons considered threats to the president, were not

adequate prior to the assassination.

(1) The Protective Eesearch Section of the Secret Service, which is responsible for its preventive work, lacked suffi- cient trained personnel and the mechanical and technical

assistance needed to fulfill its responsibility.

(2) Prior to the assassination the Secret Service's criteria

dealt with direct threats against the President. Although the

S^ret Service treated the direct threats against the President

adequately, it failed to recognize the necessity of identifying

23
other potential sources of danger to his security. The Secret

Service did not develop adequate and specific criteria defining

those persons or groups who might present a danger to the

President. In effect, the Secret Service largely relied upon

other Federal or State agencies to supply the information

necessary for it to fulfill its preventive responsibilities, al- though it did ask for information about direct threats to the

President.

(c) The Commission has concluded that there was insufficient liaison and coordination of information between the Secret Service

and other Federal agencies necessarily concerned with Presidential protection. Although the FBI, in the normal exercise of

its responsibility, had secured considerable information about Lee

Harvey Oswald, it had no official responsibility, under the Secret

Service criteria existing at the time of the President's trip to Dallas, to refer to the Secret Service the information it had about

Oswald. The Commission has concluded, however, that the FBI

took an unduly restrictive view of its role in preventive intelli- gence work prior to the assassination. A more carefully coordinated treatment of the Oswald case by the FBI might well have

resulted in bringing Oswald's activities to the attention of the

Secret Service.

(d) The Commission has concluded that some of the advance

preparations in Dallas made by the Secret Service, such as the

detailed security measures taken at Love Field and the Trade

Mart, were thorough and well executed. In other respects, however, the Commission has concluded that the advance preparations for the President's trip were deficient. (1) Although the Secret Service is compelled to rely to a great extent on local law enforcement officials, its procedures

at the time of the Dallas trip did not call for well-defined

instructions as to the respective responsibilities of the police

officials and others assisting in the protection of the President.

(2) The procedures relied upon by the Secret Service for

detecting the presence of an assassin located in a building

along a motorcade route were inadequate. At the time of

the trip to Dallas, the Secret Sendee as a matter of practice

did not investigate, or cause to be checked, any building

located along the motorcade route to be taken by the President. The respK)nsibility for observing windows in these

buildings during the motorcade was divided between local police personnel stationed on the streets to regulate crowds

and Secret Service agents riding in the motorcade. Based

on its investigation the Commission has concluded that these

arrangements during the trip to Dallas were clearly not

sufficient. (e) The configuration of the Presidential car and the seating

arrangements of the Secret Service agents in the car did not afford

24
the Secret Service agents the opportunity they should have had to be of immediate assistance to the President at the first sign of

danger.

(/) Within these limitations, however, the Commission finds

that the agents most immediately responsible for the President's

safety reacted promptly at the time the shots were fired from

the Texas School Book Depository Building.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Prompted by the assassination of President Kennedy, the Secret

Service has initiated a comprehensive and critical review of its total operations. As a result of studies conducted during the past several

months, and in cooperation with this Commission, the Secret Service

has prepared a planning document dated August 27, 1964, which

recommends various programs considered necessary by the Service

to improve its techniques and enlarge its resources. The Commission

is encouraged by the efforts taken by the Secret Service since the

assassination and suggests the fol] owing recommendations.

1. A committee of Cabinet members including the Secretary of the

Treasury and the Attorney General, or the National Security Council, should be assigned the responsibility of reviewing and overseeing

the protective activities of the Secret Service and the other Federal

agencies that assist in safeguarding the President. Once given this

responsibility, such a committee would insure that the maximum re- sources of the Federal Government are fully engaged in the task of

protecting the President, and would provide guidance in defining the

general nature of domestic and foreign dangers to Presidential

security.

2. Suggestions have been advanced to the Commission for the transfer of all or parts of the Presidential protective responsibilities of

the Secret Service to some other department or agency. The Commission believes that if there is to be any determination of whether

or not to relocate these responsibilities and functions, it ought to be

made by the Executive and the Congress, perhaps upon recommendations based on studies by the previously suggested committee.

3. Meanwhile, in order to improve daily supervision of the Secret

Service within the Department of the Treasury, the Commission rec- ommends that the Secretary of the Treasury appoint a special assist- ant with the responsibility of supervising the Secret Service. This

special assistant should have sufficient stature and experience in law

enforcement, intelligence, and allied fields to provide effective con- tinuing supervision, and to keep the Secretary fully informed re- garding the performance of the Secret Service. One of the initial assignments of this special assistant should be the supervision of the current effort by the Secret Service to revise and modernize its basic

operating procedures.

25

730-900 0-64—

4
4. The Commission recommends that the Secret Service completely

overhaul its facilities devoted to the advance detection of potential

threats against the President. The Commission suggests the following measures.

(a) The Secret Service should develop as quickly as possible more useful and precise criteria defining those potential threats

to the President which should be brought to its attention by other

agencies. The criteria should, among other additions, provide

for prompt notice to the Secret Service of all returned defectors.

(h) The Secret Service should expedite its current plans to

utilize the most efficient data-processing techniques.

(c) Once the Secret Service has fonnulated new criteria delineating the information it desires, it should enter into agree- ments with each Federal agency to insure its receipt of such

information.

5. The Commission recommends that the Secret Service improve

the protective measures followed in the planning, and conducting of

Presidential motorcades. In particular, the Secret Service should

continue its current efforts to increase the precautionary attention

given to buildings along the motorcade route.

6. The Commission recommends that the Secret Service continue

its recent efforts to improve and formalize its relationships with local police departments in areas to be visited by the President.

7. The Commission believes that when the new criteria and procedures are established, the Secret Service will not have sufficient per- sonnel or adequate facilities. The Commission recommends that the

Secret Service be provided with the personnel and resources which

the Service and the Department of the Treasury may be able to demonstrate are needed to fulfill its important mission.

8. Even with an increase in Secret Service personnel, the protection

of the President will continue to require the resources and cooperation

of many Federal agencies. The Commission recommends that these

agencies, specifically the FBI, continue the practice as it has developed,

particularly since the assassination, of assisting the Secret Service upon

request by providing personnel or other aid, and that there be a closer

association and liaison between the Secret Service and all Federal

agencies.

9. The Commission recommends that the President's physician al- ways accompany him during his travels and occupy a position near the

President where he can be immediately available in case of any

emergency.

10. The Commission recommends to Congress that it adopt legislation which would make the assassination of the President and Vice

President a Federal crime. A state of affairs where U.S. authorities

have no clearly defined jurisdiction to investigate the assassination of

a President is anomalous.

11. The Commission has examined the Department of State's handling of the Oswald matters and finds that it followed the law

26
throughout. However, the Commission believes that the Department

in accordance with its own regulations should in all cases exercise

great care in the return to this country of defectors who have evidenced

disloyalty or hostility to this country or who have expressed a desire

to renounce their American citizenship and that when such persons

are so returned, procedures should be adopted for the better dissemination of information concerning them to the intelligence agencies of

the Government.

12. The Commission recommends that the representatives of the bar,

law enforcement associations, and the neAvs media work together to

establish ethical standards concerning the collection and presentation

of information to the public so that there will be no interference with

pending criminal investigations, court proceedings, or the right of

individuals to a fair trial.

27
CHAPTER II

The Assassination

THISCHAPTER describes President Kennedy's trip to Dallas,

from its origin through its tragic conclusion. The narrative

of these events is based largely on the recollections of the

participants, although in many instances documentary or other evi- dence has also been used by the Commission. Begimiing with the

advance plans and Secret Service preparations for the trip, this chapter reviews the motorcade through Dallas, the fleeting moments of

the assassination, the activities at Parkland Memorial Hospital, and

the return of the Presidential party to Washington. An evaluation

of the procedures employed to safeguard the President, with recom- mendations for improving these procedures, appears in chapter VIII

of the report.

PLANNING THE TEXAS TRIP

President Kennedy's visit to Texas in November 1963 had been

under consideration for almost a year before it occurred. He had

made only a few brief visits to the State since the 1960 Presidential

campaign and in 1962 he began to consider a formal visit.^ During

1963, the reasons for making the trip became more persuasive. As a

political leader, the President wished to resolve the factional contro- versy within the Democratic Party in Texas before the election of 1964.^ The party itself saw an opportunity to raise funds by having the

President speak at a political dinner eventually planned for Austin.^

As Chief of State, the President always welcomed the opportunity

to learn, firsthand, about the problems which concerned the American

people.* Moreover, he looked forward to the public appearances

which he personally enjoyed.^

The basic decision on the November trip to Texas was made at a meeting of President Kennedy, Vice President Johnson, and Governor

Connally on June 5, 1963, at the Cortez Hotel in El Paso, Tex.^ The

President had spoken earlier that day at the Air Force Academy in

Colorado Springs, Colo., and had stopped in El Paso to discuss the

proposed visit and other matters with the Vice President and the

Governor.^ The three agreed that the President would come to Texas

28
in late November 1963.^ The original plan called f,or the President to spend only 1 day in the State, making whirlwind visits to Dallas, Fort

Worth, San Antonio, and Houston.^ In September, the White House

decided to permit further visits by the President and extended the

trip to run from the afternoon of November 21 through the evening

of Friday, November 22/° When Governor Connally called at the

White House on October 4 to discuss the details of the visit, it was

agreed that the planning of events in Texas would be left largely to the Governor.^^ At the White House, Kenneth O^Donnell, special

assistant to the President, acted as coordinator for the trip.^^

Everyone agreed that, if there was sufficient time, a motorcade

through downtown Dallas would be the best way for the people to

see their President. When the trip was planned for only 1 day.

Governor Connally had opposed the motorcade because there was

not enough time.^^ The Governor stated, however, that "once we

got San Antonio moved from Friday to Thursday afternoon, where

that was his initial stop in Texas, then we had the time, and I withdrew my objections to a motorcade." ^* According to O'Donnell, "we

had a motorcade wherever we went," particularly in large cities where

the purpose was to let the President be seen by as many people as

possible.^^ In his experience, "it would be automatic" for the Secret

Service to arrange a route which would, within the time allotted,

bring the President "through an area which exposes him to the greatest number of people." ^^ ADVANCE PREPARATIONS FOR THE DALLAS TRIP

Advance preparations for President Kennedy's visit to Dallas were

primarily the responsibility of two Secret Service agents: Special

Agent Winston G. Lawson, a member of the White House detail who

acted as the advance agent, and Forrest V. Sorrels, special agent in

charge of the Dallas office.^^ Both agents were advised of the trip on November 4.^^ Lawson received a tentative schedule of the Texas

trip on November 8 from Roy H. Kellerman, assistant special agent

in charge of the White House detail, who was the Secret Service official responsible for the entire Texas joumey.^^ As advance agent

working closely with Sorrels, Lawson had responsibility for arranging the timetable for the President's visit to Dallas and coordinating

local activities with the Wliite House staff, the organizations directly

concerned with the visit, and local law enforcement officials.-^ Lawson's most important responsibilities were to take preventive action

against anyone in Dallas considered a threat to the President, to select the Imicheon site and motorcade route, and to plan security measures

for the luncheon and the motorcade.

Preventive Intelligence Activities

The Protective Research Section (PRS) of the Secret Service maintains records of people who have threatened the President or so con-29
ducted themselves as to be deemed a potential danger to him. On

November 8, 1963, after midertaking the responsibility for advance

preparations for the \dsit to Dallas, Agent Lawson went to the PRS

offices in Washington. A check of the geographic indexes there re- vealed no listing for any individual deemed to be a potential danger

to the President in the territory of the Secret Service regional office which includes Dallas and Fort Worth.^^

To supplement the PES files, the Secret Service depends largely on local police departments and local offices of other Federal agencies

which advise it of potential threats immediately before the visit of

the President to their community. Upon his arrival in Dallas on November 12 Lawson conferred with the local police and the local

office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation about potential dangers

to the President. Although there was no mention in PRS files of

the demonstration in Dallas against Ambassador Adlai Stevenson on

October 24, 1963, Lawson inquired about the incident and obtained

through the local police photographs of some of the persons involved.^^

On November 22 a Secret Service agent stood at the entrance to the

Trade Mart, where the President was scheduled to speak, with copies

of these photographs. Dallas detectives in the lobby of the Trade

Mart and in the luncheon area also had copies of these photographs.

A number of people who resembled some of those in the photographs were placed under surveillance at the Trade Mart.^^

The FBI office in Dallas gave the local Secret Service representatives the name of a possibly dangerous individual in the Dallas area who was investigated. It also advised the Secret Service of the circulation on November 21 of a handbill sharply critical of President

Kennedy,2^ discussed in chapter VI of this report. Shortly before,

the Dallas police had reported to the Secret Service that the handbill

had appeared on the streets of Dallas. Neither the Dallas police nor

the FBI had yet learned the source of the handbill.^^ No one else was

identified to the Secret Service through local inquiry as potentially

dangerous, nor did PES develop any additional information between

November 12, when Lawson left Washington, and November 22. The

adequacy of the intelligence system maintained by the Secret Service

at the time of the assassination, including a detailed description of

the available data on Lee Harvey Oswald and the reasons why his

name had not been furnished to the Secret Service, is discussed in

chapter VIII.

The Luncheon Site

An important purpose of the President's visit to Dallas was to speak

at a luncheon given by business and civic leaders. The White House

staff informed the Secret Service that the President would arrive

and depart from Dallas' Love Field; that a motorcade through the

downtown area of Dallas to the luncheon site should be arranged;

and that following the luncheon the President would return to the

airport by the most direct route. Accordingly, it was important to 30
determine the luncheon site as quickly as possible, so that security

could be established at the site and the motorcade route selected. On November 4, Gerald A. Behn, agent in charge of the Wliite House

detail, asked Sorrels to examine three potential sites for the luncheon.^^

One building, Market Hall, was unavailable for November 22. The

second, the Women's Building at the State Fair Grounds, was a onestory building with few entrances and easy to make secure, but it lacked necessary food-handling facilities and had certain unattractive

features, including a low ceiling with exposed conduits and beams.

The third possibility, the Trade Mart, a handsome new building with

all the necessary facilities, presented security problems. It had

numerous entrances, several tiers of balconies surrounding the central court where the luncheon would be held, and several catwalks crossing

the court at each level. On November 4, Sorrels told Behn he believed

security difficulties at the Trade Mart could be overcome by special

precautions.^^ Lawson also evaluated the security hazards at the

Trade Mart on November 13.^^ Kenneth O'Donnell made the final decision to hold the luncheon at the Trade Mart; Behn so notified

Lawson on November 14.^^ Once the Trade Mart had been selected, Sorrels and Lawson worked

out detailed arrangements for security at the building. In addition to the preventive measures already mentioned, they provided for controlling access to the building, closing off and policing areas around

it, securing the roof and insuring the presence of numerous police offi- cers inside and around the building. Ultimately more than 200 law

enforcement officers, mainly Dallas police but including 8 Secret Service agents, were deployed in and around the Trade Mart.^°

The Motorcade Route

On November 8, when Lawson was briefed on the itinerary for the

trip to Dallas, he was told that 45 minutes had been allotted for a motorcade procession from Love Field to the luncheon site.^^ Lawson

was not specifically instructed to select the parade route, but he understood that this was one of his functions.^^ Even before the Trade

Mart had been definitely selected, Lawson and Sorrels began to consider the best motorcade route from Love Field to the Trade Mart.

On November 14, Lawson and Sorrels attended a meeting at Love

Field and on their return to Dallas drove over the route which Sorrels

believed best suited for the proposed motorcade.^-^ This route, eventually selected for the motorcade from the airport to the Trade Mart,

measured 10 miles and could be driven easily within the allotted 45

minutes.^* From Love Field the route passed through a portion of

suburban Dallas, through the downtown area along Main Street and

then to the Trade Mart via Stemmons Freeway. For the President's return to Love Field following the luncheon, the agents selected the

most direct route, which was approximately 4 miles.^^ After the selection of the Trade Mart as the luncheon site, Lawson

and Sorrels met with Dallas Chief of Police Jesse E. Curry, Assistant

31

.«.A\
Chief Charles Batchelor, Deputy Chief N. T. Fisher, and several

other command officers to discuss details of the motorcade and possible

routes.^^ The route was further reviewed by Lawson and Sorrels

with Assistant Chief Batchelor and members of the local host committee on November 15. The police officials agreed that the route recommended by Sorrels was the proper one and did not express a

belief that any other route might be better.^^ On November 18, Sorrels

and Lawson drove over the selected route with Batchelor and other

police officers, verifying that it could be traversed within 45 minutes.

Eepresentatives of the local host committee and the White House staff were advised by the Secret Service of the actual route on the after- noon of November 18.^^ The route impressed the agents as a natural and desirable one. Sorrels, who had participated in Presidential protection assignments

in Dallas since a visit by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936,^^

testified that the traditional parade route in Dallas was along Main

Street, since the tall buildings along the street gave more people an

opportunity to participate.^^ The route chosen from the airport to Main Street was the normal one, except where Harwood Street was

selected as the means of access to Main Street in preference to a short

stretch of the Central Expressway, which presented a minor safety

hazard and could not accommodate spectators as conveniently as Harwood Street.*^ According to Lawson, the chosen route seemed to be

the best. It afforded us wide streets most of the way, because of the buses

that were in the motorcade. It afforded us a chance to have

alternative routes if something happened pn the motorcade route. It was the type of suburban area a good part of the way where

the crowds would be able to be controlled for a great distance,

and we figured that the largest crowds would be downtown,

which they were, and that the wide streets that we would use downtown would be of sufficient width to keep the public out

of our way.*2

Elm Street, parallel to Main Street and one block north, was not used

for the main portion of the downtown part of the motorcade because

Main Street offered better vantage points for spectators.

To reach the Trade Mart from Main Street the agents decided to use the Stemmons Freeway (Route No. 77) , the most direct route. The

only practical way for westbound traffic on Main Street to reach the

northbound lanes of the Stemmons Freeway is via Elm Street, which

Route No. 77 traffic is instructed to follow in this part of the city. ( See

Commission Exhibit No. 2113, p. 34.) Elm Street was to be reached

from Main by turning right at Houston, going one block north and

then turning left onto Elm. On this last portion of the journey, only

5 minutes from the Trade Mart, the President's motorcade would pass

the Texas School Book Depository Building on the northwest corner

of Houston and Elm Streets. The building overlooks Dealey Plaza,

32
I

! 3

^4 ,A^ If^^i,

%

o^ "q^ /.«

1

^.^

-^^^^S!f

DEALEY PLAZA -DALLAS, TEXAS

1 TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY

2. DAL-TEX BUILDING

3. DALLAS COUNTY RECORDS BUILDING

4. DALLAS COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTS BUILDING

5. OLD COURT HOUSE

6. NEELEY BRYAN HOUSE

7. DALLAS COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

8. UNITED STATES POST OFFICE BUILDING

9. PERGOLAS

10. PERISTYLES AND REFLECTING POOLS

11. RAILROAD OVERPASS (TRIPLE UNDERPASS)

Commission Exhibit No. 876

33
FREEWAY CONVERGENCE AT TRIPLE UNDERPASS

DALLAS, TEXASf^^^^TM"

Commission ExMlDit 2113 ^/^Y*^

(^ •<- STEMMONS FREEWAY )77J ELM "^ ' ^

D n,a

77J * COMMERCE nan I I \Greyh^oJS Bus

I I I

'

JACKSON !>WOOD —

'

Commission Exhibii No. 2113

34
- Cojamission Exhi"bit 2114

LOOKING TOWARD ENTRANCE TO DEALEY PLAZA FROM INTERSECTION OF HOUSTON AND ELM STS

LOOKING WEST THROUGH DEALEY PLAZA ALONG ELM ST. •^m

r I LOOKING WEST THROUGH TRIPLE UNDERPASS

JGH^

LOOKING WEST TOWARD COMMERCE

ST. FROM TRIPLE UNDERPASS

Commission Exhibit No. 2114

35
Coaanisslon Eschibit 2115 PLAN VIEW OF FREEWAY CONVERGENCE

VI^ST OF TRIPLE UNDERPASS

DALLAS, TEXAS

DALLAS . FT. WORTH

-•— TURNPIKE

Commission Exhibit No. 2115

36
AERIAL VIEW (500 FT. ALTITUDE)

OF FREEWAY CONVERGENCE WEST OF

TRIPLE UNDERPASS, DALLAS, TEXAS

Commission Exhibit No. 2116

37
Connnission Exhibit :io. Commission Exhibit No. 2967

Traffic sign on Main Street which directs westbound traflSc to turn right at Houston Street

to gain access to the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike.

38
an attractively landscaped triangle of 3 acres. (See Commission Exhibit No. 876, p. 33.) From Houston Street, which forms the

base of the triangle, three streets—Commerce, Main, and Elm—trisect the plaza, converging at the apex of the triangle to form a triple underpass beneath a multiple railroad bridge almost 500 feet from Houston Street.*^ Elm Street, the northernmost of the three, after

intersecting Houston curves in a southwesterly arc through the underpass and leads into an access road, which branches off to the right

and is used by traffic going to the Stemmons Freeway and the DallasFort Worth Turnpike. (See Commission Exhibits Nos. 2113-2116,

pp. 34-37.)

The Elm Street approach to the Stemmons Freeway is necessary in

order to avoid the traffic hazards which would otherwise exist if right turns were permitted from both Main and Elm into the freeway. To

create this traffic pattern, a concrete barrier between Main and Elm

Streets presents an obstacle to a right turn from Main across Elm to the access road to Stemmons Freeway and the Dallas-Fort Worth

Turnpike. This concrete barrier extends far enough beyond the

access road to make it impracticable for vehicles to turn right

from Main directly to the access road. A sign located on this

barrier instructs Main Street traffic not to make any turns.*^ (See

Commission Exhibits Nos. 2114-2116, pp. 35-37.) In conformity with

these arrangements, traffic proceeding west on Main is directed to turn

right at Houston in order to reach the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike,

vdiich has the same access road from Elm Street as does the Stemmons

Freeway.*« (See Commission Exhibit No. 2967, p. 38.)

The planning for the motorcade also included advance preparations

for security arrangements along the route. Sorrels and Lawson re- viewed the route in cooperation with Assistant Chief Batchelor and

other Dallas police officials who took notes on the requirements for

controlling the crowds and traffic, watching the overpasses, and providing motorcycle escort.*^ To control traffic, arrangements were made for the deployment of foot patrolmen and motorcycle police

at various positions along the route.*^ Police were assigned to each

overpass on the route and instructed to keep them clear of unauthorized persons.*^ No arrangements were made for police or building

custodians to inspect buildings along the motorcade route since the

Secret Service did not normally request or make such a check.^^ Under standard procedures, the responsibility for watching the windows of buildings was shared by local police stationed along the route and Secret Service agents riding in the motorcade.^^ As the date for the President's visit approached, the two Dallas

newspapers carried several reports of his motorcade route. The selec- tion of the Trade Mart as the possible site for the luncheon first appeared in the Dallas Times-Herald on November 15, 1963.^^ The

following day, the newspaper reported that the Presidential party

"apparently will loop through the downtown area, probably on Main

Street, en route from Dallas Love Field" on its way to the Trade

39
Mart.^^ On November 19, the Times-Herald afternoon paper detailed

the precise route

:

From the airport, the President's party will proceed to Mockingbird Lane to Lemmon and then to Turtle Creek, turning south to Cedar Springs.

The motorcade will then pass through downtown on Harwood

and then west on Main, turning back to Elm at Houston and

then out Stemmons Freeway to the Trade Mart.^*

Also on November 19, the Morning News reported that the President's

motorcade would travel from Love Field along specified streets, then

"Harwood to Main, Main to Houston, Houston to Elm, Elm under the

Triple Underpass to Stemmons Freeway, and on to the Trade Mart." ^^ On November 20 a front page story reported that the streets on which the Presidential motorcade would travel included "Main

and Stemmons Freeway." ^^ On the morning of the President's arrival, the Morning News noted that the motorcade would travel

through downtown Dallas onto the Stemmons Freeway, and reported

that "the motorcade will move slowly so that crowds can 'get a good

view' of President Kennedy and his wife." ^^

DALLAS BEFORE THE VISIT

The President's intention to pay a visit to Texas in the fall of 1963

aroused interest throughout the State. The two Dallas newspapers

provided their readers with a steady stream of information and speculation about the trip, beginning on September 13, when the TimesHerald announced in a front page article that President Kennedy

was planning a brief 1-day tour of four Texas cities—Dallas, Fort

Worth, San Antonio, and Houston.^^ Both Dallas papers cited White

House sources on September 26 as confirming the President's intention

to visit Texas on November 21 and 22, with Dallas scheduled as one

of the stops.^^

Articles, editorials, and letters to the editor in the Dallas Morning

News and the Dallas Times-Herald after September 13 reflected the

feeling in the community toward the forthcoming Presidential visit. Although there were critical editorials and letters to the editors, the news stories reflected the desire of Dallas officials to welcome the

President with dignity and courtesy. An editorial in the TimesHerald of September 17 called on the people of Dallas to be "congenial hosts" even though "Dallas didn't vote for Mr. Kennedy in

1960, may not endorse him in '64." ®° On October 3 the Dallas Morning News quoted U.S. Representative Joe Pool's hope that President

Kennedy would receive a "good welcome" and would not face demonstrations like those encountered by Vice President Johnson during

the 1960 campaign.^^

40
Increased concern about the President's visit was aroused by the

incident involving the U.S. Ambassador to the United N"ations, Adlai

E. Stevenson. On the evening of October 24, 1963, after addressing

a meeting in Dallas, Stevenson was jeered, jostled, and spat upon by

hostile demonstrators outside the Dallas Memorial Auditorium Theater.^2 The local, national, and international reaction to this incident

evoked from Dallas officials and newspapers strong condemnations of

the demonstrators. Mayor Earle Cabell called on the city to redeem

itself during President Kennedy's visit.^^ He asserted that Dallas

had shed its reputation of the twenties as the "Southwest hate capital

of Dixie." ^* On October 26 the press reported Chief of Police Curry's

plans to call in 100 extra off-duty officers to help protect President

Kennedy.^^ Any thought that the President might cancel his visit to Dallas was ended when Governor Connally confirmed on November 8 that the President would come to Texas on November 21-22,

and that he would visit San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas,

and Austin.^^

During November the Dallas papers reported frequently on the

plans for protecting the President, stressing the thoroughness of the

preparations. They conveyed the pleas of Dallas leaders that citizens

not demonstrate or create disturbances during the President's visit. On November 18 the Dallas City Council adopted a new city ordinance

prohibiting interference with attendance at lawful assemblies.^^ Two

days before the President's arrival Chief Curry warned that the Dallas

police would not permit improper conduct during the President's

visit.^^ Meanwhile, on November 17 the president of the Dallas Chamber of

Commerce referred to the city's reputation for being the friendliest

town in America and asserted that citizens would "greet the President

of the United States with the warmth and pride that keep the Dallas

spirit famous the world over." ^^ Two days later, a local Eepublican

leader called for a "civilized nonpartisan" welcome for President

Kennedy, stating that "in many respects Dallas County has isolated

itself from the main stream of life in the world in this decade." ^° Another reaction to the impending visit—hostile to the President

came to a head shortly before his arrival. On November 21 there

appeared on the streets of Dallas the anonymous handbill mentioned

above. It was fashioned after the "wanted" circulars issued by law

enforcement agencies. Beneath two photographs of President Kennedy, one fullface and one profile, appeared the caption, "Wanted

for Treason," followed by a scurrilous bill of particulars that constituted a vilification of the President."^^ And on the morning of the

President's arrival, there appeared in the Morning News a full page,

black-bordered advertisement headed "Welcome Mr. Kennedy to Dallas," sponsored by the American Factfinding Committee, which

the sponsor later testified was an ad hoc committee "formed strictly

for the purpose of having a name to put in the paper." ^^ The "welcome" consisted of a series of statements and questions critical of the

730-900 0-64—

5

4:1
President and his administration/^ (See Commission Exhibit No.

1031, p. 294:.)

VISITS TO OTHER TEXAS CITIES

The trip to Texas began with the departure of President and Mrs.

Kemiedy from the White House by helicopter at 10:45 a.m., e.s.t., on November 21, 1963, for Andrews AFB. They took olT in the Presidential plane, Air Force One^ at 11 a.m., arriving at San Antonio at 1 :30 p.m., c.s.t. They were greeted by Vice President Johnson and

Governor Connally, who joined the Presidential party in a motorcade

through San Antonio.'^ During the afternoon, President Kennedy

dedicated the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks

AFB.^^ Late in the afternoon he flew to Houston where he rode

through the city in a motorcade, spoke at the Rice University Stadium,

and attended a dinner in honor of U.S. Representative Albert

Thomas."^

At Rice Stadium a very large, enthusiastic crowd greeted the President.'^^ In Houston, as elsewhere during the trip, the crowds showed

much interest in Mrs. Kennedy. David F. Powers of the President's

staff later stated that when the President asked for his assessment of

the day's activities. Powers replied "that the crowd was about the same

as the one which came to see him before but there were 100,000 extra people on hand who came to see Mrs. Kennedy." ^^ Late in the eve- ning, the Presidential party flew to Fort Worth where they spent the

night at the Texas Hotel.'^

On the morning of November 22, President Kennedy attended a breakfast at the hotel and afterward addressed a crowd at an open

parking lot.^° The President liked outdoor appearances because more

people could see and hear him.^^ Before leaving the hotel, the President, Mrs. Kennedy, and Kenneth O'Donnell talked about the risks

inherent in Presidential public appearances.^- According to O'Donnell, the President commented that ''if anybody really wanted to shooi

the President of the United States, it was not a ver}^ difficult job—all one had to do was get a high building someday with a telescopic rifle, and there was nothing anybody could do to defend against such an

attempt." *^ Upon concluding the conversation, the President pre- pared to depart for Dallas.

ARRIVAL AT LOVE FIELD

In Dallas the rain had stopped, and by midmorning a gloomy overcast sky had given way to the bright sunshine that greeted the Presidential party when Air Force One touched down at Love Field at 11 :40 a.m., c.s.t. ^^ Governor and Mrs. Comially and Senator Ralph W.

Yarborough had come with the President from Fort Woith.*° Vice

President Jolmson's airplane, Air Force Tioo^ had arrived at Love

42
Field at approximately 11 :35 a.m., and the Vice President and Mrs.

Johnson were in the receiving line to greet President and Mrs.

Kennedy.^^

After a welcome from the Dallas reception committee, President

and Mrs. Kennedy walked along a chain-link fence at the reception area greeting a large crowd of spectators that had gathered behind

it.^^ Secret Service agents formed a cordon to keep the press and

photographers from impeding their passage and scanned the crowd

for threatening movements.^^ Dallas police stood at intervals along

the fence and Dallas plainclothesmen mixed in the crowd.^^ Vice

President and Mrs. Johnson followed along the fence, guarded by

four members of the Vice-Presidential detail.^^ Approximately 10

minutes after the arrival at Love Field, the President and Mrs. Kennedy went to the Presidential automobile to begin the motorcade.^^

ORGANIZATION OF THE MOTORCADE

Secret Service arrangements for Presidential trips, which were

followed in the Dallas motorcade, are designed to provide protection

while permitting large numbers of people to see the President.®^

Every effort is made to prevent unscheduled stops, although the

President may, and in Dallas did, order stops in order to greet the

public.®^ When the motorcade slows or stops, agents take positions

between the President and the crowd.^*

The order of vehicles in the Dallas motorcade was as follows

:

Motorcycles.—Dallas police motorcycles preceded the pilot car.^^ The "pilot car.—Manned by officers of the Dallas Police Department, this automobile preceded the main party by approximately a quarter of a mile. Its function was to alert police along the route

that the motorcade was approaching and to check for signs of trouble.^^ Motorcycles.—Next came four to six motorcycle policemen whose

main purpose was to keep the crowd back.^^ The lead car.—Described as a "rolling command car," this was

an unmarked Dallas police car, driven by Chief of Police Curry and

occupied by Secret Service Agents Sorrels and Lawson and by Dallas

County Sheriff J. E. Decker. The occupants scanned the crowd

and the buildings along the route. Their main function was to spot

trouble in advance and to direct any necessary steps to meet the

trouble. Following normal practice, the lead automobile stayed approximately four to five car lengths ahead of the President's

limousine.^^

The Presidential limousine.—The President's automobile was a

specially designed 1961 Lincoln convertible with two collapsible

jump seats between the front and rear seats.^® (See Commission

Exhibit No. 346, p. 44.) It was outfitted with a clear plastic bubbletop which was neither bulletproof nor bullet resistant."" Because

the skies had cleared in Dallas, Lawson directed that the top not be

used for the day's activities. He acted on instructions he had re- 43
Commission Exhibit No. 346

Interior of Presidential limousine used on November 22, 1963.

44
ceived earlier from Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roy H. Kellerman, who was in Fort Worth with the President.^°^ Kellerman had

discussed the matter with O'Donnell, whose instructions were, "If the

weather is clear and it is not raining, have that bubbletop off."^^^ Elevated approximately 15 inches above the back of the front seat was

a metallic frame with four handholds that riders in the car could

grip while standing in the rear seat during parades.^"^ At the rear on

each side of the automobile were small running boards, each designed

to hold a Secret Service agent, with a metallic handle for the rider to

grasp.^°^ The President had frequently stated that he did not want

agents to ride on these steps during a motorcade except when necessary. He had repeated this wish only a few days before, during his

visit to Tampa, Fla.^^^ President Kennedy rode on the right-hand side of the rear seat with

Mrs. Kennedy on his left.^°^ Governor Connally occupied the right

jump seat, Mrs. Connally the left.^°^ Driving the Presidential limousine was Special Agent William R. Greer of the Secret Service; on

his right sat Kellerman.^°^ Kellerman's responsibilities included

maintaining radio communications with the lead and followup cars, scanning the route, and getting out and standing near the President

when the cars stopped.

Motorcycles.—Four motorcycles, two on each side, flanked the rear of the Presidential car. They provided some cover for the President,

but their main purpose was to keep back the crowd.^^^ On previous

occasions, the President had requested that, to the extent possible,

these flanking motorcycles keep back from the sides of his car.^^° Presidential folloioup car.—This vehicle, a 1955 Cadillac eightpassenger convertible especially outfitted for the Secret Service, fol- lowed closely behind the President's automobile.^^^ It carried eight

Secret Service agents—two in the front seat, two in the rear, and two

on each of the right and left running boards.^^^ Each agent carried a

.38-caliber pistol, and a shotgun and automatic rifle were also available.^^^ Presidential Assistants David F. Powers and Kenneth

O'Donnell sat in the right and left jump seats, respectively.^^*

The agents in this car, under established procedure, had instructions

to watch the route for signs of trouble, scanning not only the crowds

but the windows and roofs of buildings, overpasses, and crossings.^^^

They were instructed to watch particularly for thrown objects, sudden actions in the crowd, and any movements toward the Presidential

car.^^^ The agents on the front of the running boards had directions

to move immediately to positions just to the rear of the President

and Mrs. Kennedy when the President's car slowed to a walking pace

or stopped, or when the press of the crowd made it impossible for

the escort motorcycles to stay in position on the car's rear flanks.^^' The two agents on the rear of the running boards were to advance

toward the front of the President's car whenever it stopped or slowed

down sufficiently for them to do so.^^^ Vice-Presidential car.—The Vice-Presidential automobile, a fourdoor Lincoln convertible obtained locally for use in the motor45
cade, proceeded approximately two to three car lengths behind the

President's followup car.^^^ This distance was maintained so that

spectators would normally turn their gaze from the President's auto- mobile by the time the Vice President came into view.^^° Vice President Johnson sat on the right-hand side of the rear seat, Mrs. Johnson

in the center, and Senator Yarborough on the left.^^^ Rufus W.

Youngblood, special agent in charge of the Vice President's detail,

occupied the right-hand side of the front seat, and Hurchel Jacks of

the Texas State Highway patrol was the driver.^22 Vice-Presidential followup car.—Driven by an officer of the Dallas

Police Department, this vehicle was occupied by three Secret Service

agents and Clifton C. Carter, assistant to the Vice President.^^^ These

agents performed for the Vice President the same functions that the

agents in the Presidential followup car performed for the President.

Remainder of motorcade.—The remainder of the motorcade consisted of five cars for other dignitaries, including the mayor of Dallas

and Texas Congressmen, telephone and Western Union vehicles, a Wliite House communications car, three cars for press photographers, an official party bus for White House staff members and others, and

two press buses. Admiral George G. Burkley, physician to the President, was in a car following those "containing the local and national

representatives." ^^^ Police car and motorcycles}'^^—A Dallas police car and several

motorcycles at the rear kept the motorcade together and prevented

unauthorized vehicles from joining the motorcade.

Communications in the motorcade}"^^—A base station at a fixed lo- cation in Dallas operated a radio network which linked together the

lead car. Presidential car. Presidential followup car, Wliite House

communications car. Trade Mart, Love Field, and the Presidential

and Vice-Presidential airplanes. The Vice-Presidential car and

Vice-Presidential followup car used portable sets with a separate fre- quency for their own car-to-car communication.

THE DRIVE THROUGH DALLAS

The motorcade left Love Field shortly after 11 :50 a.m. and drove

at speeds up to 25 to 30 miles an hour through thinly populated areas on the outskirts of Dallas.^^^ At the President's direction, his auto- mobile stopped twice, the first time to permit him to respond to a sign

asking him to shake hands.^^^ During this brief stop, agents in the

front positions on the running boards of the Presidential followup

car came forward and stood beside the President's car, looking out

toward the crowd, and Special Agent Kellerman assumed his position next to the car.^^^ On the other occasion, the President halted

the motorcade to speak to a Catholic nun and a gr,oup of small

children."^

In the downtown area, large crowds of spectators gave the

President a tremendous reception.^^^ The crowds were so dense

46
Commission ExhibiI: No. 698

Presidential limousine in Dallas motorcade.

47
that Special Agent Clinton J. Hill had to leave the left front

running board of the President's followup car four times to ride on the rear of the President's limousine.^^^ ( See Commission Exhibit

No. 698, p. 47.) Several times Special Agent John D. Ready came

forward from the right front running board of the Presidential

followup car to the right side of the President's car.^^^ Special Agent

Glen A. Bennett once left his place inside the followup car to help

keep the crowd away from the President's car. AYhen a teenage

boy ran toward the rear of the President's car/^* Ready left the run- ning board to chase the boy back into the crowd. On several occasions

when the Vice President's car was slowed down by the throng, Special

Agent Youngblood stepped out to hold the crowd back.^^^ According to plan, the President's motorcade proceeded west

through downtown Dallas on Main Street to the intersection of

Houston Street, which marks the beginning of Dealey Plaza."^ From

Main Street the motorcade turned right and went north on Houston

Street, passing tall buildings on the right, and headed toward the

Texas School Book Depository Building.^^^ The spectators were still thickly congregated in front of the buildings which lined the east side

of Houston Street, but the crowd thinned abruptly along Elm Street,

which curves in a southwesterly direction as it proceeds downgrade

toward the Triple Underpass and the Stemmons Freeway.^^^ As the motorcade approached the intersection of Houston and Elm

Streets, there was general gratification in the Presidential party about

the enthusiastic reception. Evaluating the political overtones,

Kenneth O'Donnell was especially pleased because it convinced him

that the average Dallas resident was like other American citizens in

respecting and admiring the President.^^^ Mrs. Connally, elated by

the reception, turned to President Kennedy and said, "Mr. President,

you can't say Dallas doesn't love you." The President replied, "That

is very obvious." ^*° THE ASSASSINATION

At 12:30 p.m., c.s.t., as the President's open limousine proceeded

at approximately 11 miles per hour along Elm Street toward the

Triple Underpass, shots fired from a rifle mortally wounded President

Kennedy and seriously injured Governor Connally. One bullet passed

through the President's neck ; a subsequent bullet, which was lethal,

shattered the right side of his skull. Governor Connally sustained

bullet wounds in his back, the right side of his chest, right wrist, and

left thigh.

The Time

The exact time of the assassination was fixed by the testimony of

four witnesses. Special Agent Rufus W. Youngblood observed that

the large electric sign clock atop the Texas School Book Depository

Building showed the numerals "12 :30" as the Vice-Presidential auto- mobile proceeded north on Houston Street, a few seconds before the

48
shots were fired. ^^^ Just prior to the shooting, David F. Powers, riding

in the Secret Service followup car, remarked to Kenneth O'Donnell

that it was 12:30 p.m., the time they were due at the Trade Mart.^*^

Seconds after the shooting, Roy Kellerman, riding in the front seat of

the Presidential limousine, looked at his watch and said "12 :30" to the driver. Special Agent Greer.^*^ The Dallas police radio log reflects that Chief of Police Curry reported the shooting of the President

and issued his initial orders at 12 :30 p.m.^**

Speed of the Limousine

William Greer, operator of the Presidential limousine, estimated

the car's speed at the time of the first shot as 12 to 15 miles per hour.^^^ Other witnesses in the motorcade estimated the speed of the President's limousine from 7 to 22 miles per hour.^*^ A more precise determination has been made from motion pictures taken on the scene by an amateur photographer, Abraham Zapruder. Based on these

films, the speed of the President's automobile is computed at an

average speed of 11.2 miles per hour. The car maintained this average

speed over a distance of approximately 136 feet immediately preceding

the shot which struck the President in the head. While the car

traveled this distance, the Zapruder camera ran 152 frames. Since

the camera operates at a speed of 18.3 frames per second, it was

calculated that the car required 8.3 seconds to cover the 136 feet. This represents a speed of 11.2 miles per hour.^*^

In the Presidential Limousine

Mrs. John F. Kennedy, on the left of the rear seat of the limousine,

looked toward her left and waved to the crowds along the route. Soon after the motorcade turned onto Elm Street, she heard a sound

similar to a motorcycle noise and a cry from Governor Connally,

which caused her to look to her right. On turning she saw a quizzical

look on her husband's face as he raised his left hand to his throat.

Mrs. Kennedy then heard a second shot and saw the President's skull

torn open under the impact of the bullet. As she cradled her mortally

wounded husband, Mrs. Kennedy cried, "Oh, my God, they have shot

my husband. I love you. Jack." ^^® Governor Connally testified that he recognized the first noise as a

rifle shot and the thought immediately crossed his mind that it was

an assassination attempt. From his position in the right jump seat immediately in front of the President, he instinctively turned to his

right because the shot appeared to come from over his right shoulder.

Unable to see the President as he turned to the right, the Governor

started to look back over his left shoulder, but he never completed

the turn because he felt something strike him in the back.^^^ In his

testimony before the Commission, Governor Connally was certain

that he was hit by the second shot, which he stated he did not hear.^^'^ 49
Mrs. Connally, too, heard a frightening noise from her right. Looking over her right shoulder, she saw that the President had both

hands at his neck but she observed no blood and heard nothing. She

watched as he slumped down with an empty expression on his face.^^^ Roy Kellerman, in the right front seat of the limousine, heard a report like a firecracker pop. Turning to his right in the direction of

the noise, Kellerman heard the President say "My God, I am hit," and saw both of the President's hands move up toward his neck. As he

told the driver, "Let's get out of here ; we are hit," Kellerman grabbed

his microphone and radioed ahead to the lead car, "We are hit. Get

us to the hospital immediately." ^^^ The driver, William Greer, heard a noise which he took to be a backfire from one of the motorcycles flanking the Presidential car. When he heard the same noise again, Greer glanced over his shoulder

and saw Governor Comially fall. At the sound of the second shot

he realized that something was wrong, and he pressed down on the ac- celerator as Kellerman said, "Get out of here fast." ^^ As he issued his

instructions to Greer and to the lead car, Kellerman heard a "flurry

of shots" within 5 seconds of the first noise. According to Kellerman,

Mrs. Kennedy then cried out: "'\^niat are they doing to you?" Looking back from the front seat, Kellerman saw Governor Connally in

his wife's lap and Special Agent Clinton J. Hill lying across the

trunk of the car.^^* Mrs. Connally heard a second shot fired and pulled her husband

down into her lap.^^^ Observing his blood-covered chest as he was

pulled into his wife's lap, Governor Connally believed himself mortally

wounded. He cried out, "Oh, no, no, no. My God, they are going to

kill us all." ^^^ At first Mrs. Connally thought that her husband had

been killed, but then she noticed an almost imperceptible movement

and knew that he was still alive. She said, "It's all right. Be still." ^^^ The Governor was lying with his head on his wife's lap when he heard

a shot hit the President.^°^ At that point, both Governor and !Mrs. Connally observed brain tissue splattered over the interior of the

car.^^^ According to Governor and Mrs. Connally, it was after this

shot that Kellerman issued his emergency instructions and the car

accelerated.^®^ Reaction by Secret Service Agents

From the left front running board of the President's followup car. Special Agent Hill was scanning the few people standing on the south

side of Elm Street after the motorcade had turned off Houston Street. He estimated that the motorcade had slowed down to approximately

9 or 10 miles per hour on the turn at the intersection of Houston and

Elm Streets and then proceeded at a rate of 12 to 15 miles per hour

with the followup car trailing the President's automobile by approximately 5 feet.^®^ Hill heard a noise, which seemed to be a firecracker,

coming from his right rear. He immediately looked to his right, "and,

in so doing, my eyes had to cross the Presidential limousine and I saw

President Kennedy grab at himself and lurch forward and to the

50
left." ^^^ Hill jumped from the followup car and ran to the President's automobile. At about the time he reached the President's auto- mobile, Hill heard a second shot, approximately 5 seconds after the

first, which removed a portion of the President's head.^^^ At the instant that Hill stepped onto the left rear step of the President's automobile and grasped the handhold, the car lurched forward,

causing him to lose his footing. He ran three or four steps, regained

his position and mounted the car. Between the time he originally

seized the handhold and the time he mounted the car, Hill recalled

that

Mrs. Kennedy had jumped up from the seat and was, it appeared

to me, reaching for something coming off the right rear bumper

of the car, the right rear tail, when she noticed that I was trying

to climb on the car. She turned toward me and I grabbed her

and put her back in the back seat, crawled up on top of the back

seat and lay there.^^* David Powers, who witnessed the scene from the President's followup

car, stated that Mrs. Kennedy would probably have fallen off the rear end of the car and been killed if Hill had not pushed her back into

the Presidential automobile.^^^'^ Mrs. Kennedy had no recollection of

climbing onto the back of the car.^^^ Special Agent Ready, on the right front running board of the Presidential followup car, heard noises that sounded like firecrackers and

ran toward the President's limousine. But he was immediately called

back by Special Agent Emory P. Roberts, in charge of the followup

car, who did not believe that he could reach the President's car at the

speed it was then traveling.^^^ Special Agent George W. Hickey, Jr., in the rear seat of the Presidential followup car, picked up and cocked an automatic rifle as he heard the last shot. At this point the cars were speeding through the underpass and had left the scene of the

shooting, but Hickey kept the automatic weapon ready as the car raced to the hospital.^^^ Most of the other Secret Service agents in

the motorcade had drawn their sidearms.^^^ Roberts noticed that the

Vice President's car was approximately one-half block behind the

Presidential followup car at the time of the shooting and signaled for

it to move in closer.^^° Directing the security detail for the Vice President from the right

front seat of the Vice-Presidential car. Special Agent Youngblood

recalled

:

As we were beginning to go down this incline, all of a sudden there was an explosive noise. I quickly observed unnatural movement

of crowds, like ducking or scattering, and quick movements in

the Presidential followup car. So I turned around and hit the

Vice President on the shoulder and hollered, get down, and then

looked around again and saw more of this movement, and so I proceeded to go to the back seat and get on top of him. ^^^ 51
Youngblood was not positive that he was in the rear seat before the

second shot, but thought it probable because of President Johnson's

statement to that effect immediately after the assassination.^^^ President Johnson emphasized Youngblood's instantaneous reaction after

the first shot

:

I was startled by the sharp report or explosion, but I had no

time to speculate as to its origin because Agent Youngblood

turned in a flash, immediately after the first explosion, hitting

me on the shoulder, and shouted to all of us in the back seat to get down. I was pushed down by Agent Youngblood. Almost

in the same moment in which he hit or pushed me, he vaulted over

the back seat and sat on me. I was bent over under the weight

of Agent Youngblood's body, toward Mrs. Jolinson and Senator

Yarborough.^"

Clifton C. Carter, riding in the Vice President's followup car a short

distance behind, reported that Youngblood was in the rear seat using

his body to shield the Vice President before the second and third

shots were fired.^^* Other Secret Service agents assigned to the motorcade remained at their posts during the race to the hospital. None stayed at the scene of the shooting, and none entered the Texas School Book Depository

Building at or immediately after the shooting. Secret Service procedure requires that each agent stay with the person being protected

and not be diverted unless it is necessary to accomplish the protective

assignment.^^^ Forrest V. Sorrels, special agent in charge of the

Dallas office, was the first Secret Service agent to return to the scene of the assassination, approximately 20 or 25 minutes after the shots were fired.^^® PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

The Race to the Hospital

In the final instant of the assassination, the Presidential motorcade

began a race to Parkland Memorial Hospital, approximately 4 miles

from the Texas School Book Depository Building.^^^ On receipt of the

radio message from Kellerman to the lead car that the President had

been hit. Chief of Police Curry and police motorcyclists at the head of

the motorcade led the way to the hospital.^^^ Meanwhile, Chief Curry

ordered the police base station to notify Parkland Hospital that the

wounded President was en route.^^^ The radio log of the Dallas Police

Department shows that at 12:30 p.m. on November 22 Chief Curry

radioed, "Go to the hospital—Parkland Hospital. Have them stand

by." A moment later Curry added, "Looks like the President has been

hit. Have Parkland stand by." The base station replied, "They have

been notified." ^^° Traveling at speeds estimated at times to be up to 70

or 80 miles per hour down the Stemmons Freeway and Harry Hines

52
Boulevard, the Presidential limousine arrived at the emergency en- trance of the Parkland Hospital at about 12 :35 p.m.^^^ Arriving al- most simultaneously were the President's followup car, the Vice President's automobile, and the Vice President's followup car. Admiral

Burkley, the President's physician, arrived at the hospital "between

3 and 5 minutes following the arrival of the President,'' since the riders

in his car "were not exactly aware what had happened" and the car went on to the Trade Mart first.^^^ ^Vhen Parkland Hospital received the notification, the staff in the

emergency area was alerted and trauma rooms 1 and 2 were pre- pared/^^ These rooms were for the emergency treatment of acutely

ill or injured patients.^^^ Although the first message mentioned an

injury only to President Kennedy, two rooms were prepared.^^^ As

the President's limousine sped toward the hospital, 12 doctors rushed

to the emergency area : surgeons, Drs. Malcolm O. Perry, Charles

E. Baxter, Robert N. McClelland, Ronald C. Jones; the chief neurologist. Dr. William Kemp Clark; 4 anesthesiologists, Drs. Marion T.

Jenkins, Adolph H. Giesecke, Jr., Jackie H. Hunt, Gene C. Akin ; a

urological surgeon, Dr Paul C. Peters; an oral surgeon, Dr. Don T.

Curtis; and a heart specialist, Dr. Fouad A. Bashour.^^®

Upon arriving at Parkland Hospital, Lawson jumped from the lead

car and rushed into the emergency entrance, where he was met by hospital staff members wheeling stretchers out to the automobile.^^^

Special Agent Hill removed his suit jacket and covered the President's

head and upper chest to prevent the taking of photographs.^^^ Governor Connally, who had lost consciousness on the ride to the hospital, regained consciousness when the limousine stopped abruptly at the emergency entrance. Despite his serious wounds. Governor Connally tried to get out of the way so that medical help could reach

the President. Although he was reclining in his wife's arms, he

lurched forward in an effort to stand upright and get out of the car, but he collapsed again. Then he experienced his first sensation of

pain, which became excruciating.^^® The Governor was lifted onto

a stretcher and taken into trauma room 2.^®° For a moment, Mrs.

Kennedy refused to release the President, whom she held in her lap,

but then Kellerman, Greer, and Lawson lifted the President onto

a stretcher and pushed it into trauma room 1.^^^

Treatment of President Kennedy

The first physician to see the President at Parkland Hospital was

Dr. Charles J. Carrico, a resident in general surgery.^®^ Dr. Carrico was in the emergency area, examining another patient, when he was

notified that President Kennedy was en route to the hospital.^®^

Approximately 2 minutes later. Dr. Carrico saw the President on his

back, being wheeled into the emergency area.^®* He noted that the

President was blue-white or ashen in color; had slow, spasmodic,

agonal respiration without any coordination ; made no voluntary move- ments ; had his eyes open with the pupils dilated without any reaction

53
to light; evidenced no palpable pulse; and had a few chest sounds

which were thought to be heart beats."^ On the basis of these findings, Dr. Carrico concluded that President Kennedy was still alive. ^^® Dr. Carrico noted two wounds : a small bullet wound in the front

lower neck, and an extensive wound in the President's head where a

sizable portion of the skull was missing.^^^ He observed shredded

brain tissue and "considerable slow oozing" from the latter wound,

followed by "more profuse bleeding" after some circulation was established.^^^ Dr. Carrico felt the President's back and determined that

there was no large wound there which would be an immediate threat

to life.^^9 Observing the serious problems presented by the head

wound and inadequate respiration. Dr. Carrico directed his attention

to improving the President's breathing.^oo He noted contusions, hematoma to the right of the larynx, which was deviated slightly to the

left, and also ragged tissue which indicated a tracheal injury.^^i Dr.

Carrico inserted a cuffed endotracheal tube past the injury, inflated

the cuff, and connected it to a Bennett machine to assist in

respiration.2°2

At that point, direction of the President's treatment was undertaken

by Dr. Malcolm O. Perry, who arrived at trauma room 1 a few

moments after the President.^^s Dr. Perry noted the President's back

brace as he felt for a femoral pulse, which he did not find.^^* Observing that an effective airway had to be established if treatment was

to be effective, Dr. Perry performed a tracheotomy, which required

3 to 5 minutes.2°^ While Dr. Perry was performing the tracheotomy,

Drs. Carrico and Eonald Jones made cutdowns on the President's right

leg and left arm, respectively, to infuse blood and fluids into the cir- culatory system.2^® Dr. Carrico treated the President's known adrenal insufficiency by administering hydrocortisone.^^^ Dr. Eobert N.

McClelland entered at that point and assisted Dr. Perry with the

tracheotomy.2o«

Dr. Fouad Bashour, chief of cardiology. Dr. M. T. Jenkins, chief

of anesthesiology, and Dr. A. H. Giesecke, Jr., then joined in the

effort to revive the President.^^^ When Dr. Perry noted free air and

blood in the President's chest cavity, he asked that chest tubes be

inserted to allow for drainage of blood and air. Drs. Paul C. Peters

and Charles K. Baxter initiated these procedures.^^^ As a result of

the infusion of liquids through the cutdowns, the cardiac massage,

and the airway, the doctors were able to maintain peripheral circulation as monitored at the neck (carotid) artery and at the wrist

(radial) pulse. A femoral pulse was also detected in the President's

leg.2^^ While these medical efforts were in progress, Dr. Clark noted some electrical activity on the cardiotachyscope attached to monitor

the President's heart responses.^^^ Dr. Clark, who most closely observed the head wound, described a large, gaping wound in the right rear part of the head, with substantial damage and exposure of brain

tissue, and a considerable loss of blood.^^^ Dr. Clark did not see any

other hole or wound on the President's head. According to Dr. Clark,

54
the small bullet hole on the right rear, of the President's head dis- covered during the subsequent autopsy "could have easily been hidden

in the blood and hair." ^i* In the absence of any neurological, muscular, or heart response,

the doctors concluded that efforts to revive the President were hopeless.^^^ This was verified by Admiral Burkley, the President's physician, who arrived at the hospital after emergency treatment was underway and concluded that "my direct services to him at that moment

would have interfered with the action of the team which was in progress." ^^^ At approximately 1 p.m., after last rites were administered

to the President by Father Oscar L. Huber, Dr. Clark pronounced the

President dead. He made the official' determination because the ulti- mate cause of death, the severe head injury, was within his sphere

of specialization.^^'^ The time was fixed at 1 p.m., as an approximation,

since it was impossible to determine the precise moment when life left the President.^^^ President Kennedy could have survived the

neck injury, but the head wound was fatal.^^^ From a medical viewpoint. President Kennedy was alive when he arrived at Parkland

Hospital ; the doctors observed that he had a heart beat and was making some respiratory efforts.^^^ But his condition was hopeless, and

the extraordinary efforts of the doctors to save him could not help

but to have been unavailing.

Since the Dallas doctors directed all their efforts to controlling the

massive bleeding caused by the head wound, and to reconstructing an airway to his lungs, the President remained on his back throughout

his medical treatment at Parkland.^^ When asked why he did not

turn the President over. Dr. Carrico testified as follows

:

A. This man was in obvious extreme distress and any more

thorough inspection would have involved several minutes—well,

several—considerable time which at this juncture was not available. A thorough inspection would have involved washing and

cleansing the back, and this is not practical in treating an acutely

injured patient. You have to determine which things, which are immediately life threatening and cope with them, before attempting to evaluate the full extent of the injuries.

Q. Did you ever have occasion to look at the President's back ? A. No, sir. Before—well, in trying to treat an acutely injured

patient, you have to establish an airway, adequate ventilation

and you have to establish adequate circulation. Before this was

accomplished the President's cardiac activity had ceased and

closed cardiac massage was instituted, which made it impossible

to inspect his back.

Q. Was any effort made to inspect the President's back after

he had expired ? A. No, sir. Q. And why was no effort made at that time to inspect his back ? A. I suppose nobody really had the heart to do it.^^ 55
Moreover, the Parkland doctors took no further action after the President had expired because they concluded that it was beyond the scope

of their permissible duties.^^^ Treatment of Governor Connally

While one medical team tried to revive President Kemiedy, a second

performed a series of operations on the bullet wounds sustained by

Governor Connally.^^^ Governor Connally was originally seen by Dr.

Carrico and Dr. Richard Dulany.^^ While Dr. Carrico went on to attend the President, Dr. Dulany stayed with the Governor and was

soon joined by several other doctors.^^" At approximately 12 : 45 p.m.. Dr. Robert Shaw, chief of thoracic surgery, arrived at trauma room 2, to take charge of the care of Governor Connally, whose major wound

fell within Dr. Shaw's area of specialization. ^^^ Governor Connally had a large sucking wound in the front of the

right chest w^hich caused extreme pain and difficulty in breathing.

Rubber tubes were inserted between the second and third ribs to reexpand the right lung, which had collapsed because of the opening

in the chest wall.^^s At 1 : 35 p.m., after Governor Connally had been

moved to the operating room. Dr. Shaw started the first operation

by cutting away the edges of the wound on the front of the Governor's chest and suturing the damaged lung and lacerated muscles."®

The elliptical wound in the Governor's back, located slightly to the

left of the Governor's right armpit approximately five-eighths inch

(a centimeter and a half) in its greatest diameter, was treated by cut- ting away the damaged skin and suturing the back muscle and skin.^^" This operation was concluded at 3 : 20 p.m.^^^

Two additional operations were performed on Governor Connally

for wounds wliich he had not realized he had sustained until he re- gained consciousness the following day.^^^ From approximately 4 p.m.

to 4 :50 p.m. on November 22, Dr. Charles F. Gregory, chief of orthopedic surgery, operated on the wounds of Governor Connally's right

wrist, assisted by Drs. William Osborne and John Parker.^^ The

wound on the back of the wrist was left partially open for draining,

and the wound on the palm side was enlarged, cleansed, and closed. The fracture was set, and a cast was applied with some traction utilized.^^* Wliile the second operation was in progress. Dr. George T.

Shires, assisted by Drs. Robert McClelland, Charles Baxter, and Ralph

Don Patman, treated the gunshot wound in the left thigh.^^ This

punctuate missile wound, about two-fifths inch in diameter (1 centimeter) and located approximately 5 inches above the left knee, was

cleansed and closed with sutures; but a small metallic fragment re- mained in the Governor's leg.^^^

Vice President Johnson at Parkland

As President Kennedy and Governor Connally were being removed

from the limousine onto stretchers, a protective circle of Secret Service agents surrounded Vice President and Mrs. Johnson and escorted

56
them into Parkland Hospital through the emergency entrance.^^^ The

agents moved a nurse and patient out of a nearby room, lowered the

shades, and took emergency security measures to protect the Vice

President.^^^ Two men from the President's followup car w^ere detailed to help protect the Vice President. An agent was stationed

at the entrance to stop anyone who was not a member of the Presidential party. U.S. Eepresentatives Henry B. Gonzalez, Jack Brooks,

Homer Thornberry, and Albert Thomas joined Clifton C. Carter and

the group of special agents protecting the Vice President.^^^ On one

occasion Mrs. Johnson, accompanied by two Secret Service agents,

left the room to see Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Connally.^*^

Concern that the Vice President might also be a target for assassination prompted the Secret Service agents to urge him to leave the

hospital and return to Washington immediately.^^^ The Vice President decided to wait until he received definitive word of the President's

condition.2*^ At approximately 1 :20 p.m.. Vice President Johnson was notified by O'Donnell that President Kennedy was dead.-*^ Special Agent Youngblood learned from Mrs. Jolinson the location of her

two daughters and made arrangements through Secret Service

headquarters in Washington to provide them with protection

immediately.^**

When consulted by the Vice President, O'Donnell advised him to go

to the airfield immediately and return to Washington.^*^ It was decided that the Vice President should return on the Presidential plane

rather than on the Vice-Presidential plane because it had better communication equipment.2*^ The Vice President conferred with "White

House Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff and decided that

there would be no release of the news of the President's death until the

Vice President had left the hospital.^*^ When told that Mrs. Kennedy refused to leave without the President's body, the Vice President

said that he would not leave Dallas without her.^*^ On the recommendation of the Secret Service agents. Vice President Johnson decided to board the Presidential airplane. Air Force One, and wait for Mrs.

Kennedy and the President's body.^*®

Secret Service Emergency Security Arrangements

Immediately after President Kennedy's stretcher was wheeled into

trauma room 1, Secret Service agents took positions at the door of the

small emergency room. A nurse was asked to identify hospital per- sonnel and to tell everyone, except necessary medical staff members, to leave the emergency room. Other Secret Service agents posted themselves in the corridors and other areas near the emergency room. Special Agent Lawson made certain that the Dallas police kept the public

and press away from the immediate area of the hospital.^ Agents

Kellerman and Hill telephoned the head of the White House detail,

Gerald A. Behn, to advise him of the assassination. The telephone

line to Washington was kept open throughout the remainder of the

stay at the hospital.^^^

57

730-900 0-64—

6
Secret Service agents stationed at later stops on the President's

itineraiy of Xovember 22 were redeployed. Men at the Trade Mart

were driven to Parkland Hospital in Dallas police cars.^^^ The Secret

Service group awaiting the President in Austin were instructed to re- turn to Washington.^^ Meanwhile, the Secret Service agents in

charge of security at Love Field started to make arrangements for

departure. As soon as one of the agents learned of the shooting, he

asked the officer in charge of the police detail at the airport to institute

strict security measures for the Presidential aircraft, the airport ter- minal, and the surrounding area. The police were cautioned to pre- vent picture takmg. Secret Service agents working with police

cleared the areas adjacent to the aircraft, including warehouses,

other terminal buildings and the neighboring parking lots, of all people.^^* The agents decided not to shift the Presidential aircraft to the far side of the airport because the original landing area was secure and a move would require new measures.^°^

When security arrangements at the airport were complete, the

Secret Service made the necessary arrangements for the Vice President

to leave the hospital. Unmarked police cars took the Vice President

and Mrs. Jolinson from Parkland Hospital to Love Field. Qiief

Curiy drove one automobile occupied by Vice President Jolinson, U.S.

Representatives Tliomas and Thomberry, and Special Agent Youngblood. In another car Mi^. Jolinson was driven to the airport ac- companied by Secret Seiwice agents and Represent ative Brooks.

Motorcycle policemen who escorted the automobiles were requested by

the Vice President and Agent Yomigblood not to use sirens. During

the drive Vice President Jolinson, at Youngblood's instruction, kept

below window level.^® Removal of the President's Body

Wliile the team of doctoi^ at Parkland Hospital tried desperately to save the life of President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy alternated between

watching them and waiting outside.-^" After the President was pronounced dead, O'Donnell tried to persuade ]Mrs. Kennedy to leave the

area, but she refused. She said that she intended to stay with her

husband.^^^ A casket was obtained and the President's body was pre- pared for renioval.259 Before the body could be taken from the hospital, two Dallas officials infomied members of the President's staff that the body could not be removed fi^om the city until an autopsy was

performed. Despite the protests of these officials, the casket was

wheeled out of the hospital, placed in an ambulance, and transported to the airport shortly after 2 p.m.^° At approximately 2 :15 p.m. the

casket was loaded, with some difficulty because of the narrow airplane

door, onto the rear of the Presidential plane where seats had been

removed to make room.^^^ Concerned that the local officials might

try to prevent the plane's departure. O'Donnell asked that the pilot

take off immediately. He was informed that takeoff would be delayed until Vice President Jolmson was sworn in.-^- 58
THE END OF THE TRIP

Swearing in of the New President

From the Presidential airplane, the Vice President telephoned Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who advised that Mr. Jolinson

take the Presidential oath of office before the plane left Dallas.^^^ Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes hastened to the plane to administer

the oath.26* Members of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential

parties filled the central compartment of the plane to witness the

swearing in. At 2:38 p.m., c.s.t., Lyndon Baines Johnson took the

oath of office as the 36th President of the United States.^^^ Mrs.

Kennedy and Mrs. Johnson stood at the side of the new President as he took the oath of office. ^^^ Nine minutes later, the Presidential air- plane departed for Washington, D.C.^^^

Return to Washington, D.C.

On the return flight, Mrs. Kennedy sat with David Powers, Kenneth O'Donnell, and Lawrence O'Brien.^^^ At 5 :58 p.m., e.s.t.. Air

Force One landed at Andrews AFB, where President Kemiedy had begun his last trip only 31 hours before.^^^ Detailed security arrangements had been made by radio from the President's plane on the

return flight.^^^ The public had been excluded from the base, and

only Government officials and the press were permitted near the landing area. Upon arrival, President Johnson made a brief statement

over television and radio. President and Mrs. Johnson were flown

by helicopter to the White House, from where Mrs. Johnson was

driven to her residence under Secret Service escort. The President

then walked to the Executive Office Building, where he worked until

9 p.m.27i

The Autopsy

Given a choice between the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., and the Army's Walter Reed Hospital, Mrs. Kennedy

chose the hospital in Bethesda for the autopsy because the President had served in the Na^^y.^^^ Mrs. Kennedy and the Attorney General, with three Secret Service agents, accompanied President Kennedy's body on the 45 -minute automobile trip from Andrews AFB

to the Hospital.2^^ On the iTth floor of the Hospital, Mrs. Kennedy

and the Attorney General joined other members of the Kennedy family

to await the conclusion of the autopsy.^^* Mrs. Kennedy was guarded

by Secret Service agents in quarters assigned to her in the naval hospital.2^^ The Secret Service established a commimication system with

the White House and screened all telephone calls and visitors.^"^^ The hospital received the President's body for autopsy at approximately 7:35 p.m.2^^ X-rays and photographs were taken preliminarily and the pathological examination began at about 8 p.m.^^^

The autopsy report noted that President Kennedy was 46 years of

69
age, 7214 inches tall, weighed 170 pounds, had blue eyes and

reddish-brown hair. The body was muscular and well developed

with no gross skeletal abnormalities except for those caused by the

gunshot wounds. Under "Pathological Diagnosis" the cause of

death was set forth as "Gunshot wound, head." ^^^

( See app. IX.

)

The autopsy examination revealed two wounds in the President's

head. One wound, approximately one-fourth of an inch by five- eighths of an inch (6 by 15 millimeters), was located about an inch

(2.5 centimeters) to the right and slightly above the large bony protrusion (external occipital protuberance) which juts out at the center of the lower part of the back of the skull. The second head wound

measured approximately 5 inches (13 centimeters) in its greatest di- ameter, but it was difficult to measure accurately because multiple

crisscross fractures radiated from the large defect.^^° During the au- topsy examination. Federal agents brought the surgeons three pieces

of bone recovered from Elm Street and the Presidential automobile.

When put together, these fragments accounted for approximately

three-quarters of the missing portion of the skull.^^^ The surgeons

observed, through X-ray analysis, 30 or 40 tiny dustlike fragments of

metal running in a line from the wound in the rear of the President's

head toward the front part of the skull, with a sizable metal fragment

lying just above the right eye.^^^ From this head wound two small

irregularly shaped fragments of metal were recovered and turned over

to the FBI.2«3

The autopsy also disclosed a wound near the base of the back of

President Kennedy's neck slightly to the right of his spine. The

doctors traced the course of the bullet through the body and, as information was received from Parkland Hospital, concluded that the

bullet had emerged from the front portion of the President's neck that

had been cut away by the tracheotomy at Parkland.^^* The nature

and characteristics of this neck wound and the two head wounds are

discussed fully in the next chapter.

After the autopsy was concluded at approximately 11 p.m., the

President's body was prepared for burial. This was finished at approximately 4 a.m.^^^ Shortly thereafter, the President's wife, family

and aides left Bethesda Naval Hospital.^^® The President's body was

taken to the East Room of the White House where it was placed under

ceremonial military guard.

60
CHAPTER III

The Shots From the Texas School

Book Depository

IN THIS chapter the Commission analyzes the evidence and sets forth its conclusions concerning the source, effect, number and

timing of the shots that killed President Kennedy and wounded

Governor Connally. In that connection the Commission has evaluated (1) the testimony of eyewitnesses present at the scene of the

assassination; (2) the damage to the Presidential limousine; (3) the

examination by qualified experts of the rifle and cartridge cases found

on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository and the bullet

fragments found in the Presidential limousine and at Parkland Hospital; (4) the wounds suffered by President Kennedy and Governor

Connally; (5) wound ballistics tests; (6) the examination by qualified

experts of the clothing worn by President Kennedy and Governor

Connally; and (7) motion-picture films and still photographs taken

at the time of the assassination.

THE WITNESSES

As reflected in the previous chapter, passengers in the first few cars of the motorcade had the impression that the shots came from the rear and from the right, the general direction of the Texas School Book

Depository Building, although none of these passengers saw anyone

fire the shots. Some spectators at Houston and Elm Streets, however, did see a rifle being fired in the direction of the President's car from the easternmost window of the sixth floor on the south side of the

building. Other witnesses saw a rifle in this window immediately

after the assassination. Three employees of the Depository, observing

the parade from the fifth floor, heard the shots fired from the floor immediately above them. No credible evidence suggests that the

shots were fired from the railroad bridge over the Triple Underpass,

the nearby railroad yards or any place other than the Texas School

Book Depository Building.

61
:^=Z

^

Commission Exhibit No. 477

Position of Howard L. Brennao on November 22, 1963. (Photograph taken on March 20, 1964, and marked by Brennan during his testimony to show the window (A) in which he saw a man with a rifle, and the window (B) on the fifth floor in which he saw people watching the motorcade.)

62
Near the Depository

Eyewitnesses testified that they saw a man fire a weapon from the

sixth-floor window. Howard L. Brennan, a 45 -year-old steamfitter,

watched the motorcade from a concrete retaining wall at the southwest comer of Elm and Houston, where he had a clear view of the south

side of the Depository Building.^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 477,

p. 62.) He was approximately 107 feet from the Depository entrance

and 120 feet from the southeast corner window of the sixth fioor.^ Brennan's presence and vantage point are corroborated by a motion

picture of the motorcade taken by amateur photographer Abraham

Zapruder, which shows Brennan, wearing gray khaki work clothes and

a gray work helmet, seated on the retaining wall.^ Brennan later

identified himself in the Zapruder movie.* While waiting about 7

minutes for the President to arrive, he observed the crowd on the

street and the people at the windows of the Depository Building.^

He noticed a man at the southeast corner window of the sixth floor,

and observed him leave the window "a couple of times." ® Brennan watched the President's car as it turned the comer at Houston and Elm and moved down the incline toward the Triple

Underpass. Soon after the President's car passed, he heard an

explosion like the backfire of a motorcycle.^ Brennan recalled

:

Well, then something, just right after this explosion, made me

think that it was a firecracker being thrown from the Texas Book

Store. And I glanced up. And this man that I saw previous was aiming for his last shot.

Well, as it appeared to me he was standing up and resting

against the left window sill, with gun shouldered to his right

shoulder, holding the gun with his left hand and taking positive

aim and fired his last shot. As I calculate a couple of seconds.

He drew the gun back from the window as though he was drawing

it back to his side and maybe paused for another second as though

to assure hisself that he hit his mark, and then he disappeared.^

Brennan stated that he saw 70 to 85 percent of the gun when it was

fired and the body of the man from the waist up.® The rifle was aimed

southwesterly down Elm Street toward the underpass.^° Brennan

saw the man fire one shot and he remembered hearing a total of only

two shots. When questioned about the number of shots, Brennan

testified

:

I don't know what made me think that there was firecrackers

throwed out of the Book Store unless I did hear the second shot,

because I positively thought the first shot was a backfire, and

subconsciously I must have heard a second shot, .but I do not

recall it. I could not swear to it.^^ 63
Brennan quickly reported his observations to police officers.^^ Brennan's description of the man he saw is discussed in the next chapter.

Amos Lee Euins, a 15-year-old ninth grade student, stated that he was facing the Depository as the motorcade turned the corner at Elm

and Houston. He recalled

:

Then I was standing here, and as the motorcade turned the

corner, I was facing, looking dead at the building. And so I

seen this pipe thing sticking out the window. I wasn't paying

too much attention to it. Then when the first shot was fired, I

started looking around, thinking it was a backfire. Everybody

else started looking around. Then I looked up at the window,

and he shot again.^^

After witnessing the first shots, Euins hid behind a fountain

bench and saw the man shoot again from the window in the southeast corner of the Depository's sixth floor.^^ According to Euins, the man

had one hand on the barrel and the other on the trigger. Euins believed that there were four shots.^^ Immediately after the assassination, he reported his observations to Sgt. D. V. Harkness of the

Dallas Police Department and also to James Underwood of station

KRLD-TV of Dallas.^« Sergeant Harkness testified that Euins told

him that the shots came from the last window of the floor "under the

ledge" on the side of the building they were facing.^^ Based on Euins'

statements, Harkness radioed to headquarters at 12 :36 p.m. that

"I have a witness that says that it came from the fifth floor of the

Texas Book Depository Store." ^^ Euins accurately described the

sixth floor as the floor "under the ledge." Harkness testified that the

error in the radio message was due to his own "hasty count of the

floors." ^® Other witnesses saw a rifle in the window after the shots were fired. Robert H. Jackson, staff photographer, Dallas Times Herald, was

in a press car in the Presidential motorcade, eight or nine cars from

the front. On Houston Street about halfway between Main and Elm,

Jackson heard the first shot.^° As someone in the car commented that

it sounded like a firecracker, Jackson heard two more shots.^^ He

testified

:

Then we realized or we thought that it was gunfire, and then

we could not at that point see the President's car. We were

still moving slowly, and after the third shot the second two shots

seemed much closer together than the first shot, than they were

to the first shot. Then after the last shot, I guess all of us were

just looking all around and I just looked straight up ahead of

me which would have been looking at the School Book Depository

and I noticed two Negro men in a window straining to see directly

above them, and my eyes followed right on up to the window

above them and I saw the rifle or what looked like a rifle approximately half of the weapon, I guess I saw, and just as I looked

64
at it, it was drawn fairly slowly back into the building, and I saw no one in the window with it. I didn't even see a form in the window.^^

In the car with Jackson were James Underwood, television station

KRLD-TV; Thomas Dillard, chief photographer, Dallas Morning

News; Malcolm O. Couch and James Darnell, television newsreel cameramen. Dillard, Underwood, and the driver were in the front

seat. Couch and Darnell were sitting on top of the back seat of the

convertible with Jackson. Dillard, Couch, and Underwood con- firmed that Jackson spontaneously exclaimed that he saw a rifle in

the window.23 According to Dillard, at the time the shots were fired

he and his fellow passengers "had an absolutely perfect view of the

School Depository from our position in the open car." ^^ Dillard

immediately took two pictures of the building : one of the east twothirds of the south side and the other of the southeast corner, particularly the fifth- and sixth-floor windows.^^ These pictures show three

Negro men in windows on the fifth floor and the partially open

window on the sixth floor directly above them. (See Dillard Exhibits C and D, pp. 66-67.) Couch also saw the rifle in the window,

and testified: And after the third shot. Bob Jackson, who was, as I recall, on my right, yelled something like, "Look up in the window!

There's the rifle!" And I remember glancing up to a window on the far right,

which at the time impressed me as the sixth or seventh floor,

and seeing about a foot of a rifle being—^the barrel brought into

the window.^®

Couch testified he saw people standing in other windows on the third

or fourth floor m the middle of the south side, one of them being a Negro in a white T-shirit leaning out to look up at the windows above

him."

Mayor and Mrs. Earle Cabell rode in the motorcade immediately

behind the Vice-Presidential foUowup car.^^ Mrs. Cabell was seated

in the back seat behind the driver and was facing U.S. Representative

Ray Roberts on her right as the car made the turn at Elm and Houston.

In this position Mrs. Cabell "was actually facing" the seven-story

Depository when the first shot rang out.^^ She "jerked" her head up

immediately and saw a "projection" in the first group of windows on

a floor which she described both as the sixth floor and the top floor.^** According to Mrs. Cabell, the object was "rather long looking," but she was unable to determine whether it was a mechanical object or a

person's arm.^^ She turned away from the window to tell her husband that the noise was a shot, and "just as I got the words out * * * the second two shots rang out." ^^ Mrs. Cabell did not look at the

sixth-floor window when the second and third shots were fired.^^ 65
DiLLARD Exhibit C

Enlargement of photograph taken by Thomas C. Dillard on November 22, 1963.

66
Dn.T.ARD Exhibit D

Photograph taken by Thomas C. Dillard on November 22, 1963.

67
James N. Crawford and Mary Ann Mitchell, two deputy district

clerks for Dallas County, watched the motorcade at the southeast corner of Elm and Houston. After the President's car turned the

comer, Crawford heard a loud report which he thought was backfire

coming from the direction of the Triple Underpass.^* He heard a second shot seconds later, followed quickly by a third. At the third

shot, he looked up and saw a "movement" in the far east corner

of the sixth floor of the Depository, the only open window on that

floor.^^ He told Miss Mitchell "that if those were shots they came

from that window." When asked to describe the movement more

exactly, he said,

* * * I would say that it was a profile, somewhat from the

waist up, but it was a very quick movement and rather indistinct

and it was very light colored. * * *

When I saw it, I automatically in my mind came to the conclusion

that it was a person having moved out of the window. * * * se He could not state whether the person was a man or a woman." Miss

Mitchell confirmed that after the third shot Crawford told her, "Those

shots came from that building." ^^ She saw Crawford pointing at a window but was not sure at which window he was pointing.^^

On the Fifth Floor

Three Depository employees shown in the picture taken by Dillard were on the fifth floor of the building when the shots were fired:

James Jarman, Jr., age 34, a wrapper in the shipping department;

Bonnie Ray Williams, age 20, a warehouseman temporarily assigned

to laying a plywood floor on the sixth floor ; and Harold Norman, age

26, an "order filler." Norman and Jarman decided to watch the

parade during the lunch hour from the fifth-floor windows.*^ From

the ground floor they took the west elevator, which operates with pushbutton controls, to the fifth floor.*^ Meanwhile, Williams had gone up

to the sixth floor where he had been working and ate liis lunch on the

south side of that floor. Since he saw no one around when he finished

his lunch, he started down on the east elevator, looking for company.

He left behind his paper lunch sack, chicken bones and an empty

pop bottle.^2 'VV^illiams went down to the fifth floor, where he joined

Norman and Jarman at approximately 12 :20 p.m.*^

Harold Norman was in the fifth-floor window in the southeast

corner, directly under the window where witnesses saw the rifle. (See Commission Exhibit No. 485, p. 69.) He could see light

through the ceiling cracks between the fifth and sixth floors.** As

the motorcade went by, Norman thought that the President was

saluting with his right arm,

68
Commission Exhibit No. 485

Positions occupied by Depository employees on fifth floor on November 22, 1903.

69
* * * and I can't remember what the exact time was but I know

I heard a shot, and then after I heard the shot, well, it seems

as though the President, you know, slumped or something, and

then another shot and I believe Jarman or someone told me, he

said, "I believe someone is shooting at the President," and I think I made a statement "It is someone shooting at the President,

and I believe it came from up above us." Well, I couldn't see at all during the time but I know I heard

a third shot fired, and I could also hear something sounded like

the shell hulls hitting the floor and the ejecting of the rifle * * *.*® Williams said that he "really did not pay any attention" to the first shot

* * * because I did not know what was happening. The second

shot, it sounded like it was right in the building, the second and

third shot. And it sounded—it even shook the building, the side

we were on. Cement fell on my head.

Q. You say cement fell on your head ? A. Cement, gravel, dirt, or something, from the old building,

because it shook the windows and everything. Harold was sitting

next to me, and he said it came right from over our head.*^

Williams testified Norman said "I can even hear the shell being ejected

from the gun hitting the floor." ^^ When Jarman heard the first sound, he thought that it was either a backfire

* * * or an officer giving a salute to the President. And then

at that time I didn't, you know, think too much about it. * * *

Well, after the third shot was fired, I think I got up and I run

over to Harold Norman and Bonnie Eay Williams, and told them,

I said, I told them that it wasn't a backfire or anything, that

somebody was shooting at the President.^

Jarman testified that Norman said "that he thought the shots had come

from above us, and I noticed that Bonnie Ray had a few debris in his

head. It was sort of white stuff, or something." *® Jarman stated

that Norman said "that he was sure that the shot came from inside

the building because he had been used to guns and all that, and he

said it didn't sound like it was too far off anyway." ®° The three men

ran to the west side of the building, where they could look toward the

Triple Underpass to see what had happened to the motorcade.^^

After the men had gone to the window on the west side of the building, Jarman "got to thinking about all the debris on Bonnie Ray's

head" and said, "That shot probably did come from upstairs, up over

us." ^2 He testified that Norman said, "I know it did, because I could

70
hear the action of the bolt, and I could hear the cartridges drop on

the floor." ^^ After pausing for a few minutes, the three men ran

downstairs. Norman and Jarman ran out of the front entrance of the

building, where they saw Brennan, the construction worker who had

seen the man in the window firing the gun, talking to a police officer,

and they then reported their own experience.^*

On March 20, 1964, preceding their appearance before the Commission, these witnesses were interviewed in Dallas. At that time

members of the Commission's legal staff conducted an experiment.

Norman, Williams, and Jarman placed themselves at the windows of

the fifth floor as they had been on November 22. A Secret Service

agent operated the bolt of a rifle directly above them at the southeast corner window of the sixth floor. At the same time, three cartridge

shells were dropped to the floor at intervals of about 3 seconds. According to Norman, the noise outside was less on the day of the assassi- nation than on the day of the test.^^ He testified, "Well, I heard the same sound, the sound similar. I heard three something that he

dropped on the floor and then I could hear the rifle or whatever he

had up there." ^^ The experiment with the shells and rifle was re- peated for members of the Commission on May 9, 1964, on June 7, 1964,

and again on September 6, 1964. All seven of the Commissioners

clearly heard the shells drop to the floor. At the Triple Underpass

In contrast to the testimony of the witnesses who heard and observed

shots fired from the Depository, the Commission's investigation has

disclosed no credible evidence that any shots were fired from anywhere

else. When the shots were fired, many people near the Depository

believed that the shots came from the railroad bridge over the Triple

Underpass or from the area to the west of the Depository.^^ In the

hectic moments after the assassination, many spectators ran in the

general direction of the Triple Underpass or the railroad yards northwest of the building. Some were running toward the place from

which the sound of the rifle fire appeared to come, others were fleeing

the scene of the shooting. ^^ None of these people saw anyone with a

rifle, and the Commission's inquiry has yielded no evidence that shots were fired from the bridge over the Triple Underpass or from the

railroad yards.

On the day of the motorcade. Patrolman J. W. Foster stood on the

east side of the railroad bridge over the Triple Underpass and

Patrolman J. C. White stood on the west side.^^ Patrolman Joe E.

Murphy was standing over Elm Street on the Stemmons Freeway

overpass, we^t of the railroad bridge farther away from the Depository.^° Two other officers were stationed on Stemmons Freeway

to control traffic as the motorcade entered the Freeway.®^ Under the

advance preparations worked out between the Secret Service and the

Dallas Police Department, the policemen were mider instructions to keep "unauthorized" people away from these locations.®^ When the

71
motorcade reached the intersection of Elm and Houston Streets, there were no spectators on Stemmons Freeway where Patrolman Murphy

was stationed.^^ Patrolman Foster estimated that there were 10 or

11 people on the railroad bridge where he was assigned ; ^* another

witness testified that there were between 14 and 18 people there as the motorcade came into view.^^ Investigation has disclosed 15 per- sons who were on the railroad bridge at this time, including 2 policemen, 2 employees of the Texas-Louisiana Freight Bureau and 11 employees of the Union Terminal Co.^^ In the absence of any explicit

definition of "unauthorized" persons, the policemen permitted these

employees to remain on the railroad bridge to watch the motorcade.

(See chapter VIII, pp. 446^47.) At the request of the policemen,

S. M. Holland, signal supervisor for Union Terminal Co., came to the

railroad bridge at about 11 :45 a.m. and remained to identify those

persons who were railroad employees.^^ In addition, Patrolman

Foster checked credentials to determine if persons seeking access to the bridge were railroad employees.^^ Persons who were not railroad

employees were ordered away, including one news photographer who

wished only to take a picture of the motorcade.^^

Another employee of the Union Terminal Co., Lee E. Bowers, Jr., was at work in a railroad tower about 14 feet above the tracks to the

north of the railroad bridge and northwest of the corner of Elm and

Houston, approximately 50 yards from the back of the Depository.'^"

(See Commission Exhibit No. 2218, p. 73.) From the tower he could

view people moving in the railroad yards and at the rear of the

Depository. According to Bowers, "Since approximately 10 o'clock

in the morning traffic had been cut off into the area so that anyone

moving around could adtually be observed." ^^ During the 20 minutes

prior to the arrival of the motorcade, Bowers noticed three auto- mobiles which entered his immediate area ; two left without discharging any passengers and the third was apparently on its way out when

last observed by Bowers.^^ Bowers observed only three or four people

in the general area, as well as a few bystanders on the railroad bridge

over the Triple Underpass."

As the motorcade proceeded toward the Triple Underpass, the spec- tators were clustered together along the east concrete wall of the

railroad bridge facing the oncoming procession.'^* (See Commission

Exhibit No. 2215, p. 75.) Patrolman Foster stood immediately behind them and could observe all of them.'^^ Secret Service agents in

the lead car of the motorcade observed the bystanders and the police

officer on the bridge.'^^ Special Agent Winston G. Lawson motioned

through the windshield in an unsuccessful attempt to instruct Patrolman Foster to move the people away from their position directly over

the path of the motorcade.'^ Some distance away, on the Stemmons

Freeway overpass above Elm Street, Patrolman Murphy also had the

group on the railroad bridge within view.^^ When he heard the shots,

Foster rushed to the wall of the railroad bridge over the Triple

Underpass and looked toward the street.^^ After the third shot,

Foster ran toward the Depository and shortly thereafter informed

72
VIEW FROM NORTH TOWER OF UNION TERMINAL

COMPANY, DALLAS, TEXAS

Commission Exhibit 21l8 ^ TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK

DEPOSITORY

PACiFiC

I 1

Commission Exhibit No. 2118

730-900 0-64—

7

73
VIEW FROM TRIPLE UNDERPASS, DALLAS, TEXAS

" Commission Esdiibit 22lk

Commission Exhibit No. 2214

74
Commission Exhibit No. 2215

75
Inspector Herbert J. Sawyer of the Dallas Police Department that

he thought the shots came from the vicinity of Elm and Houston.^°

Other witnesses on the railroad bridge had varying views concern- ing the source and number of the shots. Austin L. Miller, employed

by the Texas-Louisiana Freight Bureau, heard three shots and thought

that they came from the area of the Presidential limousine itself.^^ One of his coworkers, Royce G. Skelton, thought he heard four shots,

but could not tell their exact source.*^ Frank E. Reilly, an electri- cian at Union Terminal, heard three shots which seemed to come from

the trees "On the north side of Elm Street at the corner up there." *^ According to S. M. Holland, there were four shots which sounded as though they came from the trees on the north side of Elm Street where

he saw a puff of smoke.^* Thomas J. Murphy, a mail foreman at Union Terminal Co., heard two shots and said that they came from

a spot just west of the Depository.^^ In the railroad tower, Bowers

heard three shots, which sounded as though they came either from

the Depository Building or near the mouth of the Triple Underpass.

Prior to November 22, 1963, Bowers had noted the similarity of the

sounds coming from the vicinity of the Depository and those from

the Triple Underpass, which he attributed to "a reverberation which

takes place from either location." ^® Immediately after the shots were fired, neither the policemen nor

the spectators on the railroad bridge over the Triple Underpass saw

anything suspicious on the bridge in their vicinity. (See Commission Exhibit No. 2214, p. 74.) No one saw anyone with a rifle. As he ran around through the railroad yards to the Depository,

Patrolman Foster saw no suspicious activity.^^ The same was true of the other bystanders, many of whom made an effort after the

shooting to observe any unusual activity. Holland, for example,

immediately after the shots, ran off the overpass to see if there was anyone behind the picket fence on the north side of Elm Street^ but he did not see anyone among the parked cars.®® Miller did not see anyone running across the railroad tracks or on the plaza west of the

Depository.®^ Bowers and others saw a motorcycle officer dismount

hurriedly and come running up the incline on the north side of Elm

Street.^° The motorcycle officer, Clyde A. Haygood, saw no one running from the railroad yards.^^

THE PRESIDENTIAL AUTOMOBILE

After the Presidential car was returned to Washington on November 22, 1963, Secret Service agents found two bullet fragments in the

front seat. One fragment, found on the seat beside the driver, weighed

44.6 grains and consisted of the nose portion of a bullet.^^ The other

fragment, found along the right side of the front seat, weighed 21.0

grains and consisted of the base portion of a bullet.®^ During the

course of an examination on November 23, agents of the Federal

Bureau of Investigation found three small lead particles, weighing

76
between seven-tenths and nine-tenths of a grain each, on the rug

underneath the left jump seat which had been occupied by Mrs.

Connally.^* During this examination, the Bureau agents noted a small residue of lead on the inside surface of the laminated windshield

and a very small pattern of cracks on the outer layer of the windshield immediately behind the lead residue.®^ There was a minute

particle of glass missing from the outside surface, but no penetration.

The inside layer of glass was not broken.^^ The agents also observed a dent in the strip of chrome across the top of the windshield, located

to the left of the rear view mirror support.^^

The lead residue on the inside of the windshield was compared

under spectrographic analysis by FBI experts with the bullet fragments found on and alongside the front seat and with the fragments

under the left jump seat. It was also compared with bullet fragments

found at Parkland Hospital. All these bullet fragments were found

to be similar in metallic composition, but it was not possible to determine whether two or more of the fragments came from the same

bullet.^^ It is possible for the fragments from the front seat to have

been a part of the same bullet as the three fragments found near the

left jump seat,^^ since a whole bullet of this type weighs 160-161

grains.^°* (See app. X, pp. 555-558.)

The physical characteristics of the windshield after the assassination demonstrate that the windshield was struck on the inside surface.

The windshield is composed of two layers of glass with a very thin

layer of plastic in the middle "which bonds them together in the form of

safety glass." ^°^ The windshield was extracted from the automobile

and was examined during a Commission hearing.^^^ ( See Commission

Exhibit No. 350, p. 78.) According to Robert A. Frazier, FBI

firearms expert, the fact that cracks were present on the outer layer of

glass showed that the glass had been struck from the inside. He

testified that the windshield

could not have been struck on the outside surface because of

the manner in which the glass broke and further because of the

lead residue on the inside surface. The cracks appear in the

outer layer of the glass because the glass is bent outward at the

time of impact which stretches the outer layer of the glass to the point where these small radial or wagon spoke, wagon wheel

spoke-type cracks appear on the outer surface.^^^ Although there is some uncertainty whether the dent in the chrome on

the windshield was present prior to the assassination,^^* Frazier

testified that the dent "had been caused by some projectile which struck

the chrome on the inside surface." ^^^ If it was caused by a shot during

the assassination, Frazier stated that it would not have been caused

by a bullet traveling at full velocity, but rather by a fragment traveling

at "fairly high velocity." "® It could have been caused by either

fragment found in the front seat of the limousine.^^^

77
,Gsion Exhibit I^o. 350

Commission Exhibit No. 350

Windshield of Presidential limousine.

78
EXPERT EXAMINATION OF RIFLE, CARTRIDGE CASES,

AND BULLET FRAGMENTS

On the sixth, floor of the Depository Building, the Dallas police

found three spent cartridges and a rifle. A nearly whole bullet was

discovered on the stretcher used to carry Governor Connally at Parkland Hospital. As described in the preceding section, five bullet

fragments were found in the President's limousine. The cartridge

cases, the nearly whole bullet and the bullet fragments were all subjected to firearms identification analysis by qualified experts. It was

the unanimous opinion of the experts that the nearly whole bullet, the

two largest bullet fragments and the three cartridge cases were defi- nitely fired in the rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository

Building to the exclusion of all other weapons.

Discovery of Cartridge Cases and Rifle

Shortly after the assassination, police officers arrived at the Depository Building and began a search for the assassin and evidence.^^^

Around 1 p.m. Deputy Sheriff Luke Mo,oney noticed a pile of cartons

in front of the window in the southeast comer of the sixth floor.^°^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 723, p. 80.) Searching that area he

found at approximately 1 :12 p.m. three empty cartridge cases on

the floor near the window.^^^ When he was notified of Mooney's

discovery, Capt. J. W. Fritz, chief of the homicide bureau of the

Dallas Police Department, issued instructions that nothing be moved or touched until technicians from the police crime laboratory could take

photographs and check for fingerprints.^^^ Mooney stood guard

to see that nothing was disturbed.^^^ A few minutes later, Lt. J. C.

Day of the Dallas Police Department arrived and took photographs

of the cartridge cases before anything had been moved.^^^

At 1 :22 p.m. Deputy Sheriff Eugene Boone and Deputy Constable

Seymour Weitzman found a bolt-action rifle with a telescopic sight

between two rows of boxes in the northwest corner near the staircase on the sixth floor.^^^ No one touched the weapon or otherwise dis- turbed the scene until Captain Fritz and Lieutenant Day arrived and

the weapon was photographed as it lay on the floor.^^^ After Lieutenant Day determined that there were no fingerprints on the knob

of the bolt and that the wooden stock was too rough to take fingerprints, he picked the rifle up by the stock and held it that way while

Captain Fritz opened the bolt and ejected a live round.^^^ Lieutenant

Day retained possession of the weapon and took it back to the police

department for examination.^^^ Neither Boone nor Weitzman handled

the rifle.i^« Discovery of Bullet at Parkland Hospital

* A nearly whole bullet was found on Governor Connally's stretcher

at Parkland Hospital after the assassination. After his arrival at the

hospital the Governor was brought into trauma room No. 2 on a79
^^^

Commission Exhibit No. 723

Shield of cartons around sixth floor southeast corner window.
stretcher, removed from the room on that stretcher a short time later,

and taken on an elevator to the second-floor operating room.^^^ On the

second floor he was transferred from the stretcher to an operating

table which was then moved into the operating room, and a hospital

attendant wheeled the empty stretcher into an elevator.^^^ Shortly

afterward, Darrell C. Tomlinson, the hospital's senior engineer, re- moved this stretcher from the elevator and placed it in the corridor on the ground floor, alongside another stretcher wholly unconnected

with the care of Governor Connally/^^ A few minutes later, he

bumped one of the stretchers against the wall and a bullet rolled

OUt.^22 Although Tomlinson was not certain whether the bullet came from

the Connally stretcher or the adjacent one, the Commission has con- cluded that the bullet came from the Governor's stretcher. That conclusion is buttressed by evidence which eliminated President Kennedy's stretcher as a source of the bullet. President Kennedy re- mained on the stretcher on which he was carried into the hospital

while the doctors tried to save his life.^^^ He was never removed from

the stretcher from the time he was taken into the emergency room

until his body was placed in a casket in that same room.^^^ After the

President's body was removed from that stretcher, the linen was taken

off and placed in a hamper and the stretcher was pushed into trauma room No. 2, a completely different location from the site where the

nearly whole bullet was found.^^^

Description of Rifle

The bolt-action, clip- fed rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository, described more fully in appendix X, is inscribed with various

markings, including "MADE ITALY," "CAL. 6.5," "1940" and the

number C2766.126 (g^^ Commission Exhibit Nos. 1303, 541(2) and

541(3), pp. 82-83.) These markings have been explained as follows:

"MADE ITALY" refers to its origin; "CAL. 6.6" refers to the rifle's caliber; "1940" refers to the year of manufacture; and the number

C2766 is the serial number. This rifle is the only one of its type bearing that serial number.^^^ After review of standard reference works

and the markings on the rifle, it was identified by the FBI as a 6.5- millimeter model 91/38 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle. ^^^ Experts from

the FBI made an independent determination of the caliber by inserting a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5-millimeter cartridge into the weapon

for fit, and by making a sulfur cast of the inside of the weapon's

barrel and measuring the cast with a micrometer/^^ From outward

appearance, the weapon would appear to be a 7.35-millimeter rifle, but

its mechanism had been rebarreled with a 6.5-millimeter barrel.^^° Constable Deputy Sheriff Weitzman, w^ho only saw the rifle at a glance

and did not handle it, thought the weapon looked like a 7.65 Mauser

bolt-action rifle.^^^ (See chapter V, p. 235.)

The rifle is 40.2 inches long and weighs 8 pounds.^^^ The minimum

length broken down is 34.8 inches, the length of the wooden stock.^'^ 81
Commission Exhibit No. 1303

82
CoOTnission Rxr. Commission Exhibits Nos. 541(2) and 541(3)

Photograph of markings on C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.

83
(See Commission Exhibit No. 1304, p. 132.) Attached to the weapon

is an inexpensive four-power telescopic sight, stamped "Optics Ordnance Inc./Hollywood California," and "Made in Japan." ^^^ The

weapon also bears a sling consisting of two leather straps. The sling

is not a standard rifle sling but appears to be a musical instrument

strap or a sling from a carrying case or camera bag.^^^

Expert Testimony

Four experts in the field of firearms identification analyzed the

nearly whole bullet, the two largest fragments and the three cartridge

cases to determine whether they had been fired from the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository. Two of

these experts testified before the Commission. One was Kobert A.

Frazier, a special agent of the FBI assigned to the FBI Laboratory

in Washington, D.C. Frazier has worked generally in the field of

firearms identification for 23 years, examining firearms of various

types for the purpose of identifying the caliber and other characteristics of the weapons and making comparisons of bullets and cartridge

cases for the purpose of determining whether or not they Avere fired

in a particular weapon.^^^ He estimated that he has made "in the

neighborhood of 50,000 to 60,000" firearms comparisons and has testi- fied in court on about 400 occasions.^^^ The second witness who testified on this subject was Joseph D. Nicol, superintendent of the bureau of

criminal identification and investigation for the State of Illinois. Nicol also has had long and substantial experience since 1941 in fire- arms identification, and estimated that he has made thousands of

bullet and cartridge case examinations.^^

In examining the bullet fragments and cartridge cases, these ex- perts applied the general principles accepted in the field of firearms

identification, which are discussed in more detail in appendix X at pages 547-553. In brief, a determination that a particular bullet or

cartridge case has been fired in a particular weapon is based upon

a comparison of the bullet or case under examination with one or more bullets or cases known to have been fired in that weapon.

When a bullet is fired in any given weapon, it is engraved with the

characteristics of the weapon. In addition to the rifling characteristics of the barrel which are common to all weapons of a given m,ake

and model, every weapon bears distinctive microscopic markings on

its barrel, firing pin and bolt face.^^^ These markings arise initially

during manufacture, since the action of the manufacturing tools

differs microscopically from weapon to weapon and since, in addition, the tools change microscopically while being used. As a weapon

is used further distinctive markings are introduced. Under microscopic examination a qualified expert may be able to determine

whether the markings on a bullet known to have been fired in a particular weapon and the markings on a suspect bullet are the same

and, therefore, whether both bullets were fired in the same weapon

84
to the exclusion of all other weapons. Sunilarly, firearms identification experts are able to compare the markings left upon the base of

cartridge cases and thereby determine whether both cartridges were

fired by the same w^eapon to the exclusion of all other weapons.

According to Frazier, such an identification "is made on the presence

of sufficient individual microscopic characteristics so that a very defi- nite pattern is formed and visualized on the two surfaces.'^ ^^^ Under

some circumstances, as where the bullet or cartridge case is seriously

mutilated, there are not sufficient individual characteristics to enable

the expert to make a firm identification.^*^ After making independent examinations, both Frazier and Nicol

positively identified the nearly whole bullet from the stretcher and

the two larger bullet fragments found in the Presidential limousine

as having been fired in the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found

in the Depository to the exclusion of all other weapons.^*^ Each of

the two bullet fragments had sufficient unmutilated area to provide

the basis for an identification.^*^ However, it was not possible to determine whether the two bullet fragments were from the same bullet or from two different bullets.^** With regard to the other bullet fragments discovered in the limousine and in the course of treating President Kennedy and Governor Connally, however, expert examination

could demonstrate only that the fragments were "similar in metallic

composition" to each other, to the two larger fragments and to the

nearl}^ whole buUet.^*^ After examination of the three cartridge cases found on the sixth floor of the Depository, Frazier and Nicol concluded

that they had been fired in the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle to the exclusion of all other weapons.^*^ Tavo other experts from the

Federal Bureau of Investigation, who made independent examinations

of the nearly whole bullet, bullet fragments and cartridge cases, reached the identical conclusions.^*^

THE BULLET WOUNDS

In considering the question of the source of the shots fired at President Kennedy and Governor Connally, the Commission has also evaluated the expert medical testimony of the doctors who observed the

wounds during the emergency treatment at Parkland Hospital and

during the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital. It paid particular

attention to any wound characteristics which would be of assistance

in "identifying a wound as the entrance or exit point of a missile.

Additional information regarding the source and nature of the in- juries was obtained by expert examination of the clothes worn by the

two men, particularly those worn by President Kennedy, and from

the results of special wound ballistics tests conducted at the Commission's request, using the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle wdth ammunition of the same type as that used and foimd on November 22,

1963.

85
The President's Head Wounds

' The detailed autopsy of President Kennedy performed on the night

of November 22 at the Bethesda Naval Hospital led the three examining pathologists to conclude that the smaller hole in the rear of the

President's skull was the point of entry and that the large opening on the right side of his head was the wound of exit.^^^ The smaller

hole on the back of the President's head measured one-fourth of an

inch by five-eighths of an inch (6 by 15 millimeters).^*^ The dimensions of that wound were consistent with having been caused by a 6.5-millimeter bullet fired from behind and above which struck at a tangent or an angle causing a 15-millimeter cut. The cut reflected a larger dimension of entry than the bullet's diameter of 6.5 millimeters,

since the missile, in effect, sliced along the skull for a fractional dis- tance until it entered.^^^ The dimension of 6 millimeters, somewhat

smaller than the diameter of a 6.5-millimeter bullet, was caused by

the elastic recoil of the skull which shrinks the size of an opening after a missile passes through it.^^^ Lt. Col. Pierre A. Finck, Chief of the Wound Ballistics Pathology

Branch of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, who has had

extensive experience with bullet womids, illustrated the characteristics which led to his conclusions about the head wound by a chart

prepared by him. This chart, based on Colonel Finck's studies of more than 400 cases, depicted the effect of a perforating missile wound

on the human skuU.^^^ When a bullet enters the skull (cranial vault)

at one point and exits at another, it causes a beveling or cratering

effect where the diameter of the hole is smaller on the impact side than on the exit side. Based on his observations of that beveling effect on the President's skull, Colonel Finck testified : "President Kennedy

was, in my opinion, shot from the rear. The bullet entered in the

back of the head and went out on the right side of his skull * * * he was shot from above and behind." ^^^ Comdr. James J. Humes, senior pathologist and director of

laboratories at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, who acted as chief

autopsy surgeon, concurred in Colonel Finck's analysis. He compared the beveling or coning effect to that caused by a BB shot

which strikes a pane of glass, causing a round or oval defect on the

side of the glass where the missile strikes and a belled-out or coned-out

surface on the opposite side of the glass.^^* Referring to the bullet

hole on the back of President Kennedy's head. Commander Humes

testified: "The wound on the inner table, however, was larger and

had what in the field of wound ballistics is described as a shelving or coning effect." ^^^ After studying the other hole in the President's

skull. Commander Humes stated ; "* * * we concluded that the large

defect to the upper right side of the skull, in fact, would represent

a wound of exit." ^^^ Those characteristics led Commander Humes

and Comdr. J. Thornton Boswell, chief of pathology at Bethesda

Naval Hospital, who assisted in the autopsy, to conclude that the bullet

86
penetrated the rear of the President's head and exited through a large wound on the right side of his head.^^^ Ballistics experiments (discussed more fully in app. X, pp. 585-586)

showed that the rifle and bullets identified above were capable of

producing the President's head wound. The Wound Ballistics Branch

of the U.S. Army laboratories at Edgewood Arsenal, Md., conducted an extensive series of experiments to test the effect of Western Cartridge Co. 6.5-millimeter bullets, the type found on Governor Connally's stretcher and in the Presidential limousine, fired from the

C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found in the Depository. The Edgewood Arsenal tests were performed under the immediate supervision

of Alfred G. Olivier, a doctor who had spent 7 years in wounds ballistics research for the U.S. Army.^^

One series of tests, performed on reconstructed inert human skulls,

demonstrated that the President's head wound could have been caused

by the rifle and bullets fired by the assassin from the sixth-floor

window. The results of this series were illustrated by the findings on

one skull which was struck at a point closely approximating the

wound of entry on President Kennedy's head. That bullet blew out

the right side of the reconstructed skull in a manner very similar to the head wound of the President.^^^ As a result of these tests. Dr.

Olivier concluded that a Western Cartridge Co. 6.5 bullet fired from

the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at a distance of 90 yards would

make the same type of wound as that found on the President's head.

Eeferring to the series of tests, Dr. Olivier testified

:

It disclosed that the type of head wounds that the President

received could be done by this type of bullet. This surprised

me very much, because this type of stable bullet I didn't think

would cause a massive head wound, I thought it would go

through making a small entrance and exit, but the bones of the

skull are enough to deform the end of this bullet causing it to expend a lot of energy and blowing out the side of the

skull or blowing out fragments of the skull.^^^ After examining the fragments of the bullet which struck the reconstructed skull. Dr. Olivier stated that

the recovered fragments were very similar to the ones recovered on the front seat and on the floor of the car. This, to me, indicates that those fragments did come from the

bullet that wounded the President in the head.^^^ The President's Neck Wounds

During the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital another bullet

wound was observed near the base of the back of President Kennedy's

neck slightly to the right of his spine which provides further enlightenment as to the source of the shots. The hole was located appr,oxi87
mately 5% inches (14 centimeters) from the tip of the right shoulder

joint and approximately the same distance below the tip of the right

mastoid process, the bony point immediately beliind the ear.^^^ ^\^q

womid was approximately one-fourth by one-seventh of an inch (7 by

4 millimeters), had clean edges, was sharply delineated, and had

margins similar in all respects to those of the entry wound in the

skuU.^^^ Commanders Humes and Boswell agreed with Colonel

Finck's testimony that this hole

* * * is a wound of entrance. * * * The basis for that conclusion is that this wound was relatively small with clean edges.

It was not a jagged wound, and that is what we see in wound of

entrance at a long range.^164 The autopsy examination further disclosed that, after entering the

President, the bullet passed between two large muscles, produced a contusion on the upper part of the pleural cavity (without penetrating

that cavity), bruised the top portion of the right lung and ripped the

windpipe (trachea) in its path through the President's neck.^^^ The

examining surgeons concluded that the wounds were caused by the

bullet rather than the tracheotomy performed at Parkland Hospital.

The nature of the bruises indicated that the President's heart and

limgs were functioning when the bruises were caused, whereas there was very little circulation in the President's body when incisions on

the President's chest were made to insert tubes during the tracheotQj^y 166 ^Q |3Qj-^g ^^3 struck by the bullet which passed through the

President's body.^^^ By projecting from a point of entry on the rear of the neck and proceeding at a slight downward angle through the

bruised interior portions, the doctors concluded that the bullet exited

from the front portion of the President's neck that had been cut away

by the tracheotomy.^^^ Concluding that a bullet passed through the President's neck, the

doctors at Bethesda Naval Hospital rejected a theory that the bullet

lodged in the large muscles in the back of his neck and fell out through

the point of entry when external heart massage was applied at Parkland Hospital. In the earlier stages of the autopsy, the surgeons w^ere unable to find a path into any large muscle in the back of the neck.

At that time they did not know that there had been a bullet hole in the

front of the President's neck when he arrived at Parkland Hospital

because the tracheotomy incision had completely eliminated that evi- dence.^^^ While the autopsy was being performed, surgeons learned

that a whole bullet had been found at Parkland Hospital on a stretcher

which, at that time, was thought to be the stretcher occupied by the

President. This led to speculation that the bullet might have penetrated a short distance into the back of the neck and then dropped out onto the stretcher as a result of the external heart massage.^^^

Further exploration during the autopsy disproved that theory. The

surgeons determined that the bullet had passed between two large strap

muscles and bruised them without leaving any channel, since the bullet
merely passed between them.^^^ Commander Hmnes, who believed

that a tracheotomy had been performed from his observations at the

autopsy, talked by telephone with Dr. Perry early on the morning of

November 23, and learned that his assmnption was correct and that

Dr. Perry had used the missile wound in the neck as the point to make

the incision.^^^ This confirmed the Bethesda surgeons' conclusion

that the bullet had exited from the front part of the neck.

The findings of the doctors who conducted the autopsy were consistent with the observations of the doctors who treated the President

at Parkland Hospital. Dr. Charles S. Carrico, a resident surgeon at Parkland, noted a small wound approximately one-fourth of an inch

in diameter (5 to 8 millimeters) in the lower third of the neck below the

Adam's apple.^^^ Dr. Malcolm O. Perry, who performed the tracheotomy, described the wound as approximately one-fifth of an inch in

diameter (5 millimeters) and exuding blood which partially hid edges

that were "neither cleancut, that is, punched out, nor were they very

ragged." ^^^ Dr. Carrico testified as follows

:

Q. Based on your observations on the neck wound alone did yout

have a sufficient basis to form an opinion as to whether it was an

entrance or an exit wound ? A. No, sir; we did not. Not having completely evaluated all the wounds, traced out the course of the bullets, this wound would

have been compatible with either entrance or exit wound depending upon the size, the velocity, the tissue structure and so forth.^^'^ The same response was made by Dr. Perry to a similar query

:

Q. Based on the appearance of the neck wound alone, could it have been either an entrance or an exit wound ? A. It could have been either.^^^ Then each doctor was asked to take into account the other known facts,

such as the autopsy findings, the approximate distance the bullet

traveled and tested muzzle velocity of the assassination weapon. With

these additional factors, the doctors commented on the wound on the

front of the President's neck as follows

:

Dr. Carrico. With those facts and the fact as I understand it no other bullet was found this would be, this was, I believe, was an

exit wound.^^^

Dr. Perry. A full jacketed bullet without deformation passing

through skin would leave a similar wound for an exit and entrance

wound and with the facts which you have made available and with

these assumptions, I believe that it was an exit wound.^^^

Other doctors at Parkland Hospital who observed the wound prior

to the tracheotomy agreed with the observations of Drs. Perry and

Carrico.^^^ The bullet wound in the neck could be seen for only a short

time, since Dr. Perry eliminated evidence of it when he performed

89

730-900 0-64—

8
the tracheotomy. He selected that spot since it was the point where

such an operation was customarily performed, and it was one of the

safest and easiest spots from which to reach the trachea. In addition,

there was possibly an imderlying wound to the muscles in the neck, the

carotid artery or the jugular vein, and Dr. Perry concluded that the

incision, therefore, had to be low in order to maintain respiration.^^"

Considerable confusion has arisen because of comments attributed

to Dr. Perry concerning the nature of the neck wound. Immediately

after the assassination, many people reached erroneous conclusions

about the source of the shots because of Dr. Perry's observations to the press. On the afternoon of November 22, a press conference was organized at Parkland Hospital by members of the White House

press staff and a hospital administrator. Newsmen with microphones

and cameras were crowded into a room to hear statements by Drs. Perry and William Kemp Clark, chief neurosurgeon at Parkland,

who had attended to President Kennedy's head injury. Dr. Perry described the situation as "bedlam." ^^^ The confusion was compounded

by the fact that some questions were only partially answered before

other questions were asked.^^^ At the news conference. Dr. Perry answered a series of hypothetical

questions and stated to the press that a variety of possibilities could

account for the President's wounds. He stated that a single bullet

could have caused the President's wounds by entering through the

throat, striking the spine, and being deflected upward with the point

of exit being through the head.^^^ This would have accomited for the

two wounds he observed, the hole in the front of the neck and the

large opening in the skull. At that time, Dr. Perry did not know

about either the wound on the back of the President's neck or the

small bullet-hole wound in the back of the head. As described in

chapter II, the President was lying on his back during his entire

time at Parkland. The small hole in the head was also hidden from

view by the large quantity of blood which covered the President's head.

Dr. Perry said his answers at the press conference were intended to convey his theory about what could have happened, based on his limited Imowledge at the time, rather than his professional opinion about

what did happen.^^* Commenting on his answers at the press conference. Dr. Perry testified before the Commission

:

I expressed it [his answers] as a matter of speculation that this was conceivable. But, again, Dr. Clark [who also answered

questions at the conference] and I emphasized that we had no way

of knowing.^^^

Dr. Perry's recollection of his comments is corroborated by some of

the news stories after the press conference. The New York Herald

Tribune on November 23, 1963, reported as follows

:

Dr. Malcolm Perry, 34, attendant surgeon at Parkland Hospital who attended the President, said he saw two wounds

90
one below the Adam's apple, the other at the back of the head.

He said he did not know if two bullets were involved. It is possible, he said, that the neck wound was the entrance and the

other the exit of the missile.^^® According to this report. Dr. Perry stated merely that it was "possible"

that the neck wound was a wound of entrance. This conforms with

his testimony before the Commission, where he stated that by themselves the characteristics of the neck wound were consistent with

being either a point of entry or exit. Wound hallistics tests.—Experiments performed by the Army

Wound Ballistics experts at Edgewood Arsenal, Md. (discussed in

app. X, p. 582) showed that under simulated conditions entry and

exit wounds are very similar in appearance. After reviewing the path

of the bullet through the President's neck, as disclosed in the autopsy

report, the experts simulated the neck by using comparable material

with a thickness of approximately 5i/^ inches (131/^ to 141/^ centimeters) , which was the distance traversed by the bullet. Animal skin was placed on each side, and Western Cartridge Co. 6.5 bullets were

fired from the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle from a distance of 180

feet. The animal skin on the entry side showed holes which were

regular and round. On the exit side two holes were only slightly elongated, indicating that the bullet had become only a little unstable at the point of exit.^^^ A third exit hole was round, although not quite

as regular as the entry holes.^^® The exit holes, especiall}' the one most

nearly round, appeared similar to the descriptions given by Drs. Perry

and Carrico of the hole in the front of the President's neck.^^^ The autopsy disclosed that the bullet which entered the back of

the President's neck hit no bony structure and proceeded in a slightly

downward angle. The markings on the President's clothing indicate

that the bullet moved in a slight right to left lateral direction as

it passed through the President's body.^^ After the examining doctors expressed the thought that a bullet would have lost very little velocity in passing through the soft tissue of the neck, wound ballistics experts conducted tests to measure the exit velocity of the bullet.^^^ The tests were the same as those used to create entry and exit holes,

supplemented by the use of break-type screens which measured the

velocity of bullets. The entrance velocity of the bullet fired from the

rifle averaged 1,904 feet per second after it traveled 180 feet. The

exit velocity averaged 1,772 to 1,798 feet per second, depending upon

the substance through which the bullet passed. A photograph of the

path of the bullet traveling through the simulated neck showed that it proceeded in a straight line and was stable.^®^ Examination of clothing.—The clothing worn by President Kennedy

on November 22 had holes and tears which showed that a missile

entered the back of his clothing in the vicinity of his lower neck

and exited through the front of his shirt immediately behind his tie, nicking the knot of his tie in its forward flight.^^^ Although the caliber

of the bullet could not be determined and some of the clothing items

91
precluded a positive determination that some tears were made by

a bullet, all the defects could have been caused by a 6. 5 -millimeter

bullet entering the back of the President's lower neck and exiting in

the area of the knot of his tie.^^* An examination of the suit jacket worn by the President by FBI

Agent Frazier revealed a roughly circular hole approximately one- fourth of an inch in diameter on the rear of the coat, 5% inches below

the top of the collar and 1% inches to the right of the center back seam

of the coat.^^^ The hole was visible on the upper rear of the coat slightly to the right of center. Traces of copper were found in the margins

of the hole and the cloth fibers around the margins were pushed in- ward.^^^ Those characteristics established that the hole was caused

by an entering bullet.^^^ Although the precise size of the bullet could

not be determined from the hole, it was consistent with having been

made by a 6.5-millimeter bullet.^^® The shirt worn by the President contained a hole on the back side

5% inches below the top of the collar and 1% inches to the right of

the middle of the back of the shirt.^^^ The hole on the rear of the

shirt was approximately circular in shape and about one- fourth of an

inch in diameter, with the fibers pressed inward.2°° These factors

established it as a bullet entrance hole.^^^ The relative position of the

hole in the back of the suit jacket to the hole in the back of the shirt

indicated that both were caused by the same penetrating missile.^"^ On the front of the shirt, examination revealed a hole seven-eighths

of an inch below the collar button and a similar opening seven-eighths

of an inch below the buttonhole. These two holes fell into alinement on overlapping positions when the shirt was buttoned.^^^ Each hole was a vertical, ragged slit approximately one-half of an inch in height,

with the cloth fibers protruding outward. Although the characteristics

of the slit established that the missile had exited to the front, the

irregular nature of the slit precluded a positive determination that it was a bullet hole.^^* However, the hole could have been caused by a round bullet although the characteristics were not sufficiently clear to enable the examining expert to render a conclusive opinion.^^^

When the President's clothing was removed at Parkland Hospital,

his tie was cut off by severing the loop immediately to the wearer's

left of the knot, leaving the knot in its original condition.^^® The tie had a nick on the left side of the knot.^^^ The nick was elongated

horizontally, indicating that the tear was made by some object moving horizontally, but the fibers were not affected in a manner which

would shed light on the direction or the nature of the missile.^^^ The Governor's Wounds

While riding in the right jump seat of the Presidential limousine on November 22, Governor Connally sustained wounds of the back,

chest, right wrist and left thigh. Because of the small size and clean- cut edges of the wound on the Governor's back, Dr. Robert Shaw con- cluded that it was an entry wound.^°® The bullet traversed the Gov92
ernor's chest in a downward angle, shattering his fifth rib, and exited

below the right nipple.^^° The ragged edges of the 2-inch (5 cen- timeters) opening on the front of the chest led Dr. Shaw to conclude

that it was the exit point of the bullet.^^^ When Governor Connally

testified before the Commission 5 months after the assassination, on

April 21, 1964, the Commission observed the Governor's chest wounds,

as well as the injuries to his wrist and thigh and watched Dr. Shaw

measure with a caliper an angle of declination of 25° from the

point of entry on the back to the point of exit on the front of the

Governor's chest.^^^ At the time of the shooting. Governor Connally was unaware

that he had sustained any injuries other than his chest wounds.^^^ On

the back of his arm, about 2 inches (5 centimeters) above the wrist

joint on the thumb side. Dr. Charles F. Gregory observed a linear

perforating wound approximately one-fifth of an inch (one-half

centimeter) wide and 1 inch (2i/^ centimeters) long.^^* During his

operation on this injury, the doctor concluded that this ragged wound

was the point of entry because thread and cloth had been carried into

the wound to the region of the bone.^^^ Dr. Gregory's conclusions were

also based upon the location in the Governor's wrist, as revealed by

X-ray, of small fragments of metal shed by the missile upon striking

the firm surface of the bone.^^^ Evidence of different amounts of air

in the tissues of the wrist gave further indication that the bullet passed

from the back to the front of the wrist.^^^ An examination of the

palm surface of the wrist showed a wound approximately one-fifth

of an inch (one-half centimeter) long and approximately three-fourths

of an inch (2 centimeters) above the crease of the right wrist.^^* Dr.

Shaw had initially believed that the missile entered on the palm side of

the Governor's wrist and exited on the back side.^^^ After reviewing

the factors considered by Dr. Gregory, however, Dr. Shaw withdrew

his earlier opinion. He deferred to the judgment of Dr. Gregory, who

had more closely examined that wound during the wrist operation.^^*^

In addition. Governor Connally suffered a puncture wound in the

left thigh that was approximately two-fifths of an inch (1 centimeter)

in diameter and located approximately 5 or 6 inches above the Governor's left knee.22^ On the Governor's leg, very little soft-tissue

damage was noted, which indicated a tangential wound or the penetration of a larger missile entering at low velocity and stopping after

entering the skin.^^^ X-ray examination disclosed a tiny metallic

fragment embedded in the Governor's leg.^^^ The surgeons who

attended the Governor concluded that the thigh wound was not caused

by the small fragment in the thigh but resulted from the impact of a larger missile. ^^^ Examination of clothing.—The clothing worn by Governor Connally on November 22, 1963, contained holes which matched his wounds.

On the back of the Governor's coat, a hole was found 1% inches

from the seam where the right sleeve attached to the coat and 714

inches to the right of the midline. ^^^ This hole was elongated in a horizontal direction approximately five-eighths of an inch in length

93
and one-fourth of an inch in height.^^® The front side of the Governor's coat contained a circular hole three-eighths of an inch in diameter,

located 5 inches to the right of the front right edge of the coat slightly

above the top button.^^^ A rough hole approximately five-eighths of an

inch in length and three-eighths of an inch in width was found near the

end of the right sleeve.^^^ Each of these holes could have been caused

by a bullet, but a positive determination of this fact or the direction

of the missile was not possible because the garment had been cleaned

and pressed prior to any opportunity for a scientific examination.^^^

An examination of the Governor's shirt disclosed a very ragged

tear five-eighths of an inch long horizontally and one-half of an inch

vertically on the back of the shirt near the right sleeve 2 inches from

the line where the sleeve attaches.^^^ Immediately to the right was

another small tear, approximately three-sixteenths of an inch long."^

The two holes corresponded in position to the hole in the back of the

Governor's coat.^^^ A very irregular tear in the form of an "H" was

observed on the front side of the Governor's shirt, approximately 1%

inches high, with a crossbar tear approximately 1 inch wide, located 5 inches from the right side seam and 9 inches from the top of the right

sleeve.^^^ Because the shirt had been laundered, there were insufficient characteristics for the expert examiner to form a conclusive opinion on the direction or nature of the object causing the holes.^^* The rear hole could have been caused by the entrance of a 6.5-millimeter bullet

and the front hole by the exit of such a bullet.^^^ On the French cuff of the right sleeve of the Governor's shirt was

a ragged, irregularly shaped hole located II/2 inches from the end of

the sleeve and 5i/^ inches from the outside cuff-link hole."^ The characteristics after laundering did not permit positive conclusions but

these holes could have been caused by a bullet passing through the

Governor's right wrist from the back to the front sides.^^^ The Governor's trousers contained a hole approximately one- fourth of an inch

in diameter in the region of the left knee.^^* The roughly circular

shape of the hole and the slight tearing away from the edges gave the

hole the general appearance of a bullet hole but it was not possible to determine the direction of the missile which caused the hole.^^^ Course of huTlet.—Ballistics experiments and medical findings es- tablished that the missile which passed through the Governor's wrist

and penetrated his thigh had first traversed his chest. The Army

Wound Ballistics experts conducted tests which proved that the Governor's wrist wound was not caused by a pristine bullet. (See app.

X, pp. 582-585.) A bullet is pristine immediately on exiting from a

rifle muzzle when it moves in a straight line with a spimiing motion and

maintains its uniform trajectory with but a minimum of nose surface

striking the air through which it passes.^'*^ When the straight line of

flight of a bullet is deflected by striking some object, it starts to wobble

or become irregular in flight, a condition called yaw.^*^ A bullet with

yaw has a greater surface exposed to the striking material or air,

since the target or air is struck not only by the nose of the bullet, its smallest striking surface, but also by the bullet's sides.^*^ 94
The ballistics experts learned the exact nature of the Governor's

wrist wound by examining Parkland Hospital records and X-rays and

conferring with Dr. Gregory. The C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found in the Depository was fired with bullets of the same type as the bullet found on the Governor's stretcher and the fragments found

in the Presidential limousine. Shots were fired from a distance of

70 yards at comparable flesh and bone protected by material similar

to the clothing worn by the Governor.^^^ One of the test shots

wounded the comparable flesh and bone structure in virtually the same

place and from the same angle as the wound inflicted on Governor

Connally's wrist. An X-ray and photograph of the simulated wrist

confirmed the similarity.^* The bullet which inflicted that injury

during the tests had a nose which was substantially flattened from

striking the material.^^ The striking velocity at 70 yards of seven

shots fired during the tests averaged 1,858 feet per second ; the average

exit velocity of five shots was 1,776 feet per second.^*® The conclusion that the Governor's wrist was not struck by a pristine

bullet was based upon the following : (1) greater damage was inflicted on the test material than on the Governor's wrist; ^^^ (2) the test material had a smaller entry wound and a larger exit wound, characteristic

of a pristine bullet, while the Governor's wrist had a larger entry

wound as compared with its exit wound, indicating a bullet which was tumbling; ^^^ (3) cloth was carried into the wrist wound, which

is characteristic of an irregular missile ;2*^ (4) the partial cutting of

a radial nerve and tendon leading to the Governor's thumb further

suggested that the bullet which struck him was not pristine, since

such a bullet would merely push aside a tendon and nerve rather than

catch and tear them;^^^ (5) the bullet found on the Governor's

stretcher probably did not pass through the wrist as a pristine bullet

because its nose was not considerably flattened, as was the case with

the pristine bullet which struck the simulated wrist; ^^^ and (6) the

bullet which caused the Governor's thigh injury and then fell out of

the wound had a "very low velocity," whereas the pristine bullets

fired during the tests possessed a very high exit velocity.^^^

AH the evidence indicated that the bulM found on the Governor's

stretcher could have caused all his wounds. The weight of the whole

bullet prior to firing was approximately 160-161 grains and that of

the recovered bullet was 158.6 grains.^^^ An X-ray of the Governor's

wrist showed very minute metallic fragments, and two or three of

these fragments were removed from his wrist.^^* All these fragments were suflSciently small and light so that the nearly whole bullet found

on the stretcher could have deposited those pieces of metal as it tumbled through his wrist.^^^ In their testimony, the three doctors who

attended Governor Connally at Parkland Hospital expressed independently their opinion that a single bullet had passed through his

chest ; tumbled through his wrist with very little exit velocity, leaving

small metallic fragments from the rear portion of the bullet ; punctured

his left thigh after the bullet had lost virtually all of its velocity ; and

had fallen out of the thigh wound.^^^

95
Governor Connally himself thought it likely that all his wounds

were caused by a single bullet. In his testimony before the Commission, he repositioned himself as he recalled his position on the jump

seat, with his right palm on his left thigh, and said

:

J

H< H= ^vound up the next day realizing I was hit in three

places, and I was not conscious of having been hit but by one

bullet, so I tried to reconstruct how I could have been hit in three

places by the same bullet, and I merely, I know it penetrated from

the back through the chest first. I assumed that I had turned as I described a moment ago, placing my right hand on my left leg, that it hit my wrist, went

out the center of the wrist, the underside, and then into my leg,

but it might not have happened that way at all.^^^ The Governor's posture explained how a single missile through his

body would cause all his wounds. His doctors at Parkland Hospital

had recreated his position, also, but they placed his right arm some- what higher than his left thigh although in the same alinement.^^^

The wound ballistics experts concurred in the opinion that a single

bullet caused all the Governor's wounds.^^^

THE TRAJECTORY

The cumulative evidence of eyeAvitnesses, firearms and ballistic ex- perts and medical authorities demonstrated that the shots were fired

from above and behind President Kennedy and Governor Comially, more particularly, from the sixth f!oor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. In order to determine the facts with as much

precision as possible and to insure that all data were consistent with

the shots having been fired from the sixth floor window, the Commission requested additional investigation, including the analysis of motion picture films of the assassination and onsite tests. The facts

developed through this investigation by the FBI and Secret Service

confirmed the conclusions reached by the Commission regarding the

source and trajectory of the shots which hit the President and the

Governor. Moreover, these facts enabled the Commission to make

certain approximations regarding the locations of the Presidential

limousine at the time of the shots and the relevant time intervals.

Films and Tests Wlien the shots rang out the Presidential limousine was moving

beyond the Texas School Book Depository Building in a southwesterly

direction on Elm Street between Houston Street and the Triple Underpass.^^° The general location of the car was described and marked

on maps by eyewitnesses as precisely as their observations and recol- lections permitted.^^^ More exact information was provided by motion

96
pictures taken by Abraham Zapruder, Orville O. Nix and Mary

Muchmore, who were spectators at the scene.^^^ Substantial light has

been shed on the assassination sequence by viewing these motion pictures, particularly the Zapruder film, which was the most complete

and from which individual 35 -millimeter slides were made of each

motion picture frame.^^

Examination of the Zapruder motion picture camera by the FBI

established that 18.3 pictures or frames were taken each second, and

therefore, the timing of certain events could be calculated by allowing

1/18.3 seconds for the action depicted from one frame to the next.^^* The films and slides made from individual frames were viewed by Governor and Mrs. Connally, the Governor's doctors, the autopsy surgeons,

and the Army wound ballistics scientists in order to apply the knowledge of each to determine the precise course of events.^^^ Tests of the

assassin's rifle disclosed that at least 2.3 seconds were required between

shots.^^^ In evaluating the films in the light of these timing guides,

it was kept in mind that a victim of a bullet wound may not react immediately and, in some situations, according to experts, the victim may

not even know where he has been hit, or when.^^^

On May 24, 1964, agents of the FBI and Secret Service conducted

a series of tests to determine as precisely as possible what happened on November 22, 1963. Since the Presidential limousine was being

remodeled and was therefore unavailable, it was simulated by using

the Secret Service followup car, which is similar in design.^^^ Anj^

differences were taken into account. Two Bureau agents with approximately the same physical characteristics sat in the car in the same

relative positions as President Kennedy and Governor Connally had

occupied. The back of the stand-in for the President was marked with

chalk at the point where the bullet entered. The Governor's model

had on the same coat worn by Governor Connally when he was shot,

with the hole in the back circled in chalk.^^^ To simulate the conditions which existed at the assassination scene on November 22, the lower part of the sixth-floor window at the southeast comer of the Depository Building was raised halfway, the cardboard boxes were repositioned, the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository was used, and mounted on

that rifle was a camera which recorded the view as was seen by the

assassin.2^° In addition, the Zapruder, Nix, and Muchmore cameras were on hand so that photographs taken by these cameras from the same locations where they were used on November 22, 1963, could be

compared with the films of that date.^^^ The agents ascertained that

the foliage of an oak tree that came between the gunman and his

target along the motorcade route on Elm Street was approximately

the same as on the day of the assassination.^^^

The First Bullet That Hit

The position of President Kennedy's car when he was struck in the

neck was determined with substantial precision from the films and

97
onsite tests. The pictures or frames in the Zapruder film were marked

by the agents, with the number "1" given to the first frame where the

motorcycles leading the motorcade came into view on Houston Street.^^^ The numbers continue in sequence as Zapruder filmed the Presidential

limousine as it came around the corner and proceeded down Elm.

The President was in clear view of the assassin as he rode up Houston

Street and for 100 feet as he proceeded down Elm Street, until he came to a point denoted as frame 166 on the Zapruder film.^^* These

facts were determined in the test by placing the car and men on Elm

Street in the exact spot where they were when each frame of the

Zapruder film was photographed. To pinpoint their locations, a man

stood at Zapruder's position and directed the automobile and both

models to the positions shown on each frame, after which a Bureau photographer crouched at the sixth-floor windoAv and looked through a camera whose lens recorded the view through the telescopic sight of

the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano riflc^"^^ (See Commission Exhibit No.

887, p. 99.) Each position was measured to determine how far President Kennedy had gone down Elm from a point, which was designated

as station C, on a line drawn along the west curbline of Houston

Street.27« Based on these calculations, the agents concluded that at frame 166

of the Zapruder film the President passed beneath the foliage of the

large oak tree and the point of impact on the President's back disappeared from the gunman's view as seen through the telescopic lens.^^'' (See Commission Exhibit No. 889, p. 100.) For a fleeting instant,

the President came back into view in the telescopic lens at frame 186

as he appeared in an opening among the leaves.^'^ (See Commission

Exhibit No. 891, p. 101.) The test revealed that the next point at which the rifleman had a clear view through the telescopic sight of

the point where the bullet entered the President's back was when

the car emerged from behind the tree at frame 210.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 893, p. 102.) According to FBI Agent Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt, "There is no obstruction from the sixth floor window

from the time they leave the tree until they disappear down toward

the triple overpass." ^^° As the President rode along Elm Street for a distance of about 140

feet, he was waving to the crowd. ^^^ Shaneyfelt testified that the

waving is seen on the Zapruder movie until around frame 205, when a road sign blocked out most of the President's body from Zapruder's

view through the lens of his camera. However, the assassin continued

to have a clear view of the President as he proceeded down Elm.^^^

When President Kennedy again came fully into view in the Zapruder

film at frame 225, he seemed to be reacting to his neck wound by

raising his hands to his throat.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 895,

p. 103.) According to Shaneyfelt the reaction was "clearly ap- parent in 226 and barely apparent in 225." ^^^ it is probable that the

President was not shot before frame 210, since it is unlikely that the

assassin would deliberately have shot at him with a view obstructed

by the oak tree when he was about to have a clear opportunity. It is 98
Commission Exhibit No. 887 Photograph taken during reenactment showing C2766 rifle with camera attached.

99
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENAaMENT

•Sip

PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE rKAArit 100

Commission Exhibit No. 889

DISTANCE TO STATION C ...95.6 FT. DISTANCE TO RIFLE IN WINDOW.. ..138.2 FT. ANGLE TO RIFLE IN WINDOW 2ra'

DISTANCE TO OVERPASS .. 391.5 FT. ANGLE TO OVERPASS 0^07'

100
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-fNACTMENT

PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE I KAAflC lo6

CJoMMissioN Exhibit No. 891

101
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENAaMENT

DISTANCE TO STATION C 138.9 FT. DISTANCE TO RIFLE IN WINDOW 176.9 FT. ANCLE TO RIFLE IN WINDOW 2n4'

DISTANCE TO OVERPASS 348.8 FT. ANGLE TO OVERPASS -0°22'

PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE PRAAAC 210

Commission Exhibit No. 893

102
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENAaMENT

BiSTANCE TO STATION C 153J FT. DISTANCE TO RIFLE IN WINDOW 190.8 FT. ANGLE TO RIFLE IN WINDOW Ar]V

DISTANCE TO OVERPASS 334.0 FT. ANGLE TO OVERPASS .................. 0^28'

PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE RAMC 225

Commission Exhibit No. 895

103
Commission Exhibit No. 697 Photograph of Presidential limousine taken during motorcade.

104
also doubtful that even the most proficient marksman would have hit

him through the oak tree. In addition, the President's reaction is "barely apparent" in frame 225, which is 15 frames or approximately

eight-tenths second after frame 210, and a shot much before 210 would

assume a longer reaction time than was recalled by eyewitnesses at the scene. Thus, the evidence indicated that the President was not

hit until at least frame 210 and that he was probably hit by frame 225. The possibility of variations in reaction time in addition to the obstruction of Zapruder's view by the sign precluded a more specific determination than that the President was probably shot through the neck

between frames 210 and 225, which marked his position between 138.9

and 153.8 feet west of station C.^^^ According to Special Agent Eobert A. Frazier, who occupied the

position of the assassin in the sixth-floor window during the reenact- ment, it is likely that the bullet which passed through the President's

neck, as described previously, then struck the automobile or someone

else in the automobile.^^^ The minute examination by the FBI in- spection team, conducted in Washington between 14 and 16 hours

after the assassination, revealed no damage indicating that a bullet

struck any part of the interior of the Presidential limousine, with the

exception of the cracking of the windshield and the dent on the windshield chrome.^'®^ Neither of these points of damage to the car could

have been caused by the bullet which exited from the President's neck

at a velocity of 1,772 to 1,779 feet per second.^^® If the trajectory had

permitted the bullet to strike the windshield, the bullet would have

penetrated it and traveled a substantial distance down the road unless

it struck some other object en route.^^^ Had that bullet struck the

metal framing, which was dented, it would have torn a hole in the

chrome and penetrated the framing, both inside and outside the car.^^^ At that exit velocity, the bullet would have penetrated any other metal

or upholstery surface of the interior of the automobile.^^^

The bullet that hit President Kennedy in the back and exited through

his throat most likely could not have missed both the automobile and

its occupants. Since it did not hit the automobile, Frazier testified that it probably struck Governor Connally.^®^ The relative positions

of President Kennedy and Governor Connally at the time when the

President was struck in the neck confirm that the same bullet probably

passed through both men. Pictures taken of the President's limousine on November 22, 1963, showed that the Governor sat immediately in

front of the President.^^^ Even though the precise distance cannot be

ascertained, it is apparent that President Kennedy was somewhat to the

Governor's right. The President sat on the extreme right, as noted in

the films and by eyewitnesses, while the right edge of the jump seat in

which the Governor sat is 6 inches from the right door.^®* (See Commission Exhibit No. 697, p. 104.) The President wore a back brace

which tended to make him sit up straight, and the Governor also sat erect since the jump seat gave him little leg room.^^^

Based on his observations during the reenactment and the position

of Governor Connally shown in the Zapruder film after the car 105

730-900 0-64—

9
emerged from behind the sign, Frazier testified that Governor Connally was in a position during the span from frame 207 to frame 225

to receive a bullet which would have caused the wounds he actually

suffered.2^^ Governor Connally viewed the film and testified that he was hit between frames 231 and 234.^^^ According to Frazier, between

frames 235 and 240 the Governor turned sharply to his right, so that

by frame 240 he was too far to the right to have received his injuries

at that time.29^ At some point between frames 235 and 240, therefore,

is the last occasion when Governor Connally could have received his

injuries, since in the frames following 240 he remained turned too far

to his right.2^^ If Governor Connally was hit by a separate shot between frames 235 and 240 which followed the shot which hit the President's neck, it would follow that : (1) the assassin's first shot, assuming

a minimum firing time of 2.3 seconds (or 42 frames) , was fired between

frames 193 and 198 when his view was obscured by the oak tree; (2)

President Kennedy continued waving to the crowd after he was hit

and did not begin to react for about li/^ seconds ; and (3) the first shot,

although hitting no bones in the President's body, was deflected after

its exit from the President's neck in such a way that it failed to hit

either the automobile or any of the other occupants.

Viewed through the telescopic sight of the C2766 MannlicherCarcano rifle from the sixth-floor window during the test, the marks

that simulated the entry wounds on the stand-ins for the President and

the Governor were generally in a straight line. That alinement became

obvious to the viewer through the scope as the Governor's model

turned slightly to his right and assumed the position which Governor

Connally had described as his position when he was struck. Viewing

the stand-ins for the President and the Governor in the sight of the

C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at the location depicted in frames 207

and 210, Frazier testified : "They both are in direct alinement with the

telescopic sight at the window. The Governor is immediately behind

the President in the field of view." ^°° (See Commission Exhibit No.

893, p. 102.) A surveyor then placed his sighting equipment at the

precise point of entry on the back of the President's neck, assuming

that the President was struck at frame 210, and measured the angle to the end of the muzzle of the rifle positioned where it was believed to have been held by the assassin.^^^ That angle measured 21°34'.^°2 From the same points of reference,*the angle at frame 225 was meas- ured at 20° 11', giving an average angle of 20°52'30'' from frame 210

to frame 225.^°^ Allowing for a downward street grade of 3° 9', the

probable angle through the President's body was calculated at 17°43'30", assuming that he was sitting in a vertical position.^''*

That angle was consistent with the trajectory of a bullet passing

through the President's neck and then striking Governor Connally's

back, causing the wounds which were discussed above. Shortly after

that angle was ascertained, the open car and the stand-ins were taken

by the agents to a nearby garage where a photograph was taken to determine through closer study whether the angle of that shot could

have accounted for the wounds in the President's neck and the Gov106
ernor's back.^*'^ A rod was placed at an angle of 17°43'30" next to the stand-ins for the President and the Governor, who were seated in

the same relative positions.^^^ The wounds of entry and exit on the

President were approximated based on information gained from the

autopsy reports and photographs.^°^ The hole in the back of the jacket worn by the Governor and the medical description of the wound on his

back marked that entry point.^°^ That line of fire from the sixth floor of the Depository would have caused the bullet to exit under the Governor's right nipple just as the bullet did. Governor Connally's

doctors measured an angle of declination on his body from the entry

wound on his back to the exit on the front of his chest at about 25°

when he sat erect.^°^ That difference was explained by either a slight

deflection of the bullet caused by striking the fifth rib or the Governor's

leaning slightly backward at the time he was struck. In addition,

the angle could not be fixed with absolute precision, since the large

wound on the front of his chest precluded an exact determination of

the point of exit.^^° The alinement of the points of entry was only indicative and not

conclusive that one bullet hit both men. The exact positions of the

men could not be re-created; thus, the angle could only be approximated.^^^ Had President Kennedy been leaning forward or backward,

the angle of declination of the shot to a perpendicular target would

have varied. The angle of 17°43'30" was approximately the angle

of declination reproduced in an artist's drawing.^^^ That drawing,

made from data provided by the autopsy surgeons, could not reproduce

the exact line of the bullet, since the exit wound was obliterated by the

tracheotomy. Similarly, if the President or the Governor had been

sitting in a different lateral position, the conclusion might have

varied. Or if the Governor had not turned in exactly the way cal- culated, the alinement would have been destroyed.

Additional experiments by the Army Wound Ballistics Branch

further suggested that the same bullet probably passed through both

President Kennedy and Governor Connally. (See app. X, pp.

582-585. ) Correlation of a test simulating the Governor's chest wound

with the neck and wrist experiments' indicated that course. After

reviewing the Parkland Hospital medical records and X-rays of

the Governor and discussing his chest injury with the attending

surgeon, the Army ballistics experts virtually duplicated the wound

using the assassination weapon and animal flesh covered by cloth.^^^ The bullet that struck the animal flesh displayed characteristics similar

to the bullet foimd on Governor Connally's stretcher.^^* Moreover,

the imprint on the velocity screen immediately behind the animal

flesh showed that the bullet was tumbling after exiting from the flesh,

having lost a total average of 265 feet per second.^^^ Taking into

consideration the Governor's size, the reduction in velocity of a

bullet passing through his body would be approximately 400 feet per

second.^^® Based upon the medical evidence on the wounds of the Governor

and the President and the womid ballistics tests performed at Edge107
PHOTOGRAPH FROM NIX BiM PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENAaMENT

PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER FILM

PHOTOGRAPH THROUGH RIFLE SCOPE

PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENAaMENT

DISTAHCE TO STATION C 230.8 FT. DISTANCE TO RIFLE IH WINDOW 265.3 FT. ANGLE TO RIFIE IN WINDOW r2l'

DISTANCE TO OVERPASS 260.6 FT. AM6UT0 OVERPASS r28' FRAME 313

PHOTOGRAPH FROM MUCHMORE FILM PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENACTMENT Commission Exhibit No. 902

108
wood Arsenal, Drs. Olivier and Arthur J. Dziemian, chief of the

Army Wound Ballistics Branch, who had spent 17 years in that area of

specialization, concluded that it was probable that the same bullet

passed through the President's neck and then inflicted all the wounds

on the Govemor.^^^ Eeferring to the President's neck wound and

all the Governor's wounds, Dr. Dziemian testified : "I think the probability is very good that it is, that all the wounds were caused by one

bullet." ^^^ Both Drs. Dziemian and Olivier believed that the wound

on the Governor's wrist would have been more extensive had the

bullet which inflicted that injury merely passed through the Governor's chest, exiting at a velocity of approximately 1,500 feet per

second.^^® Thus, the Governor's wrist wound suggested that the bullet

passed through the President's neck, began to yaw in the air between

the President and the Governor, and then lost more velocity than 400

feet per second in passing through the Governor's chest. A bullet

which was yawing on entering into the Governor's back would lose substantially more velocity in passing through his body than a pristine

bullet.^2° In addition, the bullet that struck the animal flesh was

flattened to a greater extent than the bullet which presumably struck

the Governor's rib,^^^ which suggests that the bullet which entered the

Governor's chest had already lost velocity by passing through the

President's neck. Moreover, the large wound on the Governor's back

would be explained by a bullet which was yawing, although that type

of wound might also be accounted for by a tangential striking.^22

Dr. Frederick W. Light, Jr., the third of the wound ballistics experts, who has been engaged in that specialty at Edgewood Arsenal

since 1951, testified that the anatomical findings were insufficient for

him to formulate a firm opinion as to whether the same bullet did or did not pass through the President's neck first before inflicting all the wounds on Governor Connally.^^^ Based on the other circumstances, such as the relative positions of the President and the Governor in the automobile, Dr. Light concluded that it was probable that

the same bullet traversed the President's neck and inflicted all the

wounds on Governor Connally.^^*

The Subsequent Bullet That Hit

After a bullet penetrated President Kennedy's neck, a subsequent

shot entered the back of his head and exited through the upper right

portion of his skull. The Zapruder, Nix and Muchmore films show

the instant in the sequence when that bullet struck. ( See Commission

Exhibit No. 902, p. 108.) That impact was evident from the ex- plosion of the President's brain tissues from the right side of his head.

The immediately preceding frame from the Zapruder film shows the

President slumped to his left, clutching at his throat, with his chin

close to his chest and his head tilted forward at an angle.^^^ Based

upon information provided by the doctors who conducted the autopsy, an artist's drawing depicted the path of the bullet through the President's head, with his head being in the same approximate position.^^^

109
By using the Zapruder, Nix and Muchmore motion pictures, the

President's location at the time the bullet penetrated his head was fixed

with reasonable precision. A careful analysis of the Nix and Muchmore films led to fixing the exact location of these cameramen. The

point of impact of the bullet on the President's head was apparent in

all of the movies. At that point in the Nix film a straight line was

plotted from the camera position to a fixed point in the background and

the President's location along this line was marked on a plat map.^^^

A similar process was followed with the Muchmore film. The President's location on the plat map was identical to that determined from

the Nix film.^2^ The President's location, established through the Nix

and Muchmore films, was confirmed by comparing his position on the

Zapruder film. This location had hitherto only been approximated,

since there were no landmarks in the background of the Zapruder frame

for alinement purposes other than a portion of a painted line on the

curb.^29 Through these procedures, it was determined that President

Kennedy was shot in the head when he was 230.8 feet from a point on

the west curbline on Houston Street where it intersected with Elm

Street.^^^ The President was 265.3 feet from the rifle in the sixth-floor

window and at that position the approximate angle of declination was

15°21'.33i

NUMBER OF SHOTS

The consensus among the witnesses at the scene was that three shots were fired.^^^ However, some heard only two shots,^^^ while others

testified that they heard four and perhaps as many as five or six

shots.^^* The difficulty of accurate perception of the sound of gunshots

required careful scrutiny of all of this testimony regarding the number

of shots. The firing of a bullet causes a number of noises : the muzzle

blast, caused by the smashing of the hot gases which propel the bullet

into the relatively stable air at the gun's muzzle ; the noise of the bullet,

causfed by the shock wave built up ahead of the bullet's nose as it travels through the air; and the noise caused by the impact of the

bullet on its target.^^^ Each noise can be quite sharp and may be

perceived as a separate shot. The tall buildings in the area might

have further distorted the sound.

The physical and other evidence examined by the Commission compels the conclusion that at least two shots were fired. As discussed

previously, the nearly whole bullet discovered at Parkland Hospital

and the two larger fragments found in the Presidential automobile,

which were identified as coming from the assassination rifle, came

from at least two separate bullets and possibly from three.^^^ The

most convincing evidence relating to the number of shots was provided

by the presence on the sixth floor of three spent cartridges which were

demonstrated to have been fired by the same rifle that fired the bullets

which caused the wounds. It is possible that the assassin carried an empty shell in the rifle and fired only two shots, with the witnesses

hearing multiple noises made by the same shot. Soon after the three

110
empty cartridges were found, officials at the scene decided that three

shots were fired, and that conclusion was widely circulated by the

press. The eyewitness testimony may be subconsciously colored by

the extensive publicity given the conclusion that three shots were fired. Nevertheless, the preponderance of the evidence, in particular the

three spent cartridges, led the Commission to conclude that there were

three shots fired. THE SHOT THAT MISSED

From the initial findings that (a) one shot passed through the

President's neck and then most probably passed through the Governor's

body, (2>) a subsequent shot penetrated the President's head, (c) no

other shot struck any part of the automobile, and (d) three shots were

fired, it follows that one shot probably missed the car and its oc- cupants. The evidence is inconclusive as to whether it was the first, second, or third shot which missed.

The First Shot

If the first shot missed, the assassin perhaps missed in an effort to

fire a hurried shot before the President passed under the oak tree, or

possibly he fired as the President passed under the tree and the tree obstructed his view. The bullet might have struck a portion of the

tree and been completely deflected. On the other hand, the greatest cause for doubt that the first shot missed is the improbability that the same marksman who twice hit a moving target would be so inaccurate on the first and closest of his shots as to miss completely, not only the

target, but the large automobile.

Some support for the contention that the first shot missed is found

in the statement of Secret Service Agent Glen A. Bennett, stationed in

the right rear seat of the President's foliowup car, who heard a sound

like a firecracker as the motorcade proceeded down Elm Street. At

that moment, Agent Bennett stated

:

* * * I looked at the back of the President. I heard another

firecracker noise and saw that shot hit the President about four

inches down from the right shoulder. A second shot followed

immediately and hit the right rear high of the President's head.^"

Substantial weight may be given Bennett's observations. Although

his formal statement was dated November 23, 1963, his notes indicate

that he recorded what he saw and heard at 5:30 p.m., November 22,

1963, on the airplane en route back to Washington, prior to the autopsy,

when it was not yet known that the President had been hit in the

back.^^® It is possible, of course, that Bennett did not observe the hole

in the President's back, which might have been there immediately

after the first noise.

Ill
Governor Connally's testimony supports the view that the first shot missed, because he stated that he heard a shot, turned slightly to his right, and, as he started to turn back toward his left, was struck

by the second bullet.^^^ He never saw the President during the shooting sequence, and it is entirely possible that he heard the missed shot

and that both men were struck by the second bullet. Mrs. Connally

testified that after the first shot she turned and saw the President's

hands moving toward his throat, as seen in the films at frame 225.^*° However, Mrs. Connally further stated that she thought her husband was hit immediately thereafter by the second bullet.^*^ If the same

bullet struck both the President and the Governor, it is entirely possible

that she saw the President's movements at the same time as she heard

the second shot. Her testimony, therefore, does not preclude the possibility of the first shot having missed.

Other eyewitness testimony, however, supports the conclusion that

the first of the shots fired hit the President. As discussed in chapter

IT, Special Agent Hill's testimony indicates that the President was

hit by the first shot and that the head injury was caused by a second

shot which followed about 5 seconds later. James W. Altgens, a photographer in Dallas for the Associated Press, had stationed himself on Elm Street opposite the Depository to take pictures of the passing

motorcade. Altgens took a widely circulated photograph which

showed President Kennedy reacting to the first of the two shots which

hit him. (See Commission Exhibit No. 900, p. 113.) According to Altgens, he snapped the picture "almost simultaneously" with a shot

which he is confident was the first one fired.^*^ Comparison of his

photograph with the Zapruder film, however, revealed that Altgens

took his picture at approximately the same moment as frame 255 of

the movie, 30 to 45 frames (approximately 2 seconds) later than the

point at which the President was shot in the neck.^*^ (See Commission

Exhibit No. 901, p. 114.) Another photographer, Phillip L. Willis,

snapped a picture at a time which he also asserts was simultaneous

with the first shot. Analysis of his photograph revealed that it was

taken at approximately frame 210 of the Zapruder film, which was the

approximate time of the shot that probably hit the President and the

Governor. If Willis accurately recalled that there were no previous

shots, this would be strong evidence that the first shot did not miss.^^

If the first shot did not miss, there must be an explanation for Governor Connally's recollection that he was not hit by it. There was,

conceivably, a delayed reaction between the time the bullet struck him

and the time he realized that he was hit, despite the fact that the bullet

struck a glancing blow to a rib and penetrated his wrist bone. The

Governor did not even know that he had been struck in the wrist or

in the thigh until he regained consciousness in the hospital the next

day. Moreover, he testified that he did not hear what he thought was the second shot, although he did hear a subsequent shot which

coincided with the shattering of the President's head.^*^ One possibility, therefore, would be a sequence in which the Governor heard

the first shot, did not, immediately feel the penetration of the bullet,

112
PHOTOGRAPH BY AP PHOTOGRAPHER

PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-iNAaMENT

Commission Exhibit No. 900

113
PHOTOGRAPH FROM ZAPRUDER RLM PHOTOGRAPH FROM RE-ENAaMENT

DISTANCE TO STATION C 181.9 FT. DISTANCE TO RIFLE IN WINDOW 218.0 FT. ^^^^ M ANGLE TO RIFLE IN WINDOW.... r03'

,. « DISTANCE TO OVERPASS 307.1 FT. ~

ANGLE TO OVERPASS flM4'

photograph through rifle scope i kaaflt xd3

Commission Exhibit No. 901

114
then felt the delayed reaction of the impact on his back, later heard the

shot which shattered the President's head, and then lost consciousness

without hearing a third shot which might have occurred later. The Second Shot

The possibility that the second shot missed is consistent with the

elapsed time between the two shots that hit their mark. From the

timing evidenced by the Zapruder films, there was an interval of from

4.8 to 5.6 seconds between the shot which .struck President Kennedy's

neck (between frames 210 to 225) and the shot which struck his head

at frame 313.^*^ Since a minimum of 2.3 seconds must elapse between shots, a bullet could have been fired from the rifle and missed

during this interval.^*^ This possibility was buttressed by the testi- mony of witnesses who claimed that the shots were evenly spaced,

since a second shot occurring within an interval of approximately 5 seconds would have to be almost exactly midway in this period. If

Altgens' recollection is correct that he snapped his picture at the same moment as he heard a shot, then it is possible that he heard a second

shot which missed, since a shot fired 2.3 seconds before he took his

picture at frame 255 could have hit the President at about frame 213.

On the other hand, a substantial majority of the witnesses stated

that the shots were not evenly spaced. Most witnesses recalled that

the second and third shots were bunched together, although some

believed that it was the first and second which were bunched.^*^ To the

extent that reliance can be placed on recollection of witnesses as to the

spacing of the shots, the testimony that the shots were not evenly

spaced would militate against a second shot missing. Another factor

arguing against the second shot missing is that the gunman would have

been shooting at very near the minimum allowable time to have fired

the thrte shots within 4.8 to 5.6 seconds, although it was entirely possible for him to have done so. (See ch. IV, pp. 188-194.)

The Third Shot

The last possibility, of course, is that it was the third shot which

missed. This conclusion conforms most easily with the probability

that the assassin would most likely have missed the farthest shot,

particularly since there was an acceleration of the automobile after

the shot which struck the President's head. The limousine also

changed direction by following the curve to the right, whereas pre- viously it had been proceeding in almost a straight line with a rifle protruding from the sixth-floor window of the Depository Building.

One must consider, however, the testimony of the witnesses

who described the head shot as the concluding event in the as- sassination sequence. Illustrative is the testimony of Associated

Press photographer Altgens, who had an excellent vantage point near the President's car. He recalled that the shot which hit the President's head "was the last shot—that much I will say with a great degree

115
of certainty." ^^^ On the other hand, Emmett J. Hudson, the groundskeeper of Dealey Plaza, testified that from his position on Elm Street,

midway between Houston Street and the Triple Underpass, he heard

a third shot after the shot which hit the President in the head.^^° In

addition, Mrs. Kennedy's testimony indicated that neither the first nor the second shot missed. Immediately after the first noise she

turned, because of the Governor's yell, and saw her husband raise

his hand to his forehead. Then the second shot struck the President's

head.^^^ Some evidence suggested that a third shot may have entirely missed

and hit the turf or street by the Triple Underpass. Royce G. Skelton,

who watched the motorcade from the railroad bridge, testified that

after two shots "the car came on down close to the Triple Underpass"

and an additional shot "hit in the left front of the President's car on

the cement." ^52 Skelton thought that there had been a total of four

shots, either the third or fourth of which hit in the vicinity of the underpass.^^^ Dallas Patrolman J. W. Foster, who was also on the

Triple Underpass, testified that a shot hit the turf near a manhole

cover in the vicinity of the underpass.^^* Examination of this area, however, disclosed no indication that a bullet struck at the locations

indicated by Skelton or Foster.^'''' At a different location in Dealey Plaza, the evidence indicated that

a bullet fragment did hit the street. James T. Tague, who got out of

his car to watch the motorcade from a position between Commerce and

Main Streets near the Triple Underpass, was hit on the cheek by an

object during the shooting.^^^ Within a few minutes Tague reported

this to Deputy Sheriff Eddy R. Walthers, who was examining the area

to see if any bullets had struck the turf.^^^ Walthers immediately

started to search where Tague had been standing and located a place on the south curb of Main Street where it appeared a bullet had hit the

cement.^^^ According to Tague, "There was a mark quite obviously

that was a bullet, and it was very fresh." ^^® In Tague's opinion, it was

the second shot which caused the mark, since he thinks he heard the

third shot after he was hit in the face.^^° This incident appears to have been recorded in the contemporaneous report of Dallas Patrolman L. L. Hill, who radioed in around 12 :40 p.m. : "I have one guy

that was possibly hit by a richochet from the bullet off the concrete." ^^^ Scientific examination of the mark on the south curb of Main Street by

FBI experts disclosed metal smears which, "were spectrographically

determined to be essentially lead with a trace of antimony." ^^^ The

mark on the curb could have originated from the lead core of a bullet

but the absence of copper precluded "the possibility that the mark on

the curbing section was made loj an unmutilated military full metal-jacketed bullet such as the bullet from Governor Connally's

stretcher." ^^

It is true that the noise of a subsequent shot might have been drowned

out by the siren on the Secret Service followup car immediately after

the head shot, or the dramatic effect of the head shot might have caused

so much confusion that the memory of subsequent events was blurred.

116
Nevertheless, the preponderance of the eyewitness testimony that the

head shot was the final shot must be weighed in any determination as to whether it was the third shot that missed. Even if it were caused

by a bullet fragment, the mark on the south curb of Main Street cannot

be identified conclusively with any of the three shots fired. Under the

circmnstances it might have come from the bullet which hit the President's head, or it might have been a product of the fragmentation of

the missed shot upon hitting some other object in the area.^^* Since he

did not observe any of the shots striking the President, Tague's

testimony that the second shot, rather than the third, caused the

scratch on his cheek, does not assist in limiting the possibilities.

The wide range of possibilities and the existence of conflicting

testimony, when coupled with the impossibility of scientific verification, precludes a conclusive finding by the Commission as to which

shot missed.

TIME SPAN OF SHOTS

Witnesses at the assassination scene said that the shots were fired

within a few seconds, with the general estimate being 5 to 6 seconds.^^^ That approximation was most probably based on the earlier publicized

reports that the first shot struck the President in the neck, the sec- ond wounded the Governor and the third shattered the President's

head, with the time span from the neck to the head shots on the President being approximately 5 seconds. As previously indicated, the

time span between the shot entering the back of the President's neck

and the bullet which shattered his skull was 4.8 to 5.6 seconds. If the

second shot missed, then 4.8 to 5.6 seconds was the total time span of the

shots. If either the first or third shots missed, then a minimum of 2.3 seconds (necessary to operate the rifle) must be added to the time span

of the shots which hit, giving a minimum time of 7.1 to 7.9 seconds for

the three shots. If more than 2.3 seconds elapsed between a shot that

missed and one that hit, then the time span would be correspondingly

increased.

CONCLUSION

Based on the evidence analyzed in this chapter, the Commission has

concluded that the shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded

Governor Connally were fired from the sixth-floor window at the

southeast comer of the Texas School Book Depository Building. Two

bullets probably caused all the wounds suffered by President Kennedy

and Governor Connally. Since the preponderance of the evidence

indicated that three shots were fired, the Commission concluded that one shot probably missed the Presidential limousine and its occupants,

and that the three shots were fired in a time period ranging from

approximately 4.8 to in excess of 7 seconds.

117
CHAPTER IV

The Assassin

THE PRECEDING chapter has established that the bullets

which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the southeast corner window of the sixth

floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building and that the

weapon which fired these bullets was a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5-milli- meter Italian rifle bearing the serial number C2766. In this chapter

the Commission evaluates the evidence upon which it has based its con- clusion concerning the identity of the assassin. This evidence includes

(1) the ownership and possession of the weapon used to commit the

assassination, (2) the means by which the weapon was brought into

the Depository Building, (3) the identity of the person present at the

window from which the shots were fired, (4) the killing of Dallas

Patrolman J. D. Tippit within 45 minutes after the assassination,

(5) the resistance to arrest and the attempted shooting of another

police officer by the man (Lee Harvey Oswald) subsequently accused

of assassinating President Kennedy and killing Patrolman Tippit, (6)

the lies told to the police by Oswald, (7) the evidence linking Oswald

to the attempted killing of Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker (Resigned,

U.S. Army) on April 10, 1963, and (8) Oswald's capability with a

rifle. OWNERSHIP AND POSSESSION OF

ASSASSINATION WEAPON

Purchase of Rifle by Oswald

Shortly after the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was found on the sixth

floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building,^ agents of the

FBI learned from retail outlets in Dallas that Crescent Firearms,

Inc., of New York City, was a distributor of surplus Italian 6.5-milli- meter military rifles.^ During the evening of November 22, 1963, a review of the records of Crescent Firearms revealed that the

firm had shipped an Italian carbine, serial number C2766, to Klein's

Sporting Goods Co., of Chicago, 111.^ After searching their records

from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. the officers of Klein's discovered that a rifle bearing serial number C2766 had been shipped to one A. Hidell,

118
Post Office Box 2915, Dallas, Tex., on March 20, 1963.* (See Waldman Exhibit No. 7, p. 120.)

According to its microfilm records, Klein's received an order for a

rifle on March 13, 1963, on a coupon clipped from the February 1963

issue of the American Rifleman magazine. The order coupon was

signed, in handprinting, "A. Hidell, P. O. Box 2915, Dallas, Texas."

(See Commission Exhibit No. 773, p. 120.) It was sent in an en- velope bearing the same name and return address in handwriting.

Document examiners for the Treasury Department and the FBI

testified unequivocally that the bold printing on the face of the mailorder coupon was in the handprinting of Lee Harvey Oswald and that

the writing on the envelope was also his.^ Oswald's writing on these

and other documents was identified by comparing the writing and

printing on the documents in question with that appearing on documents known to have been written by Oswald, such as his letters, pass- port application, and endorsements of checks.^ (See app. X, p. 568-569.)

In addition to the order coupon the envelope contained a U.S.

postal money order for $21.45, purchased as No. 2,202,130,462 in

Dallas, Tex., on March 12, 1963.^ The canceled money order was

obtained from the Post Office Department. Opposite the printed

words "Pay To" were written the words "Kleins Sporting Goods,"

and opposite the printed word "From" were written the words "A.

Hidell, P. O. Box 2915 Dallas, Texas." These words were also in

the handwriting of Lee Harvey Oswald.® (See Commission Exhibit

No. 788, p. 120.)

From Klein's records it was possible to trace the processing of the

order after its receipt. A bank deposit made on March 13, 1963, in- cluded an item of $21.45. Klein's shipping order form shows an imprint made by the cash register which recorded the receipt of $21.45 on March 13, 1963. This price included $19.95 for the rifle and the scope, and $1.50 for postage and handling. The rifle without the scope cost only $12.78.^

According to the vice president of Klein's, William Waldman, the

scope was mounted on the rifle by a gunsmith employed by Klein's,

and the rifle was shipped fully assembled in accordance with customary

company procedures.^^ The specific rifle shipped against the order

had been received by Klein's from Crescent on February 21, 1963.

It bore the manufacturer's serial number C2766. On that date, Klein's

placed an internal control number VC836 on this rifle." According

to Klein's shipping order form, one Italian carbine 6.5 X-4X scope, control number VC836, serial number C2766, was shipped parcel post

to "A. Hidell, P. O. Box 2915, Dallas, Texas," on March 20, 1963.^

Information received from the Italian Arm.ed Forces Intelligence

Service has established that this particular rifle was the only rifle of

its type bearing serial number 02766.^^ (See app. X, p. 554.)

The post office box to which the rifle was shipped was rented to "Lee H. Oswald" from October 9, 1962, to May 14, 1963.^* Experts

on handwriting identification from the Treasury Department and the

119
DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING

PURCHASE OF RIFLE BY LEE HARVEY OSWALD

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APPLICATION FOR

POST OFFICE BOX

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 791) A PURCHASE ORDER X (COMMISSION EXHIBIT 773)

'•"2 lift

i I • ' / ;.;o?.no.462

• W S. PoiUl )katPi Order IS JJ warning

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P4^ JO 'is:-o*'*n( nF

|te First Hatianal Bank otChiap 5D 91144 ' (^

MONEY ORDER

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 788) KLEIN'S SHIPPING ORDER

(WALDMAN'S EXHIBIT 7)

120
FBI testified that the signature and other writing on the application

for that box were in the handwriting of Lee Harvey Oswald,^^ as was a change-of-address card dated May 12, 1963,^^ by which Oswald

requested that mail addressed to that box be forwarded to him in

New Orleans, where he had moved on April 24.^^ Since the rifle was shipped from Chicago on March 20, 1963, it was received in Dallas

during the period when OsAvald rented and used the box. ( See Commission Exhibit No. 791, p. 120.) It is not known whether the application for post office box 2915

listed "A. HidelP' as a person entitled to receive mail at this box.

In accordance with postal regulations, the portion of the application

which lists names of persons, other than the applicant, entitled to re- ceive mail wEis thrown away after the box was closed on May 14, 1963.^® Postal Inspector Harry D. Holmes of the Dallas Post Office

testified, however, that when a package is received for a certain box,

a notice is placed in that box regardless of whether the name on the

package is listed on the application as a person entitled to receive mail

through that box. The person having access to the box then takes the

notice to the window and is given the package. Ordinarily, Inspector

Holmes testified, identification is not requested because it is assumed

that the person with the notice is entitled to the package.^^

Oswald's use of the name "Hidell" to purchase the assassination

weapon was one of several instances in which he used this name as an alias. When arrested on the day of the assassination, he had in

his possession a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber revolver ^o purchased by

mail-order coupon from Seaport-Traders, Inc., a mail-order division

of George Eose & Co., Los Angeles. The mail-order coupon listed

the purchaser as "A. J. Hidell Age 28" with the address of post office box 2915 in Dallas.^^ Handwriting experts from the FBI and

the Treasury Department testified that the writing on the mail-order

form was that of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^

Among other identification cards in Oswald's wallet at the time of

his arrest were a Selective Service notice of classification, a Selective

Service registration certificate,^^ and a certificate of service in the U.S.

Marine Corps,^^ all three cards being in his own name. Also in his

wallet at that time were a Selective Service notice of classification and

a Marine certificate of service in the name of Alek James

Hidell.^^ On the Hidell Selective Service card there appeared

a signature, "Alek J. Hidell," and the photograph of Lee

Harvey Oswald.^^ Experts on questioned documents from the

Treasury Department and the FBI testified that the Hidell cards were counterfeit photographic reproductions made by photographing

the Oswald cards, retouching the resulting negatives, and producing

prints from the retouched negatives. The Hidell signature on the

notice of classification was in the handwriting of Oswald.^^ ( See app.

X,p. 572.)

In Oswald's personal effects found in his room at 1026 North Beckley

Avenue in Dallas was a purported international certificate of vac- cination signed by "Dr. A. J. Hideel," Post Office Box 30016, New

121

730-900 0-64—10
Orleans.^^ It certified that Lee Harvey Oswald had been A^acci- nated for smallpox on June 8, 1963. This, too, was a forgery. The signature of "A. J. Hideel" was in the handwriting of Lee HarVey

Oswald.2^ There is no "Dr. Hideel'* licensed to practice medicine in

Louisiana.^° There is no post office box 30016 in the New Orleans Post

Office but Oswald had rented post office box 30061 in Xew Orleans ^^ on June 3, 1963, listing Marina Oswald and A. J. Hidell as additional

persons entitled to receive mail in the box.^^ The New Orleans postal

authorities had not discarded the portion of the application listing

the names of those, other than the owner of the box, entitled to re- ceive mail through the box. Expert testimony confirmed that the

writing on this application was that of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^

Hidell's name on the post office box application was part of Oswald's

use of a nonexistent Hidell to serve as president of the so-called

New Orleans Chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. (As

discussed below in ch.VI, p. 292.) Marina Oswald testified that she

first learned of Oswald's use of the fictitious name "Hidell" in con- nection with his pro-Castro acti^dties in New Orleans.^* According

to her testimony, he compelled her to write the name "Hidell" on membership cards in the space designated for the signature of the "Chapter President." ^^ The name "Hidell" was stamped on some of the

"Chapter's" printed literature and on the membership application

blanks.^^ Marina Oswald testified, "I knew there was no such organization. And I know Hidell is merely an altered Fidel, and I laughed at such foolishness." ^^ Hidell was a fictitious president of an

organization of which Oswald was the only member.^^

IVlien seeking employment in New Orleans, Oswald listed a "Sgt.

Kobt. Hidell" as a reference on one job application^® and "George

Hidell" as a reference on another.*^ Both names were found to be

fictitious.*^ Moreover, the use of "Alek" as a first name for Hidell

is a further link to Oswald because "Alek" was Oswald's nickname

in Kussia.*^ Letters received by Marina Oswald from her husband

signed "Alek" were given to the Commission.*^

Oswald's Palmprint on Rifle Barrel

Based on the above evidence, the Commission concluded that Oswald

purchased the rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository Building.

Additional evidence of ownership was provided in the form of palmprint identification which indicated that Oswald had possession of

the rifle he had purchased.

A few minutes after the rifle was discovered on the sixth floor of

the Depository Building ** it was examined by Lt. J. C. Day of the

identification bureau of the Dallas police. He lifted the rifle by the

wooden stock after his examination convinced him that the wood

was too rough to take fingerprints. Capt. J. W. Fritz then ejected a cartridge by operating the bolt, but only after Day viewed the knob

on the bolt through a magnifying glass and found no prints.*^ Day

continued to examine the rifle with the magnifying glass, looking for

122
possible fingerprints. He applied fingerprint powder to the side of

the metal housing near the trigger, and noticed traces of two prints.*^

At 11 :45 p.m. on November 22, the rifle was released to the FBI and

forwarded to Washington where it was examined on the morning of

November 23 by Sebastian F. Latona, supervisor of the Latent Fingerprint Section of the FBI's Identification Division.*^

In his testimony before the Commission, Latona stated that when

he received the rifle, the area where prints were visible was protected

by cellophane.*^ He examined these prints, as well as photographs

of them which the Dallas police had made, and concluded that

;

* * * the formations, the ridge formations and characteristics, were insufficient for purposes of either effecting identification or a

determination that the print was not identical with the prints of

people. Accordingly, my opinion simply was that the latent

prints which were there were of no value.*® Latona then processed the complete weapon but developed no

identifiable prints.^^ He stated that the poor quality of the wood

and the metal would cause the rifle to absorb moisture from the skin,

thereby making a clear print unlikely.^^

On November 22, however, before surrendering possession of the

rifle to the FBI Laboratory, Lieutenant Day of the Dallas Police Department had "lifted" a palmprint from the underside of the gun barrel "near the firing end of the barrel about 3 inches under the

Woodstock when I took the woodstock loose." ^^ "Lifting" a print in- volves the use of adhesive material to remove the fingerprint powder

which adheres to the original print. In this way the powdered impression is actually removed from the object."^ The lifting had been

so complete in this case that there was no trace of the print on the

rifle itself when it was examined by Latona. Nor was there any indication that the lift had been performed.^* I^ay, on the other

hand, believed that sufficient traces of the print had been left on the

rifle iDarrel, because he did not release the lifted print until November 26, when he received instructions to send "everything that we

had" to the FBI.^^ The print arrived in the FBI Laboratory in

Washington on November 29, mounted on a card on which Lieutenant

Day had written the words "off underside gun barrel near end of foregrip C2766." ^^ The print's positive identity as having been lifted

from the rifle was confirmed by FBI Laboratory tests which established that the adhesive material bearing the print also bore impressions of the same irregularities that appeared on the barrel of the

rifle." Latona testified that this palmprint was the right palmprint of

Lee Harvey Oswald.^* At the request of the Commission, Arthur

Mandella, fingerprint expert with the New York City Police Department, conducted an independent examination and also determined

that this was the right palmprint of Oswald.^® Latona's findings were also confirmed by Eonald G. Wittmus, another FBI fingerprint

123
expert.®*^ In the opinion of these experts, it was not possible to esti- mate the time which elapsed between the placing of the print on the

rifle and the date of the lift.^^ Experts testifying before the Commission agreed that palmprints

are as unique as fingerprints for purposes of establishing identification.^^ Oswald's palmprint on the underside of the barrel demonstrates that he handled the rifle when it was disassembled. A palmprint could not be placed on this portion of the rifle, when assembled,

because the wooden foregrip covers the barrel at this point.^^ The

print is additional proof that the rifle was in Oswald's possession.

Fibers on Rifle

In a crevice between the butt plate of the rifle and the wooden

stock was a tuft of several cotton fibers of dark blue, gray-black, and

orange-yellow shades.^* On November 23, 1963, these fibers were examined by Paul M. Stombaugh, a special agent assigned to the Hair

and Fiber Unit of the FBI Laboratory.^^ He compared them with

the fibers found in the shirt which Oswald was wearing when ar- rested in the Texas Theatre.^^ This shirt was also composed of dark

blue, gray-black and orange-yellow cotton fibers. Stombaugh testi- fied that the colors, shades, and twist of the fibers found in the tuft on the rifle matched those in Oswald's shirt.®^ (See app. X, p. 592.)

Stombaugh explained in his testimony that in fiber analysis, as

distinct from fingerprint or firearms identification, it is not possible

to state with scientific certainty that a particular small group of

fibers come from a certain piece of clothing to the exclusion of all others because there are not enough microscopic characteristics pres- ent in fibers.^^ Judgments as to probability will depend on the number and types of matches.^*^ He concluded, "There is no doubt

in my mind that these fibers could have come from this shirt. There

is no way, however, to eliminate the possibility of the fibers having come from another identical shirt." ^° Having considered the probabilities as explained in Stombaugh's

testimony, the Commission has concluded that the fibers in the tuft on the rifle most probably came from the shirt worn by Oswald when

he was arrested, and that this was the same shirt which Oswald wore on

the morning of the assassination. Marina Oswald testified that she

thought her husband wore this shirt to work on that day.'^^ The testi- mony of those who saw him after the assassination was inconclusive

about the color of Oswald's shirt,^^ but Mary Bledsoe, a former landlady of Oswald, saw him on a bus approximately 10 minutes after

the assassination and identified the shirt as being the one worn by

Oswald primarily because of a distinctive hole in the shirt's right

elbow.^^ Moreover, the bus transfer which he obtained as he left the

bus was still in the pocket when he was arrested. '^^ Although Oswald

returned to his roominghouse after the assassination and when ques- tioned by the police, claimed to have changed his shirt,^^ the evidence

124
indicates that he continued wearing the same shirt which he was wearing all morning and which he was still wearing when arrested.

In light of these findings the Commission evaluated the additional

testimony of Stombaugh that the fibers were caught in the crevice of

the rifle's butt plate "in the recent past." ^^ Although Stombaugh

was unable to estimate the period of time the fibers were on the rifle he said that the fibers "were clean, they had good color to them, there was no grease on them and they were not fragmented. They looked

as if they had just been picked up." ^^ The relative freshness of the

fibers is strong evidence that they were caught on the rifle on the

morning of the assassination or during the preceding evening. For

10 days prior to the eve of the assassination Oswald had not been pres- ent at Ruth Paine's house in Irving, Tex.,^^ where the rifle was kept.^^

Moreover, the Commission found no reliable evidence that Oswald

used the rifle at any time between September 23, when it was trans- ported from New Orleans, and November 22, the day of the assassination.®° The fact that on the morning of the assassination Oswald was

wearing the shirt from which these relatively fresh fibers most probably originated, provides some evidence that they were placed on the

rifle that day since there was limited, if any, opportunity for Oswald

to handle the weapon during the 2 months prior to November 22. On the other hand Stombaugh pointed out that fibers might retain

their freshness if the rifle had been "put aside" after catching the fibers. The rifle used in the assassination probably had been wrapped in a blanket for about 8 weeks prior to November 22.^^ Because the rela- tive freshness of these fibers might be explained by the continuous

storage of the rifle in the blanket, the Commission was unable to reach

any firm conclusion as to when the fibers were caught in the rifle. The

Commission was able to conclude, however, that the fibers most probably came from Oswald's shirt. This adds to the conviction of the

Commission that Oswald owned and handled the weapon used in the

assassination.

Photograph of Oswald With Rifle

During the period from March 2, 1963, to April 24, 1963, the

Oswalds lived on Neely Street in Dallas in a rented house which

had a small back yard.®^ One Sunday, while his wife was hanging

diapers, Oswald asked her to take a picture of him holding a rifle, a

pistol and issues of two newspapers later identified as the Worker

and the Militant.^^ Two pictures were taken. The Commission

has concluded that the rifle shown in these pictures is the same rifle which was found on the sixth floor of the Depository Building on November 22, 1963. (See Commission Exhibits Nos. 133-A and

133-B,p.l26.)

One of these pictures. Exhibit No. 133-A, shows most of the rifle's configuration.^* Special Agent Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt, a photography

expert with the FBI, photographed the rifle used in the assassination,

attempting to duplicate the position of the rifle and the lighting in

Exhibit No. 133-A.®^ After comparing the rifle in the simulated

125
PHOTOGRAPHS OF OSWALD HOLDING RIFLE

^^fm'- - ^t^if sfs^x.muum ewnwauiwif Commission Exhibit No. 133-A Commission Exhibit No. 13^B

Commission Exhibit No. 134 (Enlargement of Commission Exhibit No. 133-A)

126
photograph with the rifle in Exhibit No. 133-A, Shaneyfelt testified,

"I found it to be the same general configuration. All appearances were the same." He found "one notch in the stock at this point

that appears very faintly in the photograph." He stated, however, that while he "found no differences" between the rifles in the

two photographs, he could not make a "positive identification to the

exclusion of all other rifles of the same general configuration." ^ The authenticity of these pictures has been established by expert

testimony which links the second picture, Commission Exhibit No.

133-B, to Oswald's Imperial Reflex camera, with which Marina Oswald

testified she took the pictures.^^ The negative of that picture. Commission Exhibit No. 133-B, was found among Oswald's possessions.^^

Using a recognized technique of determining whether a picture was

taken with a particular camera, Shaneyfelt compared this negative

with a negative which he made by taking a new picture with

Oswald's camera.^^ He concluded that the negative of Exhibit No.

133-B was exposed in Oswald's Imperial Reflex camera to the exclusion of all other cameras.^^ He could not test Exhibit No. 133-A

in the same way because the negative was never recovered.®^ Both

pictures, however, have identical backgrounds and lighting and,

judging from the shadows, were taken at the same angle. They are photographs of the same scene.^^ Since Exhibit No. 133-B was taken

with Oswald's camera, it is reasonably certain that Exhibit No. 133-A

was taken by the same camera at the same time, as Marina Oswald

testified. Moreover, Shaneyfelt testified that in his opinion the photographs were not composites of two different photographs and that

Oswald's face had not been superimposed on another body.^^

One of the photographs taken by Marina Oswald was widely

published in newspapers and magazines, and in many instances the

details of these pictures differed from the original, and even from

each other, particularly as to the configuration of the rifle. The Commission sought to determine whether these photographs were re- touched prior to publication. Shaneyfelt testified that the published

photographs appeared to be based on a copy of the original which

the publications had each retouched differently.^* Several of the

publications furnished the Commission with the prints they had used, or described by correspondence the retouching they had done. This

information enabled the Commission to conclude that the published

pictures were the same as the original except for retouching done by

these publications, apparently for the purpose of clarifying the lines

of the rifle and other details in the picture.®^

The dates surrounding the taking of this picture and the purchase of

the rifle reinforce the belief that the rifle in the photograph is the rifle which Oswald bought from Klein's. The rifle was shipped from

Klein's in Chicago on March 20, 1963, at a time when the Oswalds

were living on Neely Street.^^ From an examination of one of the

photographs, the Commission determined the dates of the issues of

the Militant and the Worker which Oswald was holding in his hand.

127
By checking the actual mailing dates of these issues and the time it usually takes to eJffect delivery to Dallas, it was established that the

photographs must have been taken sometime after March 27.^^ Marina

Oswald testified that the photographs were taken on a Sunday about 2 weeks before the attempted shooting of Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker

on April 10, 1963.«« By Sunday, March 31, 1963, 10 days prior to the

Walker attempt, Oswald had undoubtedly received the rifle shipped

from Chicago on March 20, the revolver shipped from Los Angeles on

the same date,^^ and the two newspapers which he was holding in the

picture.

Rifle Among Oswald's Possessions

Marina Oswald testified that the rifle found on the sixth floor of

the Depository Building was the "fateful rifle of Lee Oswald." ^°^ Moreover, it was the only rifle owned by her husband following his

return from the Soviet Union in June 1962.^°^ It had been purchased

in March 1963, and taken to New Orleans w^iere Marina Oswald saw

it in their rented apartment during the summer of 1963.^°^ It appears

from his wife's testimony that Oswald may have sat on the screened-in

porch at night practicing with the rifle by looking through the tele- scopic sight and operating the bolf."^ In September 1963, Oswald

loaded their possessions into a station wagon owned by Ruth Paine,

who had invited Marina Oswald and the baby to live at her home in

Irving,^^* Tex. Marina Oswald has stated that the rifle was among

these possessions,^^^ although Ruth Paine testified that she was not aware of it.^°** From September 24, 1963, when Marina Oswald arrived in Irving

from New Orleans, until the morning of the assassination, the rifle was, according to the evidence, stored in a green and brown blanket

in the Paines' garage among the Oswalds' other possessions.^°^ About

1 week after the return from New Orleans, Marina Oswald was looking

in the garage for parts to the baby's crib and thought that the parts

might be in the blanket. When she started to open the blanket, she saw

the stock of the rifle.^^® Ruth and Michael Paine both noticed the

rolled-up blanket in the garage during the time that Marina Oswald was living in their home.^°® On several occasions, Michael Paine

moved the blanket in the garage.^^° He thought it contained tent

poles, or possibly other camping equipment such as a folding shovel."^

When he appeared before the Commission, Michael Paine lifted the

blanket with the rifle wrapped inside and testified that it appeared

to be the same approximate weight and shape as the package in his

garage.^^^

About 3 hours after the assassination, a detective and deputy sheriff saw the blanket-roll, tied with a string, lying on the floor of the Paines'

garage. Each man testified that he thought he could detect the outline of a rifle in the blanket, even though the blanket was empty.^^^ Paul M. Stombaugh, of the FBI Laboratory, examined the blanket

and discovered a bulge approximately 10 inches long midway in the

blanket. This bulge was apparently caused by a hard protruding

128
object which had stretched the blanket's fibers. It could have been

caused by the telescopic sight of the rifle which was approximately 11

inches long.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 1301:, p. 132.)

Conclusion

Having reviewed the evidence that (1) Lee Harvey Oswald purchased the rifle used in the assassination, (2) Oswald's palmprint was

on the rifle in a position which shows that he had handled it while it was

disassembled, (3) fibers found on the rifle most probably came from the

shirt Oswald was wearing on the day of the assassination, (4) a photograph taken in the yard of Oswald's apartment showed him holding this rifle, and (5) the rifle was kept among Oswald's possessions

from the time of its purchase until the day of the assassination, the

Commission concluded that the rifle used to assassinate President Kennedy and wound Governor Connally was owned and possessed by

Lee Harvey Oswald.

THE RIFLE IN THE BUILDING

The Commission has evaluated the evidence tending to show how

Lee Harvey Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, serial number C2766, was brought into the Depository Building, where it was found on

the sixth floor shortly after the assassination. In this connection the

Commission considered (1) the circumstances surrounding Oswald's

return to Irving, Tex., on Thursday, November 21, 1963, (2) the dis- appearance of the rifle from its normal place of storage, (3) Oswald's

arrival at the Depository Building on November 22, carrying a long

and bulky brown paper package, (4) the presence of a long handmade

brown paper bag near the point from which the shots were fired,

and (5) the palmprint, fiber, and paper analyses linking Oswald and

the assassination weapon to this bag.

The Curtain Rod Story

During October and November of 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald lived

in a roominghouse in Dallas while his wife and children lived in

Irving, at the home of Ruth Paine,^^^ approximately 15 miles

from Oswald's place of work at the Texas School Book Depository.

Oswald traveled between Dallas and Irving on weekends in a car driven by a neighbor of the Paines, Buell Wesley Frazier, who also worked at the Depository.^^^ Oswald generally would go to Irving on Friday afternoon and return to Dallas Monday morning. According to the testimony of Frazier, Marina Oswald, and Ruth Paine, it appears that Oswald never returned to Irving in midweek prior to November 21, 1963, except on Monday, October 21, when he visited

his wife in the hospital after the birth of their second child.^^^ During the morning of November 21, Oswald asked Frazier whether

he could ride home with him that afternoon. Frazier, surprised, asked

129
him why he was going to Irving on Thursday night rather than

Friday. Oswald replied, "I'm going home to get some curtain

rods * * * [to] put in an apartment." "® The two men left work at 4 : 40 p.m. and drove to Irving. There was little conversation between

them on the way home.^^^ Mrs. Linnie Mae Kandle, Frazier's sister,

commented to her brother about Oswald's unusual midweek return

to Irving. Frazier told her that Oswald had come home to get curtain

rods.120 It would appear, however, that obtaining curtain rods was

not the purpose of Oswald's trip to Irving on November 21. Mrs.

A. C. Johnson, his landlady, testified that Oswald's room at 1026

North Beckley Avenue had curtains and curtain rods,^^^ and that

Oswald had never discussed the subject with her.^^^ In the Paines'

garage, along with many other objects of a household character,

there were two flat lightweight curtain rods belonging to Ruth

Paine but they were still there on Friday afternoon after Oswald's

arrest.^^^ Oswald never asked Mrs. Paine about the use of curtain

rods,^^* and Marina Oswald testified that Oswald did not say anything

about curtain rods on the day before the assassination.^^^ No curtain

rods were known to have been discovered in the Depository Building

after the assassination.^^^ In deciding whether Oswald carried a rifle to work in a long paper bag on November 22, the Commission gave

weight to the fact that Oswald gave a false reason for returning home

on November 21, and one which provided an excuse for the carrying

of a bulky package the following morning.

The Missing Rifle

Before dinner on November 21, Oswald played on the lawn of the

Paines' home with his daughter June.^^^ After dinner Ruth Paine and

Marina Oswald were busy cleaning house and preparing their children

for bed.^^ Between the hours of 8 and 9 p.m. they were occupied

with the children in the bedrooms located at the extreme east end of

the house.^2® On the west end of the house is the attached garage,

which can be reached from the kitchen or from the outside.^^^ In the

garage were the personal belongings of the Oswald family including,

as the evidence has shovni, the rifle wrapped in the old brown and

green blanket.^^^ At approximately 9 p.m., after the children had been put to bed,

Mrs. Paine, according to her testimony before the Commission, "went

out to the garage to paint some children's blocks, and worked in the

garage for half an hour or so. I noticed when I went out that the

light was on." ^^^ Mrs. Paine was certain that she had not left the

light on in the garage after dinner.^^^ According to Mrs. Paine,

Oswald had gone to bed by 9 p.m. ; ^^^ Marina Oswald testified that it was between 9 and 10 p.m.^^^ Neither Marina Oswald nor Ruth Paine saw Oswald in the garage.^^^ The period between 8 and 9 p.m., however, provided ample opportunity for Oswald to prepare the

rifle for his departure the next morning. Only if disassembled could

130
the rifle fit into the paper bag found near the window ^^^ from which

the shots were fired. A firearms expert with the FBI assembled the

rifle in 6 minutes using a 10-cent coin as a tool, and he could dis- assemble it more rapidly.^^^ While the rifle may have already been

disassembled when Oswald arrived home on Thursday, he had ample

time that evening to disassemble the rifle and insert it into the

paper bag.

On the day of the assassination, Marina Oswald was watching

television when she learned of the shooting. A short time later Mrs.

Paine told her that someone had shot the President "from the building

in which Lee is working." Marina Oswald testified that at that time

"My heart dropped. I then went to the garage to see whether the

rifle was there and I saw that the blanket was still there and I said

*Thank God.' " She did not unroll the blanket. She saw that it was

in its usual position and it appeared to her to have something inside."^

Soon afterward, at about 3 p.m., police officers arrived and searched

the house. Mrs. Paine pointed out that most of the Oswalds' possessions were in the garage."^ With Kuth Paine acting as an interpreter, Detective Rose asked Marina whether her husband had a rifle. Mrs. Paine, who had no knowledge of the rifle, first said "No," but

when the question was translated, Marina Oswald replied "Yes." ^*^ She pointed to the blanket which was on the floor very close to where

Ruth Paine was standing. Mrs. Paine testified

:

As she [Marina] told me about it I stepped onto the blanket

roll. * * * And she indicated to me that she had peered into this

roll and saw a portion of what she took to be a gun she knew her

husband to have, a rifle. And I then translated this to the officers that she knew that her husband had a gun that he had stored in

here. * * * I then stepped off of it and the officer picked it up in

the middle and it bent so. * * * ^^^ Mrs. Paine had the actual blanket before her as she testified and

she indicated that the blanket hung limp in the officer's hand.^*^

Marina Oswald testified that this was her first knowledge that the

rifle was not in its accustomed place.^**

The Long and Bulky Package

On the morning of November 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald left the Paine house in Irving at approximately 7 :15 a.m., while Marina

Oswald was still in bed.^*^ Neither she nor Mrs. Paine saw him leave

the house.^*^ About half-a-block away from the Paine house was the

residence of Mrs. Linnie Mae Randle, the sister of the man with whom

Oswald drove to work—Buell Wesley Frazier. Mrs. Randle stated

that on the morning of November 22, while her brother was eating

breakfast, she looked out the breakfast-room window and saw Oswald

cross the street and walk toward the driveway where her brother parked

his car near the carport. He carried a "heavy brown bag." ^*^ Oswald

131
C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle and paper bag found on the sixtli floor of the Texas

School Book Depository.

Commission Exhibit No. 1304

132
gripped the bag in his right hand near the top. "It tapered like this as he hugged it in his hand. It was * * * more bulky toward the

bottom" than toward the top.^*^ She then opened the kitchen door

and saw Oswald open the right rear door of her brother's car and place

the package in the back of the car.^^^ Mrs. Handle estimated that the

package was approximately 28 inches long and about 8 inches wide.^^°

She thought that its color was similar to that of the bag found on the

sixth floor of the School Book Depository after the assassination.^^^

Frazier met Oswald at the kitchen door and together they walked to the car.^^2 After entering the car, Frazier glanced over his shoulder

and noticed a brown paper package on the back seat. He asked,

"What's the package, Lee?" Oswald replied, "curtain rods." ^^^ Frazier told the Commission "* * * the main reason he was going

over there that Thursday afternoon when he was to bring back some curtain rods, so I didn't think any more about it when he

told me that." ^^* Frazier estimated that the bag was 2 feet long

"give and take a few inches," and about 5 or 6 inches wide.^^^ As

they sat in the car, Frazier asked Oswald where his lunch was, and

Oswald replied that he was going to buy his lunch that day.^^^ Frazier

testified that Oswald carried no lunch bag that day. "ViHien he rode

with me, I say he always brought lunch except that one day on November 22 he didn't bring his lunch that day." ^^^ Frazier parked the car in the company parking lot about 2 blocks

north of the Depository Building. Oswald left the car first, picked

up the brown paper bag, and proceeded toward the building ahead of

Frazier. Frazier walked behind and as they crossed the railroad

tracks he watched the switching of the cars. Frazier recalled that one end of the package was under Oswald's armpit and the lower

part was held with his right hand so that it was carried straight

and parallel to his body. When Oswald entered the rear door of

the Depository Building, he was about 50 feet ahead of Frazier. It was the first time that Oswald had not walked with Frazier from

the parking lot to the building entrance.^^* When Frazier entered

the building, he did not see Oswald.^^^ One employee. Jack Dougherty, believed that he saw Oswald coming to work, but he does not

remember that Oswald had anything in his hands as he entered the

door.^^° No other employee has been found who saw Oswald enter

that morning.^^^

In deciding whether Oswald carried the assassination weapon in the

bag which Frazier and Mrs. Randle saw, the Commission has carefully

considered the testimony of these two witnesses with regard to the

length of the bag. Frazier and Mrs. Randle testified that the bag

which Oswald was carrying was approximately 27 or 28 inches long,^^^

whereas the wooden stock of the rifle, which is its largest component,

measured 34.8 inches.^®^ The bag found on the sixth floor was 38

inches long.^«* (See Commission Exhibit No. 1304, p. 132.)

When Frazier appeared before the Commission and was asked

to demonstrate how Oswald carried the package, he said, "Like

I said, I remember that I didn't look at the package very much * * * 133
but when I did look at it lie did have his hands on the package like

that," ^^^ and at this point Frazier placed the upper part of the

package under his armpit and attempted to cup his right hand beneath

the bottom of the bag. The disassembled rifle was too long to be

carried in this manner. Similarly, when the butt of the rifle was

placed in Frazier's hand, it extended above his shoulder to ear level.^^ Moreover, in an interview on December 1, 1963, with agents of the

FBI, Frazier had marked the point on the back seat of his car which

he believed was where the bag reached when it was laid on the seat with one edge against the door. The distance between the point on

the seat and the door was 27 inches.^^^ Mrs. Randle said, when shown the paper bag, that the bag she saw Oswald carrjdng ''wasn't that long, I mean it was folded down at the top as I told you. It definitely wasn't that long." ^^^ And she

folded the bag to a length of about 281^ inches. Frazier doubted

whether the bag that Oswald carried was as wide as the bag found

on the sixth floor,^^^ although Mrs. Randle testified that the width was approximately the same.^'°

The Commission has weighed the visual recollection of Frazier

and Mrs. Randle against the evidence here presented that the bag

Oswald carried contained the assassination weapon and has con- cluded that Frazier and Randle are mistaken as to the length of the

bag. Mrs. Randle saw the bag fleetingly and her first remembi^nce

is that it was held in Oswald's right hand "and it almost touched the

gromid as he carried it.'' ^'^ Frazier's view of the bag was from the

rear. He continually advised that he was not paying close attention.^"-

For example, he said,

* * * I didn't pay too much attention the way he was walking be- cause I was walking along there lookmg at the railroad cars and

watcliing the men on the diesel switch them cars and I didn't pay

too much attention on how he carried the package at all.^'^ Frazier could easily have been mistaken when he stated that Oswald

held the bottom of the bag cupped in his hand with the upper end

tucked into his armpit.

Location of Bag

A handmade bag of wrapping paper and tape ^'- was foimd in

the southeast corner of the sixth floor alongside the window fi'om

which the shots were fired.^"^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 2707.

p. 142.) It was not a standard type bag which could be obtained

in a store and it was presumably made for a particular purpose.

It was the appropriate size to contain, in disassembled form. Oswald's

Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, serial ^o. C2766, which was also found

on the sixth floor.^"^ Three cartons had been placed at the wmdow

apparentl}^ to act as a gmi rest and a fourth carton was placed

behind those at the window.^^'' (See Commission Exhibit Xo. 1301.

134
p. 138.) A person seated on the fourth carton could assemble the rifle without being seen from the rest of the sixth floor because the cartons stacked around the southeast corner would shield him.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 723, p. 80.) The presence of the bag in this comer is cogent evidence that it was used as the container for the

rifle. At the time the bag was found, Lieutenant Day of the Dallas

police wrote on it, "Found next to the sixth floor window gun fired

from. May have been used to carry gun. Lt. J. C. Day." ^^^

Scientific Evidence Linking Rifle and Oswald to Paper Bag

Oswald^s ftngerprint and palmprint found on hag.—^Using a standard chemical method involving silver nitrates ^^° the FBI Laboratory

developed a latent palmprint and latent fingerprint on the bag. (See

app. X, p. 565.) Sebastian F. Latona, supervisor of the FBI's Latent Fingerprint Section, identified these prints as the left index

fingerprint and right palmprint of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ The

portion of the palm which was identified was the heel of the right

palm, i.e., the area near the wrist, on the little finger side.^^^ These

prints were examined independently by Ronald G. Wittmus of the

FBI,^^^ and by Arthur Mandella, a fingerprint expert with the New

York City Police Department.^^* Both concluded that the prints were the right palm and left index finger of Lee Oswald. No other

identifiable prints were found on the bag.^^^

Oswald's palmprint on the bottom of the paper bag indicated, of

course, that he had handled the bag. Furthermore, it was consistent

with the bag having contained a heavy or bulky object when he handled

it since a light object is usually held by the fingers.^^® The palmprint was found on the closed end of the bag. It w^as from Oswald's right

hand, in which he carried the long package as he walked from Frazier's car to the building.^^^

Materials used to make 'bag.—On the day of the assassination, the

Dallas police obtained a sample of wrapping paper and tape from

the shipping room of the Depository and forwarded it to the FBI

Laboratory in Washington.^^^ James C. Cadigan, a questioned-documents expert with the Bureau, compared the samples with the paper

and tape in the actual bag. He testified, "In all of the observations

and physical tests that I made I found * * * the bag * * * and the

paper sample * * * were the same." ^^^ Among other tests, the paper and tape were submitted to fiber

analysis and spectrographic examination.^^^ In addition the tape was

compared to determine whether the sample tape and the tape on the

bag had been taken from the tape dispensing machine at the Depository. When asked to explain the similarity of characteristics,

Cadigan stated : ^^^

Well, briefly, it would be the thickness of both the paper and

the tape, the color under various lighting conditions of both the

paper and the tape, the width of the tape, the knurled markings

135
on the surfax^e of the fiber, the texture of the fiber, the felting

pattern * * *

I found that the paper sack found on the sixth floor * * * and the sample * * * had the same observable characteristics

both under the microscope and all the visual tests that I could

conduct.

The papers I also found were similar in fiber composition,

therefore, in addition to the visual characteristics, microscopic

and UV [ultra violet] characteristics.

Mr. Cadigan concluded that the paper and tape from the bag were

identical in all respects to the sample paper and tape taken from the

Texas School Book Depository shipping room on November 22, 1963.^^^ On December 1, 1963, a replica bag was made from materials found

on that date in the shipping room. This was done as an investigatory aid since the original bag had been discolored during various

laboratory examinations and could not be used for valid identification

by witnesses.^^^ Cadigan found that the paper used to make this

replica sack had different characteristics from the paper in the original bag.^^ The science of paper analysis enabled him to distinguish

between different rolls of paper even though they were produced by

the same manufacturer.^^^ Since the Depository normally used approximately one roll of paper

every 3 working days,^^® it was not surprising that the replica sack

made on December 1, 1963, had different characteristics from both

the actual bag and the sample taken on November 22. On the other

hand, since two rolls could be made from the same batch of paper, one cannot estimate when, prior to November 22, Oswald made the

paper bag. However, the complete identity of characteristics between

the paper and tape in the bag foimd on the sixth floor and the paper

and tape found in the shipping room of the Depository on November 22 enabled the Commission to conclude that the bag was made

from these materials. The Depository shipping department was on

the first floor to which Oswald had access in the normal performance

of his duties filling orders.^^^ Fibers in paper hag matched fibers in bla/ahet.—^When Paul M.

Stombaugh of the FBI Laboratory examined the paper bag, he found, on the inside, a single brown delustered viscose fiber and several light

green cotton fibers.^®^ The blanket in which the rifle was stored was

composed of brown and green cotton, viscose and woolen fibers.^^^ The single brown viscose fiber found in the bag matched some

of the brown viscose fibers from the blanket in all observable characteristics.^^^ The green cotton fibers found in the paper bag matched some of the green cotton fibers in the blanket "in all observable micro136
scopic characteristics." ^^^ Despite these matches, however, Stombaugh was unable to render *an opinion that the fibers which he found

in the bag had probably come from the blanket, because other types

of fibers present in the blanket were not found in the bag. He

concluded

:

All I would say here is that it is possible that these fibers could

have come from this blanket, because this blanket is composed

of brown and green woolen fibers, brown and green delustered

viscose fibers, and brown and green cotton fibers. * * * We found no brown cotton fibers, no green viscose fibers, and no woolen

fibers. So if I found all of these then I would have been able to say

these fibers probably had come from this blanket. But since I found so few, then I would say the possibility exists, these fibers

could have come from this blanket.^^^ Stombaugh confirmed that the rifle could have picked up fibers from the blanket and transferred them to the paper bag.^^^ In light

of the other evidence linking Lee Harvey Oswald, the blanket, and

the rifle to the paper bag found on the sixth floor, the Commission

considered Stombaugh's testimony of probative value in deciding

whether Oswald carried the rifle into the building in the paper bag.

Conclusion

The preponderance of the evidence supports the conclusion that

Lee Harvey Oswald (1) told the curtain rod story to Frazier to ex- plain both the return to Irving on a Thursday and the obvious bulk

of the package which he intended to bring to work the next day ; (2)

took paper and tape from the wrapping bench of the Depository and

fashioned a bag large enough to carry the disassembled rifle; (3)

removed the rifle from the blanket in the Paines' garage on Thursday

evening; (4) carried the rifle into the Depository Building, concealed

in the bag; and, (5) left the bag alongside the window from which

the shots were fired. OSWALD AT WINDOW

Lee Harvey Oswald was hired on October 15, 196e3, by the Texas

School Book Depository as an "order filler." ^o* He worked principally on the first and sixth floors of the building, gathering books listed on or- ders and delivering them to the shipping room on the first floor. -°^ He

had ready access to the sixth flo,or,2°® from the southeast corner window

of which the shots were fired. ^^^ The Commission evaluated the

physical evidence found near the window after the assassination and

the testimony of eyewitnesses in deciding whether Lee Harvey Oswald

was present at this window at the time of the assassination.

137

730-900 0-64— 11
SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SIXTH FLOOR SHOWING ARRANGEMENT

OF CARTONS SHORTLY AFTER SHOTS WERE FIRED. _

Commission Exhibit No. 1301

138
APPROXIMATE LOCATION

OF WRAPPING-PAPER BAG

I I APPROXIMATE LOCATION OF WRAPPING-PAPER BAG AND LOCATION

OF PALM PRINT ON CARTON NEAR WINDOW IN SOUTHEAST CORNER.

(HAND POSITION SHOWN BY DOTTED LINE ON BOX)

Commission Exhibit No. 1302

139
Palmprints and Fingerprints on Cartons and Paper Bag

Below the southeast corner window on the sixth floor Avas a large carton of books measuring approximately 18 by 12 by 14 inches which

had been moved from a stack along the south wall.^*'^ Atop this carton was a small carton marked "Rolling Readers," measuring approximately 13 by 9 by 8 inches.^°^ In front of this small carton and resting

partially on the windowsill was another small "Rolling Readers" carton.2^^ These two small cartons had been moved from a stack about

three aisles away.^^^ The boxes in the window appeared to have been

arranged as a convenient gun rest.^" (See Commission Exhibit No.

1301, p. 138.) Behind these boxes was another carton placed on

the floor on which a man sitting could look southwesterly down Elm

Street over the top of the "Rolling Readers" cartons.^" Next to these cartons was the handmade paper bag, previously discussed, on which

appeared the print of the left index finger and right palm of Lee

Harvey Oswald.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 1302, p. 139.)

The cartons were forwarded to the FBI in Washington. Sebastian F. Latona, supervisor of the Latent Fingerprint Section,

testified that 20 identifiable fingerprints and 8 palmprints were developed on these cartons. ^^^ The carton on the windowsill and the

large carton below the window contained no prints which could be

identified as being those of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^® The other "Rolling Readers" carton, however, contained a palmprint and a fingerprint

which were identified by Latona as being the left palmprint and right

index fingerprint of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ (See app. X, p. 566.)

The Commission has considered the possibility that the cartons might have been moved in connection with the work that was being

performed on the sixth floor on November 22. Depository employees were laying a new floor at the west end and transferring books from

the west to the east end of the building.^^® The "Rolling Readers"

cartons, however, had not been moved by the floor layers and had apparently been taken to the window from their regular position for some particular purpose.^^^ The "Rolling Readers" boxes contained,

instead of books, light blocks used as reading aids.^^^ They could be

easily adjusted and were still solid enough to serve as a gun rest. The box on the floor, behind the three near the window, had been one

of these moved by the floor layers from the west wall to near the east

side of the building in preparation for the laying of the floor.^^i During the afternoon of November 22, Lieutenant Day of the Dallas police

dusted this carton with powder and developed a palmprint on the top

edge of the carton on the side nearest the window.222 The position of

this palmprint on the carton was parallel with the long axis of the box,

and at right angles with the short axis ; the bottom of the palm rested on the box.^^ Someone sitting on the box facing the window would

have his palm in this position if he placed his hand alongside his

right hip. (See Conmiission Exhibit No. 1302, p. 139.) This print

140
which had been cut out of the box was also forwarded to the FBI and

Latona identified it as Oswald's right palmprint.^* In Latona's opinion "not too long" a time had elapsed between the time that the print was placed on the carton and the time that it had been developed by

the Dallas police.^^^ Although Bureau experiments had shown that

24 hours was a likely maximum time, Latona stated that he could only

testify with certainty that the print was less than 3 days old.^^^ The print, therefore, could have been placed on the carton at any

time within this period. The freshness of this print could be esti- mated only because the Dallas police developed it through the use of

powder. Since cartons absorb perspiration, powder can success- fully develop a print on such material ^^^ only within a limited time.

When the FBI in Washington received the cartons, the remaining

prints, including Oswald's on the Kolling Keaders carton, were developed by chemical processes. The freshness of prints developed in

this manner ^^^ cannot be estimated, so no conclusions can be drawn

as to whether these remaining prints preceded or followed the print

developed in Dallas by powder. Most of the prints were found to have been placed on the cartons by an FBI clerk and a Dallas police

officer after the cartons had been processed with powder by the Dallas Police.229 (See ch. VI, p. 249; app. X, p. 566.)

In his independent investigation, Arthur Mandella of the New York

City Police Department reached the same conclusion as Latona that the

prints found on the cartons were those of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ In

addition, Mandella was of the opinion that the print taken from the carton on the floor was probably made within a day or a day and a half

of the examination on November 22.^^^ Moreover, another expert with

the FBI, Eonald G. Wittmus, conducted a separate examination and

also agreed with Latona that the prints were Oswald's.^^^

In evaluating the significance of these fingerprint and palmprint

identifications, the Commission considered the possibility that Oswald

handled these cartons as part of his normal duties. Since other

identifiable prints were developed on the cartons, the Commission

requested that they be compared with the prints of the 12 warehouse

employees who, like Oswald, might have handled the cartons. They

were also compared with the prints of those law enforcement officials who might have handled the cartons. The results of this investigation

are fully discussed in chapter VI, page 249. Although a person could

handle a carton and not leave identifiable prints, none of these employees except Oswald left identifiable prints on the cartons.^^^ This

finding, in addition to the freshness of one of the prints and the pres- ence of Oswald's prints on two of the four cartons and the paper bag

led the Commission to attach some probative value to the fingerprint

and palmprint identifications in reaching the conclusion that Oswald

was at the window from which the shots were fired, although the

prints do not establish the exact time he was there. 141
SIXTH FLOOR, TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY

DALLAS, TEXAS

LOCATION OF RIFLE, LOOKING NORTH

f SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SIXTH FLOOR, LOOKING EAST Commission Exhibit No. 2707

142
Oswald's Presence on Sixth Floor Approximately 35 Minutes Before

the Assassination

Additional testimony linking Oswald with the point from which

the shots were fired was provided by the testimony of Charles Givens,

who was the last known employee to see Oswald inside the building

prior to the assassination. During the morning of November 22,

Givens was working with the floor-laying crew in the southwest

section of the sixth floor.^^ At about 11 :45 a.m. the floor-laying crew used both elevators to come down from the sixth floor. The employees raced the elevators to the first floor.^^* Givens saw Oswald

standing at the gate on the fifth floor as the elevator went by.^^^

Givens testified that after reaching the first floor, "I discovered I left my cigarettes in my jacket pocket upstairs, and I took the elevator

back upstairs to get my jacket with my cigarettes in it." ^^^ He saw

Oswald, a clipboard in hand, walking from the southeast corner of

the sixth floor toward the elevator.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No.

2707, p. 142.) Givens said to Oswald, "Boy are you going downstairs? * * * It's near lunch time." Oswald said, "No, sir. When

you get downstairs, close the gate to the elevator." ^^^ Oswald was

referring to the west elevator which operates by pushbutton and only

with the gate closed.^^® Givens said, "Okay," and rode down in the

east elevator. Wlien he reached the first floor, the Avest elevator

the one with the gate—was not there. Givens thought this was about

11 :55 a.m.2^° None of the Depository employees is known to have seen Oswald again until after the shooting.^^^

The significance of Givens' observation that Oswald was carrying

his clipboard became apparent on December 2, 1963, when an employee, Frankie Kaiser, found a clipboard hidden by book cartons

in the northwest corner of the sixth floor at the west wall a few feet from where the rifle had been found.^^^ This clipboard had been

made by Kaiser and had his name on it.^*^ Kaiser identified it as the clipboard which Oswald had appropriated from him when

Oswald came to work at the Depository.^** Three invoices on this

clipboard, each dated November 22, were for Scott-Foresman books,

located on the first and sixth floors.^*^ Oswald had not filled any of

the three orders.^*^ Eyewitness Identification of Assassin

Howard L. Brennan was an eyewitness to the shooting. As indicated previously the Commission considered his testimony as probative in reaching the conclusion that the shots came from the sixth

floor, southeast corner window of the Depository Building.^*^ (See

ch. Ill, pp. 61-68.) Brennan also testified that Lee Harvey Oswald,

whom he viewed in a police lineup on the night of the assassination, was the man he saw fire the shots from the sixth-floor window of the

Depository Building.-*® When the shots were fired, Brennan was in an excellent position to observe anyone in the window. He was sitting

143
on a concrete wall on the southwest corner of Elm and Houston Streets,

looking north at the Depository Building which was directly in front

of him.^*^ The window Avas approximately 120 feet away.^^° (See

Commission Exhibit No. 477, p. 62.)

In the 6- to 8-minute period before the motorcade arrived,-^^ Bren- nan saAv a man leave and return to the window "a couple of times." ^'"^ After hearing the first shot, which he thought Avas a motorcycle backfire, Brennan glanced up at the window. He testified that "this man

I saw previously Avas aiming for his last shot * *

^'' as it appeared to me he Avas standing up and resting against the left Avindow sill * * *.2^^ Brennan saAv the man fire the last shot and disappear from the Avin- dow. Within minutes of the assassination, Brennan described the man

to the police.2^* This description most probably led to the radio

alert sent to police cars at approximately 12 :45 p.m., AA^hich described

the suspect as AA^hite, slender, AA^eighing about 165 pounds, about 5'10"

tall, and in his early thirties.^^^ In his SAvorn statement to the police

later that day, Brennan described the man in similar terms, except

that he gave the Aveight as betAveen 165 and 175 pounds and the height was omitted.^^® In his testimony before the Commission, Brennan

described the person he saw as "* * * a man in his early thirties,

fair complexion, slender, but neat, neat slender, possible 5 foot 10 * * * 160 to 170 pounds." ^^ OsAvald Avas 5'9", slender and 24 years old. AVlien arrested, he gave his Aveight as 140 pounds.^^^ On other occasions he gave Aveights of both 140 and 150 pounds.^^^ The New Orleans police records of his arrest in August of 1963 shoAv a weight of

136 pounds.^^° The autopsy report indicated an estimated Aveight

of 150 pounds.2^^ Brennan's description should also be compared with the eyeAvitness

description broadcast oA^er the Dallas police radio at 1 :22 p.m. of

the man who shot Patrolman J. D. Tippit. The suspect Avas described

as "a Avhite male about 30, 5'8", black hair, slender. * * *" ^62 At 1:29

p.m. the police radio reported that the description of the suspect in

the Tippit shooting Avas similar to the description which had been

given by Brennan in connection Avith the assassination.^^^ Approximately 7 or 8 minutes later the police radio reported that "an eyeball

Avitness" described the suspect in the Tippit shooting as "a white

male, 27, 5'11", 165 pounds, black Avavy hair." ^^ As Avill be discussed

fully beloAv, the Commission has concluded that this suspect Avas Lee

Harvey OsAvald.

Although Brennan testified that the man in the window Avas standing when he fired the shots,^^ most probably he Avas either sitting or

kneeling. The half-open windoAv,^^® the arrangement of the boxes,^^'

and the angle of the shots virtually preclude a standing position.^^* It is understandable, hoAvever, for Brennan to have belicA^ed that the

man with the rifle Avas standing. A photograph of the building taken

seconds after the assassination shoAvs three employees looking out of

the fifth-floor AvindoAv directly beloAv the AvindoAv from Avhich the

shots Avere fired. Brennan testified that they Avere standing,^^ which

is their apparent position in the photograph.^^^ (See Dillard Ex144
hibits Nos. C and D, pp. 66-67.) But the testimony of these employees,^''^ together with photographs subsequently taken of them at the scene of the assassination,^^^ establishes that they were either squatting or kneeling. (See Commission Exhibit No. 485, p. 69.) Since

the window ledges in the Depository Building are lower than in most

buildings,^^^ a person squatting or kneeling exposes more of his body

than would normally be the case. From the street, this creates the

impression that the person is standing. Brennan could have seen enough of the body of a kneeling or squatting person to estimate his

height.

Shortly after the assassination Brennan noticed two of these employees leaving the building and immediately identified them as having

been in the fifth-floor windows.^^* When the three employees appeared before the Commission, Brennan identified the two whom he saw leave the building.^^^ The two men, Harold Norman and James

Jarman, Jr., each confirmed that when they came out of the building,

they saw and heard Brennan describing what he had seen.^^^ Norman stated, "* * * I remember him talking and I believe I remember

seeing him saying that he saw us when we first went up to the fifth- floor window, he saw us then." ^^^ Jarman heard Brennan "talking

to this officer about that he had heard these shots and he had seen

the barrel of the gun sticking out the window, and he said that the

shots came from inside the building." ^^^ During the evening of November 22, Brennan identified Oswald

as the person in the lineup who bore the closest resemblance to the man

in the window but he said he was unable to make a positive identification.^^^ Prior to the lineup, Brennan had seen Oswald's picture on

television and he told the Commission that whether this affected his

identification "is something I do not know." ^^^ In an interview with

FBI agents on December 17, 1963, Brennan stated that he was sure

that the person firing the rifle was Oswald.^^^ In another interview

with FBI agents on January 7, 1964, Brennan appeared to revert to his earlier inability to make a positive identification,^*^ but, in his testi- mony before the Commission, Brennan stated that his remarks of

January 7 were intended by him merely as an accurate report of what

he said on November 22.^*3 Brennan told the Commission that he could have made a positive

identification in the lineup on November 22 but did not do so because he

felt that the assassination was "a Communist activity, and I felt like

there hadn't been more than one eyewitness, and if it got to be a known

fact that I was an eyewitness, my family or I, either one, might not be

safe." 2** When specifically asked before the Commission whether or not he could positively identify the man he saw in the sixth-floor

window as the same man he saw in the police station, Brennan stated, "I could at that time—I could, with all sincerity, identify him as being the same man." ^^^ Although the record indicates that Brennan was an accurate observer, he declined to make a positive identification of Oswald when

he first saw him in the police lineup.^*^ The Commission, therefore,

145
does not base its conclusion concerning the identity of the assassin on Brennan's subsequent certain identification of Lee Harvey Oswald

as the man he saw fire the rifle. Immediately after the assassination,

however, Brennan described to the police the man he saw in the

window and then identified Oswald as the person who most nearly

resembled the man he saw. The Commission is satisfied that, at the

least, Brennan saw a man in the window who closely resembled Lee

Harvey Oswald, and that Brennan believes the man he saw was in

fact Lee Harvey Oswald.

Two other witnesses were able to offer partial descriptions of a man

they saw in the southeast corner window of the sixth floor approximately 1 minute before the assassination, although neither witness saw

the shots being fired.^^^ Ronald Fischer and Robert Edwards were

standing on the curb at the southwest comer of Elm and Houston

Streets,^®® the same corner where Brennan was sitting on a concrete

wall.^^ Fischer testified that about 10 or 15 seconds before the motorcade turned onto Houston Street from Main Street, Edwards said,

"Look at that guy there in that window." ^^^ Fischer looked up and watched the man in the window for 10 or

15 seconds and then started watching the motorcade, which came into

view on Houston Street.^^^ He said that the man held his attention

until the motorcade came because the man

:

* * * appeared uncomfortable for one, and secondly, he wasn't

watching * * * he didn't look like he was watching for the

parade. He looked like he was looking down toward the Trinity

River and the Triple Underpass down at the end—^toward the

end of Elm Street. And * * * all the time I watched him, he

never moved his head, he never—he never moved anything. Just was there transfixed.^^^

Fischer placed the man in the easternmost window on the south

side of the Depository Building on either the fifth or the sixth floor.^^^ He said that he could see the man from the middle of his chest to the

top of his head, and that as he was facing the window the man was in

the lower right-hand portion of the window and "seemed to be sitting a little forward." ^^* The man was dressed in a light-colored, openneck shirt which could have been either a sports shirt or a T-shirt, and

he had brown hair, a slender face and neck with light complexion, and

looked to be 22 or 24 years old.^®^ The person in the window was a white man and "looked to me like he was looking straight at the Triple

Underpass" down Elm Street.^^^ Boxes and cases were stacked behind him.297

Approximately 1 week after the assassination, according to Fischer,

policemen showed him a picture of Oswald.^^^ In his testimony he

said, "I told them that that could have been the man. * * * That

that could have been the man that I saw in the window in the School

Book Depository Building, but that I was not sure." ^^^ Fischer

described the man's hair as some shade of brown—"it wasn't dark

146
and it wasn't light." ^°^ On November 22, Fischer had apparently

described the man as "light-headed." ^°^ Fischer explained that he did

not mean by the earlier statement that the man was blond, but rather

that his hair was not black.^^^ Robert Edwards said that, while looking at the south side of the

Depository Building shortly before the motorcade, he saw nothing of

importance "except maybe one individual who was up there in the corner room of the sixth floor which was crowded in among boxes." ^^^ He said that this was a white man about average in size, "possibly

thin," and that he thought the man had light-brown hair.^°* Fischer

and Edwards did not see the man clearly enough or long enough to identify him. Their testimony is of probative value, however, because

their limited description is consistent with that of the man who has

been found by the Commission, based on other evidence, to have fired

the shots from the window.

Another person who saw the assassin as the shots were fired was Amos L. Euins, age 15, who was one of the first witnesses to alert the

police to the Depository as the source of the shots, as has been dis- cussed in chapter 111.^°^ Euins, who was on the southwest corner of

Elm and Houston Streets,^*^® testified that he could not describe the man

he saw in the window. According to Euins, however, as the man lowered his head in order to aim the rifle down Elm Street, he appeared

to have a white bald spot on his head.^^"^ Shortly after the assassination, Euins signed an affidavit describing the man as "white," ^^^ but

a radio reporter testified that Euins described the man to him as "colored." ^°^ In his Commission testimony, Euins stated that he

could not ascertain the man's race and that the statement in the affi- davit was intended to refer only to the white spot on the man's head

and not to his race.^^^ A Secret Service agent who spoke to Euins

approximately 20 to 30 minutes after the assassination confirmed that

Euins could neither describe the man in the window nor indicate his

race.^^^ Accordingly, Euins' testimony is considered probative as to the source of the shots but is inconclusive as to the identity of the

man in the window.

In evaluating the evidence that Oswald was at the southeast corner window of the sixth floor at the time of the shooting, the Commission

has considered the allegation that Oswald was photographed standing

in front of the building when the shots were fired. The picture

which gave rise to these allegations was taken by Associated Press

Photographer James W. Altgens, who was standing on the south side

of Elm Street between the Triple Underpass and the Depository

Building.^^2 As the motorcade started its descent down Elm Street,

Altgens snapped a picture of the Presidential limousine with the

entrance to the Depository Building in the background.^^^ Just before

snapping the picture Altgens heard a noise which sounded like the

popping of a firecracker. Investigation has established that Altgens'

picture was taken approximately 2 seconds after the firing of the shot

which entered the back of the President's neck.^^* 147
TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY

DIAGRAM OF FIRST FLOOR

ELM STREET A/

SC4LE IN FEET Commission Exhibit No. 1061

148
In the background of this picture were several employees watching

the parade from the steps of the Depository Building. One of these

employees was alleged to resemble Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ The Commission has determined that the employee was in fact Billy Nolan

Lovelady, who identified himself in the picture.^^® Standing alongside him were Buell Wesley Frazier ^^^ and William Shelley,^^^ who

also identified Lovelady. The Commission is satisfied that Oswald

does not appear in this photograph. (See Commission Exhibit No.

900, p. 113.)

Oswald's Actions in Building After Assassination

In considering whether Oswald was at the southeast corner window

at the time the shots were fired, the Commission has reviewed the testi- mony of witnesses who saw Oswald in the building within minutes

after the assassination. The Commission has found that Oswald's

movements, as described by these witnesses, are consistent with his

having been at the window at 12 :30 p.m.

The encounter in the lunchroom.—The first person to see Oswald

after the assassination was Patrolman M. L. Baker of the Dallas

Police Department. Baker was riding a two-wheeled motorcycle

behind the last press car of the motorcade.^^® As he turned the corner from Main onto Houston at a speed of about 5 to 10 miles per hour,^^^ a strong wind blowing from the north almost unseated him.^^^ At

about this time he heard the first shot.^^^ Having recently heard the

sounds of rifles while on a hunting trip, Baker recognized the shots as that of a high-powered rifle ; "it sounded high and I immediately kind

of looked up, and I had a feeling that it came from the building, either

right in front of me [the Depository Building] or of the one across to the right of it." ^^^ He saw pigeons flutter upward. He was not certain, "but I am pretty sure they came from the building right on the

northwest comer." ^^^ He heard two more shots spaced "pretty well even to me." ^^^ After the third shot, he "revved that motorcycle up,"

drove to the northwest corner of Elm and Houston, and parked

approximately 10 feet from the traiiic signal.^^® As he was parking

he noted that people were "falling, and they were rolling around down

there * * * grabbing their children" and rushing about.^^^ A woman

screamed, "Oh, they have shot that man, they have shot that man." ^^^ Baker "had it in mind that the shots came from the top of this building

here," so he ran straight to the entrance of the Depository Building.^^*^

Baker testified that he entered the lobby of the building and "spoke

out and asked where the stairs or elevator was * * * and this man,

Mr. Truly, spoke up and says, it seems to me like he says, 'I am a building manager. Follow me, officer, and I will show you.' "

^^^ Baker and building superintendent Roy Truly went through a second

set of doors ^^^ and stopped at a swinging door where Baker bumped

into Truly's back.^^^ xhey went through the swinging door and con- tinued at "a good trot" to the northwest corner of the floor where Truly

hoped to find one of the two freight elevators. (See Commission

149
TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY

DIAGRAM OF SECOND FLOOR

SHOWING ROUTE OF OSWALD

PATROLMAN BAKER AND

MR. TRULY RAN UP THESE

STAIRS FROM 1ST FLOOR

LOCATION OF PATROLMAN

BAKER WHEN

HE OBSERVED

OSWALD IN LUNCHROOM

LOCATION OF OSWALD WHEN

SEEN BY PATROLMAN BAKER

APPROX. 12:31', P.M.

^

LOCATION OF MRS REID WHEN SHE OBSERVED OSWALD APPROX 12:32 P.M.

OFFICE SPACE

II

^\ MR CAMPBELL

II

\ TEXAS

• SCHOOL BOOK \^1 DEPOSITORY

z

O

h-coD

O

RM. 203 SOUTH-WESTERN

PUBLISHING CO TV

•^ TO FRONT ENTRANCE

ONE FLIGHT BELOW

I KNOWN ROUTE OF OSWALD

I ASSUMED ROUTE OF OSWALD ELM STREET

SCALE IN FEET Commission Exhibit No. 1118

150
Exhibit No. 1061, p. 148.) Neither elevator was there.^^ Truly

pushed the button for the west elevator which operates automatically

if the gate is closecl.^^^ He shouted twice, "Turn loose the elevator." ^^^ Wlien the elevator failed to come. Baker said, "let's take the stairs,"

and he followed Truly up the stairway, which is to the west of the

elevator.^^^ The stairway is located in the northwest corner of the Depository

Building. The stairs from one floor to the next are "L-shaped," with

both legs of the "L" approximately the same length. Because the

stairway itself is enclosed, neither Baker nor Truly could see anything on the second-floor hallway until they reached the landing at the top

of the stairs.^^' On the second-floor landing there is a small open

area with a door at the east end. This door leads into a small vestibule,

and another door leads from the vestibule into the second-floor lunchroom.^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 1118, p. 150.) The lunchroom

door is usually open, but the first door is kept shut by a closing mechanism on the door.^^^ This vestibule door is solid except for a small glass

window in the upper part of the door.^^^ As Baker reached the second

floor, he was about 20 feet from the vestibule door.^*^ He intended

to continue aromid to his left toward the stairway going up but

through the window in the door he caught a fleetmg glimpse of a man

walking in the vestibule toward the lunchroom.^*^

Since the vestibule door is only a few feet from the lunchroom

door,^*^ the man must have entered the vestibule only a second or two

before Baker arrived at the top of the stairwell. Yet he must have

entered the vestibule door before Truly reached the top of the stair- well, since Truly did not see him.^** If the man had passed from the

vestibule into the lunchroom. Baker could not have seen him. Baker

said:

He [Truly] had already started around the bend to come to the

next elevator going up, I was coming out this one on the second

floor, and I don't know, 1 was kind of sweeping this area as I come up, I was looking from right to left and as I got to this door

here I caught a glimpse of this man, just, you know, a sudden

glimpse * * * and it looked to me like he was going away from

me. * * * I can't say whether he had gone on through that door [the

lunchroom door] or not. All I did was catch a glance at him,

and evidently he was—this door might have been, you know,

closing and almost shut at that time. ^^ With his revolver drawn^ Baker opened the vestibule door and ran

into the vestibule. He saw a man walking away from him in the

Imichroom. Baker stopped at the door of the lunchroom and com- manded, "Come here." ^^^ The man turned and walked back toward

Baker.^^^ He had been proceeding toward the rear of the lunchroom.^^^ Along a side wall of the lunchroom was a soft drink vending

machine,^^^ but at that time the man had nothing in his hands.^^° 151
Meanwhile, Truly had run up several steps toward the third floor. Missing Baker, he came back to find the officer in the doorway to the

lunchroom "facing Lee Harvey Oswald.'^ ^^^ Baker turned to Truly

and said, "Do you know this man, does he Avork here?"^^^ Truly

replied, "Yes." ^^^ Baker stated later that the man did not seem to be

out of breath ; he seemed calm. "He never did say a word or nothing.

In fact, he didn't change his expression one bit." ^^* Truly said of

Oswald : "He didn't seem to be excited or overly afraid or anything.

He might have been a bit startled, like I might have been if somebody

confronted me. But I cannot recall any change in expression of any

kind on his face." ^^^ Truly thought that the officer's gun at that

time appeared to be almost touching the middle portion of Oswald's

body. Truly also noted at this time that Oswald's hands were

empty.^^®

In an effort to determine whether Oswald could have descended

to the lunchroom from the sixth floor by the time Baker and Truly

arrived. Commission counsel asked Baker and Truly to repeat their

movements from the time of the shot until Baker came upon Oswald

in the lunchroom. Baker placed himself on a motorcycle about 200 feet from the corner of Elm and Houston Streets where he said he heard the

shots.^^^ Truly stood in front of the building.^^^ At a given signal,

they reenacted the event. Baker's movements were timed with a stopwatch. On the first test, the elapsed time between the simulated

first shot and Baker's arrival on the second-floor stair landing was

1 minute and 30 seconds. The second test run required 1 minute and

15 seconds.^^^ A test Avas also conducted to determine the time required to walk

from the southeast corner of the sixth floor to the second-floor lunch- room by stairAvay. Special Agent John HoAvlett of the Secret Service

carried a rifle from the southeast corner of the sixth floor along the east

aisle to the northeast corner. He placed the rifle on the floor near the

site where Oswald's rifle was actually found after the shooting.

Then HoAvlett walked down the stairAvay to the second-floor landing

and entered the lunchroom. The first test, run at normal Avalking pace, required 1 minute, 18 seconds ; ^®° the second test, at a "fast Avalk" took

1 minute, 14 seconds.^*^^ The second test folloAved immediately after the

first. The only interval was the time necessary to ride in the elevator

from the second to the sixth floor and Avalk back to the southeast corner. Howlett Avas not short Avinded at the end of either test run.^^^ The minimum time required by Baker to park his motorcycle and

reach the second-floor lunchroom Avas Avithin 3 seconds of the time

needed to Avalk from the southeast corner of the sixth floor doAvn the

stairAvay to the lunchroom. The time actually required for Baker

and Truly to reach the second floor on November 22 Avas probably

longer than in the test runs. For example. Baker required 15 seconds

after the simulated sliot to ride his motorcycle 180 to 200 feet, park it, and run 45 feet to the building.^^^ No alloAvance Avas made for the

special conditions Avhich existed on the day of the assassination—possible delayed reaction to the shot, jostling Avith the croAvd of people on

152
the steps and scanning the area along Ehn Street and the parkway.^°* Baker said, "AVe simulated the shots and by the time we got there, we

did everything that I did that day, and this would be the minimum,

because I am sure that I, you know, it took me a little longer." ^^^ On

the basis of this time test, therefore, the Commission concluded that

Oswald could have fired the shots and still have been present in the

second-floor lunchroom when seen by Baker and Truly.

That Oswald descended by stairway from the sixth floor to the sec- ond-floor lunchroom is consistent with the movements of the two elevators, Avhich would have provided the other possible means of descent.

Wlien Truly, accompanied by Baker, ran to the rear of the first floor,

he was certain that both elevators, which occupy the same shaft,^^® were on the fifth floor.^^^ Baker, not realizing that there were two ele- vators, thought that only one elevator was in the shaft and that it was

two or three floors above the second floor.^^^ In the fcAv seconds which

elapsed while Baker and Truly ran from the first to the second floor,

neither of these slow elevators could have descended from the fifth to the second floor. Furthermore, no elevator was at the second floor when they arrived there.^^*^ Truly and Baker continued up the stairs

after the encounter with Oswald in the lunchroom. There was no

elevator on the third or fourth floor. The east elevator was on the fifth floor when they arrived ; the Avest elevator Avas not. They took the east elevator to the seA^enth floor and ran up a stairAvay to the roof Avhere

they searched for several minutes.^^^

Jack Dougherty, an employee Avorking on the fifth floor, testified that he took the Avest elevator to the first floor after hearing a noise

Avhich sounded like a backfire.^^^ Eddie Piper, the janitor, told

Dougherty that the President had been shot,^^^ but in his testimony

Piper did not mention either seeing or talking with Dougherty during

these moments of excitement."^ Both Dougherty and Piper Avere confused witnesses. They had no exact memory of the events of that

afternoon. Truly Avas probably correct in stating that the Avest elevator was on the fifth floor Avhen he looked up the elevator shaft

from the first floor. The Avest elevator Avas not on the fifth floor Avhen

Baker and Truly reached that floor, probably because Jack Dougherty

took it to the first floor Avhile Baker and Truly Avere running up the

stairs or in the lunchroom Avith OsAvald. Neither elevator could have

been used by OsAAald as a means of descent.

Oswald's use of the stairAvay is consistent Avith the testimony of

other employees in the building. Three employees—James Jarman,

Jr., Harold Norman, and Bonnie Ray Williams.—Avere Avatching the

parade from the fifth floor, directly beloAv the AvindoAv from Avhich the

shots were fired. They rushed to the Avest Avindows after the shots were fired and remained there until after they saAv Patrolman Baker's

Avhite helmet on the fifth floor moving toAvard the elevator.^^* While

they Avere at the west AvindoAvs their vieAv of the stairAvell Avas completely blocked by shelves and boxes.^^^ This is the period during

which OsAvald Avould have descended the stairs. In all likelihood

Dougherty took the elevator doAvn from the fifth floor after Jarman,

153

730-900 0-64— 12
Norman, and Williams ran to the west windows and were deciding

what to do. None of these three men saw Dougherty, probably be- cause of the anxiety of the moment and because of the books which

may have blocked the view.^^*^ Neither Jarman, Norman, Williams,

or Dougherty saw Oswald.^^^ Victoria Adams, who worked on the fourth floor of the Depository

Building, claimed that within about 1 minute following the shots she ran from a window on the south side of the fourth floor,^^^ down the

rear stairs to the first floor, where she encountered two Depository

employees—William Shelley and Billy Lovelady.^^^ If her estimate

of time is correct, she reached the bottom of the stairs before Truly

and Baker started up, and she must have run down the stairs ahead

of Oswald and would probably have seen or heard him. Actually she

noticed no one on the back stairs. If she descended from the fourth

to the first floor as fast as she claimed in her testimony, she would have

seen Baker or Truly on the first floor or on the stairs, unless they were

already in the second-floor lunchroom talking to Oswald. When she

reached the first floor, she actually saw Shelley and Lovelady slightly

east of the east elevator.

Shelley and Lovelady, however, have testified that they were watching the parade from the top step of the building entrance when Gloria

Calverly, who works in the Depository Building, ran up and said that

the President had been shot.^^° Lovelady and Shelley moved out

into the street.^®^ About this time Shelley saw Truly and Patrolman

Baker go into the building.^^^ Shelley and Lovelady, at a fast walk or

trot, turned west into the railroad yards and then to the west side of

the Depository Building. They reentered the building by the rear door

several minutes after Baker and Truly rushed through the front

entrance.^*^ On entering, Lovelady saw a girl on the first floor who

he believes was Victoria Adams.^^* If Miss Adams accurately recalled

meeting Shelley and Lovelady Avhen she reached the bottom of the

stairs, then her estimate of the time when she descended from the

fourth floor is incorrect, and she actually came down the stairs several

minutes after Oswald and after Truly and Baker as well. Oswald^s departure from huilding,—^Within a minute after Baker

and Truly left Oswald in the lunchroom, Mrs. K. A. Reid, clerical supervisor for the Texas School Book Depository, saw him walk

through the clerical office on the second floor toward the door leading

to the front stairway. Mrs. Eeid had watched the parade from the

sidewalk in front of the building with Truly and Mr. O. V. Campbell,

vice president of the Depository.^^^ She testified that she heard three

shots which she thought came from the building.^®^ She ran inside

and up the front stairs into the large open office reserved for clerical employees. As she approached her desk, she saw Oswald.^^^ He

was walking into the office from the back hallway, carrying a full bottle of Coca-Cola in his hand,^^^ presumably purchased after the

encounter with Baker and Truly. As Oswald passed Mrs. Eeid

she said, "Oh, the President has been shot, but maybe they didn't hit

him." 2^^ Oswald mumbled something and walked by.^^° She paid

154
no more attention to him. The only exit from the office in the direction

Oswald was moving was through the door to the front stairway.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit 1118, p. 150.) Mrs. Reid testified that

when she saw Oswald, he was wearing a T-shirt and no jacket.^®^

When he left home that morning, Marina Oswald, who was still in

bed, suggested that he wear a jacket.^^^ A blue jacket, later identified

by Marina Oswald as her husband's,^^* was subsequently found in

the building,^^^ apparently left behind by Oswald.

Mrs. Reid believes that she returned to her desk from the street about 2 minutes after the shooting.^^^ Reconstructing her movements,

Mrs. Reid ran the distance three times and was timed in 2 minutes by

stopwatch.^^^ The reconstruction w^as the minimum time.^®^ Accordingly, she probably met Oswald at about 12 :32, approximately 30-45

seconds after Oswald's lunchroom encounter with Baker and Truly.

After leaving Mrs. Reid in the front office, Oswald could have gone

down the stairs and out the front door by 12:33 p.m.^^^—3 minutes

after the shooting. At that time the building had not yet been sealed

off by the police.

While it was difficult to determine exactly when the police sealed

off the building, the earliest estimates would still have permitted

Oswald to leave the building by 12 :33. One of the police officers as- signed to the corner of Elm and Houston Streets for the Presidential

motorcade, W. E. Barnett, testified that immediately after the shots

he went to the rear of the building to check the fire escape. He then

returned to the corner of Elm and Houston where he met a sergeant

who instructed him to find out the name of the building. Barnett ran

to the building, noted its name, and then returned to the corner.*°° There he was met by a construction worker—in all likelihood Howard

Brennan, who was wearing his work he]met.^°^ This worker told

Barnett that the shots had been fired from a window in the Depository

Building, whereupon Barnett posted himself at the front door to make

certain that no one left the building. The sergeant did the same

thing at the rear of the building.^^^ Barnett estimated that approximately 3 minutes elapsed between the time he heard the last of the

shots and the time he started guarding the front door. According

to Barnett, "there were people going in and out" during this period.*°^

Sgt. D. Y. Harkness of the Dallas police said that to his knowledge

the building was not sealed off at 12:36 p.m. when he called in on

police radio that a witness (Amos Euins) had seen shots fired from

a window of the building.*^* At that time. Inspector Herbert V.

Sawyer's car was parked in front of the building.*°^ Harkness did

not know whether or not two officers with Sawyer were guarding the

doors.*°® At 12:34 p.m. Sawyer heard a call over the police radio

that the shots had come from the Depository Building.^°^ He then

entered the building and took the front passenger elevator as far

as it would go—the fourth floor.*°^ After inspecting this floor, Sawyer

returned to the street about 3 minutes after he entered the building.*^^

After he returned to the street he directed Sergeant Harkness to sta- tion two patrolmen at the front door and not let anyone in or out; 155
he also directed that the back door be sealed off.*^° This was no

earlier than 12 :37 p.m.*^^ and may haA^e been later. Special Agent

Forrest V. Sorrels of the Secret Service, who had been in the motorcade, testified that after drivino- to Parkland Hospital, he returned

to the Depository Building about 20 minutes after the shooting, found no police officers at the rear door and was able to enter through this

door without identifying himself.^^^ Although Oswald probably left the building at about 12 :33 p.m.,

his absence was not noticed until at least one-half hour later. Truly,

who had returned with Patrolman Baker from the roof, saw the

police questioning the warehouse employees. Approximately 15 men

worked in the warehouse *^^ and Truly noticed that Oswald was not

among those being questioned.*^* Satisfying himself that Oswald was

missing, Truly obtained Oswald's address, phone number, and description from his employment application card. The address listed was for the Paine home in Irving. Truly gave this information to Captain Fritz who was on the sixth floor at the time.*^^ Truly esti- mated that he gave this information to Fritz about 15 or 20 minutes

after the shots,*^^ but it was probably no earlier than 1 :22 p.m., the

time when the rifle was fomid. Fritz believed that he learned of

Oswald's absence after the rifle was found.*^^ The fact that Truly

found Fritz in the northwest corner of the floor, near the point where

the rifle was found, supports Fritz' recollection.

Conclusion

Fingerprint and palmprint evidence establishes that Oswald handled

two of the four cartons next to the window and also liandled a paper

bag which Avas found near the cartons. Oswald was seen in the vicinity

of the southeast corner of the sixth floor approximately 35 minutes before the assassination and no one could be found who saw OsAvald anywhere else in the building until after the shooting. An eyewitness to the shooting immediately provided a description of the man in the window which was similar to Oswald's actual appearance. This witness

identified Oswald in a lineup as the man most nearly resembling the

man he saw and later identified OsAvald as the man he observed. Oswald's known actions in the building immediately after the assassination are consistent Avith his having been at the southeast corner windoAv

of the sixth floor at 12 :30 p.m. On the basis of these fiudrngs the Commission has concluded that OsAvald, at the time of the assassination, was present at the window from which the shots were fired. THE KILLING OF PATROLMAN J. D. TIPPIT

After leaving the Depository Building at approximately 12 :33 p.m., Lee Harvey OsAvald proceeded to his roominghouse by bus and taxi." He arrived at approximately 1 p.m. and left a few minutes later. At

156
about 1 :16 p.m., a Dallas police officer, J. D. Tippit, was shot less than 1 mile from Oswald's roominghouse. In deciding whether

Oswald killed Patrolman Tippit the Commission considered the fol- lowing: (1) positive identification of the killer by two eyewitnesses

who saw the shooting and seven eyewitnesses who heard the shots

and saw the gimman flee the scene with the revolver in his hand, (2)

testimony of firearms identification experts establishing the identity

of the murder weapon, (3) evidence establishing the ownership of

the murder weapon, (4) evidence establishing the ownership of a zipper jacket found along the path of flight taken by the gunman

from the scene of the shooting to the place of arrest. Oswald's Movements After Leaving Depository Building

The bus ride.—According to the reconstruction of time and events which the Commission found most credible, Lee Harvey Oswald left the building approximately 3 minutes after the assassination. He

probably walked east on Elm Street for seven blocks to the corner

of Elm and Murphy where he boarded a bus which was heading back

in the direction of the Depository Building, on its way to the Oak

Cliff section of Dallas. (See Commission Exhibit 1119-A, p. 158.)

When Oswald was apprehended, a bus transfer marked for the

Lakewood-Marsalis route was found in his shirt pocket.^^^ The transfer was dated "Fri. Nov. 22, '63" and was punched in two places by

the busdriver. On the basis of this pimchmark, which was distinctive

to each Dallas driver, the transfer was conclusively identified as having been issued by Cecil J. McWatters, a busdriver for the Dallas

Transit Co.^^^ On the basis of the date and time on the transfer,

McWatters was able to testify that the transfer had been issued by

him on a trip which passed a check point at St. Paul and Elm Streets

at 12 :36 p.m., November 22, 1963.^2o McWatters was sure that he left the checkpoint on time and he

estimated that it took him 3 to 4 minutes to drive three blocks west

from the checkpoint to Field Street, which he reached at about 12 :40 p.m.^2^ McWatters' recollection is that he issued this transfer to a man who entered his bus just beyond Field Street, where a man beat on the front door of the bus, boarded it and paid his fare.^^^ About

two blocks later, a w^oman asked to get off to make a 1 o'clock train

at Union Station and requested a transfer which she might use if she

got through the traffic.

* * * So I gave her a transfer and opened the door and she was

going out the gentleman I had picked up about two blocks [back]

asked for a transfer and got off at the same place in the middle

of the block where the lady did.

* * * It was the intersection near Lamar Street, it was near Poydras and Lamar Street.^^^ 167
WHEREABOUTS OF

LEE HARVEY OSWALD

between

12:33 P.M. and 1:50 P.M.

November 22, 1963

(ALL TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE) ^ ^

W-QAT ROOMING HOUSE

1026 North Beckley Ave.

arrive 1:00 leave 1:03

NEELV t

TEXAS SCHOOL BOOK

DEPOSITORY

Leave front entrance

12:33

ON BUS

Elm St. and Murphy St. 12:40

IN CAB

Commerce St. and Lamar St. 12:48

Assumed routes Motorcade route

APPROXIMATE DISTANCES

TSBD TO "ON bus:: 0.40 Ml. •ON BUS" TO •OFF BUS'J 0.15 Ml. •OFF BUS'' TO 'IN CAB'l 0.20 Ml. IN CAB^' TO OUT OF CAB^: 2.40 Ml. OUT OF CA6- TO ROOMING HOUSE. 0.30 Ml. ROOMING HOUSE TO TIPPIT KILLING SITE—085 Ml. TIPPIT KILLING SITE TO JACKET 0.20 Ml. JACKET TO TEXAS THEATER 0.40 Ml INSERT A

TIPPIT KILLING SITE 10th St. and Patton Ave

1:16

TEXAS THEATER

231 West Jefferson Blvd. arrive 1:40 apprehended 1:50 /

' ^ JACKET \

Commission Exhibit No. III9-A Commission Exhibit No. 1119-A

158
The man was on the bus approximately 4 minutes.*^*

At about 6:30 p.m. on the day of the assassmation, McWatters

viewed four men in a police lineup. He picked Oswald from the

lineup as the man who had boarded the bus at the "lower end of town

on Elm around Houston," and who, during the ride south on Marsalis, had an argument with a woman passenger.^^^ In his Commission testimony, McWatters said he had been in error and that a teenager named Milton Jones was the passenger he had in mind.*^^

In a later interview, Jones confirmed that he had exchanged words

with a woman passenger on the bus during the ride south on Marsalis.*^^ McWatters also remembered that a man received a transfer

at Lamar and Elm Streets and that a man in the lineup was about the

size of this man.*^^ However, McWatters' recollection alone was too vague to be a basis for placing Oswald on the bus.

Riding on the bus was an elderly woman, Mary Bledsoe, who con- firmed the mute evidence of the transfer. Oswald had rented a room

from Mrs. Bledsoe about 6 weeks before, on October 7,^^^ but she had

asked him to leave at the end of a week. Mrs. Bledsoe told him "I

am not going to rent to you any more." ^^° She testified, "I didn't

like his attitude. * * * There was just something about him I didn't

like or want him. * * * Just didn't want him around me." *^^ On

November 22, Mrs. Bledsoe came downtown to watch the Presidential

motorcade. She boarded the Marsalis bus at St. Paul and Elm Streets

to return home.*^- She testified further

:

And, after we got past Akard, at Murphy—I figured it out. Let's see. I don't know for sure. Oswald got on. He looks

like a maniac. His sleeve was out here. * * * His shirt was

undone.

Was a hole in it, hole, and he was dirty, and I didn't look at him. I didn't want to know I even seen him * * *

* * * he looked so bad in his face, and his face was so

distorted.

* H« * Hole in his sleeve right here.^^^ As Mrs. Bledsoe said these words, she pointed to her right elbow.*^*

^Hien Oswald was arrested in the Texas Theatre, he was wearing a brown sport shirt with a hole in the right sleeve at the elbow.*^^ Mrs.

Bledsoe identified the shirt as the one Oswald was wearing and

she stated she was certain that it was Oswald who boarded the

bus.*"'^ Mrs. Bledsoe recalled that Oswald sat halfway to the rear of

the bus which moved slowly and intermittently as traffic be<}ame

heavy.^3^ She heard a passing motorist tell the driver that the Presi159
dent had been shot.^^^ People on the bus began talking about it. As

the bus neared Lamar Street, Oswald left the bus and disappeared

into the crowd.^^^

The Marsalis bus which Oswald boarded traveled a route west on Elm, south on Houston, and southwest across the Houston viaduct

to service the Oak Cliff area along Marsalis.^^ A Beckley bus which

also served the Oak Cliff area, followed the same route as the Marsalis

bus through downtown Dallas, except that it continued west on Elm,

across Houston in front of the Depository Building, past the Triple

Underpass into west Dallas, and south on Beckley.^*^ Marsalis

Street is seven blocks from Beckley.*^^ Oswald lived at 1026 North

Beckley.^^^ He could not reach his roominghouse on the Marsalis

bus, but the Beckley bus stopped across the street.^** According to McWatters, the Beckley bus was behind the Marsalis bus, but he did

not actually see it.^*^ Both buses stopped within one block of the

Depository Building. Instead of waiting there, Oswald apparently

went as far away as he could and boarded the first Oak Cliff bus which came along rather than wait for one which stopped across the street from his roominghouse.

In a reconstruction of this bus trip, agents of the Secret Service and

the FBI Avalked the seven blocks from the front entrance of the Depository Building to Murphy and Elm three times, averaging 6I/2 minutes for the three trips.**^ A bus moving through heavy traffic on Elm from Murphy to Lamar was timed at 4 minutes.^^ If Oswald

left the Depository Building at 12:33 p.m., walked seven blocks di- rectly to Murphy and Elm, and boarded a bus almost immediately,

he would have boarded the bus at approximately 12:40 p.m. and

left it at approximately 12:44 p.m. (See Commission Exhibit No.

1119-A, p. 158.)

Roger D. Craig, a deputy sheriff of Dallas County, claimed that

about 15 minutes after the assassination he saw a man, whom he

later identified as Oswald,**^ coming from the direction of the Depository Building and running doAvn the hill north of Elm Street toward a light-colored Rambler station wagon, which was moving

slowly along Elm toward the underpass.^*^ The station wagon stopped

to pick up the man and then drove off.*^° Craig testified that later in the afternoon he saw OsAvald in the police interrogation room and

told Captain Fritz that Oswald was the man he saw.*^^ Craig also

claimed that when Fritz pointed out to Oswald that Craig had identified him, Oswald rose from his chair, looked directly at Fritz, and

said, "Everybody will know who I am now.'' ^^^ The Commission could not accept important elements of Craig's tes- timony. Captain Fritz stated that a deputy sheriff whom he could not

identify did ask to see him that afternoon and told him a similar story

to Craig's.^^^ Fritz did not bring him into his office to identify Oswald

but turned him over to Lieutenant Baker for questioning. If Craig saw Oswald that afternoon, he saw him through the glass windows

of the office. And neither Captain Fritz nor any other officer can remember that Oswald dramatically arose from his chair and said,

160
"Everybody Avill know who I am now." '^^^ If Oswald had made such

a statement, Captain Fritz and others present would probably have

remembered it. Craig may have seen a person enter a white Rambler

station wagon 15 or 20 minutes after the shooting and travel west on Elm Street, but the Commission concluded that this man was not

Lee Harvey Oswald, because of the overwhelming evidence that

Oswald was far away from the building by that time.

The taxicab ride.—William Whaley, a taxicab driver, told his employer on Saturday morning, November 23, that he recognized Oswald

from a newspaper photograph as a man whom he had driven to the

Oak Cliff area the day before.*^^ Notified of Whaley's statement, the

police brought him to the police station that afternoon. He Avas taken

to the lineup room where, according to Whaley, five young teenagers,

all handcuffed together, were displayed with Oswald.^^*^ He testified that Oswald looked older than the other boys.*^^ The police asked him

whether he could pick out his passenger from the lineup. Whaley

picked Oswald. He said,

* * * you could have picked him out without identifying him by

just listening to him because he was bawling out the policeman,

telling them it wasn't right to put him in line with these teenagers

and all of that and they asked me which one and I told them. It was him all right, the same man. He showed no respect for the policemen, he told them what

he thought about them. They knew wdiat they were doing and

they were trying to railroad him and he wanted his lawyer.*^*

Whaley believes that Oswald's conduct did not aid him in his identification "because I knew he was the right one as soon as I saw

him." ^^^ Whaley's memory of the lineup is inaccurate. There Avere four

men altogether, not six men, in the lineup with Oswald.'*^° Whaley

said that Oswald was the man under No. 2.*^^ Actually Oswald was

under No. 3. Only two of the men in the lineup with Oswald were

teenagers : John T. Horn, aged 18, was No. 1 ; David Knapp, aged 18, was No. 2; Lee Oswald Avas No. 3; and Daniel Lujan, aged 26, Avas No. 4.^«2 When he first testified before the Commission, Whaley displayed a

trip manifest *^^ Avhich shoAved a 12 o'clock trip from Travis Hotel

to the Continental bus station, unloaded at 12 :15 p.m., a 12 :15 p.m.

pickup at Continental to Greyhound, unloaded at 12 :30 p.m., and a pickup from Greyhound (bus station) at 12 :30 p.m., unloaded at 500

North Beckley at 12 :45 p.m. Whaley testified that he did not keep an

accurate time record of his trips but recorded them by the quarter

hour, and that sometimes he made his entry right after a trip Avhile at other times he waited to record three or four trips.^®^ As he un- loaded his Continental bus station passenger in front of Greyhound,

161
he started to get out to buy a package of cigarettes.^^^ He saw a man

walking south on Lamar from Commerce. The man was dressed in faded bkie color khaki work clothes, a brown shirt, and some kind of

work jacket that almost matched his pants.^^^ The man asked, "May I have the cab?", and got into the front seat.^^^ Whaley described the

ensuing events as follows

:

And about that time an old lady, I think she was an old lady, I don't remember nothing but her sticking her head down past

him in the door and said, "Driver, will you call me a cab down

here?"

She had seen him get this cab and she wanted one, too, and

he opened the door a little bit like he was going to get out and

he said, "I will let you have this one," and she says, "Xo, the

driver can call me one."

* * * I asked him where he wanted to go. And he said, "500

North Beckley."

Well, I started up, I started to that address, and tlie police

cars, the sirens was going, running crisscrossing everywhere, just a big uproar in that end of town and I said, "What the liell. I wonder what the hell is the uproar ?" And he never said anything. So I figured he was one of these

people that don't like to talk so I never said any more to him.

But when I got pretty close to 500 block at Xeches and

North Beckley Avhich is the 500 block, he said, "This will do

fine," and I pulled over to the curb right there. He gave me a dollar bill, the trip was 95 cents. He gave me a dollar bill and

didn't say anything, just got out and closed the door and Avalked

around the front of the cab over to the other side of the street [east side of the street]. Of course, the traffic Avas moving

through there and I put it in gear and moved on, that is the

last I saw of him.*^^

Whaley was somewhat imprecise as to where he unloaded his passenger. He marked wdiat he thought was the intersection of Neches

and Beckley on a map of Dallas with a large "X." ^*^^ He said, "Yes,

sir; that is right, because that is the 500 block of Xorth Beckley." ^"° However, Xeches and Beckley do not intersect. Xeches is within one- half block of the roominghouse at 1026 Xorth Beckley where Oswald

was living. The 500 block of Xorth Beckley is five blocks south of

the roominghouse.*'^

After a review of these inconsistencies in his testimony before the

Commission, Wlialey was intervieAved again in Dallas. The route

of the taxicab was retraced under the direction of Whaley.^^^ He

directed the driver of the car to a point 20 feet north of the northwest

corner of the intersection of Beckley and Xeely, the point at which

he said his passenger alighted.*'^ This was the TOO block of Xorth

162
Beckley.^^* The elapsed time of the reconstructed run from the

Greyhound Bus Station to Neely and Beckley was 5 minutes and

30 seconds by stopwatch.*^^ The walk from Beckley and Neely to 1026 North Beckley was timed by Commission counsel at 5 minutes

and 45 seconds.*^^ TVhaley testified that Oswald was wearing either the gray zippered

jacket or the heavy blue jacket.*^^ He was in error, however. Oswald

could not possibly have been wearing the blue jacket during the trip

with TV^ialey, since it was found in the "domino" room of the Depository late in November.^'^^ Moreover, Mrs. Bledsoe saw Oswald

in the bus without a jacket and wearing a shirt with a hole at the

elbow.^^^ On the other hand, Wlialey identified Commission Exhibit

No. 150 (the shirt taken from Oswald upon arrest) as the shirt his

passenger was wearing.*^° He also stated he saw a silver identification

bracelet on his passenger's left wrist.*®^ Oswald was wearing such

a bracelet when he was arrested.^^^ On November 22, Oswald told Captain Fritz that he rode a bus to

a stop near his home and then walked to his roominghouse.^^^ A^^ien

queried the following morning concerning a bus transfer found in

his possession at the time of his arrest, he admitted receiving it.*^* And when interrogated about a cab ride, Oswald also admitted that

he left the slow-moving bus and took a cab to his roominghouse.^^^

The Greyhound Bus Station at Lamar and Jackson Streets, where

Oswald entered Whaley's cab, is three to four short blocks south

of Lamar and Elm.*^^ If Oswald left the bus at 12:44 p.m. and

walked directly to the terminal, he would have entered the cab at 12 :47 or 12 :48 p.m. If the cab ride was approximately 6 minutes,

as was the reconstructed ride, he would have reached his destination

at approximately 12:54 p.m. If he was discharged at Neely and

Beckley and walked directly to his roominghouse, he would have

arrived there about 12 :59 to 1 p.m. From the 500 block of North

Beckley, the walk would be a few minutes longer, but in either event

he would have been in the roominghouse at about 1 p.m. This is the approximate time he entered the roominghouse, according to Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper there.**^ (See Commission Exhibit

No. 1119-A, p. 158.)

Arrival and departure from roominghouse.—Earlene Roberts,

housekeeper for Mrs. A. C. Johnson at 1026 North Beckley, knew

Lee Harvey Oswald under the alias of O. H. Lee. She first saw him

the day he rented a room at that address on October 14, 1963.*^^ He

signed his name as O. H. Lee on the roominghouse register.*^^

Mrs. Roberts testified that on Thursday, November 21, Oswald did

not come home. On Friday, November 22, about 1 p.m., he entered

the house in unusual haste. She recalled that it was subsequent to the

time the President had been shot. After a friend had called and told

her, "President Kennedy has been shot," she turned on the television.

When Oswald came in she said, "Oh, you are in a huriy," but Oswald

did not respond. He hurried to his room and stayed no longer than

3 or 4 minutes. Oswald had entered the house in his shirt sleeves,

163
LOCATION OF EYEWITNESSES TO THE MOVEMENTS OF

LEE HARVEY OSWALD IN THE VICINITY OF THE

TIPPIT KILLING

Commission Exhibit No. 1968

164
but when he left, he was zipping up a jacket. Mrs. Roberts saw him

a few seconds later standing near the bus stop in front of the house on

the east side of Beckley.^®*^

Oswald was next seen about nine-tenths of a mile away at the southeast corner of 10th Street and Patton Avenue, moments before the

Tippit shooting. (See Commission Exhibit No. 1119-A, p. 158.)

If Oswald left his roominghouse shortly after 1 p.m. and walked at a brisk pace, he would have reached 10th and Patton shortly after

1 :15 p.m.^®^ Tippit's murder was recorded on the police radio tape

at about 1 :16 p.m.*^^

Description of Shooting

Patrolman J. D. Tippit joined the Dallas Police Department in

July 1952.*^^ He was described by Chief Curry as having the reputation of being "a very fine, dedicated officer." *®* Tippit patroled

district No. 78 in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas during daylight hours.

He drove a police car pamted distinctive colors with No. 10 prominently displayed on each side. Tippit rode alone, as only one man

was normally assigned to a patrol car in residentiial areas during daylight shifts.*95 At about 12 :44 p.m. on November 22, the radio dispatcher on channel 1 ordered all downtown patrol squads to report to Elm and

Houston, code 3 ( emergency ).^®^ At 12:45 p.m. the dispatcher

ordered No. 78 (Tippit) to "move into central Oak Cliff area."*^^ At 12 :54: p.m., Tippit reported that he was in the central Oak Cliff area at Lancaster and Eighth. The dispatcher ordered Tippit to be

:

"* * * at large for any emergency that comes in." *^^ According to Chief Curry, Tippit was free to patrol the central Oak Cliff area.^^^ Tippit must have heard the description of the suspect wanted for the

President's shooting ; it was broadcast over channel 1 at 12 :45 p.m., again at 12:48 p.m., and again at 12:55 p.m.^°° The suspect w^as described as a "white male, approximately 30, slender build, height

5 foot 10 inches, weight 165 pounds." ^^^ A similar description w^as given on channel 2 at 12 :45 p.m.^^^

At approximately 1 :15 p.m., Tippit, who was cruising east on 10th

Street, passed the intersection of 10th and Patton, about eight blocks

from where he had reported at 12:54 p.m. About 100 feet past

the intersection Tippit stopped a man walking east along the south

side of Patton. (See Commission Exhibit No. 1968, p. 164.)

The man's general description was similar to the one broadcast over

the police radio. Tippit stopped the man and called him to his car. He approached the car and apparently exchanged words with Tippit

through the right frolit or vent window. Tippit got out and started

to walk aromid the front of the car. As Tippit reached the left front wheel the man pulled out a revolver and fired several shots. Four bullets hit Tippit and killed him instantly. The gunman

started back toward Patton Avenue, ejecting the empty cartridge

cases before reloading with fresh bullets. 165
Eyewitnesses

At least 12 persons saw the man with the revolver in the vicinity

of the Tippit crime scene at or immediately after the shooting. By

the evening of November 22, five of them had identified Lee Harvey

Oswald in police lineups as tlie man they saw. A sixth did so the

next day. Three others subsequently identified Oswald from a photograph. Two witnesses testified that Oswald resembled the man they

had seen. One witness felt he was too distant from the gunman to make a positive identification. (See Commission Exhibit No. 1968,

p. 164.)

A taxi driver, William Scoggins, was eating lunch in his cab which was parked on Patton facing the southeast corner of 10th Street and

Patton Avenue a few feet to the north. "^^^ A police car moving east on

10th at about 10 or 12 miles an hour passed in front of his cab. About

100 feet from the corner the police car pulled up alongside a man on

the sidewalk. This man, dressed in a light-colored jacket, approached

the car. Scoggins lost sight of him behind some shrubbery on the

southeast corner lot, but he saw the policeman leave the car, heard three or four shots, and then saw the policeman fall. Scoggins hurriedly left his seat and hid behind the cab as the man came back toward the corner with gun in hand. The man cut across the yard through some bushes,

passed within 12 feet of Scoggins, and ran south on Patton. Scoggins saw him and heard him mutter either "Poor damn cop" or "Poor dumb

cop." ^°* The next day Scoggins viewed a lineup of four persons

and identified Oswald as the man whom he had seen the day before

at 10th and Patton.^^^ In his testimony before the Commission,

Scoggins stated that he thought he had seen a picture of Oswald in

the newspapers prior to the lineup identification on Saturday. He

had not seen Oswald on television and had not been shown any photographs of Oswald by the police.^^®

Another witness, Domingo Benavides, was driAdng a pickup truck

west on 10th Street. As he crossed the intersection a block east of

10th and Patton, he saw a policeman standing by the left door of the

police car parked along the south side of 10th. Benavides saw a man

standing at the right side of the parked police car. He then heard

three shots and saw the policeman fall to the ground. By this time

the pickup truck was across the street and about 25 feet from

the police car. Benavides stopped and waited in the truck until the

gunman ran to the corner. He saw him empty the gun and throw the

shells into some bushes on the southeast corner lot.^^^ It was

Benavides, using Tippit's car radio, who first reported the killing of

Patrolman Tippit at about 1 :16 p.m. : "We've had a shooting out

here." ^°^ He found two empty shells in the bushes and gave them to Patrolman J. M. Poe who arrived on the scene shortly after the shootjj^g 509 Benavides never saw Oswald after the arrest. Wlien ques- tioned by police officers on the evening of November 22, Benavides

told them that he did not think that he could identify the man who

fired the shots. As a result, they did not take him to the police station.

166
He testified that the picture of Oswald wliich he saw later on television

bore a resemblance to the man who shot Officer Tippit.'^^^*

Just prior to the shooting, Mrs. Helen Markham, a waitress in downtown Dallas, was about to cross 10th Street at Patton. As she waited on the northwest corner of the intersection for traffic to pass,^" she

noticed a young man as he was "almost ready to get up on the

curb" ^^^ at the southeast corner of the intersection, approximately

50 feet away. The man continued along 10th Street. Mrs. Markham

saw a police car slowly approach the man from the rear and stop

alongside of him. She saw the man come to the right window of the

police car. As he talked, he leaned on the ledge of the right w^indow

with his arms. The man appeared to step back as the policeman

"calmly opened the car door" and very slowly got out and walked

toward the front of the car. The man pulled a gun. Mrs. Markham

heard three shots and saw the policeman fall to the ground near the

left front wheel. She raised her hands to her eyes as the man started

to walk back toward Patton.^^"^ She peered through her fingers,

lowered her hands, and saw the man doing something with his gun.

"He was just fooling with it. I didn't know what he was doing. I was afraid he was fixing to kill me." ^^^ The man "in kind of a

little trot" headed down Patton toward Jefferson Boulevard, a block

away. Mrs. Markham then ran to Officer Tippit's side and saw him

lying in a pool of blood.^^^ Helen Markham w^as screaming as she leaned over the bocly.^^^ A

few minutes later she described the gunman to a policeman.^^" Her

description and that of other eyewitnesses led to the police broadcast

at 1:22 p.m. describing the slayer as "about 30, 5'8", black hair,

slender." ^^^ At about 4 :30 p.m., Mrs. Markham, who had been

greatly upset by her experience, was able to view a lineup of

four men handcuffed together at the police station.^^^ She identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the man who shot the policeman.^^*^ Detective L. C. Graves, who had been with Mrs. Markham before the

lineup testified that she was "quite hysterical" and w^as "crying and

upset." ^^^ He said that Mrs. Markham started crying when Oswald

walked into the lineup room.^^^ In testimony before the Commission,

Mrs. Markham confirmed her positive identification of Lee Harvey

OsAvald as the man she saw kill Officer Tippit.^^^

In evaluating Mrs. Markham's identification of Oswald, the Commission considered certain allegations that Mrs. Markham described

the man who killed Patrolman Tippit as "short, a little on the heavy

side," and having "somewhat bushy" hair.^^* The Commission re- viewed the transcript of a phone conversation in which Mrs. Markham

is alleged to have provided such a description.^^^ A review of the

complete transcript has satisfied the Commission that Mrs. Markham

strongly reaffirmed her positive identification of Oswald and denied

having described the killer as short, stocky and having bushy hair.

She stated that the man weighed about 150 pounds.^^^ Although

she used the words "a little bit bushy" to describe the gunman's hair,

the transcript establishes that she was referring to the uncombed

167
state of his hair, a description fully supported by a photograph of

Oswald taken at the time of his arrest. (See Pizzo Exhibit Xo.

453-C, p. 177.) Although in the phone conversation she described

the man as "short," ^^7 on November 22, within minutes of the shooting

and before the lineup, Mrs. Markham described the man to the police as 5'8" tall.^28 During her testimony Mrs. Markham initially denied that she ever had the above phone conversation.^^^ She has subsequently admitted

the existence of the conversation and offered an explanation for her

denial.^^ Addressing itself solely to the probative value of Mrs.

Markham's contemporaneous description of the gunman and her positive identification of Oswald at a police lineup, the Commission considers her testimony reliable. However, even in the absence of Mrs.

Markham's testimony, there is ample evidence to identify Oswald as the killer of Tippit.

Two young women, Barbara Jeanette Davis and Virginia Davis, were in an apartment of a multiple-unit house on the southeast corner

of 10th and Patton when they heard the sound of gmifire and the screams of Helen Markham. They ran to the door in time to see a man with a revolver cut across their lawn and disappear around

a comer of the house onto Patton.^^ Barbara Jeanette Davis assumed

that he was emptying his gun as "he had it open and was shaking

1^55 532 g^^ immediately called the police. Later in the day each

woman found an empty shell on the ground near the house. These

two shells were delivered to the police.^^^

On the evening of November 22, Barbara Jeanette and Virginia

Davis viewed a group of four men in a lineup and each one picked

Oswald as the man who crossed their lawn while emptying liis pistol.^^* Barbara Jeanette Davis testified that no one had shown her

a picture of Oswald before the identification and that she had not

seen him on television. She was not sure whether she had seen his

picture in a newspaper on the afternoon or evening of November 22

prior to the lineup.^^^ Her reaction when she saw Oswald in the

lineup was that "I was pretty sure it was the same man I saw. Wlien

they made him turn sideways, I was positive that was the one I

seen." ^^^ Similarly, Virginia Davis had not been shown pictures of

anyone prior to the lineup and had not seen either television or the

newspapers during the afternoon.^^ She identified Oswald, who was

the No. 2 man in the lineup,^^^ as the man she saw running with the

gun: she testified, "I would say that was him for sure." ^^^ Barbara

Jeanette Davis and Virginia Davis were sitting alongside each other

when they made their positive identifications of Oswald.^^ Each

woman whispered Oswald's number to the detective. Each testified that she was the first to make the identification.^"*^ William Arthur Smith was about a block east of 10th and Patton

when he heard shots. He looked west on 10th and saw a man rmining

to the west and a policeman falling to the ground. Smith failed to make himself known to the police on November 22. Several days

later he reported what he had seen and was questioned by FBI

168
agents.^^^ Smith subsequently told a Commission staff member that

he saw Oswald on television the night of the murder and thought that

Oswald was the man he had seen running away from the shootjj^g 543 Qj^ television Oswald's hair looked blond, whereas Smith

remembered that the man who ran away had hair that was brown or brownish black. Later, the FBI showed Smith a picture

of Oswald. In the picture the hair was brown.^^* According to his

testimony, Smith told the FBI, "It looked more like him than it did on television." He stated further that from "What I saw of him"

the man looked like the man in the picture.^^^

Two other important eyewitnesses to Oswald's flight were Ted

Callaway, manager of a used-car lot on the northeast corner

of Patton Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard, and Sam Guinyard,

a porter at the lot. They heard the sound of shots to the

north of their lot.^*^ Callaway heard five shots, and Guinyard

three. Both ran to the sidewalk on the east side of Patton

at a point about a half " a block south of 10th. They saw a man coming south on Patton with a revolver held high in his right

hand. According to Callaway, the man crossed to the west side of

Patton.^*^ From across the street Callaway yelled, "Hey, man, what

the hell is going on?" He slowed down, halted, said something,

and then kept on going to the comer, turned right, and con- tinued west on Jefferson.^^ Guinyard claimed that the man

ran down the east side of Patton and passed within 10 feet

of him before crossing to the other side.^^^ Guinyard and Callaway ran to 10th and Patton and found Tippit lying in the

street beside his car.^^° Apparently he had reached for his gun;

it lay beneath him outside of the holster. Callaway picked up

the gun.^^^ He and Scoggins attempted to chase down the gunman

in Scoggin's taxicab,^^^ but he had disappeared. Early in the evening

of November 22, Guinyard and Callaway viewed the same lineup of

four men from which Mrs. Markham had earlier made her identification of Lee Harvey Oswald. Both men picked Oswald as the man

who had run south on Patton with a gun in his hand.^^^ Callaway

told the Comijiission : "So they brought four men in. I stepped to the

back of the room, so I could kind of see him from the same distance

which I had seen him before. And when he came out I knew him." ^^* Guinyard said, "I told them that was him right there. I pointed him

out right there." ^^^ Both Callaway and Guinyard testified that they

had not been shown any pictures by the police before the lineup.^^^ The Dallas Police Department furnished the Commission with pic- tures of the men who appeared in the lineups with Oswald,^^'^ and the

Commission has inquired into general lineup procedures used by the

Dallas police as well as the specific procedures in the lineups involving

Oswald.^^^ The Commission is satisfied that the lineups were con- ducted fairly.

As Oswald ran south on Patton Avenue toward Jefferson Boulevard

he was moving in the direction of a used-car lot located on the southeast corner of this intersection.^^^ Four men—^Warren Eeynolds,^®°

169

730-900 0-64— 13
REVOLVER USED IN TIPPIT KILLING

^3)^-|^4i

'• ' '•[W!T|ri!|!|!|irr ''''"'"'''"''''ITfpjTTim

Commission Exhibit No. 143

170
Harold Eussell,^^^ Pat Patterson,^^^ c^^id L. J. Lewis ^^^—were on the

lot at the time, and they saw a white male with a revolver in his hands

running south on Patton. When the man reached Jefferson, he turned

right and headed west. Reynolds and Patterson decided to follow

him. When he reached a gasoline service station one block away he

turned north and walked toward a parking area in the rear of the

station. Neither Reynolds nor Patterson saw the man after he turned

off Jefferson at the service station.^^* These four witnesses were in- terviewed by FBI agents 2 months after the shooting. Russell and

Patterson were shown a picture of Oswald and they stated that Oswald

w^as the man they saw on November 22, 1963. Russell confirmed this

statement in a sworn affidavit for the Commission.^^'"' Patterson, when

asked later to confirm his identification by affidavit said he did not

recall having been shown the photograph. He was then shown two

photographs of Oswald and he advised that Oswald was "unquestionably" the man he saw.^^^ Reynolds did not make a positive identification w^hen interviewed by the FBI, but he subsequently testified before

a Commission staff member and, when shown two photographs of

Oswald, stated that they were photographs of the man he saw.^^^ L. J. Lewis said in an interview that because of the distance from which he

observed the gunman he would hesitate to state whether the man was

identical with Oswald.^^ Murder Weapon

When Oswald was arrested, he had in his possession a Smith &

Wesson .38 Special caliber revolver, serial number V510210. (See

Commission Exhibit No. 143, p. ITO). Two of the arresting officers placed their initials on the weapon and a third inscribed his name.

All three identified Exhibit No, 143 as the revolver taken from Oswald

when he was arrested.^^^ Four cartridge cases were found in the

shrubbery on the corner of 10th and Patton by three of the eyewitnesses—Domingo Benavides, Barbara Jeanette Davis, and Virginia

Davis.^^" It was the unanimous and unequivocal testimony of expert

witnesses before the Conimission that these used cartridge cases were

fired from the revolver in Oswald's possession to the exclusion of all other weapons. (See app. X, p. 559.)

Cortlandt Cunningham, of the Firearms Identification Unit of the

FBI Laboratory, testified that he compared the four empty cartridge

cases found near the scene of the shooting with a test cartridge fired

from the weapon in OsAvald's possession w^hen he was arrested. Cunningham declared that this weapon fired the four cartridges to the

exclusion of all other weapons. Identification was effected through

breech face marks and firing pin marks.^"^ Robert A. Frazier and

Charles Killion, other FBI firearms experts, independently examined

the four cartridge cases and arrived at the same conclusion as Cunningham.^^- At the request of the Commission, Joseph D. Nicol,

superintendent of the Illinois Bureau of Criminal Identification Investigation, also examined the four cartridge cases found near the

site of the homicide and compared them with the test cartridge cases 171
fired from the Smith & Wesson revolver taken from Oswald. He

concluded that all of these cartridges were fired from the same

weapon.^^^

Cunningham compared four lead bullets recovered from the body

of Patrolman Tippit with test bullets fired from Oswald's revolver.^'^ He explained that the bullets were slightly smaller than the barrel of

the pistol which had fired them. This caused the bullets to have an

erratic passage through the barrel and impressed upon the lead of the

bullets inconsistent individual characteristics which made identification impossible. Consecutive bullets fired from the revolver by the

FBI experts could not be identified as having been fired from that

revolver.^^^ ( See app. X, p. 559.) Cunningham testified that all of the

bullets were mutilated, one being useless for comparison purposes. All

four bullets were fired from a weapon with five lands and grooves and a right twist ^'® which were the rifling characteristics of the revolver

taken from Oswald. He concluded, however, that he could not say

whether the four bullets Avere fired from the revolver in Oswald's

possession.^' ^ "The only thing I can testify is they could have on the

basis of the rifling characteristics—they could have been." '''^^ Nicol differed with the FBI experts on one bullet taken from Tippit's body. He declared that this bullet ^'^ was fired from the same weapon that fired the test bullets to the exclusion of all other weapons.

But he agreed that because the other three bullets were mutilated, he

could not determine if they had been fired from the same weapon as the test bullets.5«« The examination and testimony of the experts enabled the Commission to conclude that five shots may have been fired, even though only

four bullets were recovered. Three of the bullets recovered from Tippit's body were manufactured by Winchester-Western, and the fourth

bullet by Kemington-Peters, but only two of the four discarded car- tridge cases found on the lawn at 10th Street and Patton Avenue were

of Winchester-Western manufacture.^^^ Therefore, one cartridge

case of this type was not recovered. And though only one bullet of

Remington-Peters manufacture was recovered, two empty cartridge

cases of that make were retrieved. Therefore, either one bullet of

Remington-Peters manufacture is missing or one used RemingtonPeters cartridge case, which may have been in the revolver before the

shooting, was discarded along Avith the others as Oswald left the

scene. If a bullet is missing, five were fired. This corresponds with

the observation and memory of Ted Callaway,^^^ and possibly Warren

Reynolds, but not with the other eyewitnesses who claim to have heard

from two to four shots.Ownership of Revolver

By checking certain importers and dealers after the assassination

of President Kennedy and slaying of Officer Tippit, agents of the FBI

determined that George Rose & Co. of Los Angeles was a major dis- 172
REVOLVER PURCHASE AND SHIPPING DOCUMENTS

MAH COUPON

ilSAPI^TlAOilS,^

Gentlemen: Quanttty

1231 S. QrmA Av*. Plewe ship me thefsftowin*: C(»tper

Product Mexioui Bowie

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colteot. Oaif. res. add 4^o a«te tax. VMhmi of4t»r1«fi pi>toi«, pt«a«* tisn ttatamerit:

I t>er«by state that I am a ciilsee of the 17.$., «ut

that I bave never been eonvietwl in any ewtrt <tf tbe U.S., territorie«, possesalona or Diatrict of Cc»!tun« bta of a crime «f vioteoe* or a critne puatsbaltt* by

impriaonnMRt toe a term t»£^»AU>g i yesr, nor am

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ADDRtSS.

Seofzo^ ^^ioJeU One.

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SOLD . P. 0. Bwt 2915

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173
tributor of this type of revolver.^*^ Records of Seaport Traders,

Inc., a mail-order division of George Rose & Co., disclosed that on January 3, 1963, the company received from Empire* Wliolesale

Sporting Goods, Ltd., Montreal, a shipment of 99 guns in one case. Among these guns was a .38 Special caliber Smith & Wesson revolver,

serial No. V510210, the only revolver made by Smith & Wesson with

this serial number.^^^ Wlien first manufactured, it had a 5-inch barrel. George Rose & Co. had the barrel shortened by a gunsmith to 2l^

inches.^^^ Sometime after January 27, 1963, Seaport Traders, Inc., received

through the mail a mail-order coupon for one ".38 St. W. 2" Bbl.,"

cost $29.95. Ten dollars in cash was enclosed. The order was signed

in ink by "A. J. Hidell, aged 28." ^^^ (gee Commission Exhibit No.

790, p. 173.) The date of the order was January 27 (no year shown)

,

and the return address was Post Office Box 2915, Dallas, Tex. Also on the order form was an order, written in ink, for one box of

ammunition and one holster, but a line was drawn through these

items. The mail-order form had a line for the name of a witness

to attest that the person ordering the gun was a U.S. citizen and had

not been convicted of a felony. The name written in this space was

D. F. Drittal.5«^ Heinz W. Michaelis, office manager of both George Rose & Co., Inc., and Seaport Traders, Inc., identified records of Seaport Traders, Inc., which showed that a ".38 S and W Special two-inch Commando,

serial number V510210" was shipped on March 20, 1963, to A. J. Hidell, Post Office Box 2915, Dallas, Tex. The invoice was prepared on March 13, 1963; the revolver was actually shipped on March 20

by Railway Express. The balance due on the purchase was $19.95.

Michaelis furnished the shipping copy of the invoice, and the Railway Express Agency shipping documents, showing that $19.95, plus

$1.27 shipping charge, had been collected from the consignee, Hidell.^^^

(See Michaelis Exhibits Nos. 2, 4, 5, p. 173.)

Handwriting experts, Alwyn Cole of the Treasury Department and

James C. Cadigan of the FBI, testified before the Commission that

the writing on the coupon was Oswald's. The signature of the witness, D. F. Drittal, who attested that the fictitious Hidell was an American citizen and had not been convicted of a felony, was also in Oswald's handwriting.^^® Marina Oswald gave as her opinion

that the mail-order coupon was in Oswald's handwriting.^®^ When

shown the revolver, she stated that she recognized it as the one owned

by her husband.^®^ She also testified that this appeared to be the

revolver seen in Oswald's belt in the picture she took in late March

or early April 1963 when the family was living on Neely Street in

Dallas.^®^ Police found an empty revolver holster when they searched

Oswald's room on Beckley Avenue after his arrest. ^®^ Marina Oswald

testified that this was the holster which contained the revolver in

the photographs taken on Neely Street.^®* 174
Oswald's Jacket

Approximately 15 minutes before the shooting of Tippit, Oswald

was seen leaving his roominghouse.^®^ He was wearing a zipper

jacket which he had not been wearing moments before when he had

arrived home.^^^ When Oswald was arrested, he did not have a

jacket.^^^ Shortly after Tippit was slain, policemen found a lightcolored zipper jacket along the route taken by the killer as he at- tempted to escape.^®^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 1968, p. 164.)

At 1 :22 p.m. the Dallas police radio described the man wanted for

the murder of Tippit as "a white male about thirty, five foot eight

inches, black hair, slender, wearing a white jacket, white shirt and

dark slacks." ^^^ According to Patrolman Poe this description came

from Mrs. Markham and Mrs. Barbara Jeanette Davis.®°° Mrs.

Markham told Poe that the man was a "white male, about 25, about

five feet eight, brown hair, medium," and wearing a "white jacket."

Mrs. Davis gave Poe the same general description : a "white male in

his early twenties, around five foot seven inches or eight inches, about

145 pounds," and wearing a white jacket.

As has been discussed previously, two witnesses, Warren Reynolds

and B. M. Patterson, saw the gunman run toward the rear of a gasoline service station on Jefferson Boulevard. Mrs. Mary Brock, the

wife of a mechanic who worked at the station, was there at the time

and she saw a white male, "5 feet, 10 inches * * * wearing light

clothing * * * a light-colored jacket" walk past her at a fast pace

with his hands in his pocket. She last saw him in the parking lot directly behind the service station. When interviewed by FBI agents on January 21, 1964, she identified a picture of Oswald as being the same person she saw on November 22. She confirmed this interview

by a sworn affidavit.^^^ At 1 :24 p.m., the police radio reported, "The suspect last seen run- ning west on Jefferson from 400 East Jefferson." ^^^ Police Capt. W.

K. Westbrook and several other officers concentrated their search along

Jefferson Boulevard.^°^ Westbrook walked through the parking lot behind the service station ^°* and found a light-colored jacket lying

under the rear of one of the cars.^^^ Westbrook identified Commission Exhibit No. 162 as the light-colored jacket which he discovered

underneath the automobile.^^^

This jacket belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald. Marina Oswald

stated that her husband owned only two jackets, one blue and the

other gray.^^^ The blue jacket was found in the Texas School Book

Depository ^^^ and was identified by Marina Oswald as her husband's.^°^ Marina Oswald also identified Commission Exhibit No.

162, the jacket found by Captain Westbrook, as her husband's second

jacket.^^° The eyewitnesses vary in their identification of the jacket. Mrs.

Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper at Oswald's roominghouse and the

last person known to have seen him before he reached 10th Street and

Patton Avenue, said that she may have seen the gray zipper jacket but

175
she was not certain. It seemed to her that the jacket Oswald wore was

darker than Commission Exhibit Xo. 162.^^^ Ted Callaway, who saw

the gunman moments after the shooting, testified that Commission

Exhibit No. 162 looked like the jacket he was wearing but "I thought it had a little more tan to it." ^^^ Two other witnesses, Sam Guinyard

and William Arthur Smith, testified that Commission Exhibit Xo. 162 was the jacket worn by the man they saw on November 22. Mrs. Markham and Barbara Davis thought that the jacket worn by the slayer of

Tippit was darker than the jacket found by Westbrook.^^^ Scoggins

thought it was lighter.^^*

There is no doubt, hoAvever, that Oswald was seen leaving his roominghouse at about 1 p.m. wearing a zipper jacket, that the man who

killed Tippit was wearing a light-colored jacket, that he was seen running along Jefferson Boulevard, that a jacket was found under a car in a lot adjoining Jefferson Boulevard, that the jacket belonged

to Lee Harvey Oswald, and that when he was arrested at approximately 1 :50 p.m., he was in shirt sleeves. These facts warrant the

finding that Lee Harvey Oswald disposed of his jacket as he fled from

the scene of the Tippit killing.

Conclusion

The foregoing evidence establishes that (1) two eyewitnesses who

heard the shots and saw the shooting of Dallas Police Patrolman J. D.

Tippit and seven eyewitnesses who saw the flight of the gunman with

revolver in hand positively identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the man

they saw fire the shots or flee from the scene, (2) the cartridge cases found near the scene of the shooting were fired from the revolver -in the possession of Oswald at the time of his arrest, to the exclusion of

all other weapons, (3) the revolver in Oswald's possession at the time

of his arrest was purchased by and belonged to Oswald, and (4)

Oswald's jacket was found along the path of flight taken by the gunman as he fled from the scene of the killing. On the basis of this

evidence the Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald killed

Dallas Police Patrolman J. D. Tippit.

OSWALD'S ARREST

The Texas Theatre is on the north side of Jefferson Boulevard,

approximately eight blocks from the scene of the Tippit shooting and

six blocks from where several witnesses last saw Oswald run- ning west on Jefferson Boulevard.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No.

1968, p. 164.) Shortly after the Tippit murder, police sirens sounded

along Jefferson Boulevard. One of the persons who heard the sirens was Johnny Calvin Brewer, manager of Hardy's Shoestore, a few

doors east of the Texas Theatre. Brewer knew from radio broadcasts

that the President had been shot and that a patrolman had also been

shot in Oak Cliff.^^^ AYlien he heard police sirens, he "looked up and

176
OSWALD IN FRONT OF TEXAS THEATER

(HILL EXHIBIT B)

OSWALD AT DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT

(FRANK PIZZO EXHIBIT 453-C) COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 1797

177
saw the man enter the lobby," a recessed area extendmg about 15 feet between the sidewalk and the front door of his store.^^^ A police car made a U-turn, and as the sirens grew fainter, the man in the

lobby "looked over his shoulder and turned around and walked

up West Jefferson towards the theatre." ^^^ The man wore a T-shirt

beneath his outer shirt and he had no jacket.^^^ Brewer said, "He

just looked funny to me. * * * His hair Avas sort of messed up and

looked like he had been rmming, and he looked scared, and he looked

funny." ^^o Mrs. Julia Postal, selling tickets at the box office of the Texas

Theatre, heard police sirens and then saw a man as he "ducked into"

the outer lobby space of the theatre near the ticket office.^-^ Attracted

by the sound of the sirens, Mrs. Postal stepped out of the box office and walked to the curb.^^^ Shortly thereafter, Johnny Brewer, who

had come from the nearby shoestore, asked ^Irs. Postal whether the

fellow that had ducked in had bought a ticket.^^^ She said, "Xo; by

golly, he didn't," and turned around, but the man was nowhere in

sight.^^* Brewer told Mrs. Postal that he had seen the man ducking

into his place of business and that he had followed him to the

theatre.^^^ She sent Brewer into the theatre to find the man and

check the exits, told him about the assassination, and said "I don't

know if this is the man they want * * * but he is running from them

for some reason." ^^e gi^^ then called the police.^^^

At 1 :45 p.m., the police radio stated, "Have information a suspect

just went in the Texas Theatre on West Jefferson." ^^^ Patrol cars bearing at least 15 officers converged on the Texas Theatre.^^^ Patrolman M. N. McDonald, with Patrolmen R. Hawkins, T. A. Hutson,

and C. T. Walker, entered the theatre from the rear.^^° Other policemen entered the front door and searched the balcony.^^^ Detective

Paul L. Bentley rushed to the balcony and told the projectionist to turn up the house lights.®^^ Brewer met McDonald and the other

policemen at the alley exit door, stepped out onto the stage with them ^^^ and pointed out the man who had come into the theatre without payjj^g 634 'pj-j^g j-,rian was Oswald. He was sitting alone in the rear of the

main floor of the theatre near the right center aisle. ^^^ About six or seven people were seated on the theatre's main floor and an equal

number in the balcony.^^^

McDonald first searched two men in the center of the main floor,

about 10 rows from the front.^^" He walked out of the row up the

right center aisle.^^^ '\'Vlien he reached the row where the suspect was

sitting, McDonald stopped abruptly and told the man to get on his

feet.®^^ Oswald rose from his seat, bringing up both hands.^^° As

McDonald started to search Oswald's waist for a gun, he heard him

say, "Well, it's all over now." ^^^ Oswald then struck McDonald

between the eyes with his left fist ; with his right hand he drew a gun

from his waist.^*^ McDonald struck back with his right hand and

grabbed the gTin with his left hand.*^*^ They both fell into the seats.^^* Three other officers, moving toward the scuffle, grabbed Oswald from

the front, rear and side.^*^ As McDonald fell into the seat with his left 178
hand on the gun, he felt something graze across his hand and heard

what sounded like the snap of the hammer.^*^ McDonald felt the

pistol scratch his cheek as he wrenched it away from Oswald.^^^ Detective Bob K. Carroll, w^ho was standing beside McDonald, seized

the gun from him.^*^

The other officers who helped subdue Oswald corroborated McDonald in his testimony except that they did not hear Oswald say, "It's

all over now." Deputy Sheriff Eddy R. Walthers recalled such a remark but he did not reach the scene of the struggle until Oswald

had been knocked to the floor by McDonald and the others.^*^ Some

of the officers saw^ Oswald strike McDonald with his fist.^^° Most of

them heard a click which they assumed to be a click of the hammer

of the revolver.^^^ Testimony of a firearms expert before the Commission established that the hammer of the revolver never touched the

shell in the chamber.®^^ Although the witnesses did not hear the

sound of a misfire, they might have heard a snapping noise resulting

from the police officer grabbing the cylinder of the revolver and pulling it away from Oswald while he was attempting to pull the

trigger.^^^

( See app. X, p. 560.

)

Two patrons of the theatre and John Brewer testified regarding the

arrest of Oswald, as did the various police officers who participated

in the fight. George Jefferson Applin, Jr., confirmed that Oswald

fought with four or five officers before he was handcuffed.^^* He added

that one officer grabbed the muzzle of a shotgun, drew back, and hit

Oswald with the butt end of the gun in the back.^^^ No other theatre

patron or officer has testified that Oswald was hit by a gun. Nor did

Oswald ever complain that he was hit with a gun, or injured in the

back. Deputy Sheriff Walthers brought a shotgun into the theatre

but laid it on some seats before helping subdue Oswald.^^^ Officer Ray

Hawkins said that there was no one near Oswald who had a shotgun

and he saw no one strike Oswald in the back with a rifle butt or the

butt of a gun.^^^

John Gibson, another patron in the theatre, saw an officer grab Oswald, and he claims that he heard the click of a gun misfiring.^^^ He

saw no shotgmi in the possession of any policeman near Oswald.^^^

Johnny Brewer testified he saw Oswald pull the revolver and the

officers struggle with him to take it away but that once he was subdued, no officer struck him.^^° He further stated that while fists were flying

he heard one of the officers say "Kill the President, will you." ^^^ It

is unlikely that any of the police officers referred to Oswald as a suspect

in the assassination. While the police radio had noted the similarity

in description of the two suspects, the arresting officers were pursuing

Oswald for the murder of Tippit.^^^ As Oswald, handcuffed, was

led from the theatre, he w^as, according to McDonald, "cursing a

little bit and hollering police brutality." ^^^ At 1 :51 p.m., police car 2 reported by radio that it was on the way to headquarters with

the suspect.^^*

Captain Fritz returned to police headquarters from the Texas

School Book Depository at 2 :15 after a brief stop at the sheriff's of- 179
fi(.g 665 '\yhen he entered the homicide and robbery bureau office, he saw two detectives standing there with Sgt. Gerald L. Hill, who had

driven from the theatre with Oswald.^^^ Hill testified that Fritz told

the detective to get a search warrant, go to an address on Fifth Street

in Irving, and pick up a man named Lee Oswald. AVhen Hill asked

why Oswald was wanted, Fritz replied, "Well, he was employed down

at the Book Depository and he had not been present for a roll call of

the employees." ®^^ Hill said, "Captain, we will save you a trip * * * there he sits." ^^^ STATEMENTS OF OSWALD DURING DETENTION

Oswald was questioned intermittently for approximately 12 hours

between 2:30 p.m., on November 22, and 11 a.m., on November 24. Throughout this interrogation he denied that he had anything to do

either with the assassination of President Kennedy or the murder of

Patrolman Tippit. Captain Fritz of the homicide and robbery

bureau did most of the questioning, but he kept no notes and there

Avere no stenographic or tape recordings. Representatives of other law

enforcement agencies were also present, including the FBI and the

U.S. Secret Service. They occasionally participated in the questioning. The reports prepared by those present at these interviews are

set forth in appendix XL A full discussion of Oswald's detention

and mterrogation is presented in chapter V of this report.

During the evening of November 22, the Dallas Police Department

performed paraffin tests on Oswald's hands and right cheek in an

apparent effort to determine, by means of a scientific test, whether

Oswald had recently fired a weapon. The results were positive for

the hands and negative for the right cheek.^^^ Expert testimony before

the Commission was to the effect that the paraffin test was unreliable *^° in determining whether or not a person has fired a rifle or revolver.^*^^ The Commission has, therefore, placed no reliance on the paraffin

tests administered by the Dallas police. (See app. X, pp. 561-562.)

Oswald provided little information during his questioning. Frequently, however, he was confronted with evidence which he could

not explain, and he resorted to statements which are known to be

lies.^^^ While Oswald's untrue statements during interrogation were

not considered items of positive proof by the Commission, they had

probative value in deciding the weight to be given to his denials that

he assassinated President Kennedy and killed Patrolman Tippit.

Since independent evidence revealed that Oswald repeatedly and

blatantly lied to the police, the Commission gave little weight to

his denials of guilt.

Denial of Rifle Ownership

From the outset, Oswald denied owning a rifle. On November 23,

Fritz confronted Oswald with the evidence that he had purchased

a rifle under the fictitious name of "Hidell." Oswald said that this

180
was not true. Oswald denied that he had a rifle wrapped up in a blanket in the Paine garage. Oswald also denied owning a rifle and

said that since leaving the Marine Corps he had fired only a small

bore .22 rifle. ^'^ On the afternoon of November 23, Officers H. M.

Moore, R. S. Stovall, and G. F. Rose obtained a search warrant and

examined Oswald's effects in the Paine garage. They discovered two

photographs, each showing Oswald with a rifle and a pistol. ^^^ These

photographs were shown to Oswald on the evening of November 23

and again on the morning of the 24th. According to Fritz, Oswald

sneered, saying that they were fake photographs, that he had been

photographed a number of times the day before by the police, that

they had superimposed upon the photographs a rifle and a revolver.^'^ He told Fritz a number of times that the smaller photograph was either

made from the larger, or the larger photograph was made from the

smaller and that at the proper time he would show that the pictures were fakes. Fritz told him that the two small photographs were found in the Paine garage. At that point, Oswald refused to answer any further questions.^'^ As previously indicated, Marina Oswald

testified that she took the two pictures with her husband's Imperial

Reflex camera when they lived on Xeely Street. Her testimony was

fully supported by a photography expert who testified that m his

opinion the pictures were not composites.®^^

The Revolver

At the first interrogation, Oswald claimed that his only crime was

carrying a gun and resisting arrest. ^"VHien Captain Fritz asked him

why he carried the revolver, he answered, "Well, you know about a

pistol. I just carried it." ^'^ PTe falsely alleged that he bought the

revolver in Fort Worth,^'^ when in fact he purchased it from a mailorder house in Los Angeles.^^°

The Aliases "Hidell" and "0. H. Lee"

The arresting officers found a forged selective service card with a picture of Oswald and the name "Alek J. HideH" in Oswald's

billfold.^^ On November 22 and 23, Oswald refused to tell Fritz why

this card was in his possession,*^^- or to answer any questions concern- ing the card.°^'^ On Sunday mornhig, November 24, Oswald denied

that he knew A. J. Hidell. Captain Fritz produced the selective

service card bearing the name "Alek J. Hidell." OsAvald became

angry and said, ''Now, I've told you all I'm going to tell you about that

card in my billfold—you have the card yourself and you know as much

about it as I do." ^^^ At the last interrogation on November 24,

Oswald admitted to Postal Inspector Holmes that he had rented post

office box 2915, Dallas, but denied tliat he had received a package

in this box addressed to Hidell. He also denied that he had received

the rifle through this box.^^^ Holmes reminded Oswald that A. J. 181
Hidell was listed on post office box 30061, New Orleans, as one entitled to receive mail. Oswald replied, "I don't know anything about

tliat."««« When asked why he lived at his roominghouse under the name O. H.

Lee, Oswald responded that the landlady simply made a mistake, be- cause he told her that his name was Lee, meaning his first name/'^' An

examination of the roominghouse register revealed that Oswald actually signed the name O. H. Lee.^®^ The Curtain Rod Story

In concluding that Oswald was carrying a rifle in the paper bag

on the morning of November 22, 1963, the Commission found that

Oswald lied when he told Frazier that he was returning to Irving to obtain curtain rods. When asked about the curtain rod story, Oswald

lied again. He denied that he had ever told Frazier that he wanted

a ride to Irving to get curtain rods for an apartment.^^® He explained

that a party for the Paine children had been planned for the weekend

and he preferred not to be in the Paine house at that time ; therefore,

he made his weekly visit on Thursday night.'^^" Actually, the party

for one of the Paine's children was the preceding weekend, when

Marina Oswald suggested that Oswald remain in Dallas.^^^ When

told that Frazier and Mrs. Randle had seen him carrying a long heavy

package, Oswald replied, "Well, they was mistaken. That must have

been some other time he picked me up." ^^^ In one interview, he told

Fritz that the only sack he carried to work that day was a lunch sack

which he kept on his lap during the ride from Irving to Dallas.^^^ Frazier testified before the Commission that Oswald carried no lunch

sack that day.^^*

Actions During and After Shooting

During the first interrogation on November 22, Fritz asked Oswald

to account for himself at the time the President was shot. Oswald

told him that he ate lunch in the first-floor lunchroom and then went

to the second floor for a Coke which he brought downstairs. He

acknowledged the encounter with the police officer on the second

floiOr. Oswald told Fritz that after lunch he went outside, talked with

Foreman Bill Shelley for 5 or 10 minutes and then left for home.

He said that he left work because Bill Shelley said that there Avould

be no more work done that day in the building.^^^ Shelley denied

seeing Oswald after 12 noon or at any time after the shooting.^^^ The

next day, Oswald added to his story. He stated that at the time the

President was shot he was having lunch with "Junior" but he did

not give Junior's last name.^®^ The only employee at the Depositor}^

Building named "Junior" was James Jarman, Jr. Jarman testified that he ate his lunch on the first floor around 5 minutes to 12, and

that he neither ate lunch with nor saw Oswald.^^^ Jarman did talk to Oswald that morning : 182
* * * he asked me what were the people gathering around on the

corner for and I told him that the President was supposed to pass

that morning, and he asked me did I know which way he was coming, and I told him, yes, he probably come down Main and turn on Houston and then back again on Elm. Then he said, "Oh, I

see," and that was all.^^^ PRIOR ATTEMPT TO KILL

The Attempt on the Life of Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker

At approximately 9 p.m., on April 10, 1963, in Dallas, Tex.,^Maj.

Gen. Edwin A. Walker, an active and controversial figure on the

American political scene since his resignation from the U.S. Army in

1961, narrowly escaped death when a rifle bullet fired from .outside his

home passed near his head as he was seated at his desk.'^°° There were

no eyewitnesses, although a 14-year-old boy in a neighboring house

claimed that immediately after the shooting he saw two men, in sep- arate cars, drive out of a church parking lot adjacent to Walker's

home."^^^ A friend of Walker's testified that tw^o nights bef,ore the

shooting he saw "two men around the house peeking in windows." ^^^ General Walker gave this information to the police before the shooting, but it did not help solve the crime. Although the bullet was re- covered from Walker's house (see app. X, p. 562), in the absence of a weapon it was of little investigatory value. General Walker hired

two investigators to determine whether a former employee might have

been involved in the shooting."^^^ Their results were negative. Until

December 3, 1963, the Walker shooting remained unsolved.

The Commission evaluated the following evidence in considering

whether Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shot w^hich almost killed General Walker: (1) A note which Oswald left for his wife on the even- ing of the shooting, (2) photographs found among Oswald's

possessions after the assassination of President Kennedy, (3) fire- arm identification of the bullet found in Walker's home, and (4)

admissions and other statements made to Marina Oswald by Oswald

concerning the shooting.

Note left hy Oswald.—On December 2, 1963, Mrs. Ruth Paine

turned over to the police some of the Oswalds' belongings, including

a Russian volume entitled "Book of Useful Advice." ^°* In this book

was an undated note written in Russian. In translation, the note

read as follows

:

1. This is the key to the mailbox which is located in the main

post office in the city on Ervay Street. This is the same street where the drugstore, in which you always waited is located. You

will find the mailbox in the post office which is located 4 blocks

from the drugstore on that street. I paid for the box last month

so don't worry about it. 183
2. Send the information as to what has happened to me to the Embassy and include newspaper clippings (should there be

anything about me in the newspapers). I belieive that the Embassy will come quickly to your assistance on learning everything.

3. I paid the house rent on the 2d so don't worry about it. 4. Recently I also paid for water and gas.

5. The money from work will possibly be coming. The money

will be sent to our post office box. Go to the bank and cash the

check.

6. You can either throw out or give my clothing, etc. away.

Do not keep these. However, I prefer that you hold on to my

personal papers (military, civil, etc.).

7. Certain of my documents are in the small blue valise.

8. The address book can be foimd on my table in the study

should need same.

9. We have friends here. The Red Cross also will help you.

(Red Cross in English), [sic] 10. I left you as much money as I could, $60 on the second of

the month. You and the baby [apparently] can live for another

2 months using $10 per week.

11. If I am alive and taken prisoner, the city jail is located

at the end of the bridge through which we always passed on

going to the city (right in the beginning of the city after crossing

the bridge) ."^^^ James C. Cadigan, FBI handwriting expert, testified that this note was written by Lee Harvey Oswald."^^^ Prior to the Walker shooting on April 10, Oswald had been attending typing classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings.

He had quit these classes at least a week before the shooting, which

occurred on a Wednesday night.^"^ According to Marina Oswald's

testimony, on the night of the Walker shooting, her husband left their

apartment on Neely Street shortly after dinner. She thought he was attending a class or was "on his own business." ^°^ ^Ylien he failed

to return by 10 or 10 :30 p.m., Marina Oswald went to his room and

discovered the note. She testified : "When he came back I asked

him what had happened. He was very pale. I don't remember the exact time, but it was very late. And he told me not to ask him any

questions. He only told me he had shot at General Walker." ^°^ Oswald told his wife that he did not know whether he had hit Walker

;

according to Marina Oswald when he learned on the radio and in the

newspapers the next day that he had missed, he said that he "was

very sorry that he had not hit him." ^^*^ Marina Oswald's testimony was fully supported by the note itself which appeared to be the work

of a man expecting to be killed, or imprisoned, or to disappear. The

last paragraph directed her to the jail and the other paragraphs in- structed her on the disposal of Oswald's personal effects and the

management of her affairs if he should not return.

It is clear that the note was written while the Oswalds were living

in Dallas before they moved to New Orleans in the spring of 1963. 184
The references to house rent and payments for water and gas mdicated

that the note was written when they were living in a rented apartment

;

therefore it could not have been written while Marina Oswald was

living with the Paines. Moreover, the reference in paragraph 3 to paying "the house rent on the 2d" would be consistent with the period

when the Oswalds were living ,on Neely Street since the apartment was rented on March 3, 1963. Oswald had paid the first month's

rent in advance on March 2, 1963, and the second month's rent was

paid on either April 2 or April 3.^^^ The main post office "on Ervay

Street" refers to the post office where Oswald rented box 2915 from

October 9, 1962, to May 14, 1963J12 Another statement which limits

the time when it could have been written is the reference "you and

the baby," which would indicate that it was probably written before

the birth of Oswald's second child on October 20, 1963.

Oswald had apparently mistaken the county jail for the city jail.

From Neely Street the Oswalds would have traveled downtown on

the Beckley bus, across the Commerce Street viaduct and into downtown Dallas through the Triple Underpass."^^^ Either the viaduct or

the underpass might have been the "bridge" mentioned in the last paragraph of the note. The county jail is at the comer of Houston

and Main Streets "right in the beginning of the city" after one travels

through the underpass.

Photographs.—In her testimony before the Commission in February 1964, Marina Oswald stated that when Oswald returned home on

the night of the Walker shooting, he told her that he had been planning

the attempt for 2 months. He showed her a notebook 3 days later containing photographs of General Walker's home and a map of the

area where the house was located.'^^* Although Oswald destroyed

the notebook,^^^ three photographs found among Oswald's possessions

after the assassination were identified by Marina Oswald as photographs of General Walker's house.^^^ Two of these photographs were

taken from the rear of Walker's house."^^^ The Commission confirmed,

by comparison with other photographs, that these were, indeed,

photographs of the rear of Walker's house.'^^^ An examination of the

window at the rear of the house, the wall through which the bullet

passed, and the fence behind the house indicated that the bullet was

fired from a position near the point where one of the photographs was

taken.'^i^ The third photograph identified by Marina Oswald depicts the entrance to General Walker's driveway from a back alley.^^^ Also

seen in the picture is the fence on Avhich Walker's assailant apparently

rested the rifle.'^^^ An examination of certain construction work appearing in the background of this photograph revealed that the picture was taken between March 8 and 12, 1963, and most probably on either

March 9 or March 10.^^^ Oswald purchased the money order for the

rifle on March 12, the rifle was shipped on March 20,^-^ and the shooting occurred on April 10. A photography expert with the FBI was

able to determine that this picture was taken with the Imperial Reflex camera owned by Lee Harvey Oswald.'^24 ^^gg^ g^pp x, p. 596.)

185

730-900 0-64—14
A fourth photograph, showing a stretch of railroad tracks, was also identified by Marina Oswald as having been taken by her husband,

presumably in connection with the Walker shootingJ^^ Investigation

determined that this photograph was taken approximately seven- tenths of a mile from Walker's house/^^ Another photograph of rail- road tracks found among Oswald's possessions was not identified by

his wife, but investigation revealed that it was taken from a point

slightly less than half a mile from General Walkers house.'-' Marina

Oswald stated that when she asked lier husband what he had done with

the rifle, he replied that he had buried it in the ground or hidden it in some bushes and that he also mentioned a railroad track in this connection. She testified that several days later Oswald recovered his

rifle and brought it back to their apartment.^-*

Fireamhs identification.—In the room beyond the one in which General Walker was sitting on the night of the shooting the Dallas police

recovered a badly mutilated bullet which had come to rest on a stack

of paper.'^^^ The Dallas City-County Investigation Laboratory tried to determine the type of weapon which fired the bullet. The oral re- port was negative because of the battered condition of the bullet.'"^" On November 30, 1963, the FBI requested the bullet for ballistics ex- amination ; the Dallas Police Department forwarded it on December 2, 1963.^31 Robert A. Frazier, an FBI ballistics identification expert, testified that he was "unable to reach a conclusion" as to whether or not the bullet recovered from Walker's house had been fired from the rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building. He

concluded that "the general rifling characteristics of the rifle * * * are of the same type as those found on the bullet '^ * * and, further, on this basis * * * the bullet could have been fired from the rifle on

the basis of its land and gToove impressions." ^^^ Frazier testified further that the FBI avoids the category of "probable" identification.

Unless the missile or cartridge case can be identified as coming from a particular weapon to the exclusion of all others, the FBI refuses to draw any conclusion as to probability. ^^^ Frazier testified, however,

that he found no microscopic characteristics or other evidence which

would indicate that the bullet was not fired from the MannlicherCarcano rifle owned by Lee Harvey Oswald. It was a 6. 5 -millimeter

bullet and, according to Frazier, "relatively few" types of rifles could

produce the characteristics found on the bullet."^^* Joseph D. Nicol, superintendent of the Illinois Bureau of Criminal

Identification and Investigation, conducted an independent examination of this bullet and concluded "that there is a fair probability"

that the bullet was fired from the rifle used in the assassination of President Kemiedy.^^^ In explaining the difference between his policy and

that of the FBI on the matter of probable identification, Nicol said

:

I am aware of their position. This is not, I am sure, arrived at without careful consideration. However, to say that because one

does not find sufficient marks for identification that it is a negative,

186
I think is going overboard in the other direction. And for purposes of probative value, for whatever it might be worth, in the

absence of very definite negative evidence, I think it is permissible

to say that in an exhibit such as 573 there is enough on it to say

that it could have come, and even perhaps a little stronger, to say that it probably came from this, without going so far as to say to the exclusion of all other guns. This I could not do."^^^ Although the Commission recognizes that neither expert was able

to state that the bullet which missed General Walker was fired from

Oswald's rifle to the exclusion of all others, this testimony was considered probative when combined with the other testimony linking

Oswald to the shooting.

Additional Gorrohorative evidence.—The admissions made to Marina

Oswald by her husband are an important element in the evidence that

Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shot at General Walker. As shown above,

(he note and the photographs of Walker's house and of the nearby

railroad tracks provide important corroboration for her account of the

incident. Other details described by Marina Oswald coincide with

facts developed independently of her statements. She testified that her

husband had postponed his attempt to kill Walker until that Wednesday because he had heard that there was to be a gathering at the church

next door to Walker's house on that evening. He indicated that he

wanted more people in the vicinity at the time of the attempt so that

his arrival and departure would not attract great attention.^^^ An official of this church told FBI agents that services are held every

Wednesday at the church except during the month of August."^^*

Marina Oswald also testified that her husband had used a bus to return

home.'^^^ A study of the bus routes indicates that Oswald could have

taken any one of several different buses to Walker's house or to a point near the railroad tracks where he may have concealed the rifle.^*^ It would have been possible for him to take different routes in approaching and leaving the scene of the shooting.

Conclusion.—Based on (1) the contents of the note which Oswald

left for his wife on April 10, 1963, (2) the photographs found among

Oswald's possessions, (3) the testimony of firearms identification

experts, and (4) the testimony of Marina Oswald, the Commission

has concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to take the life of Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker (Resigned, U.S. Army) on April 10, 1963. The finding that Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to murder

a public figure in April 1963 was considered of probative value in

this investigation, although the Commission's conclusion concerning

the identity of the assassin was based on evidence independent of the

finding that Oswald attempted to kill General Walker.

Richard M. Nixon Incident

Another alleged threat by Oswald against a public figure involved

former Vice President Richard M. Nixon. In January 1964, Marina

Oswald and her busmess manager, James Martin, told Robert Oswald,

187
Lee Harvey Os\Yald's brother, that Oswald had once threatened to shoot former Vice President Kichard M. Nixon.'*^ When Marina OsAvald testified before the Commission on February 3-6, 1964, she had

failed to mention the incident when she was asked whether Oswald had

ever expressed any hostility toward any official of the United StatesJ^^

The Commission first learned of this incident when Eobert Oswald

related it to FBI agents on February 19, 1964,^*^ and to the Commission

on February 21J**

Marina Oswald appeared before the Commission again on June 11,

1964, and testified that a few days before her husband's departure

from Dallas to New Orleans on April 24, 1963, he finished reading a morning newspaper "* * * and put on a good suit. I saw that he

took a pistol. I asked him where he was going, and why he was getting dressed. He answered 'Nixon is coming. I want to go and have

a look.' " He also said that he would use the pistol if the opportunity

arose."^^ She remmded him that after the Walker shooting he had

promised never to repeat such an act. Marina Oswald related the events which followed

:

I called him into the bathroom and I closed the door and I wanted

to prevent him and then I started to cry. And I told him that

he shouldn't do this, and that he had promised me.

I remember that I held him. We actually struggled for several

minutes and then he quieted down."^*^ She stated that it was not physical force which kept hun from leaving

the house. "I couldn't keep him from going out if he really wanted

to." ^^^ After further questioning she stated that she might have

been confused about shutting him in the bathroom, but that "there

is no doubt that he got dressed and got a gun." ^'^^ Oswald's revolver was shipped from Los Angeles on March 20,

1963,^^^ and he left for New Orleans on April 24, 1963.^^0 ^^ edition

of either Dallas newspaper during the period January 1, 1963, to May 15, 1963, mentioned any proposed visit by Mr. Nixon to Dallas.'^°^ Mr. Nixon advised the Commission that the only time he was in

Dallas in 1963 was on November 20-21, 1963.^^^ An investigation

failed to reveal any invitation extended to Mr. Nixon during the

period when Oswald's threat reportedly occurred."^^^ The Commission has concluded, therefore, that regardless of what Oswald may

have said to his wife he was not actually planning to shoot Mr. Nixon

at that time in Dallas.

On April 23, 1963, Vice President Lyndon B. Jolinson was in Dallas

for a visit which had been publicized in the Dallas newspapers

throughout April,'^^^ The Commission asked Marina Oswald whether

she might have misunderstood the object of her husband's tlireat. She stated, "there is no question that in tliis incident it was a question

of Mr. Nixon." ^^^ When asked later whether it might have been

188
Mr. Jolmson, she said, "Yes, no. I am getting a little confused with

so many questions. I was absolutely convinced it was Nixon and

now after all these questions I wonder if I am right in my mind." ^^^ She stated further that Oswald had only mentioned Xixon's name

once during the incident.'-^^ Marina Oswald might have misunderstood

lier husband. Mr. Johnson was the then Vice President and his visit took place on April 23d.'^^^ This was 1 day before Oswald left for

Xew Orleans and Marina appeared certain that the Nixon incident

"wasn't the day before. Perhaps 3 days before." ^^^ Marina Oswald speculated that the incident may have been unrelated

to an actual threat. She said,

* * * It might have been that he was just trying to test me. He

was the kind of person who could try and wound somebody in that

way. Possibly he didn't want to go out at all but was just

doing this all as a sort of joke, not really as a joke but rather

to simply wound me, to make me feel bad.''^^ In the absence of other evidence that Oswald actually intended to shoot someone at this time, the Commission concluded that the inci- dent, as described by Marina Oswald, Avas of no probative value in the

Commission's decision concerning the identity of the assassin of President Kennedy.

OSWALD'S RIFLE CAPABILITY

In deciding whether Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots which

killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally, the

Commission considered whether Oswald, using his own rifle, possessed

the capability to hit his target with two out of three shots under the

conditions described in chapter III. The Commission evaluated (1)

the nature of the shots, (2) Oswald's Marine training in marksmansliip, (3) his experience and practice after leaving the Marine Corps,

and (4) the accuracy of the weapon and the quality of the ammunition.

The Nature of the Shots

For a rifleman situated on the sixth floor of the Texas School

Book Depository Building the shots were at a slow-moving target

proceeding on a downgrade in virtually a straight line with the alinement of the assassin's rifle, at a range of 177 to 266 feet.'*^^ An aerial

photograph of Dealey Plaza shows that Elm Street runs at an angle

so that the President would have been moving in an almost straight

line away from the assassin's rifle. '^^ (See Commission Exhibit No.

876, p. 33.) In addition, the 3° downward slope of Elm Street was of

assistance in eliminating at least some of the adjustment which is ordinarily required when a marksman must raise his rifle as a target moves farther away.'^^^

Four marksmanship experts testified before the Commission. Maj.

Eugene D. Anderson, assistant head of the Marksmanship Branch of

189
the U.S. Marine Corps, testified that the shots which struck the President in the neck and in the head were ''not * * * particidarly diffi- cult." ^^* Kobert A. Frazier, FBI expert in firearms identification

and training, said

:

From my own experience in shooting over the years, when you

shoot at 175 feet or 260 feet, which is less than 100 yards, with

a telescopic sight, you should not have any difficulty in hitting

your target.

I mean it requires no training at all to shoot a weapon with a telescopic sight once you know that you must put the crosshairs on the target and that is all that is necessary.

"^-^ Ronald Simmons, chief of the U.S. Army Infantry ^Veapons Evahiation Branch of the Ballistics Research Laboratory, said : "Well, in

order to achieve three hits, it would not be required that a man be an

exceptional shot. A proficient man with this weapon, yes."

"^^ The effect of a four-power telescopic sight on the difficulty of these

shots was considered in detail by M. Sgt. James A. Zahm, noncommissioned officer in charge of the Marksmanship Training Unit in the

Weapons Training Battalion of the Marine Corps School at Quantico,

Va."^^^ Referring to a rifle with a four-power telescope. Sergeant

Zahm said :

* * * this is the ideal type of weapon for moving targets * * * -es

* * * Using the scope, rapidly working a bolt and using the scope

to relocate your target quickly and at the same time when you

locate that target you identify it and the crosshairs are in close relationship to the point you want to shoot at, it just takes a minor move in aiming to bring the crosshairs to bear, and then

it is a quick squeeze.'^^^

I consider it a real advantage, particularly at the range of 100

yards, in identifying your target. It allows you to see your

target clearly, and it is still of a minimum amount of power that

it doesn't exaggerate your own body movements. It just is an

aid in seeing in the fact that you only have the one element, the

crosshair, in relation to the target as opposed to iron sights with

aligning the sights and then aligning them on the target.''^

Characterizing the four-power scope as "a real aid, an extreme aid"

in rapid fire shooting. Sergeant Zahm expressed the opinion that the

shot which struck President Kennedy in the neck at 176.9 to 190.8

feet was "very easy" and the shot which struck the President in the

190
head at a distance of 265.3 feet was "an easy shot." ^^^ After viewmg

photographs depicting the alinement of Elm Street in relation to the

Texas School Book Depository. Building, Zahm stated further

:

This is a definite advantage to the shooter, the vehicle moving

directly away from him and the downgrade of the street,* and he

being in an elevated position made an almost stationary target

while he was aiming in, very little movement if any.'^^^

Oswald's Marine Training

In accordance with standard Marine procedures, Oswald received

extensive training in marksmanship.'^^^ During the first week of an

intensive 3-week training period he received instruction in sighting,

aiming, and manipulation of the trigger.^^* He went through a series of exercises called dry firing where he assumed all positions which

would later be used in the qualification course.^^^ After familiarization wdth live ammunition in the .22 rifle and .22 pistol, Oswald, like

all Marine recruits, received training on the rifle range at distances

up to 500 yards, firing 50 romids each day for five days.^^^

Following that training, Oswald was tested in December of 1956,

and obtained a score of 212, which was 2 points above the minimum for

qualifications as a "sharpshooter" in a scale of marksman—sharpshooter—expert."^" In May of 1959, on another range, Oswald scored

191, which was 1 point over the minimum for ranking as a "marksman." ^^^ The Marine Corps records maintained on Oswald further

show that he had fired and was familiar with the Browning Automatic rifle, .45 caliber pistol, and 12-gage riot gun."^^^

Based on the general Marine Corps ratings, Lt. Col. A. G. Folsom,

Jr., head. Records Branch, Personnel Department, Headquarters U.S.

Marine Corps, evaluated the sharpshooter qualification as a "fairly

good shot" and a low marksman rating as a "rather poor shot." ^^° When asked to explain the different scores achieved by Oswald on

the two occasions when he fired for record. Major Anderson said

:

* * * when he fired that [212] he had just completed a very in- tensive preliminary training period. He had the services of an experienced highly trained coach. He had high motivation.

He had presumably a good to excellent rifle and good ammunition.

We have nothing here to show under what conditions the B course was fired. It might well have been a bad day for firing the rifle

windy, rainy, dark. There is little probability that he had a good,

expert coach, and he probably didn't have as high a motivation

because he was no longer in recruit training and under the care

of the drill instructor. There is some possibility that the rifle he was firing might not have been as good a rifle as the rifle that

he was firing in his A course firing, because [he] may well have

carried this rifle for quite some time, and it got banged around

in normal usage.^^^

191
Major Anderson concluded

:

I would say that as compared to other Marines receiving the same type of training, that Oswald was a good shot, somewhat

better than or equal to—better than the average let us say. As

compared to a civilian who had not received this intensive training, he would be considered as a good to excellent shot/^^

When Sergeant Zahm was asked whether Oswald's Marine Corps

training would have made it easier to operate a rifle with a fourpower scope, he replied

:

Based on that training, his basic knowledge in sight manipulation and trigger squeeze and what not, I would say that he would

be capable of sighting that rifle in well, firing it, with 10

rounds/®^

After reviewing Oswald's marksmanship scores, Sergeant Zahm

concluded

:

I would say in the Marine Corps he is a good shot, slightly

above average, and as compared to the average male of his age

throughout the civilian, throughout the United States, that he is an excellent shotJ

^*

Oswald's Rifle Practice Outside the Marines

During one of his leaves from the Marines, Oswald hunted with

his brother Robert, using a .22 caliber bolt- action rifle belonging either

to Robert or Robert's in-laws.^®^ After he left the Marines and before

departing for Russia, Oswald, his brother, and a third companion went

hunting for squirrels and rabbits."^^ On that occasion Oswald again

used a bolt-action .22 caliber rifle; and according to Robert, Lee

Oswald exhibited an average amount of proficiency with that

weapon.^^^ While in Russia, Oswald obtained a hunting license,

joined a hunting club and went hunting about six times, as discussed more fully in chapter VI.''^^ Soon after Oswald returned from

the Soviet Union he again went hunting with his brother, Robert,

and used a borrowed .22 caliber bolt-action rifle.^^^ After Oswald

purchased the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, he told his wife that he practiced with it."^^^ Marina Oswald testified that on one occasion she saw him take the rifle, concealed in a raincoat, from the house on Neely

Street. Oswald told her he was going to practice with it."^^^ According to George De Mohrenschildt, Oswald said that he went target

shooting with that rifle.'^^^ Marina Oswald testified that in New Orleans in May of 1963, she

observed Oswald sitting with the rifle on their screened porch at night,

sighting with the telescopic lens and operating the bolt.'^^^ Examination of the cartridge cases found on the sixth floor of the Depository

192

i.
Building established that they had been previously loaded and ejected

from the assassination rifle, Avliich woukl indicate that Oswald practiced operatiil^ the boltJ^* Accuracy of Weapon

It will be recalled from the discussion in chapter III that the

assassin in all probability hit two out of the three shots during the

maximum time span of 4.8 to 5.6 seconds if the second shot missed, or,

if either the first or third shots missed, the assassin fired the three

shots during a minimum time span of 7.1 to 7.9 seconds.'^®^ A series

of tests were performed to determine whether the weapon and ammunition used in the assassination were capable of firing the shots which

were fired by the assassin on November 22, 1963. The ammunition

used by the assassin was manufactured by Western Cartridge Co. of

East Alton, 111. In tests with the Mannlicher-Carcano C2766 rifle, over 100 rounds of this ammunition were fired by the FBI and the

Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch of the U.S. Army. There were no misfires."^^® In an effort to test the rifle under conditions which simulated those

which prevailed during the assassination, the Infantry Weapons

Evaluation Branch of the Ballistics Kesearch Laboratory had expert

riflemen fire the assassination weapon from a tower at three silhouette

targets at distances of 175, 240, and 265 feet. The target at 265 feet was placed to the right of the 240-foot target which was in turn placed

to the right of the closest silhouette.'^^^ Using the assassination rifle mounted with the telescopic sight, three marksmen, rated as master

by the National Rifle Association, each fired two series of three shots. In the first series the firers required time spans of 4.6, 6.75, and 8.25 seconds respectively. On the second series they required 5.15, 6.45,

and 7 seconds. None of the marksmen had any practice with the

assassination w^eapon except for exercising the bolt for 2 or 3 minutes on a dry run. They had not even pulled the trigger because of concern

about breaking the firing pin."^^^ The marksmen took as much time as they wanted for the first target

and all hit the target.-^^ For the first four attempts, the firers missed

the second shot by several inches.^°° The angle from the first to the

second shot was greater than from the second to the third shot and

required a movement in the basic firing position of the marksmen.^^^

This angle was used in the test because the majority of the eyewitnesses

to the assassination stated that there was a shorter interval between

shots two and three than between shots one and two.^^^ As has been

shown in chapter III, if the three shots were fired within a period of

from 4.8 to 5.6 seconds, the shots would have been evenly spaced and

the assassin would not have incurred so sharp an angular movement.^°^

Five of the six shots hit the third target where the angle of move- ment of the weapon was small.^°^ On the basis of these results, Sim- mons testified that in his opinion the probability of hitting the targets

at the relatively short range at which they were hit was very high.^^^

193
Considering- the various probabilities which may have prevailed durincr

the actual assassination, the highest level of firing performance which

would have been required of the assassin and the C2Tf6 rifle would

have been to fire three times and hit the target twice within a span

of 4.8 to 5.6 seconds. In fact, one of the firers in the rapid fire test in firing his two series of three shots, hit the target twice within a span

of 4.6 and 5.15 seconds. The others would have been able to reduce

their times if they had been given the opportunity to become familiar

with the movement of the bolt and the trigger pull.^''^ Simmons testi- fied that familiarity with the bolt could be achieved in dry practice

and, as has been indicated above, Oswald engaged in such practice.^^' If the assassin missed either the first or third shot, he had a total of be- tween 4.8 and 5.6 seconds between the two shots which hit and a total minimum time period of from 7.1 to 7.9 seconds for all three shots. All

three of the firers in these tests were able to fire the rounds within the

time period which would have been available to the assassin under

those conditions.

Three FBI firearms experts tested the rifle in order to determine

the speed with which it could be fired. The purpose of this ex- periment was not to test the rifle under conditions which prevailed

at the time of the assassination but to determine the maximum speed

at which it could be fired. The three FBI experts each fired three

shots from the weapon at 15 yards in 6, 7, and 9 seconds, and one of

these agents, Robert A. Frazier, fired two series of three shots at 25

yards in 4.6 and 4.8 seconds.^^ At 15 yards each man's shots landed

within the size of a dime.^^^ The shots fired by Frazier at the range of

25 yards landed within an area of 2 inches and 5 inches respectively .^^° Frazier later fired four groups of three shots at a distance of 100 yards

in 5.9, 6.2, 5.6, and 6.5 seconds. Each series of three shots landed within

areas ranging in diameter from 3 to 5 inches.^^^ Although all of the

shots were a few inches high and to the right of the target, this was

because of a defect in the scope which was recognized by the FBI

agents and which they could have compensated for if they were aiming

to hit a bull's-eye.*^^ They were instead firing to determine how rapidly the weapon could be fired and the area within which three shots

could be placed. Frazier testified that while he could not tell when

the defect occurred, but that a person familiar with the weapon could

compensate for it.^^^ Moreover, the defect was one which would have

assisted the assassin aiming at a target which was moving away.

Frazier said, "The fact that the crosshairs are set high would actually

compensate for any lead which had to be taken. So that if you aimed

with this weapon as it actually was received at the laboratory, it would not be necessary to take any lead whatsoever in order to hit the intended object. The scope would accomplish the lead for you."

Frazier added that the scope would cause a slight miss to the right. It should be noted, however, that the President's car was curving slightly to the right when the third shot was fired. Based on these tests the experts agreed that the assassination rifle was an accurate weap,on. Simmons described it as "quite accurate,"

194
in fact, as accurate as current military rifles.^^* Frazier testified that

the rifle was accurate, that it had less recoil than the average military

rifle and that'\>ne would not have to be an expert marksman to have

accomplished the assassination with the weapon which was used.^^^ Conclusion

The various tests showed that the Mannlicher-Carcano was an ac- curate rifle and that the use of a four-power scope was a substantial

aid to rapid, accurate firing. Oswald's Marine training in marksmanship, his other rifle experience and his established familiarity with

this particular weapon show that he possessed ample capability to commit the assassination. Based on the known facts of the assassination, the Marine marksmanship experts. Major Anderson and Sergeant

Zahm, concurred in the opinion that Oswald had the capability to fire three shots, with two hits, within 4.8 and 5.6 seconds.^^^ Concerning

the shots which struck the President in the back of the neck. Sergeant

Zahm testified : "With the equipment he [Oswald] had and with his

ability I consider it a very easy shot." ^^^ Having fired this sHot the

assassin was then required to hit the target one more time within

a space of from 4.8 to 5.6 seconds. On the basis of Oswald's training

and the accuracy of the weapon as established by the tests, the Commission concluded that Oswald was capable of accomplishing this

second hit even if there was an intervening shot which missed. The

pr,obability of hitting the President a second time would have been

markedly increased if, in fact, he had missed either the first or third

shots thereby leaving a time span of 4.8 to 5.6 seconds between the

two shots which struck their mark. The Commission agrees with the

testimony of Marine marksmanship expert Zahm that it was "an

easy shot" to hit some part of the President's body, and that the range

where the rifleman would be expected to hit would include the

President's head.®^^ CONCLUSION

On the basis of the evidence reviewed in this chapter, the Commission has found that Lee Harvey Oswald (1) owned and possessed the

rifle used to kill President Kennedy and wound Governor Connally,

(2) brought this rifle into the Depository Building on the morning of

the assassination, (3) was present, at the time of the assassination, at the window from which the shots were fired, (4) killed Dallas Police

Officer J. D. Tippit in an apparent attempt to escape, (5) resisted arrest by drawing a fully loaded pistol and attempting to shoot another

policre officer, (6) lied to the police after his arrest concerning important substantive matters, (7) attempted, in April 1963, to kill Maj.

Gen. Edwin A. Walker, and (8) possessed the capability with a rifle which would have enabled him to commit the assassination. On the

basis of these findings the Commission has concluded that Lee Harvey

Oswald was the assassin of President Kennedy.

195
CHAPTER V

Detention and Death of Oswald

IEE HARVEY OSWALD spent almost all of the last 48 hours

of his life in the Police and Courts Building, a gray stone ^ structure in downtown Dallas that housed the headquarters

of the Dallas Police Department and the city jail. Following his arrest early Friday afternoon, Oswald was brought immediately to

this building and remained there until Sunday morning, November 24,

when he was scheduled to be transferred to the county jail. At 11 :21 that morning, in full view of millions of people watching on television,

Oswald was fatally wounded by Jack Ruby, who emerged suddenly

from the crowd of newsmen and policemen witnessing the transfer

and fired a single shot at Oswald.

Whether the killing of Oswald was part of a conspiracy involving

the assassination of President Kennedy is considered in chapter YI.

Aside from that question, the occurrences within the Police and Courts

Building between November 22 and 24 raise other important issues

concerning the conduct of law enforcement officials, the responsibilities

of the press, the rights of accused persons, and the administration

of criminal justice in the United States. The Commission has therefore deemed it necessary to determine the facts concerning Oswald's

detention and death and to evaluate the actions and responsibilities

of the police and press involved in these events. TREATMENT OF OSWALD IN CUSTODY

The focal center of the Police and Courts Building during Oswald's

detention was the third floor, which housed the main offices of the

Dallas Police Department. The public elevators on this floor opened

into a lobby midpoint of a corridor that extended along the length

of the floor for about 140 feet. At one end of this 7-foot-wide corridor were the offices occupied by Chief of' Police Jesse E. Curry and his

immediate subordinates ; at the other end was a small pressroom that

could accommodate only a handful of reporters. Along this corridor were other police offices, including those of the major detective bureaus.

Between the pressroom and the lobby was the complex of offices 196
THIRD FLOOR PLAN

DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT

DALLAS, TEXAS

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

APPROX. 23 I Oswald's route between HomicideRobbery Bureau and jail elevator lobby Glass panel in upper

part of wall and door Commission Exhibit No. 2175

197
belonging to the homicide and robbery bureau, headed by Capt. J. Will Fritz.i (See Commission Exhibit No. 2175, p. 197.)

Chronology

The policemen who seized Oswald at the Texas Theatre arrived with

him at the police department building at about 2 p.m. and brought

him immediately to the third floor offices of the homicide and robbery

bureau to await the arrival of Captain Fritz from the Texas School

Book Depository. After about 15 or 20 minutes Oswald was ushered

into the office of Captain Fritz for the first of several inten^ogation

sessions.^ At 4 :05 p.m. he was taken to the basement assembly room

for his first lineup.^ IVhile waiting outside the lineup room, Oswald

was searched, and five cartridges and other items were removed fi^om

his pockets.* After the lineup, at about 4 :20, Oswald was returned to Captain Fritz' office for further questioning.^ Two hours later, at

6 :20 p.m., Oswald was taken downstairs for a second lineup and re- turned to Captain Fritz' office within 15 minutes for additional interrogation.^ Shortly after 7 p.m., Captain Fritz signed a complaint

charging Oswald with the murder of Patrolman Tippit. Oswald was

formally arraigned, i.e., advised of the charges, at 7 :10 p.m., before

Justice of the Peace David L. Johnston, who came to Captain Fritz'

office for the occasion.'' After a third lineup at about 7 :40 p.m., Oswald was returned to

Fritz' office.^ About an hour later, after further questioning, Oswald's

fingerprints and palmprints were taken and a paraffin test (see app.

XI) administered in Fritz' office, after which the questioning resumed.^

At 11 :26 p.m. Fritz signed the complaint charging Oswald with the

murder of President Kennedy.^° Shortly after midnight, detectives

took Oswald to the basement assembly room for an appearance of

several minutes before members of the press.^^ At about 12 :20 a.m. Oswald was delivered to the jailer who placed him in a maximum

security cell on the fifth floor.^^ His cell was the center one in a block

of three cells that were separated from the remainder of the j ail area. The cells on either side of Oswald were empty and a guard was nearby

whenever Oswald was present.^^ Shortly after 1 :30 a.m. Oswald was

brought to the identification bureau on the fourth floor and arraigned

before Justice of the Peace Johnston, this time for the murder of

President Kennedy.^*

Questioning resumed in Fritz' office on Saturday morning at about

10:25 a.m., and the session lasted nearly an hour and 10 minutes.^^

Oswald was then returned to his cell for an hour, and at 12 :35 p.m.

he was brought back to Fritz' office f,or an additional half-hour of

questioning.^^ From 1 :10 to 1 :30 p.m., Oswald's wife and mother

visited him in the fourth floor visiting area; ^^ at 1:40 p.m. he at- tempted to call an attorney in New York.^^ He appeared in another

lineup at 2 :15 p.m.^^ At 2 :45 p.m., with Oswald's consent, a member

of the identification bureau obtained fingernail scrapings and speci- mens of hair from him.^^ He returned to' the fourth floor at 3:30

198
p.m. for a 10-mitiute visit with his brother, Eobert.^^ Between 4 and

4 :30 p.m., Oswald made two telephone calls to Mrs. Ruth Paine ^^ at her home in Irving; at about 5 :30 p.m. he was visited by the president

of the Dallas Bar Association ^ with whom he spoke for about 5 minutes. From 6 to 7 :15 p.m. Oswald was interrogated once again in

Captain Fritz' office and then returned to his cell.^* At 8 p.m. he

called the Paine residence again and asked to speak to his wife, but

Mrs. Paine told him that his wife was no longer there.^^ Oswald was signed out of jail at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, November

24, and taken to Captain Fritz' office for a final round of questioning.^^

The transfer party left Fritz' office at about 11 :15 a.m. ; ^^ at 11 :21 a.m. Oswald was shot.^^ He was declared dead at Parkland Hospital

at 1 :07 p.m.29

Interrogation Sessions

During the period between 2 :30 p.m. on Friday afternoon and 11 :15 a.m. Sunday morning, Oswald was interrogated for a total of approximately 12 lxours.^° Though subject to intermittent questioning for more than 7 hours on Friday, Oswald was given 8 to 9 hours to rest that night. On Saturday he was questioned for a total of only 3 hours

during three interrogation sessions, and on Sunday he was questioned

for less than 2 hours." (These interrogations are discussed in ch. IV.)

Captain Fritz' office, within which the interrogations took place, was

a small room, 14 feet by 9i/^ feet in size.^^ In addition to the policemen guarding the prisoner, those present usually included Dallas

detectives, investigators from the FBI and the Secret Service, and

occasionally other officials, particularly a post office inspector and the

U.S. marshal. (See statements in app. XL) As many as seven or

eight people crowded into the small office.^ In all, more than 25

different persons participated in or were present at some time during

interrogations. Captain Fritz, who conducted most of the interrogations, was frequently called from the room. He said, "I don't believe

there was any time when I went through a very long period without

having to step to the door, or step outside, to get a report from some

pair of officers, or to give them additional assignments."^* In his

absence, others present would occasionally question Oswald.^^

The interrogators differ on whether the confusion prevailing in

the main third floor corridor penetrated Fritz' office and affected the

atmosphere within.^^ Oswald's processions through the third floor corridor, described more fully below, tended, in Fritz' opinion, to keep

Oswald upset, and the remarks and questions of newsmen sometimes

caused him to become annoyed. Despite the confusion that frequently

prevailed, Oswald remained calm most of the time during the interrogations.^^ According to Captain Fritz

:

You know I didn't have trouble with him. If we w^ould just

talk to him quietly like we are talking right now, we talked all right until I asked him a question that meant something, every

199
time I asked him a question that meant something, that would

produce evidence he immediately told me he wouldn't tell me

about it and he seemed to anticipate what I was going to ask.^* Special Agent James W. Bookhout, who represented the FBI at most

of the interrogations, stated, "I think generally you might say anytime that you asked a question that would be pertinent to the investigation, that would be the type of question he would refuse to discuss." ^^ The number of people in the interrogation room and the tumultuous atmosphere throughout the third floor made it difficult for the

interrogators to gain Oswald's confidence and to encourage him to be truthful. As Chief Curry has recognized in his testimony, "we

were violating every principle of interrogation * * * it was just

against all principles of good interrogation practice." *°

Oswald's Legal Rights

All available evidence indicates that Oswald was not subjected to any physical hardship during the interrogation sessions or at any

other time while he was in custody. He was fed and allowed to rest. When he protested on Friday against being handcuffed from behind,

the cuffs were removed and he was handcuffed in front.^^ Although

he made remarks to newsmen about desiring a shower and demanding

his "civil rights," Oswald did not complain about his treatment to any of the numerous police officers and other persons who had

much to do with him during the 2 days of his detention.^^ As described

in chapter IV, Oswald received a slight cut over his right eye and a

bruise under his left eye during the scuffle in the Texas Theatre with the

arresting officers, three of whom were injured and required medical

treatment. These marks were visible to all who saw him during the

2 days of his detention and to millions of television viewers.'*^ Before the first questioning session on Friday afternoon, Fritz

warned Oswald that he was not compelled to make any statement and

that statements he did make could be used against him.^ About 5 hours later, he was arraigned for the Tippit murder and within an

additional 6I/2 hours he was arraigned for the murder of President

Kennedy. On each occasion the justice of the peace advised Oswald

of his right to obtain counsel and the right to remain silent.*^ Throughout the period of detention, however, Oswald was not rep- resented by counsel. At the Friday midnight press conference in

the basement assembly room, he made the following remarks

:

Oswald. Well, I was questioned by Judge [Johnston].

However, I protested at that time that I was not allowed legal

representation during that very short and sweet hearing. I really

don't know what the situation is about. Nobody has told me

anything except that I am accused of, of, murdering a police200
man. I know nothing more than that and I do request someone

to come forward to give me legal assistance.

Q. Did you kill the President?

A. No. I have not been charged with that. In fact nobody has

said that to me yet. The first thing I heard about it was when

the newspaper reporters in the hall asked me that question.

Q. Mr. Oswald, how did you hurt your eye?

A. A policeman hit me.^^

At this time Oswald had been arraigned only for the murder of Patrolman Tippit, but questioning by Captain Fritz and others had been

substantially concerned with Oswald's connection with the assassination.*^

On Friday evening, representatives of the American Civil Liberties

Union visited the police department to determine whether Oswald

was being deprived of counsel. They were assured by police officials and Justice of the Peace Johnston that Oswald had been informed of

his rights and was being allowed to seek a lawyer.*^ On Saturday

Oswald attempted several times to reach John Abt, a New York lawyer, by telephone, but with no success.*^ In the afternoon, he called

Ruth Paine and asked her to try to reach Abt for him, but she too

failed.^^ Later in the afternoon, H. Louis Nichols, president of the

Dallas Bar Association, visited Oswald in his cell and asked him

whether he wanted the association to obtain a lawyer for him. Oswald

declined the offer, stating a first preference for Abt and a second

preference for a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union.^^

As late as Sunday morning, according to Postal Inspector Harry D.

Holmes, Oswald said that he preferred to get his own lawyer.®^

ACTIVITY OF NEWSMEN

Within an hour of Oswald's arrival at the police department on November 22, it became known to newsmen that he was a possible

suspect in the slaying of President Kennedy as well as in the murder

of Patrolman Tippit. At least as early as 3 :26 p.m. a television re- port carried this information. Reporters and cameramen flooded

into the building and congregated in the corridor of the third floor,

joining those few who had been present when Oswald first arrived.^*

On the Third Floor

Felix McKnight, editor of the Dallas Times-Herald, who handled

press arrangements for the President's visit, estimated that within

24 hours of the assassination more than 300 representatives of news

media were in Dallas, including correspondents from foreign newspapers and press associations.^* District Attorney Henry M. Wade

201

730-900 0-64— 15
thought that the crowd in the third floor hallway itself may have

numbered as many as 300.^^ Most estimates, including those based on examination of video tapes, place upwards of 100 newsmen and cameramen in the third floor corridor of the police department by

the evening of November 22.^*^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 2633,

p. 203.)

In the words of an FBI agent who was present, the conditions at the police station were "not too much unlike Grand Central Station

at rush hour, maybe like the Yankee Stadium during the World Series

games. * * *" 57 jj^ ^]^g lobby of the third floor, television cameramen

set up two large cameras and floodlights in strategic positions that

gave them a sweep of the corridor in either direction. Technicians

stretched their television cables into and out of offices, running some

of them out of the windows of a deputy chief's office and down the

side of the building. Men with newsreel cameras, still cameras, and

microphones, more mobile than the television cameramen, moved back

and forth seeking information and opportunities for interviews.

Newsmen wandered into the offices of other bureaus located on the third

floor, sat on desks, and used police telephones; indeed, one reporter

admits hiding a telephone behind a desk so that he would have exclusive

access to it if something developed.^^

By the time Chief Curry returned to the building in the middle of

the afternoon from Love Field where he had escorted President

Johnson from Parkland Hospital, he found that "there was just

pandemonium on the third floor." ^® The news representatives, he

testified

:

* * * were- jammed into the north hall of the third floor, which are the offices of the criminal investigation division. The television

trucks, there were several of them around the city hall. I went

into my administrative offices, I saw cables coming through the

administrative assistant office and through the deputy chief of

traffic through his office, and running through the hall they had

a live TV set up on the third floor, and it was a bedlam of

confusion.^°

According to Special Agent Winston G. Lawson of the Secret

Service

:

At least by 6 or 7 o'clock * * * [the reporters and cameramen]

were quite in evidence up and down the corridors, cameras on the

tripods, the sound equipment, people with still cameras, motion

picture-type hand cameras, all kinds of people with tape recorders,

and they were trying to interview people, anybody that belonged

in police headquarters that might know anything about

Oswald * * *.«^ The corridor became so jammed that policemen and newsmen had

to push and shove if they wanted to get through, stepping over cables,

202
rntnm-i e;«;i rm Vvhiriit Wn . 9(^^^^k Commission Exhibit No. 2633 Scene in third floor corridor.

203
wires, and tripods.^^ The crowd in the hallway was so dense that District Attorney Wade found it a "strain to get the door open" to get

into the homicide office.^^ According to Lawson, "You had to literally

fight your way through the people to get up and down the corridor." ^* A witness who was escorted into the homicide offices on Saturday after- noon related that he

tried to get by the reporters, stepping over television cables and

you couldn't hardly get by, they would grab you and wanted to know what you were doing down here, even with the detectives

on© in front and one behind you.®^

The television cameras continued to record the scene on the third floor as some of the newsmen kept vigil through the night.^^

Such police efforts as there were to control the newsmen were unavailing. Capt. Glen D. King, administrative assistant to Chief Curry,

witnessed efforts to clear an aisle through the hallway, but related

that "this was a constant battle because of the number of news- men who were there. They would move back into the aisleway that

had been cleared. They interfered vrith the movement of people who

had to be there." ^^ According to one detective, "they would be asked

to stand back and stay back but it wouldn't do much good, and they

would push forward and you had to hold them off physically." The

detective recalled that on one occasion when he was escorting a witness

through the corridor he "stopped * * * and looked down and there was a joker had a camera stuck between * * * [his] legs taking pictures. * * * " 68 Forrest V. Sorrels of the Secret Service had the

impression that the "press and the television people just * * * took

over." ^^ Police control over the access of other than newsmen to the third

floor was of limited but increasing effectiveness after Oswald's arrival

at the police department. Initially no steps were taken to exclude

unauthorized persons from the third floor corridor, but late Friday

afternoon Assistant Chief Charles Batchelor stationed guards at the

elevators and the stairway to prevent the admission of such persons. He also directed the records room in the basement to issue passes, after

verification by the bureaus involved, to people who had legitimate

business on the third floor. '° Throughout the 3 days of Oswald's detention, the police were obliged to continue normal business in all five bureaus located along the third floor hallway. Thus many persons

relatives of prisoners, complainants, witnesses '^^—had occasion to- visit police offices on the third floor on business unrelated to the investigation of the assassination.

Newsmen seeking admission to the third floor were required to identify themselves by their personal press cards ; however, the department

did not follow its, usual procedure of checking the authenticity of press

credentials.^^ Captain King felt that this would have been impossible

in light of "the atmosphere that existed over there, the tremendous

pressures that existed, the fact that telephones were ringing constantly,

204

i i
0I!2!D.SS10n Eidiibit Ko. 2631 Commission Exhibit No. 2631 Oswald being movecl through third floor corridor.

205
that there were droves of people in there * * * the fact that the method

by which you positively identify someone * * * it's not easy." '^^ Police officers on the third floor testified that they carefully checked

all persons for credentials, and most newsmen indicated that after

Batchelor imposed security they were required to identify themselves

by their press cardsJ* Special Agent Sorrels of the Secret Service

stated that he was requested to present credentials on some of his visits to the third floor/^ However, other newsmen apparently Avent un- challenged during the entire period before Oswald was killed, al- though some of them were wearing press badges on their lapels and some may have been known to the police officers/^

According to some reporters and policemen, people who appeared

to be unauthorized were present on the third floor after security procedures were instituted, and video tapes seem to confirm their observations/^ Jack Kuby was present on the third floor on Friday night.^®

Assistant Chief of Police N. T. Fisher testified that even on Saturday

"anybody could come up with a plausible reason for going to one of

the third floor bureaus and was able to get in." ^^ Oswald and the Press

When the police car bringing Oswald from the Texas Theatre drove

into the basement of police headquarters at about 2 p.m. on Friday, some reporters and cameramen, principally from local papers and sta- tions, were already on hand. The policemen formed a wedge around

Oswald and conducted him to the elevator, but several newsmen

crowded into the elevator with Oswald and the police. When the ele- vator stopped at the third floor, the cameramen ran ahead down the

corridor, and then turned around and backed up, taking pictures of

Oswald as he was escorted toward the homicide and robbery bureau

office. According to one escorting officer, some six or seven reporters

followed the police into the bureau office.^^ From Friday afternoon, when Oswald arrived in the building, until

Sunday, newspaper reporters and television cameras focused their

attention on the homicide office. In full view and within arm's length

of the assembled newsmen, Oswald traversed the 20 feet of corridor

between the homicide office and the locked door leading to the jail

elevator at least 15 times after his initial arrival. The jail elevator,

sealed off from public use, took him to his fifth floor cell and to the

assembly room in the basement for lineups and the Friday night news

conference.^^

On most occasions, Oswald's escort of three to six detectives and

policemen had to push their way through the newsmen who sought to surround them. (See Commission Exhibit No. 2631, p. 205.) Although the Dallas press normally did not take pictures of a prisoner

without first obtaining permission of the police, who generally asked

the prisoner, this practice was not followed by any of the newsmen

with Oswald.^2 Generally when Oswald appeared the newsmen turned

their cameras on him, thrust microphones at his face, and shouted

206
OSWALD AT PRESS CONFERENCE IN ASSEMBLY ROOM, FRIDAY NIGHT

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2965)

207
questions at him. Sometimes he answered. Reporters in the forefront

of the throng would repeat his answers for the benefit of those behind

them who could not hear. On Saturday, however in response to police

admonitions, the reporters exercised more restraint and shouted fewer

questions at Oswald when he passed through the corridor.^^

Oswald's most prolonged exposure occurred at the midnight press

conference on Friday night. In response to demands of newsmen,

District Attorney Wade, after consulting with Chief Curry and Captain Fritz, had announced shortly before midnight that Oswald would

appear at a press conference in the basement assembly room.^ An

estimated 70 to 100 people, including Jack Ruby, and other unauthorized persons, crowded into the small downstairs room. No identification was required.^^ The room was so packed that Deputy Chief M. W.

Stevenson and Captain Fritz who came down to the basement after

the crowd had assembled could not get in and were forced to remain

in the doorway.®^

Oswald was brought into the room shortly after midnight.®^ Curry

had instructed policemen not to permit newsmen to touch Oswald or

get close to him, but no steps were taken to shield Oswald from the

crowd.^ Captain Fritz had asked that Oswald be placed on the platform used for lineups so that he could be more easily removed "if anything happened." ®® Chief Curry, however, insisted that Oswald stand

•on the floor in front of the stage, where he was also in front of the

one-way nylon-cloth screen customarily used to prevent a suspect from

seeing those present in the room. This was done because cameramen had told Curry that their cameras would not photograph well through

the screen.^^ Curry had instructed the reporters that they were not to "ask any

questions and try to interview * * * [Oswald] in any way," but when

he was brought into the room, "immediately they began to shoot

questions at him and shove microphones into his face." ^^ It was

difficult to hear Oswald's answers above the uproar. Cameramen stood on the tables to take pictures and others pushed forward to get close- ups. ( See Commission Exhibit No. 2965, p. 207. ) The noise and con- fusion mounted as reporters shouted at each other to get out of the way

and camermen made frantic efforts to get into position for pictures.^^

After Oswald had been in the room only a few minutes. Chief Curry

intervened and directed that Oswald be taken back to the jail because,

he testified, the newsmen "tried to overrun him." ^^ THE ABORTIVE TRANSFER

In Dallas, after a person is charged with a felony, the county sheriff

ordinarily takes custody of the prisoner and assumes responsibility

for his safekeeping. Normally, the Dallas Police Department notifies the sheriff when a prisoner has been charged with a felony and

the sheriff dispatches his deputies to transport the accused to the

county jail. This is usually done within a few hours after the com208
plaint has been filed. In cases of unusual importance, however, the

Dallas city police sometimes transport the prisoners to the county

jail.«*

The decision to move Oswald to the coimty jail on Sunday morning

was reached by Chief Curry the preceding evening. Sometime after

7:30 Saturday evening, according to Assistant Chief Batchelor, two

reporters told him that they wanted to go out to dinner but that "they

didn't want to miss anything if we were going to move the prisoner."

Curry came upon them at that point and told the two newsmen

that if they returned by 10 o'clock in the morning, they wouldn't

"miss anything." ®^ A little later, after checking with Captain Fritz,

Curry made a similar announcement to the assembled reporters.

Curry reported the making of his decision to move Oswald as follows

:

Then, I talked to Fritz about when he thought he would transfer

the prisoner, and he didn't think it was a good idea to transfer

him at night because of the fact you couldn't see, and if anybody

tried to cause them any trouble, they needed to see who they were and where it was coming from and so forth, and he suggested

that we wait until daylight, so this was normal procedure, I mean,

for Fritz to determine when he is going to transfer his prisoners,

so I told him "Okay." I asked him, I said, "^Vhat time do you

think you will be ready tomorrow?" And he didn't know exactly and I said, "Do you think about 10 o'clock," and he said, "I

believe so," and then is when I went out and told the newspaper

people * * * "I believe if you are back here by 10 o'clock you

will be back in time to observe anything you care to observe." ®^ During the night, between 2 :30 and 3 a.m., the local office of the

FBI and the sheriff's office received telephone calls from an unidentified man who warned that a committee had decided "to kill the man

that killed the President." ^' Shortly after, an FBI agent notified

the Dallas police of the anonymous threat. The police department

and ultimately Chief Curry were informed of both threats.^^ Immediately after his arrival at the building on Sunday morning

between 8 :30 and 8 :45 a.m., Curry spoke by telephone with Sheriff

J. E. Decker about the transfer. When Decker indicated that he

would leave to Curry the decision on whether the sheriff's office or

the police would move Oswald, Curry decided that the police would

handle it because "we had so much involved here, we were the ones

that were investigating the case and we had the officers set up downstairs to handle it." ^^ After talking with Decker, Curry began to discuss plans for the

transfer. With the threats against Oswald in mind, Curry suggested

to Batchelor and Deputy Chief Stevenson that Oswald be transported

to the county jail in an armored truck, to which they agreed. While

Batchelor made arrangements to have an armored truck brought to the building, Curry and Stevenson tentatively agreed on the route the

armored truck would follow from the building to the county jail.^°°

209
Curry decided that Oswald would leave the building via the basem-ent. He stated later that he reached this decision shortly after his

arrival at the police building Sunday morning, when members of the

press had already begun to gather in the basement. There is no evi- dence that anyone opposed this decision.^^^ Two members of the

Dallas police did suggest to Captain Fritz that Oswald be taken from

the building by another exit, leaving the press "waiting in the basement and on Commerce Street, and we could be to the county jail

before anyone knew what was taking place." ^^^ However, Fritz

said that he did not think Curry would agree to such a plan because

he had promised that Oswald would be transferred at a time when newsmen could take pictures.^"^ Forrest Sorrels also suggested to Fritz that Oswald be moved at an unannounced time when no one was around, but Fritz again responded that Curry "wanted to go

along with the press and not try to put anything over on them." ^°* Preliminary arrangements to obtain additional personnel to assist with the transfer were begim Saturday evening. On Saturday night,

the police reserves were requested to provide 8 to 10 men on Sunday,

and additional reservists were sought in the morning.^°^ Capt. C. E.

Talbert, who was in charge of the patrol division for the city of Dallas on the morning of November 24, retained a small number of policemen

in the building when he took charge that morning and later ordered

other patrolmen from several districts to report to the basement."*^

At about 9 a.m. Deputy Chief Stevenson instructed all detectives

within the building to remain for the transfer.^^^ Sheriff Decker

testified that his men were ready to receive Oswald at the county jail

from the early hours of Sunday moming.^^^

With the patrolmen and reserve policemen available to him. Captain Talbert, on his own initiative, undertook to secure the basement

of the police department building. He placed policemen outside the

building at the top of the Commerce Street ramp to keep all spectators on the opposite side of Commerce Street. Later, Talbert directed

that patrolmen be assigned to all street intersections the transfer

vehicle would cross along the route to the county jail.^^^ His most

significant security precautions, however, were steps designed to ex- clude unauthorized persons from the basement area. The spacious basement of the Police and Courts Building contains,

among other things, the jail office and the police garage. (See Commission Exhibit No. 2179, p. 211.) The jail office, into which the jail

elevator opens, is situated on the west side of an auto ramp cutting

across the length of the basement from Main Street, on the north

side of the building, to Commerce Street, on the south side. From the

foot of this ramp, on the east side, midway through the basement, a decline runs down a short distance to the L-shaped police garage. In

addition to the auto ramp, five doors to the garage provide access to the basement from the Police and Courts Building on the west side of

the garage and the attached Municipal Building on the east. Three

of these five doors provide access to three elevators opening into the

garage, two for passengers near the central part of the garage and

210

ftj
BASEMENT

DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT, DALLAS, TEXAS

MAIN ST.

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SCALE IN FCET

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FLOOR OUTSIDE "Al

Commission Exhibit No. 2179

211
one for service at the east end of the garage. A fourth door near

the passenger elevator opens into the municipal building; the fifth door, at the Commerce Street side of the garage, opens into a subbasement that is connected with both buildings."^

Shortly after 9 o'clock Sunday morning, policemen cleared the basement of all but police personnel. Guards were stationed at the top

of the Main and Commerce Streets auto ramps leading down into the

basement, at each of the five doorways into the garage, and at the

double doors leading to the public hallway adjacent to the jail office. Then, Sgt. Patrick T. Dean, acting under instructions from

Talbert, directed 14 men in a search of the garage. Maintenance

workers were directed to leave the area. The searchers examined tlie rafters, tops of air conditioning ducts, and every closet and room

opening off the garage. They searched the interior and trunk com- partment of automobiles parked in the garage. The two passenger

elevators in the central part of the garage were not in service and

the doors were shut and locked; the service elevator was moved to the first floor, and the operator was instructed not to return it to the

basement.^^^

Despite the thoroughness with which the search was conducted,

there still existed one and perhaps two weak points in controlling

access to the garage. Testimony did not resolve positively whether or not the stairway door near the public elevators was locked both from

the inside and outside as was necessary to secure it effectively. ^^^ And

although guards were stationed near the double doors, the hallway

near the jail office was accessible to people from inside the Police and

Courts Building without the necessity of presenting identification.

Until seconds before Oswald was shot, newsmen hurrying to photograph Oswald were able to run without challenge through those doors

into the basement.^^^ After the search had been completed, the police allowed news rep- resentatives to reenter the basement area and gather along the entrance

to the garage on the east side of the ramp. Later, the police per- mitted the newsmen to stand in front of the railing on the east side

of the ramp leading to Main Street. The policemen deployed by

Talbert and Dean had instructions to allow no one but identified news media representatives into the basement. As before, the police

accepted any credentials that appeared authentic, though some officers did make special efforts to check for pictures and other forms of

corroborating identification. Many newsmen reported that they were

checked on more than one occasion while they waited in the basement.

A small number did not recall that their credentials were ever checked."*

Shortly after his arrival on Sunday morning. Chief Curry issued

instructions to keep reporters and cameramen out of the jail office and to keep television equipment behind the railing separating the

basement auto ramp from the garage. Curry observed that in other

respects Captain Talbert appeared to have security measures in hand

and allowed him to proceed on his own initiative. Batchelor and

212

1 i
Stevenson checked progress in the basement during the course of

the morning, and the officials were generally satisfied with the steps

Talbert had taken."^

At about 11 a.m., Deputy Chief Stevenson requested that C'apt. O. A.

Jones of the forgery bureau bring all available detectives from the

third floor offices to the basement. Jones instructed the detectives

who accompanied him to the basement to line the walls on either

side of the passageway cleared for the transfer party.^^^ According

to Detective T. D. McMillon,

* * * Captain Jones explained to us that, when they brought the

prisoner out, that he wanted two lines formed and we were to keep

these two lines formed, you know, a barrier on either side of

them, kind of an aisle * * * for them to walk through, and

when they came down this aisle, we were to keep this line intact

and move along with them until the man was placed in the car.^^^ With Assistant Chief Batchelor's permission, Jones removed photographers who had gathered once again in the basement jail office. Jones recalled that he instructed all newsmen along the Main Street

ramp to remain behind an imaginary line extending from the southeast comer of the jail office to the railing on the east side of the ramp

;

other officers recalled that Jones directed the newsmen to move away

from the foot of the Main Street ramp and to line up against the east

railing. In any event, newsmen were allowed to congregate along the

foot of the ramp after Batchelor observed that there was insufficient room along the east of the ramp to permit all the news representatives

to see Oswald as he was brought out.^^® By the time Oswald reached the basement, 40 to 50 newsmen and TO

to 75 police officers were assembled there. Three television cameras

stood along the railing and most of the newsmen were congregated in

that area and at the top of the adjacent decline leading into the garage.

A group of newsmen and police officers, best estimated at about 20,

stood strung across the bottom of the Main Street ramp. Along the

south wall of the passageway outside the jail office door were about

eight detectives, and three detectives lined the north wall. Two

officers stood in front of the double doors leading into the passageway

from the corridor next to the jail office."^ (See Commission Exhibit

No. 2634, p. 214.)

Beginning Saturday night, the public had been kept informed of

the approximate time of the transfer. At approximately 10 :20 a.m. Curry told a press conference that Oswald would be moved in an

armored truck and gave a general description of other security precautions.^20 Apparently no newsmen were informed of the transfer

route, however, and the route was not disclosed to the driver of the

armored truck until the truck arrived at the Commerce Street exit at about 11 :07 a.m.^^^ When they learned of its arrival, many of the re- maining newsmen who had waited on the third floor descended to the

basement. Shortly after, newsmen may have had another indication

213
V

Commission ExMbit No. 263if Commission Exhibit No. 2634 Scene in areaway outside jail oflace immediately before shooting

( Sunday, November 24)

.

214

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that the transfer was imminent if they caught a glimpse through the

glass windows of Oswald putting on a sweater in Captain Fritz'

office.^22 Because the driver feared that the truck might stall if it had to

start from the bottom of the ramp and because the overhead clearance

appeared to be inadequate, Assistant Chief Batchelor had it backed

only into the entranceway at the top of the ramp. Batchelor and

others tlien inspected the inside of the truck.^^^ When Chief Curry learned that the truck had arrived, he informed

Captain Fritz that security controls were in effect and inquired how

long the questioning of Oswald would continue. At this point, Fritz

learned for the first time of the plan to convey Oswald by armored

truck and immediately expressed his disapproval. He urged the use

of an unmarked police car driven by a police officer, pointing out that

this would be better from the standpoint of both speed and maneuverability. Curry agreed to Fritz' plan; the armored truck would be

used as a decoy. They decided that the armored truck would leave

the ramp first, followed by a car which would contain only security

officers. A police car bearing Oswald would follow. After proceeding one block, the car with Oswald would turn off and proceed directly

to the county jail ; the armored truck would follow a lead car to the

jail along the previously agreed upon and more circuitous route.^^* Captain Fritz instructed Detectives C. W. Brown and C. N.

Dhority and a third detective to proceed to the garage and move the

iollowup car and the transfer car into place on the auto ramp. He

told Lt. Rio S. Pierce to obtain another automobile from the basement

and take up a lead position on Commerce Street,^^^ Deputy Chief

Stevenson went back to the basement to inform Batchelor and Jones

of the change in plans.^^^ Oswald was given his sweater, and then

his right hand was handcuffed tp the left hand of Detective J. R.

Leavelle.^2^ Detective T. L. Baker called the jail office to check on

security precautions in the basement and notify officials that the

prisoner was being brought down.^^^

On arriving in the basement. Pierce asked Sgts. James A. Putnam

and Billy Joe Maxey to accompany him in the lead car. Since the

armored truck was blocking the Commerce Street ramp, it would be

necessary to drive out the Main Street ramp and circle the block to Commerce Street. Maxey sat on the back seat of Pierce's car, and

Putnam helped clear a path through reporters on the ramp so that

Pierce could drive up toward Main Street. When the oar passed by

the reporters at about 11 :20 a.m., Putnam entered the car on the right

front side. Pierce drove to the top of the Main Street ramp and

slowed momentarily as Patrolman Roy E. Vaughn stepped from his

position at the top of the ramp toward the street to watch for traffic.^^ After Pierce's car left the garage area, Brown drove another police car out of the garage, moved part way up the Commerce Street ramp,

and began to back down intO' position to receive Oswald. Dhority

also proceeded to drive the followup car into position ahead of

Brown.^^^

215
As Pierce's car started up the ramp at about 11 :20 a.m., Oswald,

accompanied by Captain Fritz and four detectives, arrived at the jail

office. Cameramen in the hallway of the basement took pictures of

Oswald through the interior glass windows of the jail office as he was led through the office to the exit.^^^ Some of these cameramen

then ran through the double doors near the jail office and squeezed into

the line which had formed across the Main Street ramp."^ Still others remained just inside the double doors or proceeded through the

double doors after Oswald and his escort emerged from the jail

office.^33 (See Commission Exhibit No. 2177, p. 217.)

When Fritz came to the jail office door, he asked if everything was

ready, and a detective standing in the passageway answered yes.^^*

Someone shouted, "Here he comes !" ; additional spotlights were turned on in the basement, and the din increased. A detective stepped from

the jail office and proceeded toward the transfer car. Seconds later Fritz and then Oswald, with Detective Leavelle at his right, Detective L. C. Graves at his left, and Detective L. D. Montgomery at his

rear, came through the door. Fritz walked to Brown's car, which

had not yet backed fully into position; Oswald followed a few feet behind. Newsmen near the double door moved forward after him.^^^

Though movie films and video tapes indicate that the front line of newsmen along the Main Street ramp remained fairly stationary,

it was the impression of many who were close to the scene that with

Oswald's appearance the crowd surged forward. According to Detective Montgomery, who was walking directly behind Oswald, "as soon as we came out this door * * * this bunch here just moved in on

us." ^^^ To Detective B. H. Combest, standing on the Commerce

Street side of the passageway from the jail office door, it appeared

that

Almost the whole line of people pushed forward when Oswald

started to leave the jail office, the door, the hall—all the newsmen

were poking their sound mikes across to him and asking questions, and they were everyone sticking their flashbulbs up and

around and over him and in his face.^^^ After Oswald had moved about 10 feet from the door of the jail office, Jack Ruby passed between a newsman and a detective at the edge

of the straining crowd on the Main Street ramp. With his right

hand extended and holding a .38 caliber revolver. Ruby stepped

quickly forward and fired a single fatal bullet into Oswald's

abdomen.i3« (See Commission Exhibit No. 2636, p. 218.)

POSSIBLE ASSISTANCE TO JACK RUBY IN ENTERING THE

BASEMENT

The killing of Lee Harvey Oswald in the basement of police headquarters in the midst of more than 70 police officers gave rise to im216

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MAIN ST.

lAIL OFFICE AND IMMEDIATE

VICINITY

BASEMENT, DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT

DOWN

RAMP

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Commission Exhibit No. 2177

217

730-900 0-64— 16
Goimaission ExM'bxt Wo. 2636 Commission Exhibit No. 2636 Ruby shooting Oswald ( Sunday, November 24)

.

218
mediate speculation that one or more members of the police department provided Jack Ruby assistance which had enabled him to enter

the basement and approach within a few feet of the accused Presidential assassin. In chapter VI, the Commission has considered whether

there is any evidence linking Jack Ruby with a conspiracy to kill the

President. At this point, however, it is appropriate to consider

whether there is evidence that Jack Ruby received assistance from

Dallas policemen or others in gaining access to the basement on the

morning of November 24. An affirmative answer would require that

the evidence be evaluated for possible connection with the assassination itself. While the Commission has found no evidence that Ruby

received assistance from any person in entering the basement, his means of entry is significant in evaluating the adequacy of the pre- cautions taken to protect Oswald.

Although more than a hundred policemen and newsmen were present

in the basement of police headquarters during the 10 minutes before

the shooting of Oswald, none has been found who definitely observed

Jack Ruby's entry into the basement. After considering all the evi- dence, the Commission has concluded that Ruby entered the basement

unaided, probably via the Main Street ramp, and no more than 3

minutes before the shooting of Oswald.

Ruby's account of how he entered the basement by the Main Street ramp merits consideration in determining his means of entry. Three

Dallas policemen testified that approximately 30 minutes after his

arrest. Ruby told them that he had walked to the top of the Main

Street ramp from the nearby Western Union office and that he walked

down the ramp at the time the police car driven by Lieutenant Pierce

emerged into Main Street.^^® This information did not come to light

immediately because the policemen did not report it to their superiors

until some days later.^**^ Ruby refused to discuss his means of entry

in interrogations with other investigators later on the day of his

arrest.^*^ Thereafter, in a lengthy interview on December 21 and in a sworn deposition taken after his trial. Ruby gave the same explanation he had given to the three policemen.^*^

The Commission has been able to establish with precision the time

of certain events leading up to the shooting. Minutes before Oswald

appeared in the basement. Ruby was in the Western Union office located on the same block of Main Street some 350 feet from the top

of the Main Street ramp. The time stamp on a money order which

he sent and on the receipt found in his pocket establish that the order was accepted for transmission at almost exactly 11:17 a.m. Ruby

was then observed to depart the office walking in the direction of the

police building.^*^ Video tapes taken without interruption before the

shooting establish that Lieutenant Pierce's car cleared the crowd at the foot of the ramp 55 seconds before the shooting. They also show

Ruby standing at the foot of the ramp on the Main Street side before

the shooting.i** (See Commission Exhibit No. 2635, p. 220.) The

shooting occurred very close to 11 :21 a.m. This time has been established by observing the time on a clock appearing in motion pictures

219
Comnrission Exhibit Mo. 2635 Commission Exhibit No. 2635 Ruby in basement (extreme right) immediately before shooting (Sunday, November 24).

220
of Oswald in the basement jail office, and by records giving the time

of Oswald's departure from the city jail and the time at which an

ambulance was summoned for Oswald.^*^

The Main Street ramp provided the most direct route to the basement from the Western Union office. At normal stride, it requires

approximately 1 minute to walk from that office to the top of the

Main Street ramp and about 20-25 seconds to descend the ramp.^*^

It is certain, therefore, that Ruby entered the basement no more than

2-3 minutes before the shooting. This timetable indicates that a

little more than 2 of the 4 minutes between Ruby's departure from

the Western Union office and the time of the shooting are unaccounted

for. Ruby could have consumed this time in loitering along the way,

at the top of the ramp, or inside the basement. However, if Ruby is correct that he passed Pierce's car at the top of the ramp, he could

have been in the basement no more than 30 seconds before the

shooting."^

The testimony of two witnesses partially corroborates Ruby's claim

that he entered by the Main Street ramp. James Turner, an employee

of WBAP-TV Fort Worth, testified that while he was standing near

the railing on the east side of the Main Street ramp, perhaps 30 sec- onds before the shooting, he observed a man he is confident was Jack

Ruby moving slowly down the Main Street ramp about 10 feet from

the bottom.^*^ Two other witnesses testified that they thought they

had seen Ruby on the Main Street side of the ramp before the

shooting.^*^

One other witness has testified regarding the purported movements

of a man on the Main Street ramp, but his testimony merits little credence. A former police officer, N". J. Daniels, who was standing

at the top of the ramp with the single patrolman guarding this entrance, R. E. Vaughn, testified that "3 or 4 minutes, I guess" ^^^ before

the shooting, a man walked down the Main Street ramp in full view

of Vaughn but was not stopped or questioned by the officer. Daniels

did not identify the man as Ruby. Moreover, he gave a description

which differed in important respects from Ruby's appearance on November 24, and he has testified that he doesn't think the man was

Ruby.^^^ On November 24, Vaughn telephoned Daniels to^ ask him

if he had seen anybody walk past him on the morning of the 24th

and was told that he had not; it was not until November 29 that

Daniels came forward with the statement that he had seen a man

enter.^^2 Although the sum of this evidence tends to support Ruby's claim

that he entered by the Main Street ramp, there is other evidence not

fully consistent with Ruby's story. Patrolman Vaughn stated that

he checked the credentials of all unknown persons seeking to enter

the basement, and his testimony was supported by several persons.^^^

Vaughn denied that the emergence of Lieutenant Pierce's car from

the building distracted him long enough to allow Ruby to enter the

ramp unnoticed, and neither he nor any of the three officers in Lieutenant Pierce's car saw Ruby enter.^^* 221
Despite Vaughn's denial the Commission has found no credible evi- dence to support any other entry route. Two Dallas detectives believed they observ^ed three men pushing a WBAP-TV camera into the

basement minutes before the shooting, while only two were with the camera after Oswald had been shot.^'^'^ However, films taken in the

basement show the WBAP-TV camera being pushed past the detectives by only two men.^^^ The suspicion of the detectives is probably

explained by testimony that a third '\^^AP-TV employee ran to help

steady the incoming camera as it entered the basement, probably just

before the camera became visible on the films.^^^ Moreover, since the camera entered the basement close to 4 minutes before the shooting,^^^

it is virtually impossible that Euby could have been in the basement

at that time.

The possibility that Ruby entered the basement by some other route has been investigated, but the Commission has found no evidence to support it. Ruby could have walked from the Western Union office to the Cortimerce Street ramp on the other side of the building in about

214 minutes.^^^ However, during the minutes preceding the shooting

video tapes show the armored truck in the entranceway to this ramp

with only narrow clearance on either side. (See Commission Exhibit

No. 2710, p. 223.) Several policemen were standing near the truck

and a large crowd of spectators was gathered across the street. ^^° It

is improbable that Ruby could have squeezed past the truck without

having been observed. If Ruby entered by any other means, he would

have had to pass first through the Police and Courts Building or the

attached Municipal Building, and then secondly through one of the

five doors into the basement, all of which, according to the testimony

of police officers, were secured. The testimony was not completely

positive about one of the doors.^^^ There is no evidence to support the speculations that Ruby used

a press badge to gain entry to the basement or that he concealed himself in a police car. Police found no form of press card on Ruby's

person after his apprehension, nor any discarded badges within the

basement.^^2 There is no evidence that any police officer admitted

Ruby on the pretense that he was a member of the press or any other

pretense.^^^

Police vehicles in the basement were inspected during the course

of the search supervised by Sergeant Dean.^^* According to Patrolman Vaughn, the only vehicles that entered the basement while he was at the top of the Main Street ramp were two patrol cars, one of

which entered twice, and a patrol wagon which was searched by an- other policeman after it entered the basement. All entered on official police business and considerably more than 4 minutes before Oswald

was shot.^^^ None of the witnesses at the top of the Main Street ramp

recalled any police car entering the basement in the 4-minute period

after Ruby left the Western Union office and preceding the shooting.^®®

The possibility that Ruby could have entered the basement in a car may therefore be completely discounted.

222
Commission Exhibit No. 2710

223
The Dallas Police Department, concerned at the failure of its security measures, conducted an extensive investigation that revealed no information indicating complicity between any police officer and

Jack Kuby.^^^ Kuby denied to the Commission that he received any

form of assistance/®* The FBI interviewed every member of the

police department who was on duty in the basement on November 24,

and Commission staff members took sworn depositions from many.

With few exceptions, newsmen who were present in the basement at the time also gave statements and/or depositions. As the record before the Commission indicated. Ruby had had rather free access to the

Dallas police quarters during the period subsequent to the assassination, but there was no evidence that implicated the police or newsmen

in Ruby's actions on that day.^^^ Ruby was known to have a wide acquaintanceship with Dallas

policemen and to seek their favor. According to testimony from

many sources, he gave free coffee at his clubs to many policemen

while they were on duty and free admittance and discounts on beverages when they were off duty.^'^ Although Chief Curry's estimate

that approximately 25 to 50 of the 1,175 men in the Dallas Police

Department knew Rub}^ ^'^ may be too conservative, the Commission

found no evidence of any suspicious relationships between Ruby and

any police officer. The Commission found no substantial evidence that any member of

the Dallas Police Department recognized Jack Ruby as an imauthorized person in the basement prior to the time Sgt. P. T. Dean, according

to his testimony, saw Ruby dart forward toward Oswald. But Dean

was then part way up the Commerce Street ramp, too far removed to

act.^^2 Patrolman W. J. Harrison, Capt. Glen King, and reserve

officers Capt. C. O. Amett and Patrolman W. M. Croy were among

those in front of Ruby at the time Dean saw him. They all faced

away from Ruby, toward the jail office.^^^ Video tapes show that

Harrison turned in the direction of the ramp at the time Lieutenant

Pierce's car passed, and once again 25 seconds later, but there is no

indication that he observed or recognized Ruby.^^* The policemen

standing on the south side of the passageway from the jail office, who

might have been lookmg in Ruby's direction, had the glare of tele- vision and photographer's lights in their eyes.^^^

The Commission also considered the possibility that a member of

the police department called Ruby at his apartment and informed

him, either intentionally or unintentionally, of the time of the

planned transfer. From at least 10:19 a.m., until close to 11 a.m., on Sunday, Ruby was at his apartment,^^® where he could have received a call that the transfer was imminent. He apparently left his apartment between 10 :45 and 11 a.m.^^^ However, the drive from Ruby's

apartment to the Western Union office takes approximately 15 minutes.^^* Since the time of the contemplated transfer could not

have been known to anyone until a few minutes before 11 :15 a.m., a precise time could not have been conveyed to Ruby while he was at his apartment. Moreover, the television and radio publicized

224
the transfer plans throughout the morning, obviating the need for

Kuby to obtain information surreptitiously.

ADEQUACY OF SECURITY PRECAUTIONS

The shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald obviously resulted from the fail- ure of the security precautions which the Dallas Police Department had

taken to protect their prisoner. In assessing the causes of the security

failure, the Commission has not overlooked the extraordinary circumstances which prevailed during the days that the attention of the

world was turned on Dallas. Confronted with a unique situation, the

Dallas police took special security measures to insure Oswald's safety.

Unfortunately these did not include adequate control of the great

crowd of newsmen that inundated the police department building.

The Dallas police had in custody a man whose alleged act had

brought upon him immediate and universal opprobrium. There were many possible reasons why people might have attempted to kill him

if given the opportunity. Concerned that there might be an attempt

on Oswald's life, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover sent a message to Chief Curry on November 22 through Special Agent Manning C.

Clements of the FBI's Dallas office, urging that Oswald be afforded the

utmost security. Curry does not recall receiving the message.^^^

Although the presence of a great mass of press representatives

created an extraordinary security problem in the building, the police

department pursued its normal policy of admitting the press. That

policy, set forth in General Order No. 81 of the Dallas Police Department, provided

* * * that members of this Department render every assistance,

except such as obviously may seriously hinder or delay the proper

functioning of the Department, to the accredited members of

the official news-gathering agencies and this includes newspaper,

television cameramen and news-reel photographers.^^°

In a letter to all members of the police department, dated February T, 1963, Chief Curry explained the general order, in part, as follows

:

The General Order covering this subject is not merely permissive. It does not state that the Officer may, if he so chooses, assist the press. It rather places on him a responsibility to lend active

assistance.

* * * as a Department we deal with public affairs. It is the

right of the public to know about these affairs, and one of the

most accurate and useful avenues we have of supplying this information is through the newspapers and radio and television

stations.

Implied in the General Order is a prohibition for the Officer to improperly attempt to interfere with the news media representa225
tive, who is functioning in his capacity as such. Such activity on the part of any Police Officer is regarded by the press as an infringement of rights, and the Department shares this

view.^^^

Under this policy, news representatives ordinarily had access to the Police and Courts Building. The first newsmen to arrive on Friday afternoon were admitted in accordance with the policy ; others

who came later simply followed behind them. Shortly after Oswald

arrived, Captain King granted permission to bring television cameras

to the third floor.^^^ ' By the time the unwieldy proportions of the

crowd of newsmen became apparent, it had already become well en- trenched on the third floor. No one suggested reversing the department's policy expressed in General Order No. 81. Chief Curry testi- fied that at no time did he consider clearing the crowd from the

building ; he "saw no particular harm in allowing the media to observe

the prisoner." ^^^ Captain King later stated candidly that he simply

became "accustomed to the idea of them being out there." ^^^ The general policy of the Dallas police recognized that the rule of

full cooperation did not apply when it might jeopardize an investigation.^®^ In retrospect, most members of the department believed that

the general rule allowing admittance of the press to the police quarters

should not have been followed after the assassination. Few, if any,

thought this at the time.^®^ By failing to exclude the press from the

building on Friday and Saturday, the Dallas police made it possible

for the uncontrolled crowd to nearly surround Oswald on the frequent

occasions that he moved through the third floor corridor. The decision

to allow newsmen to observe the transfer on Sunday followed naturally

the policy established during these first 2 days of Oswald's detention.

The reporters and cameramen descended upon the third floor of

the Police and Courts Building in such numbers that the pressroom on

the third floor proved wholly inadequate. Eather than the "two or

three or maybe a half dozen reporters" who normally appeared to cover local police stories,^®^ the police were faced with upward of 100. Bringing with them cameras, microphones, cables, and spotlights, the newsmen inevitably spilled over into areas where they interfered with

the transaction of police business and the maintenance of security.^®®

Aside from numbers, the gathering of reporters presented a problem

because most of them were representatives of the national and foreign

press, rather than the local press.^®^ These newsmen carried individual press cards rather than identification cards issued by the

Dallas police. Therefore, it was impossible for the police to verify

quickly the identity of this great number of unfamiliar people who

appeared almost simultaneously.^^^ Because of the close physical

pr,oximity of the milling mass of insistent newsmen to the prisoner,

the failure to authenticate press credentials subjected the prisoner

to a serious security risk. Although steps were taken on Friday afternoon to insure that per- sons seeking entry to the third floor were there for a legitimate pur226
pose, reasons could be fabricated. Moreover, because pf the large

crowd, it was easier for unauthorized persons to slip by those guarding the entrances. Jack Ruby, for one, was able to gain entry to the

third-floor corridor on Friday night.^^^

The third-floor corridor provided the only passageway between the

homicide and robbery bureau and the jail elevator. No thought seems

to have been given, however, to the possibility ,of questioning Oswald

on some other floor.^^^ Moreover, Osw^ald's most extended exposure

to the press, at the Friday evening press conference, was unrelated to any phase of the investigation and was motivated primarily by the

desire to satisfy the demands of the news media to see the prisoner.^^^

The risks attendant upon this appearance were emphasized by the

presence of unauthorized persons, including Jack Ruby, at the press

conference in the basement assembly room.^^*

Although Oswald was repeatedly exposed to possible assaults on

Friday and Saturday, he met his death on Sunday, when police took

the most extensive security precautions. The assembly of more than

TO police officers, some of them armed with tear gas, and the contemplated use of an armored truck, appear to have been designed primarily to repel an attempt of a mob to seize the prisoner.^^^ Chief

Curry's own testimony indicated that such a focus resulted not from

any appraisal of the varied risks to Oswald's life but came about in

response to the telephone threat Sunday morning that a hundred men were going to attack Oswald.^^®

A more balanced appraisal would have given thought to protection

against any attack. For example, the acceptance of inadequate press

credentials posed a clear avenue for a one-man assault. The likeli- hood of an unauthorized person obtaining entry by such means is confirmed not alone by the fact that Jack Ruby managed to get by

a guard at one entrance. Several newsmen related that their cre- dentials were not checked as they entered the basement Sunday morning. Seconds before Oswald was shot, the double doors from the

hallway next to the jail office afforded a means of entry to the basement

without presentation of credentials earlier demanded of newsmen.^^^

The swarm of newspeople in the basement also substantially limited

the ability of the police to detect an unauthorized person once he

had entered the basement. While Jack Ruby might have been easily

spotted if only police officers had been in the basement,^®* he remained

apparently unnoticed in the crowd of newsmen until he lunged for- ward toward Oswald. The near-blinding television and motion pic- ture lights which were allowed to shine upon the escort party further

increased the difficulty of observing unusual movements in the base- ment. Moreover, by making public the plans for the transfer, the police

attracted to the city jail many persons who otherwise might not have

learned of the move until it had been completed. This group in- cluded the onlookers gathered on Conunerce Street and a few people on Main Street. Also, continuous television and radio coverage of

227
the activities in the basement might have resulted in compromise of

the transfer operation.

These risks to Oswald's safety, growing in part out of adherence

to the general policy of the police department, were also accepted

for other reasons. Many members of the police department believed

that the extraordinary public attention aroused by the tragic death of

President Kennedy obliged them to make special efforts to accom- modate the press. Captain King carefully articulated one reason why the newsmen were permitted

* * * to remain in the hallways, * * * to view the investigation

and to keep in constant touch with progress of the investigation.

* * * * * 4: m We realized that if we arrested a suspect, that if we brought

him into the police station and then conducted all of our investigations behind closed doors, that if we gave no reports on the

progress of our investigation and did not permit the newsmen

to see the suspect—if we excluded them from it—we would leave

ourselves open not only to criticisms that we were fabricating a suspect and were attempting to pin something on someone, but

even more importantly, we would cause people to lose faith in our fairness and, through losing faith in our fairness, to lose faith to a certain extent in the processes of law.

We felt it was mandatory that as many people knew about it as

possible. We knew, too, that if we did exclude the newsmen, we

would be leaving ourselves open to a charge that we were using

improper action, duress, physical abuse, all of these things.^®^

While Oswald was in custody, the Dallas police kept the press

informed about the treatment Oswald was receiving. The public

could have been assured that the prisoner was not mistreated and

that his rights were fully respected by the police, without each one of

hundreds of cameramen and reporters being permitted to satisfy

himself that the police had not abused the prisoner. This result could

have been accomplished by obtaining reports from members of the

family who visited him, or by a committee of the bar or other substantial citizens of the community. When it became known on Saturday that Oswald did not have an attorney, the president of the

Dallas Bar Association visited him to inquire whether he wished

assistance in obtaining coimsel.^^

Moreover, the right of the public to know does not give the press

license to interfere with the efficient operation of law-enforcement

agencies. Permitting the press to remain on the third floor of the

building served no valid purpose that could not have been met if the

press had been excluded from the third floor, as it was from the fourth

and fifth floors, and informed of developments either through press

releases or at press conferences elsewhere in the building.

Having failed to exclude the mass of the press from the basement

during the transfer of Oswald, the police department's security meas- 228
ures could not be completely effective. Despite the pressures that

prevailed, planning and coordination of security arrangements could

have been more thorough and precise. No single member of the

Dallas Police Department ever assumed full responsibility for the

details of Oswald's transfer.^^^ Chief Curry participated in some

of the planning, but he felt that primary authority for the transfer

should be Fritz', since Fritz had charge of the investigation. According to Chief Curry

Fritz and I, I think, discussed this briefly, the possibility of

getting that prisoner out of the city hall during the night hours

and by another route and slipping him to the jail, but actually

Fritz was not too much in favor of this and I more or less left this up to Fritz as to when and how this transfer would be made,

because he has in the past transferred many of his prisoners to the county jail and I felt that since it was his responsibility, the

prisoner was, to let him decide when and how he wanted to transfer this prisoner.2^2

Fritz, on the other hand, felt that Curry was directing the transfer

arrangements : "I was transferring him like the chief told me to transfer him." 2°^ When Capt. W. B. Frazier notified Fritz by telephone

early Sunday morning about the threats to Oswald's life, Fritz re- plied that Curry should be notified, since he was handling the transfej. 204 ^\^en urged to modify the transfer plans to avoid the press,

as he later testified he would have preferred to do, Fritz declined on

the ground that Curry had already decided to the contrary.^^^

Hence, if the recollection of both officials is accurate, the basic decision to move Oswald at an announced time and in the presence of the news media was never carefully thought through by either man.

Curry and Fritz had agreed Saturday evening that Oswald should

not be moved at night, but their discussion apparently went little further.206 Perhaps the members of the Dallas Police Department were, as many testified, accustomed to working together so that formal instructions were sometimes unnecessary. On the other hand, it is clear, at least in retrospect, that this particular occasion demanded more

than the usual informal unspoken understandings. The e^ddence indicates that no member of the department at any time considered fully

the implications of moving Oswald through the basement. Nor did

any single official or group of officials coordinate and direct where

the transfer vehicle would be stationed to accept Oswald, where the

press would stand, and the number and positioning of police officers in the basement. Captain Jones indicated that there were to be two

solid lines of policemen from the jail office door to the transfer vehicle,2°^ but lines were formed only along the walls of the areaway

between the jail office door and the ramp. The newsmen were not kept east of the auto ramp where a railing would have separated

229
them from Oswald. No strong ranks of policemen were ever placed

in front of the newsmen once they were allowed to gather in the area of the Main Street ramp.^*'^ Many policemen in the basement did

not know the function they were supposed to perform. No in- structions were given that certain policemen should watch the crowd

rather than Oswald.^^^ Apparently no one gave any thought to the

blinding effect of television and other camera lights upon the escort party.

Largely on his own initiative, Captain Talbert undertook to secure the basement, with only minimal coordination with those responsible

for and familiar with the route Oswald would take through the basement. Several officials recalled that Lt. Woodrow Wiggins was

directed to clear the basement jail office, but Wiggins testified that

he received no such assignment.^^^ In any event, less than 20 minutes

before the transfer. Captain Jones observed newsmen in the jail

office and had them removed. But no official removed news personnel

from the corridor beside the jail office; indeed, cameramen took pic- tures through the glass windows of the jail office as Oswald walked

through it toward the basement, and then approached to within 20

feet of Oswald from the rear at the same time that Jack Euby moved

toward Oswald from the front.^"

A clear example of the inadequacy of coordination was the last- minute change in plans to transfer Oswald in an immarked police car rather than by armored truck.^^^ npj^^ ^\Bji to use an armored vehicle was adopted without informing Fritz. When Fritz was told of the

arrangement shortly after 11 o'clock, he objected, and hurried steps were taken to modify the arrangements. Fritz was then prematurely

informed that the basement arrangements were complete. When

Oswald and the escorting detectives entered the basement, the transfer car had not yet been backed into position, nor had the policemen

been arranged to block the newsmen's access to Oswald's path.^^^ If

the transfer car had been carefully positioned between the press and

Oswald, Euby might have been kept several yards from his victim

and possibly without a clear view of him. Detective Leavelle, who

accompanied Oswald into the basement, testified

:

* * * I was surprised when I walked to the door and the car was

not in the spot it should have been, but I could see it was in back,

and backing into position, but had it been in position where we

were told it would be, that would have eliminated a lot of the area

in which anyone would have access to him, because it would have

been blocked by the car. In fact, if the car had been sitting where we were told it was going to be, see—it would have been sitting

directly upon the spot where Ruby was standing when he fired

the shot.2"

Captain Jones described the confusion with which Oswald's entry

into the basement was in fact received

:

230

'i i
Then the change—agoing to put two cars up there. There is no

reason why that back car can't get all the way back to the jail

office. The original plan would be that the line of officers would

be from the jail door to the vehicle. Then they say, "Here he

comes." * * * It is too late to get the people out of the way of

the car and form the line. I am aware that Oswald is already

coming because of the furor, so, I was trying to keep everybody out

of the way and keep the way clear and I heard a shot.^^^ Therefore, regardless of whether the press should have been allowed

to witness the transfer, security measures in the basement for Oswald's

protection could and should have been better organized and more

thorough. These additional deficiencies were directly related to the

decision to admit newsmen to the basement. The Commission concludes that the failure of the police to remove Oswald secretly or to control the crowd in the basement at the time of the transfer were the

major causes of the security breakdown which led to Oswald's death.

NEWS COVERAGE AND POLICE POLICY

Consistent with its policy of allowing news representatives to re- main within the working quarters of the Police and Courts Building,

the police department made every effort to keep the press fully in- formed about the progress of the investigation. As a result, from

Friday afternoon until after the killing of Oswald on Sunday, the

press was able to publicize virtually all of the information about the

case which had been gathered until that time. In the process, a great

deal of misinformation was disseminated to a worldwide audience.

(For some examples see app. XII.)

As administrative assistant to Chief Curry, Captain King also

handled departmental press relations and issued press releases. According to King, it was "the responsibility of each member of the

department to furnish to the press information on incidents in

which they, themselves, were involved, except on matters which in- volved * * * personnel policies of the department, or * * * unless

it would obviously interfere with an investigation underway." ^® In

Oswald's case. Chief Curry released most of the information to the

press. He and Assistant Chief Batchelor agreed on Friday that

Curry would make all announcements to the press.^^^ However, there

is no evidence that this decision was ever communicated to the rest of

the police force. The chief consequence appears to have been that

Batchelor refrained from making statements to the news media during

this period.

Most of the information was disclosed through informal oral state- ments or answers to questions at impromptu and clamorous press conferences in the third floor corridor. Written press releases were not

employed. The ambulatory press conference became a familiar sight

during these days. Whenever Curry or other officials appeared in the

231
Commission Exhibit No. 2632

Press interview with Chief Curry in third floor corridor.

232
hallway, newsmen surrounded them, asking questions and requesting

statements. Usually the officials complied. (See Commission Exhibit

No. 2632, p. 232.)

Curry appeared in interviews on television and radio at least a dozen

times during November 22-24. He did not attend any of the interrogations of Oswald in Captain Fritz' office except at the beginning and to- ward the end of Sunday morning's session ; he received his information

through Captain Fritz and other sources.^^^ Nevertheless, in sessions

with the newsmen on Friday and Saturday he gave detailed information on the progress of the case against Oswald. Recorded statements

of television and radio interviews with Curry and other officials in

Dallas during November 22-24 have been transcribed and included

in the record compiled by the Commission.^^^ An example of these

interviews is the following transcript of remarks made by Curry to newsmen on Saturday:

Q. Chief Curry, I understand you have some new information

in this case. Could you relate what that is ? A. Yes, we've just been informed by the Federal Bureau of

Investigation, that they, the FBI, have the order letter from

a mail order house, and the order was sent to their laboratory in

Washington and the writing on this order was compared with

known samples of our suspect, Oswald's handwriting and found

to be the same. Q. This order was for the rifle? A. This order was for the rifle to a mail order house in ChicagoIt was [inaudible]. The return address was to Dallas, Texas, to the post office box under the name of A. Hidell, H-I-D-E-double L. This is the post office box of our suspect. This gun was mailed

parcel post March 20, 1963. I understand he left Dallas shortly

after this and didn't come back until I think about two months

ago.Q. Do you know again on what date this rifle was ordered

and are you able to link it definitely as the rifle which you confiscated at the School Book Depository ? A. That we have not done so far. If the FBI has been able to do it I have not been informed of it yet. We do know that this

man ordered a rifle of the type that was used in the assassination

of the President from this mail order house in Chicago and the

FBI has definitely identified the writing as that of our suspect.

Q. On another subject—I understand you have photographs

of the suspect, Oswald, with a rifle like that used. Could you

describe that picture?

A. This is the picture of Oswald standing facing a camera

with a rifle in his hand which is very similar to the rifle that we

have in our possession. He also had a pistol strapped on his

hip. He was holding two papers in his hand, with one of them

seemed to be The Worker and the other says Be Militant—I don't

know whether that was headlines or the name of the paper.

233

730-900 0-64— 17
Q. How much did the gun cost from the mail order house ? A. I understand the gun was advertised for $12.78, I believe.

Q. Have you received any results on the ballistics test con- ducted on the gun and on Oswald ? A. They're going to be favorable. I don't have a formal re- port yet.

Q. But you are sure at this time they will be favorable ? A. Yes.

Q. Do you feel now that you have the case completely wrapped

up, or are you continuing?

A. We will continue as long as there is a shred of evidence

to be gathered. We hav^^ a strong case at this time.

Q. I believe you said earlier this afternoon that you have a new development which does wrap up the case—the first time you

said the case definitely is secure. Is that correct ? A. That was this morning. This additional evidence just makes

a stronger case. Q. But this is not the same evidence you were referring to then ? A. No, that's true. Q. Would you be willing to say what that evidence was ? A. No, sir. I don't wish to reveal it. It might jeopardize our

case. Commentator : Thank you very much Chief Jesse Curry of the

Dallas Police Department.^^o

Although Captain Fritz permitted himself to be interviewed by

the news media less frequently than did Chief Curry, he nevertheless

answered questions and ventured opinions about the progress of the

investigation. On Saturday he told reporters that he was convinced

beyond a doubt that Oswald had killed the President. He discussed some of the evidence in the case, especially the rifle, but his contribution to the knowledge of the reporters was small compared with that

of Chief Curry.221

Many other members of the police department, including high offi- cials, detectives, and patrolmen, were also interviewed by news representatives during these days.^^^ Some of these men had participated

in specific aspects of the case, such as the capture of Oswald at the

Texas Theatre and the search for evidence at the Texas School Book

Depository Building. Few, if any, seemed reluctant to submit to questions and to being televised. It seemed to District Attorney

Wade that the newsmen "just followed everybody everywhere they

went * * * they interviewed some of your patrolmen * * * on

the corner * * * they were interviewing anybody." ^^ Wade himself also made several statements to the press. He

visited police headquarters twice on Friday, twice on Saturday,

and twice on Sunday. On most of these occasions he was interviewed by the press and appeared on television.^^* After Oswald

had appeared before the press on Friday night, Wade held an im234
promptu conference with reporters in the overflowing assembly

room.^^^ Wade told the press on Saturday that he would not reveal

any evidence because it might prejudice the selection of a jury.^^^ On

other occasions, however, he mentioned some items of evidence and

expressed his opinions regarding Oswald's guilt. He told the press on Friday night that Oswald's wife had told the police that her husband had a rifle in the garage at the house in Irving and that it was

missing the morning of the assassination. On one occasion he repeated

the error that the murder rifle had been a Mauser. Another time, he

stated his belief that Oswald had prepared for the assassination

months in advance, including what he would tell the police. He also

said that Oswald had practiced with the rifle to improve his marksmanship.22''

The running commentary on the investigation by the police inevitably carried with it the disclosure of many details that proved to be

erroneous. In their efforts to keep the public abreast of the investigation, the police reported hearsay items and unverified leads; further investigation proved many of these to be incorrect or inaccurate.

For example, the rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School

Book Depository Building was initially identified as a Mauser 7.65 rather than a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5 because a deputy constable

who was one of the first to see it thought it looked like a Mauser. He

neither handled the weapon nor saw it at close range.^^^

Police sources were also responsible for the mistaken notion that

the chicken bones found on the sixth floor were the remains of Oswald's lunch. They had in fact been left by another employee who

ate his lunch there at least 15 minutes before the assassination.^^^

Curry repeated the erroneous report that a Negro had picked up

Oswald near the scene of the assassination and driven him across

town.2^° It was also reported that the map found in Oswald's room

contained a marked route of the Presidential motorcade when it actually contained markings of places where Oswald may have applied

for jobs, including, of course, the Texas School Book Depository.^^^

Concern about the effects of the unlimited disclosures was being

voiced by Saturday morning. According to District Attorney

Wade, he received calls from lawyers in Dallas and elsewhere

expressing concern about providing an attorney for Oswald and about

the amount of information being given to the press by the police and

the district attorney .^^^ Curry continued to answer questions on

television and radio during the remainder of the day and Sunday

morning.^^^

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover became concerned because "almost

as soon as * * * [FBI Laboratory reports] would reach the Dallas

Police Department, the chief of police or one of the representatives of

the department would go on TV or radio and relate findings of the

FBI, giving information such as the identification of the gun and

other items of physical evidence." ^^^ On Sunday, after Oswald was

shot. Hoover dispatched a personal message to Curry requesting him

235
"not to go on the air any more until this case * * * [is] resolved."

Hoover testified later that Curry agreed not to make any more

statements.2^^ The shooting of Oswald shocked the Dallas police, and after the

interviews that immediately followed the shooting they were disposed

to remain silent. Chief Curry made only one more television appear- ance after the shooting. At 1 :30 p.m., he descended to the assembly room where, tersely and grimly, he announced Oswald's death. He

refused to answer any of the questions shouted at him by the persistent

reporters, concluding the conference in less than a minute.^^^

District Attorney Wade also held one more press conference.

Before doing so on Sunday evening, he returned once more to the

police station and held a meeting with "all the brass" except Curry.

Wade told them that "people are saying * * * you had the wrong

man and you all were the one who killed him or let him out here to have him killed intentionally." Wade told the police that "somebody

ought to go out in television and lay out the evidence that you had on

Oswald, and tell them everything." He sat down and listed from

memory items of evidence in the case against Oswald. According to Wade, Chief Curry refused to make any statements because he had

told an FBI inspector that he would say no more. The police refused

to furnish Wade with additional details of the case.^^^ Wade nonetheless proceeded to hold a lengthy formal press con- ference that evening, in which he attempted to list all of the evidence

that had been accumulated at that point tending to establish Oswald

as the assassin of President Kennedy. Unfortunately, at that time, as he subsequently testified, he lacked a thorough grasp of the evi- dence and made a number of errors.^^ He stated that Oswald had

told a woman on a bus that the President had been killed, an error apparently caused by the busdriver having confused Oswald with

another passenger who was on the bus after Oswald had left. Wade

also repeated the error about Oswald's having a map marked with the route of the motorcade. He told reporters that Oswald's description

and name "went out by the police to look for him." ^^^ The police never mentioned Oswald's name in their broadcast descriptions before

his arrest. 2*0 Wade was innocent of one error imputed to him since November 24. The published transcript of part of the press conference furnished to newspapers by the Associated Press represented Wade

as having identified the cabdriver who took Oswald to North Beckley

Avenue after the shooting, as one named "Darryl Click." The transcript as it appeared in the New York Times and the Wasliington

Post of November 26, reads

:

A. [Wade] a lady. He then—^the bus, he asked the bus driver

to stop, got off at a stop, caught a taxicab driver, Darryl Click. I

don't have his exact place—and went to his home in Oak Cliff,

changed his clothes hurriedly, and left.^*^ 236
The correct transcript of the press conference, taken from an audio

tape supplied by station WBAP, Fort Worth, is as follows

:

A. [Wade] A lady. He then—the bus, he asked the bus driver

to stop, got off at a stop, caught a taxicab driver.

Q. Where?

A. In Oak Cliff. I don't have the exact place—and went to his home m Oak Cliff, changed his clothes hurriedly and left.^*^ In this manner, a section of Dallas, "Oak Cliff," became a nonexistent taxicab driver, "Darryl Click." Wade did not mention the

cabdriver by name at any time. In transcribing the conference from

the sound tape, a stenographer apparently made an error that might

have become permanently imbedded in the literature of the event but

for the preservation and use of an original sound tape.

Though many of the inaccuracies were subsequently corrected by

the police and are negated by findings of the Commission included

elsewhere in this report, the publicizing of unchecked information

provided much of the basis for the myths and rumors that came into

being soon after the President's death. The erroneous disclosures

became the basis for distorted reconstructioivs and interpretations of

the assassination. The necessity for the Dallas authorities to correct themselves or to be corrected by other sources gave rise not only to

criticism of the police department's competence but also to doubts re- garding the veracity of the police. Skeptics sought to cast doubt on much of the correct evidence later developed and to find support for

their own theories in these early police statements. The immediate disclosure of information by the police created a further risk of injuring innocent citizens by unfavorable publicity.

This was the unfortunate experience of Joe R. Molina, a Dallas-bom

Navy veteran who had been employed by the Texas School Book Depository since 1947 and on November 22, 1963, held the position of

credit manager. Apparently because of Molina's employment at the

Depository and his membership in a veterans' organization, the

American G.I. Forum, that the Dallas police considered possibly

subversive, Dallas policemen searched Molina's home with his

permission, at about 1 :30 a.m., Saturday, November 23. During the

day Molina was intermittently interrogated at police headquarters for

6 or 7 hours, chiefly about his membership in the American G.I. Forum, and also about Oswald. He was never arrested, charged, or

held in custody.^^^ While Molina was being questioned, officials of the police department made statements or answered questions^** that provided

the basis for television reports about Molina during the day.

These reports spoke of a "second suspect being picked up," insinuated

that the Dallas police had reason to suspect another person who worked

in the Texas School Book Depository, stated that the suspect had been

arrested and his home searched, and mentioned that Molina may have

237
been identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as a possible

subversive.^*^

No evidence was ever presented to link Molina with Oswald except

as a fellow employee of the Texas School Book Depository. According to Molina, he had never spoken to Oswald.^^^' The FBI notified

the Commission that Molina had never been the subject of an investigation by it and that it had never given any information about Molina

to the Dallas police concerning any alleged subversive activities by

him.2*^ The Dallas police explained in a statement to the FBI that

they had never had a file on Molina, but that they did have one on

the American G.I. Forum.^^^

Molina lost his his job in December. He felt that he was being dis- charged because of the unfavorable publicity he had received, but

officials of the Depository claimed that automation was the reason. Molina testified that he had difficulty in finding another position,

until finally, with the help of a fellow church member, he secured a

position at a lower salary than his previous one.^*^ If Oswald had been tried for his murders of November 22, the effects of the news policy pursued by the Dallas authorities would have

proven harmful both to the prosecution and the defense. The misinformation reported after the shootings might have been used by

the defense to cast doubt on the reliability of the State's entire case. Though each inaccuracy can be explained without great difficulty, the

number and variety of misstatements issued by the police shortly after

the assassination would have greatly assisted a skillful defense attor- ney attempting to influence the attitudes of jurors.

A fundamental objection to the news policy pursued by the Dallas

police, however, is the extent to which it endangered Oswald's constitutional right to a trial by an impartial jury. Because of the

nature of the crime, the widespread attention which it necessarily re- ceived, and the intense public feelings which it aroused, it would have

been a most difficult task to select an unprejudiced jury, either in

Dallas or elsewhere. But the difficulty was markedly increased by

the divulgence of the specific items of evidence with which the police

linked Oswald to the two killings. The disclosure of evidence en- couraged the public, from which a jury would ultimately be impaneled, to prejudge the very questions that would be raised at trial. Moreover, rules of law might have prevented the prosecution from

presenting portions of this evidence to the jury. For example, though

expressly recognizing that Oswald's wife could not be compelled to

testify against him. District Attorney Wade revealed to the Nation

that Marina Oswald had affirmed her husband's ownership of a rifle like that found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.2^^ Curry stated that Oswald had refused to take a lie detector test, although such a statement would have been inadmissible in a trial. 2^^ The exclusion of such evidence, however, would

have been meaningless if jurors were already familiar with the same

facts from previous television or newspaper reports. Wade might

have influenced prospective jurors by his mistaken statement that

238
the paraffin test showed that Oswald had fired a gun. The tests merely

showed that he had nitrate traces on his hands, which did not necessarily mean that he had fired either a rifle or a pistol.^^

The disclosure of evidence was seriously aggravated by the state- ments of numerous responsible officials that they were certain of

Oswald's guilt. Captain Fritz said that the case against Oswald was

"cinched." Curry reported on Saturday that "we are sure of our

case." ^^^ Curry announced that he considered Oswald sane, and

Wade told the public that he would ask for the death penalty.^^^ The American Bar Association declared in December 1963 that

"widespread publicizing of Oswald's alleged guilt, involving state- ments by officials and public disclosures of the details of 'evidence,'

would have made it extremely difficult to impanel an unprejudiced

jury and afford the accused a fair trial." ^^ Local bar associations

expressed similar feelings.^^^ The Commission agrees that Lee Harvey

Oswald's opportunity for a trial by 12 jurors free of preconception

as to his guilt or innocence would have been seriously jeopardized

by the premature disclosure and weighing of the evidence against

him.

The problem of disclosure of information and its effect on trials is, of course, further complicated by the independent activities of the

press in developing information on its own from sources other than

law enforcement agencies. Had the police not released the specific

items of evidence against Oswald, it is still possible that the other

information presented on television and in the newspapers, chiefly

of a biographical nature, would itself have had a prejudicial effect on the public.

In explanation of the news policy adopted by the Dallas authorities.

Chief Curry observed that "it seemed like there was a great demand

by the general public to know what was going on." ^^^ In a prepared

statement. Captain King wrote

:

At that time we felt a necessity for permitting the newsmen

as much latitude as possible. We realized the magnitude of the

incident the newsmen were there to cover. We realized that not

only the nation but the world would be greatly interested in what

occurred in Dallas. We believed that we had an obligation to make as widely known as possible everything we could regarding

the investigation of the assassination and the manner in which we undertook that investigation.^^^

The Commission recognizes that the people of the United States,

and indeed the world, had a deep-felt interest in learning of the events surrounding the death of President Kennedy, including the development of the investigation in Dallas. An informed public provided

the ultimate guarantee that adequate steps would be taken to apprehend those responsible for the assassination and that all necessary

precautions would be taken to protect the national security. It was

therefore proper and desirable that the public know which agencies

239
were participating in the investigation and the rate at which their

work was progressing. The public was also entitled to know that

Lee Harvey Oswald had been apprehended and that the State had

gathered sufficient evidence to arraign him for the murders of the

President and Patrolman Tippit, that he was being held pending

action of the grand jury, that the investigation was continuing, and

that the law enforcement agencies had discovered no e^ddence which

tended to show that any other person was involved in either slaying.

However, neither the press nor the public had a right to be contemporaneously informed by the police or prosecuting authorities of the details of the evidence being accumulated against Oswald.

Undoubtedly the public was interested in these disclosures, but its curiosity should not have been satisfied at the expense of the accused's

right to a trial by an impartial jury. The courtroom, not the news- paper or television screen, is the appropriate forum in our system

for the trial of a man accused of a crime.

If the evidence in the possession of the authorities had not been

disclosed, it is true that the public would not have been in a position

to assess the adequacy of the investigation or to apply pressures for

further official undertakings. But a major consequence of the hasty

and at times inaccurate divulgence of evidence after the assassination was simply to give rise to groundless rumors and public confusion.

Moreover, without learning the details of the case, the public could

have been informed by the responsible authority of the general scope

of the investigation and the extent to which State and Federal

agencies were assisting in the police work.

RESPONSIBILITY OF NEWS MEDIA

While appreciating the heavy and unique pressures with which

the Dallas Police Department was confronted by reason of the assas- sination of President Kennedy, primary responsibility for having

failed to control the press and to check the flow of undigested evi- dence to the public must be borne by the police department. It was

the only agency that could have established orderly and sound operating procedures to control the multitude of newsmen gathered in

the police building after the assassination.

The Commission believes, however, that a part of the responsibility

for the unfortunate circumstances following the President's death

must be borne by the news media. The crowd of newsmen generally

failed to respond properly to the demands of the police. Frequently

without permission, news representatives used police offices on the

third floor, tying up facilities and interfering with normal police

operations. Police efforts to preserve order and to clear passageways

in the corridor were usually unsuccessful. On Friday night

the reporters completely ignored Curry's injunction against asking Oswald questions in the assembly room and crowding in on him.

On Sunday morning, the newsmen were instructed to direct no ques24:0
tions at Oswald; nevertheless, several reporters shouted questions at hun when he appeared in the basement.^^^

Moreover, by constantly pursuing public officials, the news representatives placed an insistent pressure upon them to disclose information. And this pressure was not without effect, since the police

attitude toward the press was affected by the desire to maintain satis- factory relations with the news representatives and to create a favorable image of themselves. Chief Curry frankly told the Commission

that I didn't order them out of the building, which if I had it to do

over I would. In the past like I say, we had always maintained

very good relations with our press, and they had always respected

^g * * * 260 Curry refused Fritz' request to put Oswald behind the screen in

the assembly room at the Friday night press conference because this

might have hindered the taking of pictures.^ Curry's subordinates

had the impression that an unannounced transfer of Oswald to the

county jail was unacceptable because Curry did not want to disappoint

the newsmen ; he had promised that they could witness the transfer.^^ It seemed clear enough that any attempt to exclude the press from

the building or to place limits on the information disclosed to them

would have been resented and disputed by the newsmen, who were

constantly and aggressively demanding all possible information about

anything related to the assassination.

Although the Commission has found no corroboration in the video

and audio tapes, police officials recall that one or two representatives

of the press reinforced their demands to see Oswald by suggesting

that the police had been guilty of brutalizing him. They intimated

that unless they were given the opportunity to see him, these suggestions would be passed on to the public.^®^ Captain King testified that

he had been told that

A short time after Oswald's arrest one newsman held up a photograph and said, "This is what the man charged with the

assassination of the President looks like. Or at least this is what

he did look like. We don't know what he looks like after an

hour in the custody of the Dallas Police Department." ^^

City Manager Elgin Crull stated that when he visited Chief Curry in

his office on the morning of November 23, Curry told him that he "felt

it was necessary to cooperate with the news media representatives, in

order to avoid being accused of using Gestapo tactics in connection

with the handling of Oswald." Crull agreed with Curry.^^^ The Commission deems any such veiled threats to be absolutely without

justification.

The general disorder in the Police and Courts Building during November 22-24 reveals a regrettable lack of self-discipline by the news241
men. The Commission believes that the news media, as well as the

police authorities, who failed to impose conditions more in keeping

with the orderly process of justice, must share responsibility for the

failure of law enforcement w^hich occurred in connection with the death

of Oswald. On previous occasions, public bodies have voiced the need

for the exercise of self-restraint by the news media in periods when

the demand for information must be tempered by other fundamental

requirements of our society.

At its annual meeting in Washington in April 1964, the American

Society of Newspaper Editors discussed the role of the press in Dallas

immediately after President Kennedy's assassination. The discussion revealed the strong misgivings among the editors themselves

about the role that the press had played and their desire that the press

display more self-discipline and adhere to higher standards of con- duct in the future.^^® To prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate

events which followed the assassination, however, more than general concern will be needed. The promulgation of a code of professional

conduct governing representatives of all news media would be wel- come evidence that the press had profited by the lesson of Dallas.

The burden of insuring that appropriate action is taken to establish ethical standards of conduct for the news media must also be

borne, however, by State and local governments, by the bar, and

ultimately by the public. The experience in Dallas during November 22-24 is a dramatic affirmation of the need for steps to bring about

a proper balance between the right of the public to be kept informed

and the right of the individual to a fair and impartial trial.

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CHAPTER VI

Investigation of Possible Conspiracy

THIS chapter sets forth the findings of the Commission as to whether Lee Harvey Oswald had any accomplices in the

planning or execution of the assassination. Particularly

after the slaying of Oswald by Jack Ruby under the circumstances

described in the preceding chapter, rumors and suspicions developed

regarding the existence of a conspiracy to assassinate President

Kennedy. As discussed in appendix XII, many of these rumors

were based on a lack of information as to the nature and extent

of evidence that Oswald alone fired the shots which killed President

Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally. Others of the more

widely publicized rumors maintained that Oswald must have received

aid from one or more persons or political groups, ranging

from the far left to the far right of the political spectrum, or from

a foreign government, usually either the Castro regime in Cuba

or the Soviet Union.

The Commission faced substantial difficulties in determining

whether anyone conspired with or assisted the person who committed

the assassination. Prior to his own death Oswald had neither admitted

his own involvement nor implicated any other persons in the assassination of the President. The problem of determining the existence or

nonexistence of a conspiracy was compounded because of the possibility of subversive activity by a foreign power. Witnesses and evidence

located in other countries were not subject to subpena, as they would

have been if they had been located in the United States. When evi- dence was obtained from a foreign nation, it could not be appraised as

effectively as if it had been derived from a domestic source. The

Commission has given the closest scrutiny to all available evidence

which related or might have related to a foreign country. All such

evidence was tested, whenever possible, against the contingency that

it had been fabricated or slanted to mislead or confuse.

In order to meet its obligations fully, the Commission has investigated each rumor and allegation linking Oswald to a conspiracy which

has come to its attention, regardless of source. In addition, the Commission has explored the details of Lee Harvey Oswald's activities and

243
life, especially in the months immediately preceding the assassination,

in order to develop any investigative lead relevant to the issue of

conspiracy. All of Oswald's known writings or other possessions

which might have been used for code or other espionage purposes have

been examined by either the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the

National Security Agency, or both agencies, to determine whether

they were so used.^

In setting forth the results of this investigation, the first section of

this chapter reviews the facts related to the assassination itself, pre- viously considered in more detail in chapter IV. If any conspiracy

did exist, it might have manifested itself at some point during

Oswald's preparation for the shooting, his execution of the plan, or his

escape from the scene of the assassination. The Commission has

therefore studied the precise means by which the assassination occurred

for traces of evidence that Oswald received any form of assistance in

effecting the killing.

The second section of the chapter deals more broadly with Oswald's

life since 1959. During the period following his discharge from the

Marines in 1959, Oswald engaged in several activities which demand

close scrutiny to determine whether, through these pursuits, he developed any associations which were connected with the planning or

execution of the assassination. Oswald professed commitment to Marxist ideology; he defected to the Soviet Union in 1959; he at- tempted to expatriate himself and acquire Soviet citizenship ; and he

resided in the Soviet Union until June of 1962. After his return to the

United States he sought to maintain contacts w^ith the Communist

Party, Socialist Workers Party, and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee ; he associated with various Russian-speaking citizens in the DallasFort Worth area—some of whom had resided in Russia ; he traveled

to Mexico City where he visited both the Cuban and Soviet Embassies

7 weeks before the assassination ; and he corresponded with the Soviet

Embassy in Washington, D.C. In view of these activities, the Commission has instituted a thorough investigation to determine whether

the assassination was in some manner directed or encouraged through

contacts made abroad or through Oswald's politically oriented activities in this country. The Commission has also considered whether

any connections existed between Oswald and certain right-wing ac- tivity in Dallas which, shortly before the assassination, led to the publication of hostile criticism of President Kennedy.

The final section of this chapter considers the possibility that Jack

Ruby was part of a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy.

The Commission explored Ruby's background and his activities in the

months prior to the assassination, and especially his activities in the

2 days after the assassination, in an effort to determine whether there was any indication that Ruby was implicated in that event. The Commission also sought to ascertain the truth or falsity of assertions that

Oswald and Ruby were known to one another prior to the assassination.

In considering the question of foreign involvement, the Commission has received valuable assistance from the Department of State,

24A
the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,

and other Federal agencies with special competence in the field of for- eign investigation. Some of the information furnished by these agencies is of a highly confidential nature. Nevertheless, because the

disclosure of all facts relating to the assassination of President Kennedy is of great public importance, the Commission has included in

this report all information furnished by these agencies which the

Commission relied upon in coming to its conclusions, or which tended

to contradict those conclusions. Confidential sources of information,

as contrasted with the information itself, have, in a relatively few

instances, been withheld.

CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE ASSASSINATION

Earlier chapters have set forth the evidence upon which the Commission concluded that President Kennedy was fired upon from a

single window in the southeast comer of the sixth floor of the Texas

School Book Depository, and that Lee Harvey Oswald was the person

who fired the shots from this point. As reflected in those chapters,

a certain sequence of events necessarily took place in order for the

assassination to have occurred as it did. The motorcade traveled past

the Texas School Book Depository; Oswald had access to the sixth

floor of the building; Oswald brought the rifle into the building;

the cartons were arranged at the sixth-floor window ; and Oswald es- caped from the building before the police had sealed off the exits. Accordingly, the Commission has investigated these circumstances to determine whether Oswald received help from any other person in

planning or performing the shooting.

Selection of Motorcade Route

The factors involved in the choice of the motorcade route by the

Secret Service have been discussed in chapter II of this report.^ It was there indicated that after passing through a portion of suburban

Dallas, the motorcade was to travel west on Main Street, and then to the Trade Mart by way of the Stemmons Freeway, the most direct route from that point. This route would take the motorcade along the

traditional parade route through downtown Dallas; it allowed the

maximum number of persons to observe the President ; and it enabled

the motorcade to cover the distance from Love Field to the Trade

Mart in the 45 minutes allocated by members of the White House staff planning the President's schedule in Dallas. No member of the Secret

Service, the Dallas Police Department, or the local host committee

who was consulted felt that any other route would be preferable.

To reach Stemmons Freeway from Main Street, it was determined

that the motorcade would turn right from Main Street onto Houston

Street for one block and then left onto Elm Street, proceeding through

the Triple Underpass to the Stemmons Freeway access road. This

route took the motorcade past the Texas School Book Depository

245
Building on the northwest corner of Elm and Houston Streets. Because of the sharp turn at this corner, the motorcade also reduced its speed. The motorcade would have passed approximately 90 yards

further from the Depository Building and made no turn near the building if it had attempted to reach the Stemmons Freeway directly from

Main Street. The road plan in Dealey Plaza, however, is designed

to prevent such a turn. In order to keep motorists from reaching

the freeway from Main Street, a concrete barrier has been erected

between Main and Elm Streets extending beyond the freeway entrance. (See Commission Exhibits Nos. 2114-2116, pp. 35-37.) Hence, it would have been necessary for the motorcade either to have driven over this barrier or to have made a sharp S-turn in order to have en- tered the freeway from Main Street. Selection of the motorcade route was thus entirely appropriate and based on such legitimate considerations as the origin and destination of the motorcade, the desired opportunity for the President to greet large numbers of people, and normal

patterns of traffic. Oswald's Presence in the Depository Building

Oswald's presence as an employee in the Texas School Book Depository Building was the result of a series of happenings unrelated to the President's trip to Dallas. He obtained the Depository job after

almost 2 weeks of job hunting which began immediately upon his

arrival in Dallas from Mexico on October 3, 1963.^ At that time he was in poor financial circumstances, having arrived from Mexico City

with approximately $133 or less,* and with his unemployment compensation benefits due to expire on October 8.^ Oswald and his wife were expecting the birth of their second child, who was in fact bom on

October 20.^ In attempting to procure work, Oswald utilized normal

channels, including the Texas Employment Commission.'^

On October 4, 1963, Oswald applied for a position with Padgett

Printing Corp., which was located at 1313 Industrial Boulevard, sev- eral blocks from President Kennedy's parade route.^ Oswald favorably impressed the plant superintendent who checked his prior job

references, one of which was Jaggars-Chiles- Stovail, the firm where

Oswald had done photography work from October 1962 to April 1963.'-^ The following report was written by Padgett's plant superintendent on the reverse side of Oswald's job application : "Bob Stovail does not

recommend this man. He was released because of his record as a troublemaker.—Has Communistic tendencies." ^° Oswald received

word that Padgett Printing had hired someone else.^^ Oswald's employment with the Texas School Book Depository came

about through a chance conversation on Monday, October 14, between

Ruth Paine, with whom his family was staying while Oswald was

living in a roominghouse in Dallas, and two of Mrs. Paine's neighbors.^^ During a morning conversation over coffee, at which Marina

Oswald was present, Oswald's search for employment was mentioned. The neighbors suggested several places where Oswald might

246
apply for work. One of the neighbors present, Linnie Mae Eandle,

said that her brother had recently been hired as a schoolbook order

filler at the Texas School Book Depository and she thought the Depository might need additional help. She testified, "and of course you know just being neighborly and everything, we felt sorry for

Marina because her baby was due right away as we understood it, and

he didn't have any work * * *." i^ When Marina Oswald and Mrs. Paine returned home, Mrs. Paine

promptly telephoned the Texas School Book Depository and spoke

to Superintendent Roy Truly, whom she did not know.^* Truly agreed

to interview Oswald, who at the time was in Dallas seeking employment. When Oswald called that evening, Mrs. Paine told him of her

conversation with Truly.^^ The next morning Oswald went to the

Texas School Book Depository where he was interviewed and hired

for the position of order filler.^^ On the same date, the Texas Employment Commission attempted

to refer Oswald to an airline company which was looking for baggage

and cargo handlers at a salary which was $100 per month higher than

that offered by the Depository Co." The Employment Commission

tried to advise Oswald of this job at 10:30 a.m. on October 16, 1963.

Since the records of the Commission indicate that Oswald was then

working,^^ it seems clear that Oswald was hired by the Depository Co.

before the higher paying job was available. It is unlikely that he ever learned of this second opportunity.

Although publicity concerning the President's trip to Dallas appeared in Dallas newspapers as early as September 13, 1963, the planning of the motorcade route v/as not started until after November 4, when the Secret Service was first notified of the trip.^^ A final decision

as to the route could not have been reached until November 14, when the

Trade Mart was selected as the luncheon site.^^ . Although news reports on November 15 and November 16 might have led a person to believe

that the motorcade would pass the Depository Building, the route was

not finally selected until November 18 ; it was announced in the press on November 19, only 3 days before the President's arrival.^^ Based

on the circumstances of Oswald's employment and the planning of the

motorcade route, the Commission has concluded that Oswald's

employment in the Depository was wholly unrelated to tlie President's

trip to Dallas.

Bringing Rifle Into Building

On the basis of the evidence developed in chapter IV the Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald carried the rifle used in the

assassination into the Depository Building on Friday, November 22,

1963, in the handmade brown paper bag found near the window from

which the shots were fired.^^ The arrangement by which Buell Wesley

Frazier drove Oswald between Irving and Dallas was an innocent one, having commenced when Oswald first started working at the Depository.2^ As noted above, it was Frazier's sister, Linnie May

Randle, who had suggested to Ruth Paine that Oswald might be able

247
to find employment at the Depository. When Oswald started working there, Frazier, who lived only a half block away from the Paines,

offered to drive Oswald to and from Irving whenever he was going

to stay at the Paines' home.^^ Although Oswald's request for a ride to Irving on Thursday, November 21, was a departure from the normal

weekend pattern, Oswald gave the explanation that he needed to obtain curtain rods for an "apartment" in Dallas.^^ This served also to explain the long package which he took with him from Irving to the Depository Building the next morning.^^ Further, there is no

evidence that Ruth Paine or Marina Oswald had reason to believe that

Oswald's return was in any way related to an attempt to shoot the

President the next day. Although his visit was a surprise, since he

arrived on Thursday instead of Friday for his usual weekend visit,

both women testified that they thought he had come to patch up a quarrel which he had with his wife a few days earlier when she learned

that he was living in Dallas under an assumed name.^^

It has also been shown that Oswald had the opportunity to work in

the Paines' garage on Thursday evening and prepare the rifle by dis- assembling it, if it were not already disassembled, and packing it in

the brown bag.^^ It has been demonstrated that the paper and tape

from which the bag was made came from the shipping room of the

Texas School Book Depository and that Oswald had access to this materials^ Neither Euth Paine nor Marina Oswald saw the paper bag or the paper and tape out of which the bag was constructed.^" If

Oswald actually prepared the bag in the Depository out of materials

available to him there, he could have concealed it in the jacket or shirt

which he was wearing.^^ The Commission has found no evidence which

suggests that Oswald required or in fact received any assistance in

bringing the rifle into the building other than the innocent assistance

provided by Frazier in the form of the ride to work.

Accomplices at the Scene of the Assassination

The arrangement of boxes at the window from which the shots were fired was studied to determine whether Oswald required any

assistance in moving the cartons to the window. Cartons had been

stacked on the floor, a few feet behind the window, thus shielding

Oswald from the view of anyone on the sixth floor who did not at- tempt to go behind them.^^ (gg^ Commission Exhibit No. 723,

p. 80.) Most of those cartons had been moved there by other employees to clear an area for laying a new flooring on the west end

of the sixth floor.^^ Superintendent Roy Truly testified that the floor- laying crew moved a long row of books parallel to the windows on

the south side and had "quite a lot of cartons" in the southeast corner

of the building.^* He said that there was not any particular pattern

that the men used in putting them there. "They were just piled up there more or less at that time." ^^ According to Truly, "several cartons" which had been in the extreme southeast corner had been placed on top

of the ones that had been piled in front of the southeast corner window.^®

248
The arrangement of the three boxes in the window and the one on which the assassin may have sat has been described previously.^^ Two of these four boxes, weighing approximately 55 pounds each, had

been moved by the floor-laying crew from the west side of the floor to the area near the southwest corner.^^ The carton on which the assassin

may have sat might not even have been moved by the assassin at all. A photograph of the scene depicts this carton on the floor alongside

other similar cartons. (See Commission Exhibit No. 1301, p. 138.)

Oswald's right palmprint on this carton may have been placed there

as he was sitting on the carton rather than while carrying it. In any

event both of these 55-pound cartons could have been carried by one man. The remaining two cartons contained light block-like reading

aids called "Rolling Readers" weighing only about 8 pounds each.^* Although they had been moved approximately 40 feet *° from their

normal locations at the southeast corner window, it would appear that one man could have done this in a matter of seconds.

In considering the possibility of accomplices at the window, the

Commission evaluated the significance of the presence of fingerprints

other than Oswald's on the four cartons found in and near the window. Three of Oswald's prints were developed on two of the cartons.*^ In addition a total of 25 identifiable prints were found on

the 4 cartons.*^ Moreover, prints were developed which were considered as not identifiable, i.e., the quality of the print was too fragmentary to be of value for identification purposes.*^

As has been explained in chapter IV, the Commission determined

that none of the warehouse employees who might have customarily

handled these cartons left prints which could be identified.*^ This was considered of some probative value in determining whether Oswald moved the cartons to the window. All but 1 of the 25 definitely

identifiable prints were the prints of 2 persons—an FBI employee and

a member of the Dallas Police Department who had handled the

cartons during the course of the investigation.*^ One identifiable

palmprint was not identified.*^ The presence on these cartons of unidentified prints, whether or not

identifiable, does not appear to be unusual since these cartons con- tained commercial products which had been handled by many people

throughout the normal course of manufacturing, warehousing, and

shipping. Unlike other items of evidence such as, for example, a ran- som note in a kidnaping, these cartons could contain the prints of

many people having nothing to do with the assassination. Moreover,

the FBI does not maintain a filing system for palmprints because,

according to the supervisor of the Bureau's latent fingerprint section,

Sebastian F. Latona, the problems of classification make such a system

impracticable.*"^ Finally, in considering the significance of the unidentified prints, the Commission gave weight to the opinion of Latona to the effect that people could handle these cartons without leaving prints

which were capable of being developed.*^

Though the fingerprints other than Oswald's on the boxes thus

provide no indication of the presence of an accomplice at the win249

730-900 0-64— 18
dow, two Depository employees are known to have been present

briefly on the sixth floor during the period between 11 :45 a.m., when

the floor-laying crew stopped for lunch, and the moment of the assas- sination. One of these was Charles Givens, a member of the floor- laying crew, who went down on the elevator with the others and then,

returned to the sixth floor to get his jacket and cigarettes.^^ He saw Oswald walking away from the southeast corner, but saw no one else on the sixth floor at that time. He then took one of the elevators back

to the first floor at approximately 11 :55 a.m.^^ Bonnie Ray Williams, who was also working with the floor-laying crew, returned to the sixth floor at about noon to eat his lunch and

watch the motorcade.^^ He looked out on Elm Street from a position

in the area of the third or fourth set of windows from the east wall.^^ At this point he was approximately 20-30 feet away from the southeast corner window. He remained for about "5, 10, maybe 12 minutes"

eating his lunch which consisted of chicken and a bottle of soda pop.^^

Williams saw no one on the sixth floor during this period, although

the stacks of books prevented his seeing the east side of the building.^*

After finishing his lunch Williams took the elevator down because no one had joined him on the sixth floor to watch the motorcade.^^ He

stopped at the fifth floor where he joined Harold Norman and James

Jarman, Jr., who watched the motorcade with him from a position on the fifth floor directly below the point from which the shots were

fired. Williams left the remains of his lunch, including chicken bones

and a bottle of soda, near the window where he was eating.^^

Several witnesses outside the building claim to have seen a person

in the southeast corner window of the sixth floor. As has already been

indicated, some were able to offer better descriptions than others and

one, Howard L. Brennan, made a positive identification of Oswald as being the person at the window.^^ Although there are differences

among these witnesses with regard to their ability to describe the per- son they saw, none of these witnesses testified to seeing more than one

person in the window.^^

One witness, however, offered testimony which, if accurate, would

create the possibility of an accomplice at the window at the time of

the assassination. The witness was 18-year-old Arnold Rowland, who

testified in great detail concerning his activities and observations on November 22, 1963. He and his wife were awaiting the motorcade,

standing on the east side of Houston Street between Maine and Elm,^^

when he looked toward the Depository Building and noticed a man

holding a rifle standing back from the southwest corner window on

the sixth floor. The man was rather slender in proportion to his

size and of light complexion with dark hair.^° Rowland said that his

wife was looking elsewhere at the time and when they looked back

to the window the man "was gone from our vision." ^^ They thought

the man was most likely someone protecting the President. After

the assassination Rowland signed an affidavit in which he told of see- ing this man, although Rowland was unable to identify him.^^

250
Wlien Rowland testified before the Commission on March 10, 1964,

he claimed for the first time to have seen another person on the sixth

floor. Rowland said that before he had noticed the man with the

rifle on the southwest corner of the sixth floor he had seen an elderly

Negro man ''hanging out that window" on the southeast comer of the

sixth floor.^^ Rowland described the Negro man as "very thin, an

elderly gentleman, bald or practically bald, very thin hair if he wasn't

bald," between 50 and 60 years of age, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches

tall, with fairly dark complexion.^* Rowland claimed that he looked

back two or three times and noticed that the man remained until 5 or 6

minutes prior to the time the motorcade came. Rowland did not see him thereafter. He made no mention of the Negro man in his affi- davit.^^ And, while he said he told FBI agents about the man in the

southeast corner window when interviewed on the Saturday and Sunday following the assassination,^^ no such statement appears in any

FBI report.^^

Mrs. Rowland testified that her husband never told her about see- ing any other man on the sixth floor except the man with the rifle in the southwest corner that he first saw. She also was present during Rowland's interview with representatives of the FBI ^® and said

she did not hear him make such a statement,^^ although she also said

that she did not hear everything that was discussed.^° Mrs. Rowland

testified that after her husband first talked about seeing a man with

the rifle, she looked back more than once at the Depository Building

and saw no person looking out of any window on the sixth floor.^^ She also said that "At times my husband is prone to exaggerate." ^^ Because of inconsistencies in Rowland's testimony and the importance

of his testimony to the question of a possible accomplice, the Commission requested the FBI to conduct an inquiry into the truth of

a broad range of statements made by Rowland to the Commission.

The investigation showed that numerous statements by Rowland con- cerning matters about which he would not normally be expected to be mistaken—such as subjects he studied in school, grades he received,

whether or not he had graduated from high school, and whether

or not he had been admitted to college—were false.'^^ The only possible corroboration for Rowland's story is found in

the testimony of Roger D. Craig, a deputy sheriff of Dallas County,

whose testimony on other aspects of the case has been discussed in

chapter IV. Craig claimed that about 10 minutes after the assassination he talked to a young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Rowland,

* * * and the boy said he saw two men on the sixth floor of the

Book Depository Building over there ; one of them had a rifle with

a telescopic sight on it—but he thought they were Secret Service

agents or guards and didn't report it. This was about—oh, he

said, 15 minutes before the motorcade ever arrived.^*

According to Craig, Rowland said that he looked back a few minutes

later and "the other man was gone, and there was just one man—the

251
man with the rifle." ^^ Craig further testified that Rowland told him

that when he first saw the two men, they were walking back and

forth in front of the window for several minutes. They were both

white men and one of them had a rifle with a scope on it.'^^ This re- port by Craig is contradicted by the testimony of both the Rowlands,

and by every recorded interview with them conducted by law enforcement agencies after the assassination.

As part of its investigation of Rowland's allegation and of the

general question of accomplices at the scene of the assassination, the

Commission undertook an investigation of every person employed

in the Texas School Book Depository Building. Two employees

might possibly fit the general description of an elderly Negro man,

bald or balding. These two men were on the first floor of the building during the period before and during the assassination." Moreover, all of the employees were asked whether they saw any strangers

in the building on the morning of November 22.^^ Only one employee saw a stranger whom he described as a feeble individual who had

to be helped up the front steps of the building. He went to a public

restroom and left the building 5 minutes later, about 40 minutes

before the assassination.^^

Rowland's failure to report his story despite several interviews until

his appearance before the Commission, the lack of probative cor- roboration, and the serious doubts about his credibility, have led the

Commission to reject the testimony that Rowland saw an elderly

balding Negro man in the southeast corner window of the sixth floor of the Depository Building several minutes before the assassination.

Oswald's Escape

The Commission has analyzed Oswald's movements between the time

of the assassination and the shooting of Patrolman Tippit to determine

whether there is any evidence that Oswald had assistance in his flight

from the building. Oswald's activities during this period have been

traced through the testimony of seven witnesses and discussed in

detail in chapter IY.^° (See Commission Exhibit No. 1119-A, p. 158 and Commission Exhibit No. 1118, p. 160.) Patrolman M. L. Baker and Depository superintendent Roy Truly saw him within 2

minutes of the assassination on the second floor of the building.

Mrs. R. A. Reid saw him less than 1 minute later walking through

the second-floor offices toward the front of the building. A busdriver,

Cecil J. McWatters, and Oswald's former landlady, Mrs. Mary Bledsoe, saw him board a bus at approximately 12:40 p.m., and get off about 4 minutes later. A cabdriver, William W. Whaley, drove

Oswald from a cabstand located a few blocks from where Oswald

left the bus to a point in Oak Cliff about four blocks from his roominghouse; and Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper at Oswald's roominghouse, saw him enter the roominghouse at about 1 p.m. and leave a few

minutes later. When seen by these seven witnesses Oswald was always

alone.

252
Particular attention has been directed to Oswald's departure from

the Depository Building in order to determine whether he could have

left the building within approximately 3 minutes of the assassination

without assistance. As discussed more fully in chapter IV, the building was probably first sealed off no earlier than 12 :37 by Inspector

Herbert Sawyer.^^ The shortest estimate of the time taken to seal off the building comes from Police Officer W. E. Barnett, one of the officers assigned to the corner of Elm and Houston Streets for the Presidential

motorcade, who estimated that approximately 3 minutes elapsed between the time he heard the last of the shots and the time he started

guarding the front door.^^ According to Barnett, "there were people

going in and out" during this period.^^ The evidence discussed in

chapter IV shows that 3 minutes would have been sufficient time for

Oswald to have descended from the sixth floor and left the building

without assistance.^* One witness, James E. Worrell, Jr., claims to have seen a man run- ning from the rear of the building shortly after the assassination, but

in testimony before the Commission he stated that he could not see his face.*^ Two other witnesses who watched the rear of the building during the first 6 minutes after the shooting saw no one leave.®^ The claim of Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig that he saw Oswald leave the

Depository Building approximately 15 minutes after the assassination

has been discussed in chapter IV.®'^ Although Craig may have seen someone enter a station wagon 15 minutes after the assassination, the

person he saw was not Lee Harvey Oswald, who was far removed from

the building at that time.

The possibility that accomplices aided Oswald in connection with

his escape was suggested by the testimony of Earlene Roberts, the

housekeeper at the 1026 North Beckley roominghouse.^^ She testified that at about 1 p.m. on November 22, after Oswald had returned to

the roominghouse, a Dallas police car drove slowly by the front of

the 1026 North Beckley premises and stopped momentarily ; she said

she heard its horn several times.^^ Mrs. Roberts stated that the occu- pants of the car were not known to her even though she had worked

for some policemen who would occasionally come by.^*^ She

said the policeman she knew drove car No. ITO and that this was not

the number on the police car that honked on November 22. She

testified that she first thought the car she saw was No. 106 and

then said that it was No. 107.^^ In an FBI interview she had stated

that she looked out the front window and saw police car No.

207.^2 Investigation has not produced any evidence that there was a

police vehicle in the area of 1026 North Beckley at about 1 p.m. on November 22.^3 Squad car 207 was at the Texas School Book Depository

Building, as was car 106. Squad cars 170 and 107 were sold in April

1963 and their numbers were not reassigned until February 1964.^* Whatever may be the accuracy of Mrs. Roberts' recollection con- cerning the police car, it is apparent from Mrs. Roberts' further testi- mony that she did not see Oswald enter a car when he hurriedly left the

house. She has stated that when she last saw Oswald, shortly after

253
1 p.m., he was standing at a bus stop in front of the house.^^ Oswald

was next seen less than 1 mile away, at the point where he shot Patrolman Tippit. Oswald could have easily reached this point on foot by

about 1 :16 p.m., when Tippit was shot. Finally, investigation has pro- duced no evidence that Oswald had prearranged plans for a means to leave Dallas after the assassination or that any other person was to have provided him assistance in hiding or in departing the city.

BACKGROUND OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD

Finding no evidence in the circumstances immediately surrounding the assassination that any person other than Lee Harvey Oswald

was involved in the killing of the President, the Commission directed an intensive investigation into his life for the purpose, among others,

of detecting any possible traces that at some point he became involved

in a conspiracy culminating in the deed of November 22, 1963. As a product of this investigation, the Commission has compiled a detailed

chronological biography of Oswald which is set forth as appendix

XIII. Study of the period from Oswald's birth in 1939 to his military service from 1956 to 1959 has revealed no evidence that he was

associated with any type of sinister or subversive organization during that period. Though his personality and political views took

shape during these early years, the events of that period are significant primarily to an understanding of the personality of Lee Harvey Oswald and are discussed in that connection in chapter VII.

Beginning with his preparation for defection to the Soviet Union in

1959, however, Oswald engaged in several activities which required

close scrutiny by the Commission. In an appraisal of Oswald's ac- tions since 1959 for the purpose of determining whether he was part of

a conspiracy, several aspects of his background and character must

be borne in mind. He was young, inexperienced, and had only a limited education. As will be more fully discussed in chapter VII,

he was unable to establish relationships with others and had a resent- ment for authority and any discipline flowing from it. While he

demonstrated the ability to act secretively and alone, without regard

to the consequences to himself, as in his defection to the Soviet Union,

he does not appear to have been the kind of person whom one would

normally expect to be selected as a conspirator.

Residence in the Soviet Union

Lee Harvey Oswald was openly committed to Marxist ideology, he

defected to the Soviet Union in 1959, and resided there until June

of 1962, eventually returning to the United States with a Russian

wife. In order to evaluate rumors and speculations ®^ that Oswald may

have been an agent of the Soviet Union, the Commission investigated

the facts surrounding Oswald's stay in Russia. The Commission was thus fulfilling its obligation to probe all facts of possible rele- 254
vance to the assassination, and 'does not suggest by this investigation

that the rulers of the Soviet Union be]ie\^ed that their political interests would be advanced by the assassination of President Kennedy.

On this question, the Secretary of State testified before the Commission on June 10, 1964 as follows

:

I have seen no evidence that would indicate to me that the

Soviet Union considered that it had an interest in the removal

of President Kennedy or that it was in any way involved in the removal of President Kennedy.

I have not seen or heard of any scrap of evidence indicating

that the Soviet Union had any desire to eliminate President

Kennedy nor in any way participated in any such event. Now, standing back and trying to look at that question objectively despite the ideological differences between our two

great systems, I can't see how it could be to the interest of the

Soviet Union to make any such effort.

I do think that the Soviet Union, again objectively considered,

has an interest in the correctness of state relations. This would

be particularly true among the great powers, with which the

major interests of the Soviet Union are directly engaged.

I think that although there are grave differences between

the Communist world and the free world, between the Soviet

Union and other major powers, that even from their point of

view there needs to be some shape and form to international

relations, that it is not in their interest to have this world struc- ture dissolve into complete anarchy, that great states and particularly nuclear powers have to be in a position to deal with

each other, to transact business with each other, to try to meet

problems with each other, and that requires the maintenance of

correct relations and access to the leadership on all sides. I think also that although there had been grave differences between Chairman Khrushchev and President Kennedy, I think

there were evidences of a certain mutual respect that had developed over some of the experiences, both good and bad, through

which these two men had lived. I think both of them were aware of the fact that any Chairman

of the Soviet Union, and any President of the United States,

necessarily bear somewhat special responsibility for the general

peace of the world. Indeed without exaggeration, one could al- most say the existence of the northern hemisphere in this nuclear

age.

255
So that it would be an act of rashness and madness for Soviet

leaders to undertake such an action as an active policy. Because

everything would have been put in jeopardy or at stake in con- nection with such an act. It has not been our impression that madness has characterized

the actions of the Soviet leadership in recent years.^^

The Commission accepts Secretary Rusk's estimate as reasonable

and objective, but recognizes that a precise assessment of Soviet in- tentions or interests is most difficult. The Commission has thus examined all the known facts regarding Oswald's defection, residence in the

Soviet Union, and return to the United States. At each step the

Commission sought to determine whether there was any evidence

which supported a conclusion that Soviet authorities may have directly or indirectly influenced Oswald's actions in assassinating the

President.

Oswald'^s entry into the Soviet Union.—Although the evidence

is inconclusive as to the factors which motivated Oswald to go to the

Soviet Union, there is no indication that he was prompted to do so by agents of that country. He may have begun to study the

Russian language when he was stationed in Japan, which was in- termittently from August 1957 to November 1958.®^ After he arrived

in Moscow in October 1959 he told several persons that he had been

planning his defection for 2 years, which suggests that the decision was made while he was in the Far East.^^ George De Mohrenschildt,

who met Oswald after his return from the Soviet Union, testified that

Oswald once told him much the same thing : "I met some Communists

in Japan and they got me excited and interested, and that was one of

my inducements in going to Soviet Russia, to see what goes on

there." ^°^ This evidence, however, is somewhat at variance with

Oswald's statements made to two American newspaper reporters in

Moscow shortly after his defection in 1959,^^^ and to other people in

the United States after his return in 1962.^°- Though his remarks

were not inconsistent as to the time he decided to defect, to these

people he insisted that before going to the Soviet Union he had "never

met a Communist" and that the intent to defect derived entirely from

his own reading and thinking. He said much the same to his brother

in a letter he wrote to him from Russia explaining why he had defected.^^^ Which of Oswald's statements was the more accurate re- mains unknown.

There is no evidence that Oswald received outside assistance in

financing his trip to the Soviet Union. After he arrived in Moscow,

Oswald told a new^spaper correspondent. Aline Mosby, that he had

saved $1,500 out of his Marine Corps salary to finance his defection,^''^ although the news story based upon Oswald's interview with Aline

Mosby unaccountably listed the sum of $1,600 instead of $1,500.1°^

After this article had appeared. Marguerite Oswald also related the

$1,600 figure to an FBI agent.^^^ Either am,ount could have been

accumulated out of Oswald's earnings in the Marine Corps; during

256
his 2 years and 10 months of service he received $3,452.20, after all taxes, allotments and other deductions.^^^ Moreover Oswald could

certainly have made the entire trip on less than $1,000. The ticket on

the ship he took from New Orleans to Le Havre, France, cost $220.75 ; ^°^ it cost him about $20 to reach London from Le Havre

;

his plane fare from London to Helsinki, where he received his visa, cost him $111.90; he probably purchased Russian "tourist vouchers"

normally ^ood for room and board for 10 days for $300 ; his train fare

from Helsinki to Moscow was about $44 ; in Moscow he paid only $1.50

to $3 a night for his room and very little for his meals after his tourist

vouchers ran out ; ^°^ and apparently he did not pay his hotel bill at all after November 30, 1959.^^° Oswald's known living habits indicate that

he could be extraordinarily frugal when he had reason to be, and it seems clear that he did have a strong desire to go to the Soviet Union.

While in Atsugi, Japan, Oswald studied the Russian language,

perhaps with some help from an officer in his unit who was interested

in Russian and used to "talk about it" with Oswald occasionally.^"

He studied by himself a great deal in late 1958 and early 1959 after

he was transferred from Japan to Califomia.^^^ He took an Army

aptitude test in Russian in February 1959 and rated "Poor." ^^^ When

he reached the Soviet Union in October of the same year he could

barely speak the language.^^* During the period in Moscow while

he was awaiting decision on his application for citizenship, his diary

records that he practiced Russian 8 hours a day.^^^ After he was

sent to Minsk in early January 1960 he took lessons from an interpreter assigned to him for that purpose by the Soviet Government.^^^

Marina Oswald said that by the time she met him in March 1961 he

spoke the language well enough so that at first she thought he was

from one of the Baltic areas of her country, because of his accent. She stated that his only defects were that his grammar was sometimes

incorrect and that his writing was never good.^^^

Thus, the limited evidence provides no indication that Oswald was

recruited by Soviet agents in the Far East with a view toward defection and eventual return to the United States. Moreover, on its face

such a possibility is most unlikely. If Soviet agents had communicated

with Oswald while he was in the Marine Corps, one of the least probable instructions they would have given him would have been to

defect. If Oswald had remained a Marine radar specialist, he might

at some point have reached a position of value as a secret agent.

However, his defection and the disloyal statements he made publicly

in connection with it eliminated the possibility that he would ever gain access to confidential information or programs of the United

States. The very fact that he defected, therefore, is itself persuasive

evidence that he was not recruited as an agent prior to his defection.

The Commission has investigated the circumstances under which

Oswald obtained a visa to enter the Soviet Union for possible evidence

that he received preferential treatment in being permitted to enter the

country. Oswald left. New Orleans, La., for Europe on September 20,

1959,^^® having been released from active duty in the Marine Corps on

257
September 11, 1959.^^^ He went directly to Helsinki, Finland, by way

of Le Havre, France, and London, England, arriving at Helsinki on

Saturday, October 10, 1959.^^'^ Oswald probably arrived in Helsinki

too late in the evening to have applied for a visa at the Soviet Union

consulate that night.^^^ In light of the rapidity with which he made

connections throughout his entire trip,^^^ he probably applied for a visa early on Monday, October 12. On October 14, he was issued

Soviet Tourist Visa No. 403339, good for one 6- day visit in the

U.S.S.R.^^^ He left Helsinki on a train destined for Moscow on

October 15.^24 The Department of State has advised the Commission that it has some information that in 1959 it usually took an American tourist in

Helsinki 1 to 2 weeks to obtain a visa,^^^ and that it has other information that the normal waiting period during the past 5 years has been

a week or less.^^e According to the Department's information, the

waiting period has always varied frequently and widely, with one

confirmed instance in 1963 of a visa routinely issued in less than

24 hours.^2^ The Central Intelligence Agency has indicated that visas

during the 1964 tourist season were being granted in about 5 to 7

days.^^

This information from the Department of State and the Central

Intelligence Agency thus suggests that Oswald's wait for a visa may

have been shorter than usual but not beyond the range of possible

variation. The prompt issuance of Oswald's visa may have been

merely the result of normal procedures, due in part to the fact that

the summer rush had ended. It might also mean that Oswald was

unusually urgent in his demands that his visa be issued promptly.

Oswald himself told officials at the American Embassy in Moscow on

October 31, when he appeared to renounce his citizenship, that he had

said nothing to the Soviets about defecting until he arrived in Moscow.^2^ In any event, the Commission has found nothing in the cir- cumstances of Oswald's entry into the Soviet Union which indicates

that he was at the time an agent of the U.S.S.R.

Defection and admission to residence.—Two months and 22 days

elapsed from Oswald's arrival in Moscow until he left that city to take

up residence in Minsk. The Commission has considered the possibility

that Oswald was accepted for residence in the Soviet Union and sent

to Minsk unusually soon after he arrived, either because he had been

expected or because during his first weeks in Moscow he developed an undercover relationship with the Soviet Government. In doing

so, the Commission has attempted to reconstruct the events of those

months, though it is, of course, impossible to account for Oswald's

activities on every day of that period.

Oswald's "Historic Diary," ^^^ which commences on October 16, 1959,

the date Oswald arrived in Moscow, and other writings he later prepared,^^^ have provided the Commission with one source of information about Oswald's activities throughout his stay in the Soviet Union.

Even assuming the diary was intended to be a truthful record, it is not

258
an accurate guide to the details of Oswald's activities. Oswald seems

not to have been concerned about the accuracy of dates and names/^^

and apparently made many of his entries subsequent to the date the

events occurred. Marina Oswald testified that she believed that her

husband did not begin to keep the diary until he reached Minsk, 3

months after his arrival in Kussia/^^ and scraps of paper found in

Oswald's possession, containing much the same information as appears

in his diary,1^* suggest that he transcribed the entries into the diary at a

later time. The substance of Oswald's writings has been carefully

examined for consistency with all other related information available

to the Commission. In addition, the writings have been checked for

handwriting,^^^ and for consistency of style, grammar, and spelling

with earlier and later writings which are known to be his.^^® No indication has been found that entries were written or coached by other

persons.^^^

However, the most reliable information concerning the period

Oswald spent in Moscow in the latter part of 1962 comes from the

records of the American Embassy in Moscow,^^^ the testimony of Embassy officials,^^^ and the notes of two American newspaper reporters,

Aline Mosby ^"^^ and Priscilla Johnson,^*^ who interviewed Oswald during this period. Oswald's correspondence with his brother and mother

has also been relied upon for some relatively minor information.

The findings upon which the Commission based its conclusion con- cerning Soviet involvements in the assassination were supported by

evidence other than material provided by the Soviet Union ^^^ or Oswald's writings. The Central Intelligence Agency has also contributed data on the normal practices and procedures of the Soviet

authorities in handling American defectors.

The "Historic Diary" indicates that on October 16, 1959, the day

Oswald arrived in Moscow, he told his Intourist guide, Rima

Shirokova, that he wished to renounce his American citizenship and

become a Soviet citizen. The same day, the guide reportedly helped

Oswald prepare a letter to the Soviet authorities requesting citizenship.^*^ The diary indicates, however, that on October 21 he was

informed that his visa had expired and that he would be required to leave Moscow within 2 hours.^** During the preceding days, according to the diary, he had been interviewed once and perhaps twice by

Soviet officials.^*° During this period the KGB,* the agency with

The Committee for State Security, best known by its Russian initials, "KGB," is a

lineal descendant of the revolutionary ChEKA and has passed through numerous changes

of name since 1917 with little change of function. Presently the KGB handles

all Soviet counterintelligence operations and is the instrument for various types of subversive activities. It is responsible for the internal security of the Soviet state and

the safety of its leaders. In addition it shares responsibility for foreign espionage activities with the intelligence component of the Ministry of Defense, the "GRU." The KGB would have the primary responsibility for keeping track of a defector such as Oswald. The Ministry of Internal Affairs or "MVD" was for many years the designation of

the organization responsible for civil law enforcement and administration of prisons and forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. During a part of its history it also directed

vast economic combines. In January 1960, the central or all-union MVD was abolished and its powers transferred to the MVD's of the several Soviet republics. A further change

took place in the summer of 1962, when the republic MVD's were renamed Ministries fo-r the Preservation of Public Order and Safety. In the past few years the republic MVD's 259
primary responsibility for examining defectors arriving in Russia,

undoubtedly investigated Oswald as fully as possible. In 1959, vir- tually all Intourist guides were KGB informants, and there is no

reason to believe that this was not true of Oswald's guide.^*^

According to Oswald's diary he attempted suicide when he learned

his application for citizenship had been denied.^*'' If true, this would

seem to provide strong evidence that, at least prior to October 21,

there was no undercover relationship between Oswald and the Soviet Government. Though not necessarily conclusive, there is considerable direct evidence which indicates that Oswald did slash his

wrist. Oswald's autopsy showed that he had a scar on his left wrist and that it was of the kind which could have been caused by a

suicide attempt.^*^ The medical records from the Botkinskaya Hospital in Moscow, furnished by the Soviet Government, reveal that

from October 21 to October 28 he was treated there for a self-inflicted wound on the left wrist.^*^ The information contained in these rec- ords is consistent with the facts disclosed by the autopsy examination

relating to Oswald's wrist and to other facts known about Oswald.

Although no witness recalled Oswald mentioning a suicide attempt,'"^^

Marina Oswald testified that w^hen she questioned her husband about

the scar on his wrist, he became "very angry," and avoided giving

her a reply.^^^ Oswald's character, discussed in the following chapter, does not seem inconsistent with a suicide or feigned suicide at- tempt, nor with his having failed to disclose the suicide attempt.

Many witnesses who testified before the Commission observed that he was not an "open" or trusting person, had a tendency toward arrogance,

and was not the kind of man who would readily admit weaknesses.^^-

Oswald appeared at the American Embassy in Moscow on October 31, 1959, 3 days after his release from the Botkinskaya Hospital.^^

He did not give the officials at the Embassy any indication that

he had recently received medical treatment.^^* Oswald's appear- ance was the first notification to the American Government that he was

in Russia, since he had failed to inform the Embassy upon his arrival,^^^ as most American tourists did at the time.^^^ In appendix XV, Oswald's dealings with the Embassy in 1959 mitil his return to the United

States in 1962 are described in full, and all action taken by the American officials on his case is evaluated. His conduct at the Embassy has

also been considered by the Commission for any indication it may

provide as to whether or not Oswald was then acting under directions

of the Soviet Government.

At the Embassy, Oswald declared that he wished to renounce his

U.S. citizenship,^" but the consul to whom he spoke, Richard E.

have been gradually divesting themselves of their economic functions. When Lee Harvey

Oswald was in the Soviet Union though, the MVD still carried on substantial economic

activities. For example, inmates of the MVD-administered "corrective labor colonies" engaged in brickmaking, heavy construction work, and lumbering.

In the Commission's report, the term KGB will be used, as above, to describe the principal Soviet counterintelligence and espionage service. Oswald often inaccurately re- ferred to the "secret police" as the MVD ; and in any quotations from him, the Commission

will reproduce his actual words. Whenever the Commission refers to the MVD, it will be

referring to it as defined in this footnote. 260
NOTE HANDED BY OSWALD TO THE AMERICAN

EMBASSY IN MOSCOW ON OCT. 31, 1959

^•M«»*M

focTMHHua „METPOnO/lb"

r. MocKBa

j^u^>y /Ly ^^-^ ^ ^.

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Commission Exhibit No. 913

261
Snyder, refused to accept his renunciation at that time, telling him

that he \rould have to return to complete the necessary papers.^^®

However, Oswald did give the consul his passport ^^® and a handwritten statement requesting that his American citizenship be "re- voked" and "affirm [ing] [his] * * * allegiance" to the Soviet

Union.^«« (See Commission Exhibit No, 913, p. 261.) The FBI has

confirmed that this statement is in Oswald's handwriting,^^^ and

Snyder has testified that the letter's phrases are consistent with the

way Oswald talked and conducted himself.^^^ During the approximately 40-minute interview, Oswald also informed Snyder that he

had been a radar operator in the Marine Corps, intimating that he

might know something of special interest, and that he had informed

a Soviet .official that he would give the Soviets any information con- cerning the Marine Corps and radar operation which he possessed.^^

Although Oswald never filed a formal renunciation, in a letter to the Embassy dated November 3, 1959, he again requested that his

American citizenship be revoked and protested the refusal to accept

his renunciation on October 31.^^* (See Commission Exhibit No.

912, p. 263.)

While at the Embassy,^^^ and in a subsequent interview with an American journalist,^^^ Oswald displayed familiarity with Communist

ideological arguments, which led those with whom he spoke to speculate that he may have received some instruction from Soviet authorities. Oswald's familiarity with the law regarding renunciation of

citizenship, observed by both Embassy officials,^^'' could also be con- strued as a sign of coaching by Soviet authorities. However, Oswald

is known to have been an avid reader ^^ and there is evidence that he

had read Communist literature without guidance while in the Marine

Corps and before that time.^^^ After his arrival in Moscow, Oswald

most probably had discussions with his Intourist guide and others,^^°

but none of the Americans with whom he talked in Moscow felt that

his conversations necessarily revealed any type of formal training.^^^

The "Historic Diary" indicates that Oswald did not tell his guide that

he intended to visit the Embassy because he feared she would dis- appr,ove.^'2 (gg^ Commission Exhibit No. 24, p. 264.) Though Oswald gave Snyder the impression "of an intelligent person who spoke

in a manner and on a level, which seemed to befit his apparent level of

intelligence," ^^^ correspondent Priscilla Johnson, who spent about 5

hours talking with him,^^* received a much less favorable impression

:

He liked to create the pretense, the impression that he was

attracted to abstract discussion and was capable of engaging in it, and was drawn to it. But it was like pricking a balloon. I had

the feeling that if you really did engage him on this ground, you

very quickly would discover that he didn't have the capacity for a logical sustained argument about an abstract point on

economics or on noneconomic, political matters or any matter,

philosophical.^^^

262
LETTER MAILED BY OSWALD TO THE AMERICAN

EMBASSY IN MOSCOW

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roi;ru!AR section

TAKEN

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HOV. 00. 1059

( MOSCOW

Commission Exhibit No. 912

263
OSWALD'S OWN ACCOUNT OF HIS MEETING AT THE

AMERICAN EMBASSY IN MOSCOW OCT. 31, 1959

Excerpts from his "Historic Diary"

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264

Commission Exhibit No. 24

1 \
A comparison of the formal note Oswald handed Snyder ^^^ and his

letter of November 3

^^^ with the provisions of section 349(a) of the

Immigration and Nationality Act ^^^ suggests that Oswald had read

the statute but understood it imperfectly ; he apparently was trying to use three out of the four ways set out in the statute to surrender his

citizenship, but he succeeded in none. Moreover, persuasive evidence that Oswald's conduct was not care- fully coached by Soviet agents is provided by some of his actions

at the Embassy. The single statement which probably caused Oswald

the most future trouble was his declaration that he had already

volunteered to a Soviet oiRcial that he would, if asked, tell the Soviet

Government all that he knew about his job in radar as a Marine.

Certainly a statement of this type w^ould prejudice any possibility

of his being an effective pro-Communist agent.

Further, though unquestionably evidencing anti-American senti- ments, Oswald's behavior at the Embassy, which brought him ex- ceedingly close to expatriation, was unlikely to have increased his

value in any capacity to the Soviet Union. Eichard E. Snyder, the

official who interviewed Oswald on October 31, testified that he "had

every reason to believe" that Oswald would have carried through

a formal—and therefore effective—renunciation of his American

citizenship immediately if he had let him.^^^ However, as a defector,

Oswald could have had considerable propaganda value without ex- patriating himself; and if he had expatriated himself his eventual

return to the United States would have been much more difficult and perhaps impossible. If Snyder's assessment of Oswald's intentions is accurate, it thus tends to refute the suggestion that Oswald

was being coached by the Soviets. In addition, reporters noticed

Oswald's apparent ambivalence in regard to renouncing his citizenship—stormily demanding that he be permitted to renounce while

failing to follow through by completing the necessary papers ^^°

behavior which might have detracted from his propaganda value.

According to Oswald's "Historic Diary" ^^^ and the documents furnished to the Commission by the Soviet Government,^^^ Oswald was

not told that he had been accepted as a resident of the Soviet Union

until about January 4, 1960. Although on November 13 and 16 Oswald

informed Aline Mosby ^^^ and Priscilla Johnson ^^* that he had been

granted permission to remain in the country indefinitely, the diary

indicates that at that time he had been told only that he could remain

"until some solution is found with what to do with me." ^^^ The diary

is more consistent with the letter Oswald wrote to his brother Robert

on December 17, saying that he was then, more than a month after he saw Johnson and Mosby, about to leave his hotel,^^^ and with some later

correspondence with his mother. Oswald mailed a short note to his

mother which she received in Texas on January 5 ; that same day she

mailed a money order to him in Moscow, but it apparently got there too late, because she received it back, unopened, on February 25.^^^ Oswald's conflicting statement to the correspondents also seems rec- oncilable with his very apparent desire to appear important to others.

730-900 0-64— 19 ^"^
Moreover, so long as Oswald continued to stay in a hotel in Moscow,

the inference is that the Soviet authorities had not yet decided to accept him.^^® This inference is supported by information supplied

by the CIA on the handling of other defectors in the Soviet Union.^^^

Thus, the evidence is strong that Oswald waited at least until November 16, when he saw Miss Johnson, and it is probable that he was

required to wait until January 4, a little over 2% months from October 16, before his application to remain in Russia was granted. In

mid-November Miss Johnson asked Oswald whether the Russians were encouraging his defection, to which Oswald responded: "The

Russians are treating it like a legal formality. They don't encourage

you and they don't discourage you." ^^° And, when the Soviet Government finally acted, Oswald did not receive Soviet citizenship, as he had requested, but merely permission to reside in Russia on a yearto-year basis.^^^ Asked to comment upon the length of time, 2 months and 22 days,

that probably passed before Oswald was granted the right to remain

in the Soviet Union, the CIA has advised that "when compared to five other defector cases, this procedure seems unexceptional." ^^^ Similarly, the Department of State reports that its information "indicated

that a 2-month waiting period is not unusual." ^^^ The full response

of the CIA is as follows

:

Oswald said that he asked for Soviet citizenship on 16 October

1959. According to his diary, he received word a month later that he could stay in the USSR pending disposition of his re- quest, but it was another month and a half before he was given

his stateless passport.

WTien compared to five other defector cases, this procedure seems unexceptional. Two defectors from US Army intel- ligence units in West Germany appear to have been given citizen- ship immediately, but both had prior KGB connections and fled as a result of Army security checks. Of the other three cases, one was accepted after not more than five weeks and given a

stateless passport apparently at about the same time. The

second was immediately given permission to stay for a while,

and his subsequent request for citizenship was granted three

months later. The third was allowed to stay after he made

his citizenship request, but almost two months passed before he was told that he had been accepted. Although the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs soon after told the US Embassy that

he was a Soviet citizen, he did not receive his document until

five or six months after initial application. We know of only one case in which an American asked for Soviet citizenship but

did not take up residence in the USSR. In that instance, the

American changed his mind and voluntarily returned to the

United States less than three weeks after he had requested Soviet

citizenship.^

266
The Department of State has commented as follows

:

The files of the Department of State reflect the fact that

Oswald first applied for permission to remain in Russia permanently, or at least for a long period, when he arrived in Moscow,

and that he obtained permission to remain within one or two

months.

A. Is the fact that he obtained permission to stay within this

period of time usual ? Answer—Our information indicates that a two months waiting period is not unusual. In the case of [name withheld] the

Supreme Soviet decided within two months to give Soviet citizenship and he was thereafter, of course, permitted to stay.

B. Can you tell us what the normal procedures are under

similar circimistances ? Answer—It is impossible for us to state any "normal" procedures. The Soviet Government never publicizes the proceedings in these cases or the reasons for its action. Furthermore, it

is, of course, extremely unusual for an American citizen to

defect.^^5 The information relating to Oswald's suicide attempt indicates

that his application to remain in the Soviet Union was probably re- jected about 6 days after his arrival in Moscow. Since the KGB

is the Soviet agency responsible for the initial handling of all defectors,^^^ it seems likely that the original decision not to accept Oswald was made by the KGB. That Oswald was permitted to remain

in Moscow after his release from the hospital suggests that another

ministry of the Soviet Government may have intervened on his

behalf. This hypothesis is consistent with entries in the "Historic

Diary" commenting that the officials Oswald met after his hospital

treatment were different from those with whom he had dealt before.^®^ The most plausible reason for any such intervention may

well have been apprehension over the publicity that would follow

the rejection of a devout convert to the Communist cause. Oswald^s Life in MiTisk.—According to the "Historic Diary" ^^^ and

docmnents received from the Soviet Government,^^^ Oswald

resided in the city of Minsk from January 1960 until June 1962.

Oswald's life in Minsk is the portion of his life concerning

which the least is known. The primary sources of information

are Oswald's own writings and the testimony of Marina Oswald.

Other evidence, however, establishes beyond doubt that Oswald

was in fact located in Minsk on at least two occasions. The

Conmiission has obtained two photographs which were taken by

American tourists in Minsk in August 1961 in which Oswald appears.^°^ The tourists did not know Oswald, nor did they speak

with him; they remembered only that several men gathered near

their car.^^^ (See Kramer Exhibit 1, p. 268.) In addition, Oswald was noticed in Minsk by a student who was traveling with

267
^-2!!:^^

uiVYALD, MAN STANDING ON RIGHT IN FIGURED SHIRT. PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN MINSK, U.S.S.R. BY AN AMERICAN

TOURIST IN AUGUST, 1961. (KRAMER DEPOSITION 1)

268
the University of Michigan band on a tour of Enssia in the

spring of 1961.^^ Oswald corresponded with the American Embassy in Moscow from Minsk,^^^ and wrote letters from Minsk

to his family in the United States.^* Oswald and his wife

have many photographs taken of themselves which show Minsk backgrounds and persons who are identifiable as residents of Minsk.^^^

After he returned to the United States, Oswald conversed about the

city with Kussian-born American citizens who were familiar with it.^^^ Marina Oswald is also familiar with the citj.^^'^ The Commission has

also been able independently to verify the existence in Minsk of many

of the acquaintances of Oswald and his wife whom they said they

knew there.^os (See Commission Exhibits Nos. 1392, 1395, 2606, 2609,

2612 and 2623, pp. 270-271.)

Once he was accepted as a resident alien in the Soviet Union, Oswald was given considerable benefits which ordinary Soviet citizens

in his position in society did not have. The "Historic Diary" recites

that after Oswald was informed that he could remain in the Soviet

Union and was being sent to Minsk he was given 5,000 rubles* ($500)

by the "Red Cross, * * * for expenses." He used 2,200 rubles to pay

his hotel bill, and another 150 rubles to purchase a train ticket. With

the balance of slightly over 2,500 rubles, Oswald felt, according to the

diary, like a rich man.^^^ Oswald did not receive free living quarters,

as the diary indicates the "Mayor" of Minsk promised him,^^^ but about

6 weeks after his arrival he did receive an apartment, very pleasant by

Soviet standards, for which he was required to pay only 60 rubles

($6.00) a month. Oswald considered the apartment "almost rent

free." ^^^ Oswald was given a job in the "Byelorussian Eadio and

Television Factory," where his pay on a per piece basis ranged from

700 to 900 rubles ($70-$90) a month.^^^ According to his wife, this rate of pay was average for people in his occupation but good by

Soviet standards generally.^^^ She explained that piecework rates throughout the Soviet Union have generally grown out of line with

compensation for other j obs.^^* The CIA has confirmed that this condition exists in many areas and occupations in the Soviet Union.^^^ In

addition to his salary, Oswald regularly received 700 rubles ($70) per

month from the Soviet "Eed Cross." ^^® The well-paying job, the

monthly subsidy, and the "almost rent-free" apartment combined to give Oswald more money than he needed. The only complaint re- corded in the "Historic Diary" is that there was "no place to spend

the money." ^^^ The Commission has found no basis for associating Oswald's pre- ferred income with Soviet undercover activity. Marina Oswald testi- fied that foreign nationals are commonly given special treatment in

the Soviet Union,^^^ and the Central Intelligence Agency has con- firmed that it is standard practice in the Soviet Union for Americans

and other foreign defectors from countries with high standards

of living to be "subsidized." ^^^ Apparently it is Soviet practice

About a year after Oswald received this money, the ruble was revalued to about 10 times

its earlier value. 269
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE OSWALDS

IN MINSK, U.S.S.R.

UNCLE VASILY AKSIONOV AND

AUNT LUBOVA AKSIONOVA,

WITH THE OSWALDS

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2623)

OSWALD AND MARINA ON A BRIDGE IN MINSK

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 1392)

MARINA WAITING FOR BUS

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 1395)

270

i.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF OSWALDS

IN U. S. S. R.

ROSA KUZNETSOVA, ELLA GERMAN, LEE HARVEY OSWALD, AND PAVEL GOLOVACHEV

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2609)

OSWALD AND ALFRED (LAST NAME UNKNOWN), ^

A HUNGARIAN FRIEND OF ANITA ZIGER

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2612)

VIEW OVERLOOKING THE SVISLOCH RIVER FROM THE BALCONY OF

THE OSWALDS' APARTMENT

IN MINSK

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2606)

271
to attempt to make life sufficiently pleasant for a foreign defector so that he will not become disillusioned and return to his native country.

The Commission has also assumed that it is customary for Soviet in- telligence agencies to keep defectors under surveillance during their

residence in the Soviet Union, through periodic mterviews of neighbors and associates of the defector.^^o Oswald once mentioned that the

Soviet police questioned his neighbors occasionally."!

Moreover, it is from Oswald's personal writings alone that the Commission has learned that he received supplementary funds from the

Soviet "Red Cross." In the notes he made during the return trip to the United States Oswald recognized that the "Red Cross" subsidy

had nothing to do with the well-known International Red Cross. He

frankly stated that the money was paid to him for having "denounced"

the United States and that it had come from the "MVD." 222 Oswald's papers reveal that the "Red Cross" subsidy was terminated

as soon as he wrote the American Embassy in Moscow in February

1961 asking that he be permitted to retum.223 (See Commission Exhibit No. 25, p. 273.) Marina Oswald's testimony confirmed this;

she said that when she knew Oswald he no longer was receiving the

monthly grant but still retained some of the savings accmiiulated in the months Avhen he had been receiving it.^^* Since she met Oswald in

March and married him in April of 1961, her testimony was consistent with his records.

The nature of Oswald's employment while in Minsk has been ex- amined by the Commission. The factory in which he worked was a

large plant manufacturing electronic parts and radio and television

sets. Marina Oswald has testified that he was an "apprentice machinist" and "ground small metallic parts for radio receivers, on a

lathe." 2^ So far as can be determined, Oswald never straightforwardly described to anyone else in the United States exactly what

his job was in the Soviet Union .^^^ Some of his acquaintances in

Dallas and Fort Worth had the impression that he was disappointed

in having been given a menial job and not assigned to an institution

of higher learning in the Soviet Union.^^^ Marina Oswald confirmed

this and also testified that her husband was not interested in his work

and not regarded at the factory as a very good worker.^^^ The documents furnished to the Commission by the Soviet government were

consistent with her testimony on this point, since they included a re- port from Oswald's superior at the factory which is critical of his

performance on the job.^^^ Oswald's employment and his job per- formance are thus consistent with his known occupational habits in

this country and otherwise afford no ground for suspicion.

Oswald's membership in a hunting club while he was in the Soviet

Union has been a matter of special interest to the Commission. One

Russian emigre testified that this was a suspicious circumstance be- cause no one in the Soviet Union is permitted to own a gun for

pleasure.^^*' The Commission's investigation, however, has established that this is not so. The Central Intelligence Agency has

advised the Commission that hunting societies such as the one to 272
EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH OSWALD NEVER

DELIVERED, WHICH HE PROBABLY WROTE

ABOARD THE SHIP WHILE RETURNING

FROM THE U. S. S. R. WITH HIS FAMILY

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 25) ®

/A-

. ^4^-<U««£«>^^

<>»: j^

273
which Oswald belonged are very popular in the Soviet Union.^^i They

are frequently sponsored by factories for their employees, as was

Oswald's.^^2 Moreover, Soviet citizens (or foreigners residing in the

Soviet Union) are permitted to own shotguns, but not rifles, without

joining a society; all that is necessary is that the gun be registered

at the local militia office immediately after it has been purchased.^^^

Experts from the Central Intelligence Agency have examined Oswald's club membership certificate and gun permit and expressed

the opinion that its terms and numbers are consistent with other in- formation the CIA has about the Soviet Union.^^^ Marina Oswald testified that her husband went hunting only on one

occasion during the time of their marriage.^^^ However, Oswald

apparently joined the Byelorussian Society of Hunters and Fishermen

in the summer of 1960 ^^^ and did not marry until April 30, 1961,^^^ so he could have been more active while he was still a bachelor.

Oswald made no secret of his membership in the hunting club. He

mentioned it on occasion to friends after he returned to the United

States ; ^^^ discussed it at some length in a speech at a Jesuit Seminary

in Mobile, Ala., in the summer of 1962 ; ^^s included it in his correspondence with his brother Robert ; ^^^ and kept his membership certificate ^^^ and gun permit ^^^ until the day he was killed. In view of

these facts, it is unlikely that Oswald's membership in a hunting club was contrived to conceal some sort of secret training. Moreover, the

CIA has informed the Commission that it is in possession of considerable information on the location of secret Soviet training insti- tutions and that it knows of no such institution in or near Minsk

during the time Oswald was there.^*^ Oswald's marriage to Marina Prusakova on April 30, 1961,^** is itself a fact meriting consideration. A foreigner living in Russia cannot

marry without the permission of the Soviet Government.^*^ It seems

unlikely that the Soviet authorities would have permitted Oswald to marry and to take his wife with him to the United States if they were contemplating using him alone as an agent. The fact that he

had a Russian wife would be likely, in their view, to increase any

surveillance under which he would be kept by American security

agencies, would make him even more conspicuous to his neighbors as "an ex-Russian," and would decrease his mobility. A wife's presence

in the United States would also constitute a continuing risk of dis- closure. On the other hand, Marina Oswald's lack of English training

and her complete ignorance of the United States and its customs ^*^ would scarcely recommend her to the Soviet authorities as one member of an "agent team" to be sent to the United States on a diffi- cult and dangerous foreign enterprise.

OswaWs departure from the Soviet Union.—On February 13, 1961,

the American Embassy in Moscow received a letter from Oswald

postmarked Minsk, February 5, asking that he be readmitted to the

United States.^*^ This was the first time that the Embassy had heard

from or about Oswald since November 16, 1959.^*^ The end of the

15-month silence came only a few days after the Department of State

274
in Washington had forwarded a request to the Moscow Embassy on February 1, 1961, informing the Embassy that Oswald's mother was

worried about him, and asking that he get in touch with her if possible.2^^ The simultaneity of the two events was apparently co- incidental. The request from Marguerite Oswald went from Washington to Moscow by sealed diplomatic pouch and there was no

evidence that the seal had been tampered with.^^^ The officer of the

Department of State who carried the responsibility for such matters

has testified that the message was not forwarded to the Russians after

it arrived in Moscow.^^^

Oswald's letter does not seem to have been designed to ingratiate

him with the Embassy officials. It starts by incorrectly implying

that he had written an earlier letter that was not answered, states that he will return to the United States only if he can first "come to some agreement" on there being no legal charges brought against

him, and ends with a reminder to the officials at the Embassy that

they have a responsibility to do everything they can to help him, since

he is an American citizen.^^^ The Embassy's response to this letter was to invite Oswald to come

personally to Moscow to discuss the matter.^^^ Oswald at first protested because of the difficulty of obtaining Soviet permission.^^* He

wrote two more protesting letters during the following 4 months,^^^

but received no indication that the Embassy would allow him to handle

the matter by mail.^^^ While the Department of State was clarifying

its position on this matter,^^^ Oswald unexpectedly appeared in Mos- cow on Saturday, July 8, 1961.^^® On Sunday, Marina Oswald flew to Moscow,^^^ and was interviewed by officials in the American Embassy

on Tuesday.2«o

The Commission asked the Department of State and the Central

Intelligence Agency to comment on whether the Oswalds' travel to Moscow without permission signified special treatment by the Soviet

Union. From their responses, it appears that since Marina Oswald

possessed a Soviet citizen's internal passport, she did not require prior

approval to make the trip.^^i Although Soviet law did require her

husband, as the holder of a "stateless passport," to obtain advance

permission for the trip, his failure to do so would not normally have

been considered a serious violation. In this respect, the CIA has

advised the Commission as follows

:

OSWALD'S travel from Minsk to Moscow and return in July

1961 would normally have required prior authorization. Bearers

of a Soviet "passport for foreigners" {vid na zhitelstov v. SSSR

dlya innostrantsa) are required to obtain travel authorization

from the Visa and Registration Department (OVIR) (or Pass- port Registration Department (PRO) in smaller towns) if they

desire to leave the city (or oblast) where they are domiciled.

This same requirement is believed to apply to persons, such as OSWALD, holding Soviet "stateless passports" {vid na zhitel- stvo V. SSSR dlya lits hez grazhdanstva) . 275
The practicality of even "unauthorized" travel was demonstrated by events related by a United States citizen who defected

in 1960, and subsequently was sent to Kiev to study. After re- patriating this defector told U.S. authorities he had made a total of seven unauthorized trips from Kiev during his stay in the

USSR. He was apprehended on two of his flights and was re- turned to Kiev each time, the second time under escort. On both

occasions he was merely reprimanded by the deputy chief of the

institute at which he was studying. Since Marina had a Soviet

citizen's internal passport there would have been no restrictions

against her making the trip to Moscow.^®^

The answers of the Department of State, together with the Commission's specific questions, are as follows

:

B. Could resident foreigners normally travel in this manner

without first obtaining such permission ? Answer—There are only a few U.S. nationals now living in

the Soviet Union. They include an American Roman Catholic

priest, an American Protestant minister, a number of correspondents, some students and technical advisers to Soviet businesses.

We know that the priest, the minister, the correspondents and

the students must obtain permission from Soviet authorities before taking any trips. The technical advisers notify officials of

their project before they travel and these officials personally

inform the militia.

C. If travel of this type was not freely permitted, do you believe that Oswald normally would have been apprehended during

the attempt or punished after the fact for traveling without

permission ? Ansioer—Based on the information we have, we believe that if Oswald went to Moscow without permission, and this was known

to the Soviet authorities, he would have been fined or reprimanded.

Oswald was not, of course, an average foreign resident. He was

a defector from a foreign country and the bearer of a Soviet

internal "stateless" passport * * * during the time when he was

contemplating the visit to Moscow to come to the Embassy * * * The Soviet authorities probably knew about Oswald's trip even

if he did not obtain advance permission, since in most instances the

Soviet militia guards at the Embassy ask for the documents of

unidentified persons entering the Embassy grounds * * * An American citizen who, with her American citizen husband,

went to the Soviet Union to live permanently and is now trying

to obtain permission to leave, informed the Embassy that she had

been fined for not getting permission to go from Odessa to Moscow

on a recent trip to visit the Embassy.

D. Even if such travel did not have to be authorized, do you

have any information or observations regarding the practicality

of such travel by Soviet citizens or persons in Oswald's status ? 276
Answer—It is impossible to generalize in this area. We understand from interrogations of former residents in the Soviet Union

who were considered "stateless" by Soviet authorities that they were not permitted to leave the town where they resided without

permission of the police. In requesting such permission they were required to fill out a questionnaire giving the reason for

travel, length of stay, addresses of individuals to be visited, etc. Notwithstanding these requirements, we know that at least one

"stateless" person often traveled without permission of the authorities and stated that police stationed at railroad stations

usually spotchecked the identification papers of every tenth

traveler, but that it was an easy matter to avoid such checks.

Finally, she stated that persons who were caught evading the

registration requirements were returned to their home towns by

the police and sentenced to short jail terms and fined. These

sentences were more severe for repeated violations.^®^ When Oswald arrived at the Embassy in Moscow, he met Kichard

E. Snyder, the same person with whom he had dealt in October of

1959.2^* Primarily on the basis of Oswald's interview with Snyder on Monday, July 10, 1961, the American Embassy concluded that Oswald

had not expatriated himself.^"^^ (See app. XV, pp. 752-760.) On the

basis of this tentative decision, Oswald was given back his American passport, which he had surrendered in 1959.^^^ The document was

due to expire in September 1961,^^^ however, and Osw^ald was informed

that its renewal would depend upon the ultimate decision by the Department of State on his expatriation.^^® On July 11, Marina Oswald

was interviewed at the Embassy and the steps necessary for her to obtain an American visa were begun.^^^ In May 1962, after 15 months

of dealings with the Embassy, Oswald's passport was ultimately re- newed and permission for his wife to enter the United States was

granted.^^^

The files on Oswald and his wife compiled by the Depart aent of

State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service contain no

indication of any expert guidance by Soviet authorities in Oswald's

dealings with the Department or the Service. For example, the

letters from Minsk to the Embassy in Moscow,^^^ which are in his

handwriting,^^^ display the arrogant attitude which was characteristic of him both before and after he lived in Russia, and, when com- pared with other letters that were without doubt composed and

written by him,^^^ show about the same low level of sophistication,

fluency, and spelling, ^he Department officer who most frequently

dealt with Oswald when he began negotiations to return to the

United States, Eichard E. Snyder, testified that he can recall nothing

that indicated Oswald was being guided or assisted by a third party

when he appeared at the Embassy in July 1961.^^^ On the contrary,

the arrogant and presumptuous attitude which Oswald displayed in

his correspondence with the Embassy from early 1961 until June

1962,2^5 ^]^en he finally departed from Russia, undoubtedly hindered

277
his attempts to return to the United States. Snyder has testified that

although he made a sincere effort to treat Oswald's application objectively, Oswald's attitude made this very difficult.^'^ In order to leave Russia, it was also necessary for the Oswalds to obtain permission from the Soviet Government. The timing and

circumstances under which the Oswalds obtained this permission

have also been considered by the Commission. Marina Oswald, al- though her memory is not clear on the point, said that she and Oswald

first made their intentions to go to the United States known to Soviet officials in Minsk in May, even before coming to Moscow in

July for the conference at the American Embassy.^^^ The Oswalds'

correspondence with the Embassy and the documents furnished the

Commission by the Soviet Government show that the Oswalds made

a series of formal applications to the Soviets from July 15 to August 21.2^^ Presumably the most difficult question for the Soviet

authorities was whether to allow Marina Oswald to accompany her

husband. She was called to the local passport office in Minsk on December 25, 1961, and told that authority had been received to

issue exit visas to her and Oswald.^^^ Obtaining the permission of

the Soviet Government to leave may have been aided by a conference

which Marina Oswald had, at her own request, with a local MVD official, Colonel Aksenov, sometime in late 1961. She testified that she

applied for the conference at her husband's urging, after he had tried

unsuccessfully to arrange such a conference for himself.^^ She believed that it may have been granted her because her uncle with whom

she had lived in Minsk before her marriage was also an MVD official.-"^ The correspondence with the American Embassy at this time re- flected that the Oswalds did not pick up their exit visas immediately.^®-

On January 11, 1962, Marina Oswald was issued her Soviet exit visa. It was marked valid until December 1, 1962.^^^ The Oswalds did

not leave Russia until June 1962, but the additional delay was caused

by problems with the U.S. Government and by the birth of a child in February.2^^ Permission of the Soviet authorities to leave, once given, was never revoked. Oswald told the FBI in July 1962, shortly after

he returned to the United States, that he had been interviewed by

the MVD twice, once when he first came to the Soviet Union and

once just before he departed.^^^ His wife testified that the second

interview did not occur in Moscow but that she and her husband dealt

with the MVD visa officials frequently in Minsk.^^^

Investigation of the circumstances, including the timing, under

which the Oswalds obtained permission from the Soviet Government

to leave Russia for the United States show that they differed in no

discernible manner from the normal. The Central Intelligence

Agency has informed the Commission that normally a Soviet national

would not be permitted to emigrate if he might endanger Soviet

national security once he went abroad.^" Those persons in possession

of confidential information, for example, would constitute an im278
portant category of such "security risks." Apparently Oswald's

predeparture interview by the MVD was part of an attempt to ascertain whether he or his wife had access to any confidential

information. Marina Oswald's reported interview with the MVD

in late 1961, which was arranged at her request, may have served the same purpose. The Commission's awareness of both interviews

derives entirely from Oswald's and his wife's statements and letters to the American Embassy, which afford additional evidence that the

conferences carried no subversive significance.

It took the Soviet authorities at least 5i/^ months, from about July

15, 1961, until late December, to grant permission for the Oswalds

to leave the country. When asked to comment upon the alleged rapidity of the Oswalds' departure, the Department of State advised the

Commission

:

* * * In the immediate post-war period there were about nfteen marriages in which the wife had been waiting for many years

for a Soviet exit permit. After the death of Stalin the Soviet

Government showed a disposition to settle these cases. In the summer of 1953 permission was given for all of this group of

Soviet citizen wives to accompany their American citizen husbands to the United States. Since this group was given permission to leave the Soviet Union,

there have been from time to time marriages in the Soviet Union

of American citizens and Soviet citizens. With one exception, it is our understanding that all of the Soviet citizens involved have

been given permission to emigrate to the United States after waiting periods which were, in some cases from three to six months

and in others much longer.^^ Both the Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency

compiled data for the Commission on Soviet wives of American citi- zens who received exit visas to leave the Soviet Union, where the rele- vant information was available. In both cases the data were consistent

with the above conclusion of the State Department. The Department

of State had sufficient information to measure the timespan in 14 cases. The Department points out that it has information on the dates of

application for and receipt of Soviet exit visas only on those cases that have been brought to its attention. A common reason for bringing a case to the attention of the Department is that the granting of

the exit visa by the Soviet Union has been delayed, so that the American spouse seeks the assistance of his own government. It therefore

appears that the sampling data carry a distinct bias toward lengthy

waiting periods. Of the 14 cases tested, 6 involve women who applied

for visas after 1953, when the liberalized post-Stalin policy was in

effect. The approximate waiting periods for these wives were, in

decreasing order, 13 months, 6 months, 3 months, 1 month, and 10

days.^^ Of the 11 cases examined by the Central Intelligence Agency

279
in which the time period is known or can be inferred, the Soviet wives

had to wait from 5 months to a year to obtain exit visas.^®^ In his correspondence with the American Embassy and his brother

while he was in Russia,^^^ in his diaryj^^^ and in his conversations

with people in the United States after he retumed,^^^ Oswald claimed

that his wife had been subjected to pressure by the Soviet Government

in an effort to induce her not to emigrate to the United States. In the

Embassy correspondence, Oswald claimed that the pressure had been

so intense that she had to be hospitalized for 5 days for "nervous ex- haustion." ^^* Marina Oswald testified that her husband exaggerated

and that no such hospitalization or "nervous exhaustion" ever

occurred.^^^ However, she did testify that she was questioned on the

matter occasionally and given the impression that her government was not pkased with her decision.^^^ Her aunt and uncle in Minsk did

not speak to her "for a long time" ; she also stated that she was dropped

from membership in the Communist Youth Organization (Komsomol) when the news of her visit to the American Embassy in

Moscow reached that organization.^^^ A student who took Russian

lessons from her in Texas testified that she once referred to the days

when the pressure was applied as "a very horrible time." ^^^ Despite all this Marina Oswald testified that she was surprised that their visas were granted as soon as they were—and that hers was granted at all.^®® This evidence thus indicates that the Soviet authorities, rather than

facilitating the departure of the Oswalds, first tried to dissuade

Marina Oswald from going to the United States and then, when she

failed to respond to the pressure, permitted her to leave without un- due delay. There are indications that the Soviet treatment of another

recent defector who left the Soviet Union to return to the United

States resembled that accorded to the Oswalds.^^ On the basis of all the foregoing evidence, the Commission concluded

that there was no reason to believe that the Oswalds received unusually

favorable treatment in being permitted to leave the Soviet Union.

Associations in the Dallas-Fort Worth Community

The Russian-speahing community.—Shortly after his return from

Russia in June 1962, Oswald and his family settled in Fort Worth,

Tex., where they met a group of Russian-bom or Russian-speaking

persons in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.^^^ The members of this com- munity were attracted to each other by common background, language,

and culture. Many of them were well-educated, accomplished, and

industrious people, several being connected with the oil exploration, production, and processing industry that flourishes in the

Dallas-Fort Worth area.^^ As described more fully in chapter VII

and in appendix XIII, many of these persons assisted the Oswalds

in various ways. Some provided the Oswalds with gifts of such

things as food, clothing, and baby furniture.^°^ Some arranged

appointments and transportation for medical and dental treatment,

and assumed the cost in some instances.^^* When Oswald under280
took to look for employment in Dallas in early October of 1962 and

again when marital difficulties arose between the Oswalds in November

of the same year, Marina Oswald and their child were housed at times

in the homes of various members of the group.^°^ The Commission

has examined the background of many of these individuals and has

thoroughly investigated Oswald's relationship with them.

There is no basis to suppose that Oswald came to Fort Worth upon

his return from Russia for the purpose of establishing contacts with

the Russian-speaking community located in that area. Oswald had

spent several of his grammar-school years in Fort Worth.^°® In 1962,

his brother Robert lived in Fort Worth and his mother resided in

nearby Vernon, Tex. In January of that year, Oswald indicated to American officials in Russia that he intended to stay with his mother

upon his return to the United States ; however, sometime after midFebruary, he received an invitation to stay with R,obert and his

family until he became settled, and he did spend the first several weeks

after his return at Robert's home.^^^ In July, Oswald's mother moved

to Fort Worth and Oswald and his wife and child moved into an

apartment with her.^°® While in that apartment, Oswald located a job in Fort Worth and then rented and moved with his family into an apartment on Mercedes Street.^^^ Upon his arrival in 1962, Oswald did not know any members of the

relatively small and loosely knit Russian-speaking community.^^° Shortly after his arrival Oswald obtained the name of two Russianspeaking persons in Fort Worth from the office of the Texas Employment Commission in that city.^^^ Attempts to arrange a prompt visit with one of them failed.^^^ The second person, Peter Paul Gregory, was a consulting petroleum engineer and part-time Russian-language

instructor at the Fort Worth Public Library. Oswald contacted him

in order to obtain a letter certifying to his proficiency in Russian

and Marina Oswald later tutored his son in the Russian language.®^^

Gregory introduced the Oswalds to George Bouhe and Anna Meller,

both of whom lived in Dallas and became interested in the welfare of

Marina Oswald and her child.^^* Through them, other members of the

Russian community became acquainted with the Oswalds.^^^

The Oswalds met some 30 persons in the Russian-speaking

community, of whom 25 testified before the Commission or its staff

;

others were interviewed on behalf of the Commission.^^^ This range of

testimony has disclosed that the relationship between Lee Harvey

Oswald and the Russian-speaking community was short lived and

generally quite strained.^^'^ During October and November of 1962

Marina Oswald lived at the homes of some of the members of the Russian-speaking community.^^^ She stayed first with Elena Hall while

Oswald was looking for work in Dallas.^^^ In early November, Marina

Oswald and the baby joined Oswald in Dallas, but soon thereafter,

she spent approximately 2 weeks with different Russian-speaking

friends during another separation.^^ Oswald openly resented the

help Marina's "Russian friends" gave to him and his wife and the

efforts of some of them to induce Marina to leave him.^^^ George

281

730-900 0-64—20
Bouhe attempted to dissuade Marina from returning to her husband

in November 1962, and when she rejoined him, Bouhe became dis- pleased with her as well.^^^ Kelations between the Oswalds and the

members of the Russian community had practically ceased by the end

of 1962. Katherine Ford, one of the members of the group, summed

up the situation as it existed at the end of January 1963 : "So it was

rather, sort of, Marina and her husband were dropped at that time,

nobody actually wanted to help. * * *" ^^^ In April of 1963, Oswald left Fort Worth for New Orleans, where

he was later joined by his wife and daughter, and remained until

his trip to Mexico City in late September and his subsequent return

to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in early October of 1963.^^* With only

minor exceptions,^^ there is no evidence that any member of the

Russian-speaking community had further contact with Oswald or

his family after April.^^® In New Orleans, Oswald made no at- tempt to make new Russian-speaking acquaintances for his wife

and there is no evidence that he developed any friendships in that

city.^^^ Similarly, after the return from New Orleans, there seems

to have been no communication between the Oswalds and this group

until the evening of November 22, 1963, when the Dallas Police

enlisted Ilya Mamantov to serve as an interpreter for them in their

questioning of Marina Oswald.^^^

George De Mohrenschildt and his wife, both of whom speak Russian

as well as several other languages, however, did continue to see the

Oswalds on occasion up to about the time Oswald went to New Orleans on April 24, 1963. De Mohrenschildt was apparently the only

Russian-speaking person living in Dallas for whom Oswald had ap- preciable respect, and this seems to have been true even though De

Mohrenschildt helped Marina Oswald leave her husband for a period in November of 1962.^^^ In connection with the relations between Oswald and De !Mohrenschildt, the Commission has considered testimony concerning an event which occurred shortly after Oswald shot at General Walker. The

De Mohrenschildts came to Oswald's apartment on Neely Street for

the first time on the evening of April 13, 1963, apparently to bring an

Easter gift for the Oswald child.^^^ Mrs. De Mohrenschildt testi- fied that while Marina Oswald was showing her the apartment, she saw a rifle with a scope in a closet. Mrs. De Mohrenschildt then

told her husband, in the presence of the Oswalds, that there was a

rifle in the closet.^^^ Mrs. De Mohrenschildt testified that "George,

of course, with his sense of humor—^^Valker was shot at a few days ago, within that time. He said, 'Did you take a pot shot at Walker by any

chance?' " ^^^ At that point, Mr. De Mohrenschildt testified, Oswald

"sort of shriveled, you see, when I asked this question. * * * made

a peculiar face * * * [and] changed the expression on his face" and

remarked that he did targetshooting.^^ Marina Oswald testified that

the De Mohrenschildts came to visit a few days after the Walker inci- dent and that when De Mohrenschildt made his reference to Oswald's

possibly shooting at Walker, Oswald's "face changed, * * * he abnost

282
became speechless." ^^* According to the De Mohrenschildts, Mr.

De Mohrenschildt's remark was intended as a joke, and he had no knowledge of Oswald's involvement in the attack on Walker.^^^

Nonetheless, the remark appears to have created an uncomfortable

silence, and the De Mohrenschildts left "very soon afterwards." They

never saw either of the Oswalds again.^^^ They left in a few days on

a trip to New York City and did not return until after Oswald had

gone to New Orleans.^^^ A postcard from Oswald to De Mohrenschildt was apparently the only contact they had thereafter.^^^ The

De Mohrenschildts left in early June for Haiti on a business venture,

and they were still residing there at the time they testified on April 23,

1964.339 Extensive investigation has been conducted into the background

of both De Mohrenschildts.^*^ The investigation has revealed that

George De Mohrenschildt is a highly individualistic person of varied

interests. He was bom in the Russian Ukraine in 1911 and fled Russia with his parents in 1921 during the civil disorder following the

revolution. He was in a Polish cavalry military academy for 1% years. Later he studied in Antwerp and attended the University of Liege

from which he received a doctor's degree in international commerce

in 1928. Soon thereafter, he emigrated to the United States; he be- came a U.S. citizen in 1949.^*^ De Mohrenschildt eventually became

interested in oil exploration and production ; he entered the University

of Texas in 1944 and received a master's degree in petroleum geology

and petroleum engineering in 1945.^^^ He has since become active as a

petroleum engineer throughout the world.^*^ In 1960, after the death

of his son, he and his wife made an 8-month hike from the L^ited

States-Mexican border to Panama over primitive jungle trails. By

happenstance they were in Guatemala City at the time of the Bay of

Pigs invasion.^** A lengthy film and complete written log was pre- pared by De Mohrenschildt and a report of the trip was made to the

U.S. Government.3*^ LTpon arriving in Panama they journeyed to Haiti where De Mohrenschildt eventually became involved in a Government-oriented business venture in which he has been engaged con- tinuously since June 1963 until the time of this report.^*®

The members of the Dallas-Fort Worth Russian community and

others have variously described De Mohrenschildt as eccentric, out- spoken, and a strong believer in individual liberties and in the U.S.

form of government, but also of the belief that some form of undemocratic government might be best for other peoples.^*^ De Molirenschildt frankly admits his provocative personality.^^^ Jeanne De Mohrenschildt was born in Harbin, China, of White

Russian parents. She left during the war with Japan, coming to New York in 1938 where she became a successful ladies dress and

sportswear apparel designer. She married her present husband in

1959.3«

The Commission's investigation has developed no signs of subversive or disloyal conduct on the part of either of the De Mohrenschildts. Neither the FBI, CIA, nor any witness contacted by the

283
Commission has provided any information linking the De Mohrenschildts to subversive or extremist organizations.^^^ Nor has there

been any evidence linking them in any way with the assassination of

President Kennedy.

The Commission has also considered closely the relations between

the Oswalds and Michael and Ruth Paine of Irving, Tex. The

Paines were not part of the Russian community which has been dis- cussed above. Ruth Paine speaks Russian, however, and for this reason was invited to a party in February of 1963 at which she became

acquainted with the Oswalds.^^^ The host had met the Oswalds

through the De Mohrenschildts.^^^ Marina Oswald and Ruth Paine

subsequently became quite friendly, and Mrs. Paine provided considerable assistance to the Oswalds.^^^ Marina Oswald and her child

resided with Ruth Paine for a little over 2 weeks while Oswald sought

a job in New Orleans in late April and early May 1963.^^* In May,

she transported Marina Oswald to New Orleans, paying all of the

traveling and other expenses.^^^ "Wliile the Oswalds were in New

Orleans, the two women corresponded.^^^ Mrs. Paine came to New

Orleans in late September and took Marina Oswald and her child

to her home in Irving.^^^

Since Oswald left for Mexico City promptly after Mrs. Paine and

his family departed New Orleans,^^^ the Commission has considered

whether Ruth Paine's trip to New Orleans was undertaken to assist Oswald in this venture, but the evidence is clear that it was not. In

her letters to Ruth Paine during the summer of 1963, Marina Oswald

confided that she was having continuing difficulties with her husband,

and Mrs. Paine urged Marina Oswald to live with her in Irving; the

letters of the two women prior to Mrs. Paine's arrival in New Orleans on September 20, 1963, however, contain no mention that Oswald was

planning a trip to Mexico City or elsewhere.^^^ In New Orleans,

Mrs. Paine was told by Oswald that he planned to seek employment in

Houston, or perhaps Philadelphia. Though Marina Oswald knew

this to be false, she testified that she joined in this deception.^^*^ At no

time during the entire weekend was Mexico City mentioned.^^^ Corroboration for this testimony is found in a letter Mrs. Paine wrote

her mother shortly after she and Marina Oswald had returned to Irving on September 24, in which she stated that Marina Oswald

was again living with her temporarily and that Oswald was jobhunting.^^2 AYhen Oswald arrived at the Paine home on October 4, he continued his deception by telling Mrs. Paine, in his wife's presence, that he had been unsuccessful in finding employment.^^^ At Oswald's

request, Marina Oswald remained silent.^^* Marina Oswald lived with Ruth Paine through the birth of her

second daughter on October 20, 1963, and until the assassination of

President Kennedy.^^^ During this period, OsAvald obtained a room

in Dallas and found employment in Dallas, but spent weekends with

his family at the Paine home.^^^ On November 1 and 5, Ruth Paine was interviewed by agents of the FBI who were investigating Oswald's activities since his return from the Soviet Union, as set forth

284
in greater detail in chapter YIII. She did not then know Oswald's

address in Dallas.^^^ She was not asked for, nor did she volunteer,

Oswald's telephone number in Dallas, which she did know,^^^ She

advised the Bureau agent to whom she spoke of Oswald's periodic

weekend visits, and she informed him that Oswald was employed at the Texas School Book Depository Building.^^^

On November 10, Euth Paine discovered a draft of Oswald's let- ter written the day before to the Soviet Embassy in Washingion, in which he indicated that he had journeyed to Mexico City and con- ferred with a "comrade Kostine in the Embassy of the Soviet Union,

Mexico City, Mexico." ^^° (This letter is discussed later in this

chapter.) Mr. and Mrs. Paine testified that although they initially

assumed the letter was a figment of Oswald's imagination, the letter gave Mrs. Paine considerable misgivings.^^^ She determined that if the FBI agents returned she would deliver to them the copy of a draft

of the letter which, unknown to Oswald, she had made.^"^ However,

the agents did not return before the assassination.^^^ On November

19, Mrs. Paine learned that Oswald was living in his Dallas roominghouse under an assumed name.^^* She did not report this to the

FBI because, as she testified, she "had no occasion to see them, and

* * * did not think it important enough to call them after that until

the 23d of November." ^'^ The Commission has thoroughly investigated the background of

both Paines. Mrs. Paine was born Ruth Hyde in New York City on

September 3, 1932. Her parents moved to Columbus, Ohio, in the

late 1930's.^^® They were divorced in 1961.^^^ Ruth Paine graduated from Antioch College in 1955.^^^ While in high school she first became interested in Quaker activities; she and her brother became

Quakers in 1951.^^^ In 1952, following completion of her sophomore

year at Antioch College, she was a delegate to two Friends conferences

in England.^so

At the time the Paines met in 1955, Mrs. Paine was active in the

Avork of the Young Friends Committee of North America, which, with

the cooperation of the Department of State, was making an effort to

lessen the tensions betAveen Soviet Russia and the United States by

means of the stimulation of contacts and exchange of cultures between

citizens of the two nations through "pen-pal" correspondence and

exchanges of young Russians and Americans.^^^ It was during

this period that Mrs. Paine became interested in the Russian language.^^^ Mrs. Paine participated in a Russian-American student ex- change program sponsored by the Young Friends Committee of North

America, and has participated in the "pen-pal" phase of the activities

of the Young Friends Committee.^^^ She has corresponded until

recently with a schoolteacher in Russia.^^* Although her active in- terest in the Friends' program for the lessening of East-West tensions

ceased upon her marriage in December 1957, she has continued to hold

to the tenets of the Quaker faith.^^^ Michael Paine is the son of George Lyman Paine and Ruth Forbes

Paine, now Ruth Forbes Young, wife of Arthur Young of Phila285
delphia, Pa.^®^ His parents were divorced when he was 4 years of

age. His father, George Lyman Paine, is an architect and resides in California.^®^ Michael Paine testified that during his late grammar

and early high school days his father participated actively in the

Trotskyite faction of the Commmiist movement in the United States and that he attended some of those meetings.^^^ He stated that his

father, with whom he has had little contact throughout most of his

life, has not influenced his political thinking. He said that he has

visited his father four or five times in California since 1959, but their

discussions did not include the subject of communism.^^^ Since moving to Irving, Tex., in 1959, he has been a research engineer for Bell

Helicopter Co. in Fort Worth.^^° Mr. Paine has security clearance for

his work.^^^ He has been a long-time member of the American Civil

Liberties Union.^^^ Though not in sympathy with rightist political

aims, he has attended a few meetings of far-right organizations in

Dallas for the purpose, he testified, of learning something about those

organizations and because he "was interested in seeing more communication between the right and the left." ^^^ The Commission has conducted a thorough investigation of the

Paines' finances and is satisfied that their income has been from legitimate and traceable sources, and that their expenditures were consistent

with their income and for normal purposes. Although in the course of

their relationship with the Oswalds, the Paines assumed expenses for

such matters as food and transportation, with a value of approximately $500, they made no direct payments to, and received no moneys

or valuables from, the Oswalds.^^*

Although prior to November 22, Mrs. Paine had information relating

to Oswald's use of an alias in Dallas, his telephone number, and his

correspondence with the Soviet Embassy, which she did not pass on to the FBI,^^^ her failure to have come forward with this information

must be viewed within the context of the information available to her at that time. There is no evidence to contradict her testimony

that she did not then know about Oswald's attack on General Walker,

the presence of the rifle on the floor of her garage, Oswald's ownership of a pistol, or the photographs of Oswald displaying the fire- arms.^^^ She thus assumed that Oswald, though a difficult and disturbing personality, was not potentially violent, and that the FBI was

cognizant of his past history and current activities.^^' Moreover, it is from Mrs. Paine herself that the Commission has

learned that she possessed the information which she did have. INIrs. Paine was forthright with the agent of the FBI with whom she spoke

in early November 1963, providing him with sufficient information to have located Oswald at his job if he had deemed it necessary to do

so,^^® and her failure to have taken immediate steps to notify the

Bureau of the additional information does not under the circumstances appear unusual. Throughout the Commission's investigation,

Kuth Paine has been completely cooperative, voluntarily producing

all correspondence, memoranda, and other written communications in

her possession that had passed between her and Marina Oswald both

286
before and after November 22, 1963.^^^ The Commission has had the

benefit of Mrs. Paine's 1963 date book and calendar and her address

book and telephone notation book, in both of which appear many entries relating to her activities with the Oswalds.*^^ Other material of

a purely personal nature was also voluntarily made available.*°^ The

Commission has found nothing in the Paines' background, activities, or finances which suggests disloyalty to the United States,*°2 and it has concluded that Ruth and Michael Paine were not involved in any

way with the assassination of President Kennedy.

A fuller narrative of the social contacts between the Oswalds

and the various persons of the Dallas-Fort Worth community is incorporated in chapter YII and appendix XIII, and the testimony

of all members of the group who testified before the Commission is included in the printed record which accompanies the report. The

evidence establishes that the Oswalds' contacts with these people were

originated and maintained under normal and understandable cir- cumstances. The files maintained by the FBI contain no information

indicating that any of the persons in the Dallas-Fort Worth com- munity with whom Oswald associated were affiliated with any Communist, Fascist, or other subversive organization.*^^ During the course of this investigation, the Commission has found nothing which suggests the involvement of any member of the Eussian-speaking com- munity in Oswald's preparations to assassinate President Kennedy.

Political Activities Upon Return to the United States Upon his return from the Soviet Union, Oswald had dealings with

the Communist Party, U.S.A., the Socialist Workers Party, and the

Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and he also had minor contacts with

at least two other organizations with political interests. For the purpose of determining whether Oswald received any advice, encouragement, or assistance from these organizations in planning or executing

the assassination of President Kennedy, the Commission has con- ducted a full investigation of the nature and extent of Oswald's rela- tions with them. The Commission has also conducted an investigation

to determine whether certain persons and organizations expressing

hostility to President Kennedy prior to the assassination had any con- nection with Lee Harvey Oswald or with the shooting of the President.

Communist Party^ U.S.A.; Socialist Workers Party.—In August of

1962, Oswald subscribed to the Worker, a publication of the Communist Party, U.S.A.*°* He also wrote the Communist Party to obtain

pamphlets and other literature which, the evidence indicates, were

sent to him as a matter of course.*^^ Oswald also attempted to initiate other dealings with the Communist Party, U.S.A., but the organization was not especially responsive.

From New Orleans, he informed the party of his activities in connection with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, discussed below, submit287
ting membership cards in his fictitious chapter to several part}-

officials.^^ In a letter from Arnold S. Johnson, director of the information and lecture bureau of the party, Oswald ^yas informed that al- though the Communist Party had no "organizational ties" with the

committee, the party issued much literature which was "important

for anybody who is concerned about developments in Cuba." ^°^ In

September 1963 Oswald inquired how he might contact the party

when he relocated in the Baltimore-Washington area, as he said he

planned to do in October, and Johnson suggested in a letter of September 19 that he "get in touch with us here [Xew York] and we will

find some way of getting in touch with you in that city [Baltimore]." ^°^ However, Oswald had also written asking whether, "handicapped as it were, by * * * [his] past record," he could "still * * * compete with antiprogressive forces, above ground or whether in your

opinion * * * [he] should always remain in the background, i.e., underground," and in the September 19 letter received the reply that

"often it is ad^dsable for some people to remain in the background,

not underground." ^°^ In a letter postmarked November 1, Oswald informed the party that

he had moved to Dallas, and reported his attendance at a meeting at which General Walker had spoken, and at a meeting of the American

Civil Liberties Union: he asked Johnson for the party's "general

view" of the latter organization and "to what degree, if any, [he]

should attempt to highten its progressive tendencies." According to Johnson, this letter was not received by the Communist Party until

after the assassination.*^^ At different times, Oswald also wrote the

Worker and the Hall-Davis Defense Committee, enclosing samples of

his photographic work and offering to assist in preparing posters ; he was told that "his kind offer [was] most welcomed and from time to time we shall call on you," but he was never asked for assistance.*^^ The correspondence between Oswald and the Communist Party, and

with all other organizations, is printed in the record accompanying

this report.

When Oswald applied for a visa to enter Cuba during his trip to

IVIexico City, discussed below,*^^ Senora Silvia Duran, the Cuban

consular employee who dealt with Oswald, wrote on the application

that Oswald said he was a member of the Communist Party and

that he had "displayed documents in proof of his membership." *^^ When Oswald went to Mexico, he is believed to have carried

his letters from .the Soviet Embassy in Washington and from

the Communist Party in the United States, his 1959 passport,

which contained stamps showing that he had lived m Russia for 2%

years, his Russian work permit, his Russian marriage certificate, membership cards and newspaper clippings purporting to show his role in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and a prepared statement of

his qualifications as a "Marxist." *^* Because of the mass of papers

Oswald did present showing his affinity for communism, some m the

Russian language, which was foreign to Senora Duran, and because

further investigation, discussed below, indicated that Oswald was not

288
a member of the party, Senora Duran's notation was probably

inaccurate.

Upon his arrest after the assassination, Oswald attempted to contact John J. Abt, a N'ew York attorney, to request Abt to represent him. Abt was not in New York at the time, and he was

never reached in connection with representing Oswald. Abt has

testified that he at no time had any dealings with Oswald and that

prior to the assassination he had never heard of Lee Harvey Oswald.*^^

After his return from the Soviet Union, Oswald a"! so carried on a limited correspondence with the Socialist Workers Party. In October of 1962 he attempted to join the party, but his application was not accepted since there was then no chapter in the Dallas area.*^^ Oswald also wrote the Socialist Workers Party offering his assistance

in preparing posters. From this organization too he received the

response that he might be called upon if needed. He was asked for

further information about his photographic skills, which he does not

appear to have ever provided.*^^ Oswald did obtain literature from

the Socialist Workers Party, however, and in December 1962 he en- tered a subscription to the affiliated publication, the Militant.*^^ Apparently in March of 1963 Oswald wrote the party of his activities and

submitted a clipping with his letter. In response, he was told that

his name was being sent to the Yomig Socialist Alliance for further

correspondence, but the files of the alliance apparently contain no

reference to Oswald. Neither the letter nor the clipping which Oswald

sent has been located.*^^ Investigation by the Commission has produced no plausible evidence

that Lee Harvey Oswald had any other significant contacts with the

Communist Party, U.S.A., the Socialist Workers Party, or with any

other extreme leftist political organization. The FBI and other

Federal security agencies have made a study of their records and

files and contacted numerous confidential informants of the

agencies and have produced no such evidence.*^^ The Commission

has questioned persons who, as a group, knew Oswald during virtually

every phase of his adult life, and from none of these came any indication that Oswald maintained a surreptitious relationship with any

organization. Arnold S. Johnson, of the American Communist Party

;

James T. Tormey, executive secretary of the Hall-Davis Defense

Committee; and Farrell Dobbs, secretary of the Socialist Workers

Party, voluntarily appeared before the Commission and testified under

oath that Oswald was not a member of these organizations and that a thorough search of their files had disclosed no records relating to Oswald other than those which they produced for the Commission.*^^

The material that has been disclosed is in all cases consistent with

other data in the possession of the Commission.

Socialist Labor Party.—Oswald also wrote to the Socialist Labor

Party in New York in November 1962 requesting literature. Horace

Twiford, a national committeeman at large for the party in the State

of Texas, was informed by the New York headquarters in July 1963

289
of Oswald's request, and on September 11, 1963, he did mail literature to Oswald at his old post office box in Dallas.^^^ On his way to Mexico

City in September 1963, Oswald attempted to contact Twiford at his

home in Houston ; Oswald spoke briefly with Twiford's wife, identifying himself as a member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, but

since Twiford was out of town at the time, Oswald was unable to speak

with him.^2^ Arnold Peterson, national secretary and treasurer of the

Socialist Labor Party, has stated that a search of the records of the

national headquarters reveals no record pertaining to Oswald ; he ex- plained that letters requesting literature are routinely destroyed.^^*

The Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation has also advised

that a review of its records fails to reflect any information or cor- respondence pertaining to Oswald.^^^

Fair Play for Cuba Committee.—During the period Oswald was

in New Orleans, from the end of April to late September 1963, he was engaged in activity purportedly on behalf of the now defunct Fair

Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC), an organization centered in New

York which was highly critical of U.S. policy toward the Cuban

Government under Fidel Castro. In May 1963, after having obtained

literature from the FPCC,*^^ Oswald applied for and was granted

membership in the organization.*^^ ^Ylien applying for membership,

Oswald wrote national headquarters that he had

* * * been thinking about renting a small office at my own ex- pense for the purpose of forming a F.P.C.C. branch here in New

Orleans.

Could you give me a charter ? ^^s With his membership card, Oswald apparently received a copy of the

constitution and bylaws for FPCC chapters, and a letter, dated May

29, which read in part as follows (with spelling as in original) :

It would be hard to concieve of a chapter with as few

members as seem to exist in the New Orleans area. I have just

gone throu2:h our files and find that Louisiana seams somewhat

restricted for Fair Play activities. However, with what is there

perhaps you could build a larger group if a few people would

undertake the disciplined responsibility of concrete organizational

work.

We certainly are not at all adverse to a very small Chapter but

certainly would expect that there would be at least twice the

amount needed to conduct a legal executive board for the Chapter. Should this be reasonable we could readily issue a charter

for a New Orleans Chapter of FPCC. In fact, we would be

very, very pleased to see this take place and would like to do

everything possible to assist in bringing it about.

290
You must realize that you will come under tremendous pres- sures with any attempt to do FPCC work in that area and that

you will not be able to operate in the manner which is conventional here in the north-east. Even most ,of our big city Chapters have been forced to Abandon the idea of operating an office in public. * * * Most Chapters have discovered that it is easier to operate semi-privately out of a home and maintain a P.O.

Box for all mailings and public notices. (A P.O. B,ox is a must

for any Chapter in the organization to guamatee th^ con- tinued contact with the national even if an individual should move or drop out.) We do have a serious and often violent opposition and this proceedure helps prevent many unnecessary incidents

which frighten away prospective supporters. I definitely would

not recommend an office, at least not one that will be easily identifyable to the lunatic fringe in your community. Certainly, I would not recommend that you engage in one at the very beginning but wait and see how you can operate in the community

through several public experiences.*^^

Thereafter Oswald informed national headquarters that he had opened

post office box No. 30061, and that against its advice he had decided "to take an office from the very beginning"; he also submitted copies

of a membership application form and a circular headed "Hands Off

Cuba !" which he had had printed, and informed the headquarters

that he intended to have membership cards for his chapter printed,

which he subsequently did.*^° He wrote three further letters to the

New York office to inform it of his continued activities.*^^ In one he

reported that he had been evicted from the office he claimed to have

opened, so that he "worked out of a post office box and by useing street demonstrations and some circular work * * * sustained a great deal of

interest but no new members." *^^ Oswald did distribute the handbills he had printed on at least three

occasions.*^^ Once, while doing so, he was arrested and fined for

being involved in a disturbance with anti- Castro Cuban refugees,*^* one of whom he had previously met by presenting himself as hostile to Premier Castro in an apparent effort to gain information about antiCastro organizations operating in New Orleans.*^^ When arrested, he

informed the police that his chapter had 35 members.*^^ His activities

received some attention in the New Orleans press, and he twice appeared on a local radio program representing himself as a spokesman

for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.*^^ After his return to Dallas,

he listed the FPCC as an organization authorized to receive mail at

his post office box.*^^ Despite these activities, the FPCC chapter which Oswald purportedly formed in New Orleans was entirely fictitious. Vincent T.

Lee, formerly national director of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee,

has testified that the New York office did not authorize the creation

of a New Orleans chapter, nor did it provide Oswald with funds

to support his activities there.*^^ The national office did not write

291
Oswald a^ain after its letter of May 29. As discussed more fully in

chapter VII, Oswald's later letters to the national office purporting to inform it of his progress in New Orleans contained numerous exaggerations about the scope of his activities and the public reaction to them.**° There is no evidence that Oswald ever opened an office as he

claimed to have done. Although a pamphlet taken from him at the

time of his arrest in New Orleans contains the rubber stamp imprint

"FPCC, 544 CA:MP ST., NEW ORLEANS, LA.," investigation has

indicated that neither the Fair Play for Cuba Committee nor Lee Harvey Oswald ever maintained an office at that adclress.^*^ The handbills

and other materials bearing the name of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee were printed commercially by Oswald without the approval of

the national headquarters.^*" Oswald's membership card in the "New

Orleans chapter" of the committee carried the signature of "A. J. Hidell," purportedly the president of the chapter, but there is no

evidence that an "A. J. Hidell" existed and, as pointed out in chapter

IV, there is conclusive evidence that the name was an alias which

Oswald used on various occasions. Marina Oswald herself wrote the

name "Hidell" on the membership card at her husband's insistence.*^^ No other member of the so-called New Orleans chapter of the committee has ever been found. The only occasion on which anyone other

than Oswald was obser^^ed taking part in these activities was on August 9, 1963, when Oswald and two young men passed out leaflets urging "Hands Off Cuba!" on the streets of New Orleans. One of

the two men, who was 16 years old at the time, has testified that Oswald

approached him at the Louisiana State Employment Commission and

offered him $2 for about an hour's work. He accepted the offer but

later, when he noticed that television cameras were being focused on

him, he obtained his money and left. He testified that he had never

seen Oswald before and never saw him again. The second individual

has never been located; but according to the testimony of the youth

who was found, he too seemed to be someone not previously connected

with Oswald.*** Finally, the FBI has advised the Commission that its information on undercover Cuban activities in the New Orleans area

reveals no knowledge of Oswald before the assassination.**^

Right-wing groups hostile to President Kennedy.—The Commission also considered the possibility that there may have been

a link between Oswald and certain groups which had bitterly denounced President Kennedy and his policies prior to the time of the

President's trip to Dallas. As discussed in chapter II, two provocative incidents took place concurrently with President Kennedy's visit and a third but a month prior thereto. The incidents were (1) the

demonstration against the Honorable Adlai E. Stevenson, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, in late October 1963, when he came

to Dallas on United Nations Day; (2) the publication in the Dallas

Morning News on November 22 of the full page, black-bordered ^^aid advertisement entitled, "Welcome Mr. Kennedy"; and (3) the dis- tribution of a throwaway handbill entitled "Wanted for Treason"

throughout Dallas on November 20 and 21. Oswald was aware of

292
the Stevenson incident ; there is no evidence that he became aware of

either the "AVelcome Mr. Kennedy" advertisement or the "Wanted

for Treason" handbill, though neither possibility can be precluded.

The only evidence of interest on Oswald's part in rightist groups

in Dallas was his alleged attendance at a rally at the Dallas Auditorium the evening preceding Ambassador Stevenson's address on

United Nations Day, October 24, 1963. On the evening of October 25,

1963, at the invitation of Michael Paine, Oswald attended a monthly

meeting of the Dallas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union

in which he was later to seek membership.^^^ During the course of

the discussion at this meeting, a speaker mentioned Maj. Gen. Edwin

A. Walker (Resigned, U.S. Army) . Oswald arose in the midst of the

meeting to remark that a "night or two nights before" he had attended

a meeting at which General Walker had spoken in terms that led

Oswald to assert that General Walker was both anti-Catholic and

anti-Semitic.**^ General Walker testified that he had been the speaker

at a rally the night before Ambassador Stevenson's appearance, but

that he did not know and had never heard of Oswald prior to the

announcement of his name on radio and television on the afternoon of

November 22.*** Oswald confirmed his attendance at the U.S. Day

rally in an undated letter he wrote to Arnold Johnson, director of the

information and lecture bureau of the Communist Party, mailed

November 1, 1963, in which he reported

:

On October 23rd, I had attended a ultra-right meeting headed

by General Edwin a. Walker, who lives in Dallas.

This meeting preceded by one day the attack on a. e. Stevenson

at the United Nations Day meeting at which he spoke.

As you can see, political friction between 'left' and 'right' is very great here.**^ In the light of Oswald's attack upon General Walker on the evening

of April 10, 1963, discussed in chapter IV,*^^ as well as Oswald's known

political views,*^^ his asserted attendance at the political rally at which

General Walker spoke may have been induced by many possible

motives. However, there is no evidence that Oswald attended any

other rightist meetings or was associated with any politically conservative organizations.

Wliile the black-bordered "Welcome Mr. Kennedy" advertisement

in the November 22 Dallas Morning News, which addressed a series

of critical questions to the President, probably did not come to Oswald's attention, it was of interest to the Commission because of

its appearance on the day of the assassination and because of an al- legation made before the Commission concerning the person whose name appeared as the chairman of the committee sponsoring the advertisement. The black-bordered advertisement was purported to be

sponsored by "The American Fact-Finding Committee," which was

described as "An unaffiliated and nonpartisan group of citizens who

wish truth." Bernard Weissman was listed as "Chairman" and a 293
WELCOME MR. KENNEDY

TO DALLAS...

... A CITY ,0 diiqrsced by » r.cerrl Ubwtl (m««r •tt.mp* tt-jf ih citiuni K.v. jost .I*c4«l S.O niOf» Corwr..t.«t Airxricnt ... A CITY tha« Is an economic "boom town. ' nof bocwu of Pod«r>l kjndouts. but ttrouqh cerarrttly, ocoxom^ and bu>W<*ii ... A CITY |h«) .ID eontlnu. to grow •fld prcnpv 6npH» .WoHi by you and your «dmin!itr«tlo<i to ponalin it fof i+i non-coirfo

• • . A \^\ I T *hat rtjected your pHitosopf^y and poTicioi in I960 «n^ wH do so again in 1964—ovon mora ampiiaticaly **«an batora. ArlK. ixtNNfcUT , despi+e contentions on the part of your administration, the State Department, the Mayor

of Dallas, the Dallas City Council, and members of your party, we free-thinking and America-thinlting citiiens of Dallas

still have, through a Constitution largely ignored by you, the right to address our grievances, to question you, to dis- agree with you, and to criticize you.

In asserting this constitutional right, we wish to ask you publicly the following questions—indeed, questions of paramount

importance and interest to all free peoples everywhere—which we trust you will answer ... in public, without sophistry. These questions are:

Uyiiy is Latin America turning either anti-American or Communistic, or both, despite increased U. S. foreign aid, State ''" * Department policy, and your own Ivy-Tower pronouncements? UlUy do you say we have built a "wall of freedom" around Cuba when there is no freedom in Cuba today? Because **" ' of your policy, thousands of Cubans have been imprisoned, are starving and being persecuted —with thousands

already murdered and thousands more awaiting execution and, in addition, the entire population of almost 7,000,000 Cubans are living in slavery. WHY ^^^^ y" approved the sale of wheat and corri to our enemies when you know the Communist "" ' soldiers "travel on their stomachs" just as ours do? Communist soldiers are daily wounding and or killing American .soldiers in SoUitH Viet Nam. lUUY did you host, salute and entertain Tito — Moscow's Trojan Horse — just a short time after our sworn '*'* * enemy, Khrushchev, embraced the Yugoslav dictator as a great hero and leader of Communism? UlUy have you urged greater aid, comfort, recognition, and understanding for Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, and "" • other Communist countries, while turning your back on the pleas of Hungarian, East German, Cuban and other anti-Communist freedom fighters? WHY '^''^ Cambodia kick the U.S. out of Its country after we poured nearly 400 Million Dollars of aid into its ultra- **" *

leftist government? UtUy has Gus Hall, head of the U.S. Communist Party praised almost every one of your policies and announced that "** ' the party will endorse and support your re-election in 1964? WHY ^^^® y°" ''^""^'^ ^^^ showing at U.S. military bases of the film "Operation Abolition"—the movie by the House

^''* ' Committee on Un-American Activities exposing Communism in America? UfUy have you ordered or permitted your brother Bobby, the Attorney General, to go soft on Communists, feilow- "»» '

travelers, and ultra-leftists in America, while permitting him to persecute loyal Americans who criticize you, your

administration, and your leadership? yuyy are you in favor of the U.S. continuing to give economic aid to Argentina, in spite of that fact that Argentina has "" ' just seized almost 400 Million Dollars of American private property? WHY ^^^ ^^® Foreign Policy of the United States degenerated to the point that the C.I. A. is arranging coups and hav. WHY

ing staunch Anti-Communist Allies of the U.S. bloodily exterminated.

have you scrapped the Monroe Doctrine in favor of the "Spirit of Moscow"? MR. KENNEDY, as citizens of these United States of America, we DEMAND answers to these questions, and we want them NOW. THE AMERICAN FACT-FINDING COMMITTEE

"An unttffiliafed and non- partisan group of citizens who wish fruth" BERNARD WEISSMAN,

Chairman

P.O. Box 1792 -Dallas 21, Texas

Commission Exhibit No. 1031 294
post office box in Dallas was the only address. (See Commission

Exhibit No. 1031, p. 294.)

The Commission has conducted a full investigation into the genesis

of this advertisement and the background of those responsible for it. Three of the four men chiefly responsible, Bernard W. Weissman, William B. Burley III, and Larrie H. Schmidt, had served together in

the U.S. Army in Munich, Germany, in 1962. During that time

they had with others devised plans to develop two conservative or- ganizations, one political and the other business. The political

entity was to be named Conservatism—USA, or CUSA, and the busi- ness entity was to be named American Business, or AMBUS.*^^ '\^niile

in Munich, according to Weissman, they attempted to develop in their

"own minds * * * ways to build up various businesses that would support us and at the same time support our political activities." *^^ According to a subsequent letter from Schmidt to Weissman, "Cusa was

founded for patriotic reasons rather than for personal gain—even

though, as a side effect, Ambus was to have brought great return, as any business endeavor should." *^* To establish their organizations,

Weissman testified that they

:

* * * had planned while in Munich that in order to accomplish our goals, to try to do it from scratch would be almost impossible,

because it would be years before we could even get the funds

to develop a powerful organization. So we had planned to

infiltrate various rightwing organizations and by our own ef- forts become involved in the hierarchy of these various organizations and eventually get ourselves elected or appointed to various

higher offices in these organizations, and by doing this bring in some of our own people, and eventually take over the leadership

of these organizations, and at that time having our people in

these various organizations, we would then, you might say, call a conference and have them unite, and while no one knew of the

existence of CUSA aside from us, we would then bring them all together, unite them, and arrange to have it called CUSA.^^

Schmidt was the first to leave the service; settling in Dallas in

October 1962, he became a life insurance salesman and quickly engaged

in numerous political activities in pursuit of the objectives devised in

Munich.^ He became affiliated with several organizations and pre- pared various political writings.*^^

Upon their release from the military, Weissman and Burley did not

immediately move to Dallas, though repeatedly urged to do so by

Schmidt.^^ On October 1, 1963, Schmidt wrote Weissman: "Adlai

Stevenson is scheduled here on the 24th on UN Day. Kennedy is scheduled in Dallas on Nov. 24th. There are to be protests. All the

big things are happening note—if we don't get in right now we may

as well forget it."^^^ The day of the Stevenson demonstration,

Schmidt telephoned Weissman, again urging him to move to Dallas.

Recalling that conversation with Schmidt, Weissman testified: 295
And he said, "If we are going to take advantage of the situation * * * you better hurry down here and take advantage of the

publicity, and at least become known among these various rightwingers, because this is the chance we have been looking for to

infiltrate some of these organizations and become known," in other

words, go along with the philosophy we had developed in

Munich.*6o

Five days later he wrote to Weissman and Burley to report that as the "only organizer of the demonstration to have publicly identified

himself," he had "become, overnight, a 'fearless spokesman' and 'leader' of the rightwing in Dallas. What I worked so hard for in one year

and nearly failed—finally came through one incident in one night!"

He ended, "Politically, CUSA is set. It is now up to you to get

Ambus going." *^^ Weissman and Burley accepted Schmidt's prompting and traveled

to Dallas, arriving on November 4, 1963.^^^ Both obtained employment as carpet salesmen. At Schmidt's solicitation they took steps to join the John Birch Society, and through Schmidt they met the fourth

person involved in placing the November 22 advertisement, Joseph P. Grinnan, Dallas independent oil operator and a John Birch Society

coordinator in the Dallas arca.*^^ Within a week to 10 days after Weissman and Burley had arrived in

Dallas, the four men began to consider plans regarding President

Kennedy's planned visit to Dallas.^*^^ Weissman explained the reason

for which it was decided that the ad should be placed

:

* * * after the Stevenson incident, it was felt that a demonstration would be entirely out of order, because we didn't want anything to happen in the way of physical violence to President

Kennedy when he came to Dallas. But we thought that the conservatives in Dallas—I was told—were a pretty downtrodden lot after that, because they were being oppressed by the local liberals,

because of the Stevenson incident. We felt we had to do something to build up the morale of the conservative element, in

Dallas. So we hit upon the idea of the ad.*^^ Weissman, Schmidt, and Grinnan worked on the text for the advertisement.*^® A pamphlet containing 50 questions critical of American

policy was employed for this purpose, and was the source of the mili- tant questions contained in the ad attacking President Kennedy's

administration.*®^ Grinnan undertook to raise the $1,465 needed to pay for the ad.*®^ He employed a typed draft of the advertisement

to support his funds solicitation.*®^ Grinnan raised the needed money

from three wealthy Dallas businessmen: Edgar E. Crissey, Nelson

Bunker Hunt, and H. R. Bright, some of whom in turn collected

contributions from others.*'^^ At least one of the contributors would

not make a contribution imless a question he suggested was inserted. ^^^ Weissman, believing that Schmidt, Grinnan, and the contributors were
active members of the John Birch Society, and that Grinnan eventually took charge of the project, expressed the opinion that the advertisement was the creation of the John Birch Society,^^^ though

Schmidt and Grinnan have maintained that they were acting "solely

as individuals." *^^ A fictitious sponsoring organization was invented out of whole

cloth.*''* The name chosen for the supposed organization was The

American Fact-Finding Committee.*^^ This was "Solely a name,"

Weissman testified ; "* * * As a matter of fact, when I went to place

the ad, I could not remember the name * * * I had to refer to a piec^

of paper for the name." *^^ Weissman's own name was used on the ad

in part to counter charges of anti-Semitism which had been leveled

against conservative groups in Dallas.*^^ Weissman conceived the

idea ,of using a black border,*^^ and testified he intended it to serve the

function of stimulating reader attention.*^^ Before accepting the

advertisement, the Dallas Morning News apparently submitted it to

its attorneys for their opinion as to whether its publication might

subject them to liability.*^^ Weissman testified that the advertisement drew 50 or 60 mailed

responses.*^^ He took them from the post office box early on Sunday

morning, ISTovember 24.*^^ He said that those postmarked before the

attack on President Kennedy were "favorable" in tone ; *^^ those of

later postmark were violently unfavorable, nasty, and threatening ; *^* and, according to a report from Schmidt, those postmarked some

weeks later were again of favorable tone.*^^ The four promoters of the ad deny that they had any knowledge of

or familiarity with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to November 22, or Jack

Ruby prior to November 24.*^^ Each has provided a statement iof his

role in connection with the placement of the November 22 advertisement and other matters, and investigation has revealed no deception.

The Commission has found no evidence that any of these persons was

comiected with Oswald or Ruby, or was linked to a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy.

The advertisement, however, did give rise to one allegation con- cerning Bernard Weissman which required additional investigation.

On March 4, 1964, Mark Lane, a New York attorney, testified before

the Commission that an undisclosed informant had told him that

Weissman had met with Jack Ruby and Patrolman J. D. Tippit at Ruby's Carousel Club on November 14, 1963. Lane declined to

state the name of his informant but said that he would attempt to obtain his informant's permission to reveal his name.**^ On July 2, 1964, after repeated requests by the Commission that he disclose the name of his informant. Lane testified a second time concerning this

matter, but declined to reveal the information, stating as his reason

that he had promised the individual that his name would not be re- vealed without his permission.^®^ Lane also made this allegation during a radio appearance, whereupon Weissman twice demanded that

Lane reveal the name of the informant.*^^ As of the date of this

report Lane has failed to reveal the name of his informant and has

297

730-900 0-64—21
oflFered no evidence to support his allegation. The Commission has

investigated the allegation of a Weissman-Ruby-Tippit meeting and

has found no evidence that such a meeting took place anywhere at any time. The investigation into this matter is discussed in a later section of this chapter dealing with possible conspiracies involving

Jack Ruby.

A comparable incident was the appearance of the "Wanted for

Treason" handbill on the streets of Dallas 1 to 2 days before President

Kennedy's arrival. These handbills bore a reproduction of a front

and profile photograph of the President and set forth a series of in- flammatory charges against him.^^^ Efforts to locate the author and

the lithography printer of the handbill at first met with evasive

responses *^^ and refusals to furnish information.^^^ Robert A. Surrey was eventually identified as the author of the handbill.*^^ Surrey,

a 38-year-old printing salesman employed by Johnson Printing Co.

of Dallas, Tex., has been closely associated with General Walker

for several years in his political and business activities.*®* He is president of American Eagle Publishing Co. of Dallas, in which he is a partner with General Walker.*®^ Its office and address is the post office box of Johnson Printing Co. Its assets consist of cash and various

printed materials composed chiefly of General Walker's political and

promotional literature,*®^ all of which is stored at General Walker's

headquarters.*®^

Surrey prepared the text for the handbill and apparently used

Johnson Printing Co. facilities to set the type and print a proof.*®®

Surrey induced Klause, a salesman employed by Lettercraft Printing

Co. of Dallas,*®® whom Surrey had met when both were employed at Johnson Printing Co.,^°^ to print the handbill "on the side." ^°^ According to Klause, Surrey contacted him initially approximately 2 or

21/^ weeks prior to November 22.^°^ About a week prior to November

22, Surrey delivered to Klause two slick paper magazine prints of

photographs of a front view and profile of President Kennedy,^^^ together with the textual page proof.^"^ Klause was unable to make

the photographic negative of the prints needed to prepare the photographic printing plate,^°^ so that he had this feature of the job done

at a local shop.^*^® Klause then arranged the halftone front and profile representations of President Kennedy at the top of the textual

material he had received from Surrey so as to simulate a "man wanted"

police placard. He then made a photographic printing plate of the

picture.^^^ During the night, he and his wife surreptitiously prmted

approximately 5,000 copies on Lettercraft Printing Co. offset printing

equipment without the knowledge of his employers.^°® The next day

he arranged wath Surrey a meeting place, and delivered the handbills.^^® Klause's charge for the printing of the handbills was, in- cluding expenses, $60.^^°

At the outset of the investigation Klause stated to Federal agents

that he did not know the name of his customer, whom he incorrectly

described ; "^ he did say, however, that the customer did not resemble

either Oswald or Ruby.^^^ Shortly before he appeared before the

298
Commission, Klause disclosed Surrey's identity.^^^ He explained that no record of the transaction had been made because "he saw a chance

to make a few dollars on the side." ^^* Klause's testimony receives some corroboration from Bernard Weissman's testimony that he saw a copy of one of the "Wanted for Treason"

handbills on the floor of General Walker's station wagon shortly after

November 22.^^^ Other details of the manner in which the handbills were printed have also been verified.^^^ Moreover, Weissman testified that neither he nor any of his associates had anything to do with the

handbill or were acquainted with Surrey, Klause, Lettercraft Printing Co., or Johnson Printing Co.^^^ Klause and Surrey, as well as General Walker, testified that they were unacquainted with Lee Harvey Oswald and had not heard of him prior to the afternoon of November 22.^^^ The Commission has found no evidence of any connection

between those responsible for the handbill and Lee Harvey Oswald or the assassination.

Contacts With the Cuban and Soviet Embassies in Mexico City and

the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Eight weeks before the assassination, Oswald traveled to Mexico

City where he visited both the Cuban and Soviet Embassies.* Oswald's wife knew of this trip before he went,^^^ but she denied

such knowledge until she testified before the Commission.^^ The Commission undertook an intensive investigation to determine Oswald's

purpose and activities on this journey, with specific reference to re- ports that Oswald was an agent of the Cuban or Soviet Governments.

As a result of its investigation, the Commission believes that it has

been able to reconstruct and explain most of Oswald's actions during

this time. A detailed chronological account of this trip appears in

appendix XIII.

Trif to Mexico.—Oswald was in Mexico from September 26, 1963,

until October 3, 1963.^21 (g^^ Commission Exhibits Nos. 2478, 2481, p. 300.) Marina Oswald testified that Oswald had told her that the purpose of the trip was to evade the American prohibition on travel to Cuba and to reach that country.^^^ He cautioned her that the trip and

its purpose were to be kept strictly secret.^^^ She testified that he had

earlier laid plans to reach Cuba by hijacking an airliner flying out of

New Orleans, but she refused to cooperate and urged him to give it up,

which he finally did.^^* Witnesses who spoke with Oswald while he was on a bus going to Mexico City also testified that Oswald told

them he intended to reach Cuba by way of Mexico, and that he hoped

to meet Fidel Castro after he arrived.^^^ When Oswald spoke to the Cuban and Soviet consular officials in Mexico City, he repre-*

sented that he intended to travel to the Soviet Union and requested

*The Soviet Embassy in Mexico City includes consular as well as diplomatic personnel

in a single building. The Cuban Embassy and Cuban Consulate in Mexico City, though in separate buildings, are in the same compound. Both the Soviet and the Cuban establish- ments will be referred to throughout the report simply as Embassies.
OSWALD'S MEXICAN TOURIST

CARD AND APPLICATION

ite«i eoti«t*tt

txmxu* nt: tj.os ». «. Of. "^ ^^ft^ ?JU\—.. ^ L&att» it^wmmJLM^m^lm^m,^

APPLICATION FOR

TOURIST CARD

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2481)

eSTAOOS UNIOO* MEXICANOS SECRETARIA DE COBERNAOON

OR.GINAL NO 24085

YALTPA P«?R 1? P^^

BUENA PAHA UN SOLO VIAJE PP»-*3^B«»i.«AS 2M

Apeiudo. , >«-*« IMt HAIW^I OSWALD

POTOGBAFO ^ _ 23 A:,0S E»todo c^i * -

Oocumenio con •) qua ocredi«a tji -Kjoonali^a* ACTA HACIMISNTO ^^-Cl^ ^W-^^^-^

TOURIST CARD 4

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2478)

300
an "in-transit" Cuban visa to permit him to enter Cuba on September 30 on the way to the Soviet Union. Marina Oswald has

testified that these statements were deceptions designed to get him to Cuba.^^ Thus, although it is possible that Oswald intended to con- tinue on to Eussia from Cuba, the evidence makes it more likely that

he intended to remain in Cuba.^^^

Oswald departed from New Orleans probably about noon on September 25 and arrived in Mexico City at about 10 a.m. on September 27.^2^ In Mexico City he embarked on a series of visits to the

Soviet and Cuban Embassies, which occupied most of his time during

the first 2 days of his visit. At the Cuban Embassy, he requested an "in-transit" visa to permit him to visit Cuba on his way to the

Soviet Union.^^ Oswald was informed that he could not obtain

a visa for entry into Cuba unless he first obtained a visa to enter the U.S.S.E.,^^° and the Soviet Embassy told him that he could not

expect an answer on his application for a visa for the Soviet Union

for about 4 months.^^^ Oswald carried with him newspaper clippings,

letters and various documents, some of them forged or containing

false information, purporting to show that he was a "friend" of

Cuba.^^^ With these papers and his record of previous residence in

the Soviet Union and marriage to a Soviet national, he tried to curry favor with both Embassies.^^^ Indeed, his wife testified that

in her opinion Oswald's primary purpose in having engaged in

Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities was to create a public record

that he was a "friend" of Cuba.^^* He m.ade himself especially unpopular at the Cuban Embassy by persisting in his demands that as a sympathizer in Cuban objectives he ought to be given a visa. This

resulted in a sharp argument with the consul, Eusebio Azque.^^^

By Saturday, September 28, 1963, Oswald had failed to obtain visas

at both Embassies.^^^ From Sunday, September 29, through Wednesday morning, October 2, when he left Mexico City on a bus bound for

the United States, Oswald spent considerable time making his travel

arrangements, sightseeing and checking again with the Soviet Embassy to learn whether anything had happened on his visa application.^3^ Marina Oswald testified that when she first saw him after

his return to the United States he was disappointed and discouraged

at his failure to reach Cuba.^^

The general outlines of Oswald's activities in Mexico, particularly

the nature and extent of his contacts at the Cuban Embassy, were

learned very early in the investigation. An important source of in- formation relating to his business at the Cuban Embassy was Senora

Silvia Tirado de Duran, a Mexican national employed in the visa sec- tion of the Cuban Embassy, who was questioned intensively by Mexican

authorities soon after the assassination.^^^ An excerpt from the report

of the Mexican Government summarized the crucial portion of Senora

Duran's recollection of Oswald. In translation it reads as follows

:

* * * she remembered * * * [that Lee Harvey Oswald] was the

name of an American who had come to the Cuban Consulate to 301
obtain a visa to travel to Cuba in transit to Russia, the latter part

of September or the early part of October of this year, and in support of his application had shown his passport, in -svhich it was

noted that he had lived in that country for a period of three years

;

his labor card from the same country written in the Russian language ; and letters in that same language. He had presented evi- dence that he was married to a Russian woman, and also that he was apparently the leader of an organization in the city of New

Orleans called "Fair * * * [Play] for Cuba," claiming that he

should be accepted as a "friend" of the Cuban Revolution. Accordingly, the declarant, complying with her duties, took down

all of the information and completed the appropriate application

form; and the declarant, admittedly exceeding her responsibilities, informally telephoned the Russian consulate, with the in- tention of doing what she could to facilitate issuance of the Russian visa to Lee Harvey Oswald. However, they told her that

there would be a delay of about four months in processing the case, which annoyed the applicant since, according to his statement,

he was in a great hurry to obtain visas that would enable him to travel to Russia, insisting on his right to do so in view of his background and his loyalty and his activities in behalf of the Cuban

movement. The declarant was unable to recall accurately

whether or not the applicant told her he was a member of the

Communist Party, but he did say that his wife * * * was then

in New York City, and would follow him, * * * [Senora Duran

stated] that when Oswald understood that it was not possible to give him a Cuban visa without his first having obtained the Russian visa, * * * he became very excited or angry, and accordingly, the affiant called Consul Ascue [sic], * * * [who] came out and began a heated discussion in English with Oswald, that con- cluded by Ascue telling him that "if it were up to him, he would

not give him the visa," and "a person of his type was harming

the Cuban Revolution rather than helping it," it being understood that in their conversation they were talking about the Russian Socialist Revolution and not the Cuban. Oswald maintained that he had two reasons for requesting that his visa be

issued promptly, and they were: one, that his tourist permit in

Mexico was about to expire ; and the other, that he had to get to Russia as quickly as possible. Despite her annoyance, the declarant gave Oswald a paper * * * in which she put down her

name, "Silvia Duran," and the number of the telephone at the

consulate, which is "11-28-47" and the visa application was processed anyway. It was sent to the Ministry of [Foreign] Relations of Cuba,' from which a routine reply was received some

fifteen to thirty days later, approving the visa, but on the condition that the Russian visa be obtained first, although she does

not recall whether or not Oswald later telephoned her at the

Consulate number that she gave him.^*°

302
OSWALD'S APPLICATION FOR A VISA

FOR TRAVEL TO CUBA AND THE REPLY

OF THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2564)

^:

CUBAN REPLY

OSWALD'S APPLICATION

Ls.^..{] .

^t«i?

*r 17 //Mr iH«8ibl«7

. corr«»poD<l»nc« Bo. 14€

us to co«ply with blB nxjui

FATaZRLATO or

B> oriSor: /&i^Sa*d/ I

TRANSLATION TRANSLATION

BOTH DOCUMENTS FURNISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA.

303
With the dates of Oswald's entry into and departure from Mexico,

which had been obtained from the records of the Mexican Immigration Service very shortly after the assassination, the Government of

Mexico initiated a thorough investigation to uncover as much information as possible on Oswald's trip.^^^ Representatives of U.S. agencies worked in close liaison with the Mexican law enforcement

authorities. The result of this investigative effort was to corroborate

the statements of Senora Duran and to verify the essentials of Oswald's

activities in Mexico as outlined above.

Senora Duran is a well-educated native of Mexico, who was 26

years old at the time of her interrogation. She is married to Senor

Horacio Duran Navarro, a 40-year-old industrial designer, and has

a young child. Although Senora Duran denies being a member of the

Communist Party or otherwise comiected with it, both Durans have

been active in far left political affairs in Mexico, believe in Marxist

ideology, and sympathize with the government of Fidel Castro,^*^

and Senor Duran has written articles for El Dia, a pro-Communist

newspaper in Mexico City.^^ The Commission has reliable evi- dence from a confidential source that Senora Duran as well as other personnel at the Cuban Embassy were genuinely upset upon

receiving news of President Kennedy's death. Senora Duran's

statements were made to Mexican officials soon after the assassination,^** and no significant inaccuracies in them have been detected.

Documents fitting the description given by Senora Duran of the

documents Oswald had shown her, plus a notation which she said

she had given him, were found among his possessions after his

arrest.^*^ The Cuban Government was asked to document and confirm the

essentials of Senora Duran's testimony. Its response, which has been

included in its entirety in this Report, included a summary statement

of Oswald's activities at the Cuban Embassy,^*^ a photograph of the

application for a visa he completed there,^*^ and a photograph of the

communication from Havana rejecting the application unless he could

first present a Soviet visa.^*® (See Commission Exhibit No. 2564,

p. 306.) The information on these documents concerning Oswald's

date of birth, American passport number and activities and statements

at the Embassy is consistent with other information available to the

Commission.^*^ CIA experts have given their opinion that the handwriting on the visa application which purports to be Oswald's is in fact his and that, although the handwritten notations on the bottom

of the document are too brief and faint to permit a conclusive determination, they are probably Senora Duran's.^*^ The clothes wliich

Oswald was wearing in the photograph which appears on the application appear to be the same as some of those found among his effects after the assassination, and the photograph itself appears to be from

the same negative as a photograph found among his effects. ^^^ Nothing

on any of the documents raises a suspicion that they might not be

authentic.

304
By far the most important confirmation of Senora Duran's testi- mony, however, has been supplied by confidential sources of extremely

high reliability available to the United States in Mexico. The information from these sources establishes that her testimony was truthful

and accurate in all material respects. The identities of these sources cannot be disclosed without destroying their future usefulness to the

United States. The investigation of the Commission has produced considerable

testimonial and documentary evidence establishing the precise time

of Oswald's journey, his means of transportation, the hotel at which

he stayed in Mexico City, and a restaurant at which he often ate. All known persons whom Oswald may have met while in Mexico, in- cluding passengers on the buses he rode,^^^ and the employees and

guests of the hotel where he stayed,^^^ were interviewed. No credible

witness has been located who saw Oswald with any unidentified person

while in Mexico City ; to the contrary, he was observed traveling alone

to and from Mexico City,^^ at his hotel,^^^ and at the nearby restaurant where he frequently ate.^^^ A hotel guest stated that on one occasion

he sat down at a table with Oswald at the restaurant because no empty

table was available, but that neither spoke to the other because of the

language barrier.^" Two Australian girls who saw Oswald on the

bus to Mexico City relate that he occupied a seat next to a man who

has been identified as Albert Osborne, an elderly itinerant preacher.^^*

Osborne denies that Oswald was beside him on the bus.^^^ To the

other passengers on the bus it appeared that Osborne and Oswald had

not previously met,^^° and extensive investigation of Osborne has

revealed no further contact between him and Oswald. Osborne's

responses to Federal investigators on matters unrelated to Oswald

have proved inconsistent and unreliable, and, therefore, based on the

contrary evidence and Osborne's lack of reliability, the Commission has attached no credence to his denial that Oswald was beside

him on the bus. Investigation of his background and activities, however, disclose no basis for suspecting him of any involvement in the

assassination.^^^ Investigation of the hotel at which Oswald stayed has failed to uncover any evidence that the hotel is unusual in any way that could re- late to Oswald's visit. It is not especially popular among Cubans, and

there is no indication that it is used as a meeting place for extremist

or revolutionary organizations.^^^ Investigation of other guests of

the hotel who were there when Oswald was has failed to uncover anything creating suspicion. ^^^ Oswald's notebook which he carried with

him to Mexico City contained the telephone number of the Cuban Airlines Office in Mexico City ; °^^ however, a Cuban visa is required by

Mexican authorities before an individual may enplane for Cuba,^^^ and

a confidential check of the Cuban Airlines Office uncovered no evidence

that Oswald visited their offices while in the city.^^^

Allegations of conspiracy.—Literally dozens of allegations of a conspiratorial contact between Oswald and agents of the Cuban Government have been investigated by the Commission. Among the claims

made were allegations that Oswald had made a previous trip to 305
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306
Mexico City in early September to receive money and orders for the

assassination/®^ that he had been flown to a secret airfield somewhere in or near the Yucatan Peninsula,^^^ that he might have made contacts in

Mexico City with a Communist from the United States shortlj^

before the assassination,®^^ and that Oswald assassinated the President at the direction of a particular Cuban agent who met with him in

the United States and paid him $7,000."^ A letter was received from

someone in Cuba alleging the writer had attended a meeting where

the assassination had been discussed as part of a plan which would

soon include the death of other non- Communist leaders in the Americas.®^^ The charge was made in a Cuban expatriate publication that in a speech he delivered 5 days after the assassination, while he was under

the influence of liquor, Fidel Castro made a slip of the tongue and said,

"The first time Oswald was in Cuba," thereby giving away the

fact that Oswald had made one or more surreptitious trips to that

country.^^2

Some stories linked the assassination to anti- Castro groups who

allegedly were engaged in obtaining illicit firearms in the United

States, one such claim being that these groups killed the President as part of a bargain with some illicit organizations who would then

supply them with firearms as payment.®"^^ Other rumors placed

Oswald in Miami, Fla., at various times, allegedly in pro- Cuban activities there."* The assassination was claimed to have been carried

out by Chinese Communists operating jointly with the Cubans.®^®

Oswald was also alleged to have met with the Cuban Ambassador in a Mexico City restaurant and to have driven off in the Ambassador's

car for a private talk.®"^® Castro himself, it was alleged, 2 days after

the assassination called for the files relating to Oswald's dealings with

two members of the Cuban diplomatic mission in the Soviet Union

;

the inference drawn was that the "dealings" had occurred and had

established a secret subversive relationship which continued through

Oswald's life.®^^ Without exception, the rumors and allegations of

a conspiratorial contact were shown to be without any factual basis,

in some cases the product of mistaken identification.

Illustrative of the attention given to the most serious allegations

is the case of "D," a young Latin American secret agent who approached U.S. authorities in Mexico shortly after the assassination

and declared that he saw Lee Harvey Oswald receiving $6,600 to kill the President. Among other details, "D" said that at about noon on September 18, waiting to conduct some business at the Cuban consulate, he saw a group of three persons conversing in a patio a few

feet away. One was a tall, thin Negro with reddish hair, obviously

dyed, who spoke rapidly in both Spanish and English, and another was a man he said was Lee Harvey Oswald. A tall Cuban joined the

group momentarily and passed some currency to the Negro. The

Negro then allegedly said to Oswald in English, "I want to kill the

man." Oswald replied, "You're not man enough, I can do it." The

Negro then said in Spanish, "I can't go with you, I have a lot to do."

Oswald replied, "The people are waiting for me back there." The

307
Negro then gave Oswald $6,500 in large-denomination American bills,

saying, "This isn't much." After hearing this conversation, "D" said

that he telephoned the American Embassy in Mexico City several

times prior to the assassination in an attempt to report his belief that someone important in the United States was to be killed, but was

finally told by someone at the Embassy to stop wasting his time.

"D" and his allegations were immediately subjected to intensive

investigation. His former employment as an agent for a Latin American country was confirmed, although his superiors had no knowledge

of his presence in Mexico or the assignment described by "D." Four

days after "D" first appeared the U.S. Government was informed by

the Mexican authorities that "D" had admitted in writing that his

whole narrative about Oswald was false. He said that he had never

seen Oswald anyplace, and that he had not seen anybody paid money

in the Cuban Embassy. He also admitted that he never tried to tele- phone the American Embassy in September and that his first call to the Embassy was after the assassination. "D" said that his motive in

fabricating the story was to help get himself admitted into the United

States so that he could there participate in action against Fidel Castro. He said that he hated Castro and hoped that the story he made up

would be believed and would cause the United States to "take action"

against him.

Still later, when questioned hy American authorities, "D" claimed

that he had been pressured into retracting his statement by the Mexican police and that the retraction, rather than his first statement, was false. A portion of the American questioning was carried on

with the use of a polygraph machine, with the consent of "D." When

told that the machine indicated that he was probably lying, "D" said

words to the effect that he "must be mistaken." Investigation in the

meantime had disclosed that the Embassy extension number "D" said

he had called would not have given him the person he said he spoke

to, and that no one at the Embassy—clerks, secretaries, or officers

had any recollection of his calls. In addition, Oswald spoke little, if any, Spanish. That he could have carried on the alleged conversation

with the red-headed Negro in the Cuban Embassy, part of which was

supposed to have been in Spanish, was therefore doubtful. "D" now

said that he was uncertain as to the date when he saw "someone who

looked like Oswald" at the Cuban Embassy, and upon reconsideration,

he now thought it was on a Tuesday, September 17, rather than September 18. On September 17, however, Oswald visited the Louisiana

State Unemployment Commission in New Orleans and also cashed a check from the Texas Employment Commission at the Winn-Dixie

Store No. 1425 in New Orleans. On the basis of the retractions made

by "D" when he heard the results of the polygraph examination, and

on the basis of discrepancies which appeared in his story, it was

concluded that "D" was lying.^^®

The investigation of the Commission has thus produced no evidence

that Oswald's trip to Mexico was in any way connected with the assas- sination of President Kennedy, nor has it uncovered evidence that the

308
Cuban Government had any involvement in the assassination. To

the contrary, the Commission has been advised by the CIA and FBI

that secret and reliable sources corroborate the statements of Senora

Duran in all material respects, and that the Cuban Government had

no relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald other than that described by

Senora Duran. Secretary of State Rusk also testified that

after the assassination "there was very considerable concern in Cuba

as to whether they would be held responsible and what the effect of

that might be on their own position and their own safety." "®

Contacts with the Soviet Embassy in the United States.—Soon after

the Oswalds reached the United States in June 1962 they wrote to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. Oswald requested information about subscriptions to Russian newspapers and magazines and

ultimately did subscribe to several Russian journals. Soviet law re- quired Marina Oswald, as a Soviet citizen living abroad, to remain in contact with her nation's Embassy and to file various papers occasionally.^^^ In 1963, after Oswald had experienced repeated employment difficulties, there were further letters when the Oswalds sought

permission to return to the Soviet Union. The first such request was a

letter written by Marina Oswald on February 17, 1963. She wrote that

she wished to return to Russia but that her husband would stay in the

United States because "he is an American by nationality." ^^^ She

was informed on March 8, 1963, that it would take from 5 to 6 months

to process the application.^^^ The Soviet Union made available to the

Commission what purports to be the entire correspondence between

the Oswalds and the Russian Embassy in the United States.^^^ This

material has been checked for codes and none has been detected.^^^ With the possible exception of a letter which Oswald wrote to the

Soviet Embassy after his return from Mexico City, discussed below,

there is no material which gives any reason for suspicion. The implications of all of this correspondence for an understanding of Lee

Harvey Oswald's personality and motivation is discussed in the

following chapter.

Oswald's last letter to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C,

dated November 9, 1963, began by stating that it was written "to inform you of recent events since my meetings with Comrade Kostin

in the Embassy of the Soviet Union, Mexico City, Mexico." ^^^ The

envelope bears a postmark which appears to be Novembsr 12, 1963.^^® Ruth Paine has testified that Oswald spent the weekend at her home

working on the letter and that she observed one preliminary draft.^^^ A piece of paper which was identified as one of these drafts was found

among Oswald's effects after the assassination. (See Commission

Exhibits Nos. 15, 103, p. 311.) According to Marina Oswald, her

husband retyped the envelope 10 times.^^^ Information produced for the Commission by the CIA is to the

effect that the person referred to in the letter as "comrade Kostin" was

probably Valeriy Vladimirovich Kostikov, a member of the consular

staff of the Soviet Union in Mexico City. He is also one of the KGB

officers stationed at the Embassy.^^^ It is standard Soviet pro309
cedure for KGB officers stationed in embassies and in consulates

to carry on the normal duties of such a position in addition to the

undercover activities.^^^ The Commission has identified the Cuban

consul referred to in Oswald's letter as Senor Eusebio Azque (also

"Ascue"), the man with whom Oswald argued at the Cuban Embassy,

who was in fact replaced. The CIA advised the Commission

:

We surmise that the references in Oswald's 9 November letter to a man who had since been replaced must refer to Cuban Consul

Eusebio Azque, who left Mexico for Cuba on permanent transfer on 18 November 1963, four days before the assassination. Azque

had been in Mexico for 18 years and it was known as early as September 1963 that Azque was to be replaced. His replacement

did arrive in September. Azque was scheduled to leave in October but did not leave until 18 November.

We do not know who might have told Oswald that Azque or any other Cuban had been or was to be replaced, but we speculate

that Silvia Duran or some Soviet official might have mentioned

it if Oswald complained about Azque's altercation with him.^^^

When asked to explain the letter, Marina Oswald was unable to add

anything to an understanding of its contents.^^^ Some light on its possible meaning can be shed by comparing it with the early

draft. When the differences between the draft and the final document are studied, and especially when crossed-out words are taken

into account, it becomes apparent that Oswald Avas intentionally be- clouding the true state of affairs in order to make his trip to Mexico

sound as mysterious and important as possible.

For example, the first sentence in the second paragraph of the letter reads, "I was unable to remain in Mexico indefinily because of my

mexican visa restrictions which was for 15 days only." The same sen- tence in the draft bep-ins, before the words are crossed out, "I was

unable to remain in Mexico City because I considered useless * * *" As already mentioned, the Commission has good evidence that Oswald's trip to Mexico was indeed "useless" and that he returned to Texas with that conviction. The first draft, therefore, spoke the

truth ; but Oswald rew^rote the sentence to imply that he had to leave

because his visa was about to expire. This is false ; OsAvald's tourist

card still had a full week to run when he departed from Mexico on

October 3.^^^ The next sentence in the letter reads, "I could not take a chance on

reqesting a new visa unless I used my real name, so I returned to the

United States." The fact is that he did use his real name for his

tourist card, and in all dealings with the Cuban Embassy, the Russian

Embassy and elsewhere. Oswald did use the name of "Lee" on the

trip, but as indicated below, he did so only sporadically and probably

as the result of a clerical error. In the opinion of the Commission,

based upon its knowledge of Oswald, the letter constitutes no more

than a clumsy effort to ingratiate himself with the Soviet Embassy.

310
OSWALD'S LEHER TO THE

EMBASSY U. S. S. R., WASHINGTON, D. C.

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311
Investigation of Other Activities

Oswald^s use of post office hoxes and false names.—After his return

from the Soviet Union, Lee Harvey Oswald is known to have received

his mail at post office boxes and to have used different aliases on numerous occasions. Since either practice is susceptible of use for clandestine purposes, the Commission has directed attention to both for

signs that Oswald at some point made undercover contact with other

persons who might have been connected with the assassination.

Oswald is known to have opened three post office boxes during 1962

and 1963. On October 9, 1962, the ?ame day that he arrived in Dallas

from Fort Worth, and before establishing a residence there, he opened

box No. 2915 at the Dallas General Post Office. This box was closed on May 14, 1963, shortly after Oswald had moved to New Orleans.^^*

That portion of the post office box application listing the names of

those persons other than the applicant entitled to receive mail at the

box was discarded in accordance with postal regulations after the box was closed; hence, it is not known what names other than Oswald's were listed on that form.^^^ However, as discussed in chapter IV,

Oswald is known to have received the assassination rifle under the

name of A. Hidell and his Smith & Wesson revolver under the name

of A. J. Hidell at that box.^^^ On June 3, 1963, Oswald opened box

No. 30061 at the Lafayette Square Substation in New Orleans.

Marina Oswald and A. J. Hidell were listed as additional persons

entitled to receive mail at this box.^^^ Immediately before leaving

for Mexico City in late September, Oswald submitted a request to forward his mail to the Paines' address in Ir\dng, and the box was

closed on September 26.^^^ On November 1, 1963, he opened box No.

6225 at the Dallas Post Office Terminal Annex. The Fair Play for

Cuba Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union were listed as also being entitled to receive mail at this box.^^^ Oswald's use of post office boxes is consistent with other information

known about him. His frequent changes of address and receipt of

Communist and other political literature would appear to have provided Oswald reason to have rented postal boxes. These were the

explanations for his use of the boxes which he provided Postal In- spector H. D. Holmes on November 24.^°° Moreover, on October 14,

1963, he had moved into a room on Beckley Avenue under the name of

O. H. Lee ^°^ and it would have been extremely difficult for Oswald

to have received his mail at that address without having disclosed his true name. The boxes cost Oswald only $1.50 or less per month.^''^ Although the possibilities of investigation in this area are limited,

there is no evidence that any of the three boxes was ever used for the

surreptitious receipt of messages or was used by persons other than

Oswald or his family. No unexplainable notes were found among

Oswald's possessions after his arrest. Oswald's box on the day

of the assassination, No. 6225, was kept under constant personal sur- veillance by postal inspectors from about 5 p.m. November 22 until

midnight November 24. A modified surveillance was maintained there312
after. Xo one called for mail out of this box : indeed the only mail in the box was a Russian magazine addressed to Oswald. The single out- standing key was recovered from Oswald immediately after he was

taken in custody.^

In appraising the import of Oswald's rental of post office boxes, it is significant that he was not secretive about their use. All three boxes were rented by Oswald using his true name.^°- His application for

box Xo. 2915 showed his home address as that of Alexandra De

Mohrenschildt (Taylor), whose husband had agreed to allow Oswald

to use his address.^°^ His application for the Xew Orleans box

listed his address as 657 French Street ; his aunt, Lillian Murret, lived

at 757 French Street.^^® On the application for box Xo. 6225, Oswald

gave an incorrect street number, though he did show Beckley Avenue,

where he was then living.^^ He furnished the box numbers to his

brother, to an employer, to Texas and Xew Orleans unemployment

commissions, and to others. ^'^ Based on all the facts disclosed by its investigation, the Commission has attached no conspiratorial significance to Oswald's rental of post office boxes.

Oswald's use of aliases is also well established. In chapter IV, the

evidence relating to his repeated use of the name "A. J. Hidell,'' and

close variants thereof, is set forth.^^^ Because Oswald's use of this

pseudonym became known quickly after the assassination, investigations were conducted with regard to persons using the name Hidell

or names similar to it. Subversive files, public c-arrier records, tele- graph company records, banking and other commercial records, and

other matters investigated and persons interviewed have been ex- amined with regard to Oswald's true name and his known alias.^^° Xo

evidence has been produced that Oswald ever used the name Hidell

as a means of making undercover contact with any person. Indeed,

though Oswald did prepare a counterfeit selective service card and

other identification using this name, he commonly used "Hidell" to represent persons other than himself, such as the president of his

nonexistent Fair Play for Cuba Committee chapter, the doctor whose name appeared on his counterfeit international certificate of vaccination, and as references on his job applications.^^^

Alwyn Cole, questioned document expert for the Treasury Department, testified that the false identification found on Oswald upon his

arrest could have been produced by employing elementary techniques

used in a photographic printing plant. ^^^ (g^^ ^pp. X, pp. 571-578.)

Though to perform the necessary procedures would have been difficult without the use of expensive photographic equipment, such equipment

and the needed film and photographic paper were available tO' Oswald

when he was employed from October 1962 through early April 1963

at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall, a commercial advertising photography

firm in Dallas. ^^^ THiile so employed, Oswald is known to have be- come familiar with the mechanics of photographic enlargements,

contraction, and image distortion that would have been necessary to produce his false identification, and to have used the facilities of his

employer for some personal work.^^* Cole testified that the cards

313

730-900 0-64—22
in Oswald's wallet did not exhibit a great deal of skill, pointing out various errors that had been committed.^^^ Oswald's supervisor at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall has stated that Oswald seemed unable to per- form photographic work with precision, which was one of the main

reasons for which he was ultimately discharged.^^^ The retouched

negatives used to make Oswald's counterfeit certificate of service

identification were found among Oswald's personal effects after his

arrest, as was a rubber stamping kit apparently employed to produce

his spurious international certificate of vaccination.^^^ There is strong

evidence, therefore, that Oswald himself made the various pieces of

counterfeit identification which he carried, and there is no reason to believe that he received assistance from any person in establishing his

alias. Oswald also used incorrect names other than Hidell, but these too appear unconnected with any form of conspiracy. Oswald's last name appears as "Lee" in three places in connection with his trip to Mexico City, discussed above. His tourist card was typed by the

Mexican consulate in New Orleans, "Lee, Harvey Oswald." ^^^ However, the comma seems to have been a clerical error, since Oswald

signed both the application and the card itself, "Lee H. Oswald."

Moreover, Oswald seems originally to have also printed his name,

evenly spaced, as "Lee H Oswald," but, noting that the form instructed

him to "Print full name. No initials," printed the remainder of his

middle name after the "H." The clerk who typed the card thus saw

a space after "Lee," followed by "Harvey Oswald" crowded together,

and probably assumed that "Lee" was the applicant's last name. (See

Commission Exhibit 2481, p. 300.) The clerk who prepared Oswald's

bus reservation for his return trip wrote "H. O. Lee." He stated that

he did not remember the occasion, r] though he was sure from the

handwriting and from other facts that he had dealt with Oswald.

He surmised that he probably made out the reservation directly

from the tourist card, since Oswald spoke no Spanish, and, seeing the

comma, wrote the name "H. O. Lee." ^^^ Oswald himself signed the

register at the hotel in Mexico City as "Lee, Harvey Oswald," ^^^ but

since the error is identical to that on the tourist card and since he

revealed the remainder of his name, "Harvey Oswald," it is possible

that Oswald inserted the comma to conform to the tourist card, or that the earlier mistake suggested a new pseudonym to Oswald which

he decided to continue.

In any event, Oswald used his correct name in making reservations

for the trip to Mexico City, in introducing himself to passengers on the bus, and in his dealings with the Cuban and Soviet Embassies.^^^

When registering at the Beckley Avenue house in mid-October, Oswald

perpetuated the pseudonym by giving his name as "O. H. Lee," ^^^ though he had given his correct name to the owner of the previous

roominghouse where he had rented a room after his return from

Mexico City.®23 Investigations of the Commission have been con- ducted with regard to persons using the name "Lee," and no evidence

314
has been found that Oswald used this alias for the purpose of making

any type of secret contacts. Oswald is also known to have used the surname "Osborne" in ordering Fair Play for Cuba Committee handbills in May 1963.^^* He also

used the false name D. F. Drittal as a certifying witness on the mailorder coupon with which he purchased his Smith & Wesson revolver.^^s He used the name Lt. J. Evans as a reference on an employment application in New Orleans.^^^

Oswald's repeated use of false names is probably not to be disassociated from his antisocial and criminal inclinations. No doubt he

purchased his weapons under the name of Hidell in attempt to prevent

their ownership from being traced. Oswald's creation of false names

and ficititious personalities is treated in the discussion of possible

motives set forth in chapter VII. Whatever its significance in that

respect may be, the Commission has found no indication that Oswald's

use of aliases was linked with any conspiracy wdth others.

Ownership of a second rife.—The Commission has investigated a

report that, during the first 2 weeks pi November 1963, Oswald had

a telescopic sight mounted and sighted on a rifle at a sporting goods

store in Irving, Tex. The main evidence that Oswald had such work

performed for him is an undated repair tag bearing the name "Oswald" from the Irving Sports Shop in Irving, Tex. On November 25,

1963, Dial D. Eyder, an employee of the Irving Sports Shop, presented

this tag to agents of the FBI, claiming that the tag was in his handwriting. The undated tag indicated that three holes had been drilled

in an unspecified type of rifle and a telescopic sight had been mounted

on the rifle and boresighted.^^^

As discussed in chapter IV, the telescopic sight on the C2766 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was already mounted when shipped to Oswald,

and both Ryder and his employer, Charles W. Greener, feel cer- tain that they never did any work on this rifle.^^^ If the repair tag

actually represented a transaction involving Lee Harvey Oswald,

therefore, it would mean that Oswald owned another rifle. Although

this would not alter the evidence which establishes Oswald's ownership of the rifle used to assassinate President Kennedy, the possession

of a second rifle warranted investigation because it would indicate that

a possibly important part of Oswald's life had not been uncovered.

Since all of Oswald's known transactions in connection with fire- arms after his return to the United States w^ere undertaken under an assumed name,®^^ it seems unlikely that if he did have repairs made at the sports shop he would have used his real name Investigation has

revealed that the authenticity of the repair tag bearing Oswald's name

is indeed subject to grave doubts. Ryder testified that he found the

repair tag while cleaning his workbench on November 23, 1963.^^° However, Ryder spoke with Greener repeatedly during the period between November 22-28 and, sometime prior to November 25, he dis- cussed with him the possibility that Osw^ald had been in the store. Neither he nor Greener could remember that he had been. But despite

these conversations with Greener, it is significant that Ryder never

315
called the repair tag to liis employers attention. Greener did not learn

about the tag until November 28, when he was called by TV reporters

after the story had appeared in the Dallas Times-Herald.*'^^ The pe- culiarity of Ryder's silence is compounded by the fact that, Avhen speaking to the FBI on November 25, Eyder fixed the period during which

the tag had been issued as November 1-14, 1963. yet, from his later testi- mony, it appears that he did so on the basis that it must have occurred

when Greener was on vacation since Greener did not remember the

transaction.^^2 Moreover, the FBI had baen directed to the Irving

Sports Shop by anonymous telephone calls received by its Dallas office and by a local television station. The anonymous male who telephoned

the Bureau attributed his information to an unidentified sack boy at a specified supermarket in Irving, but investigation has failed to verify

this source.^^^ Neither Ryder nor Greener claimed that Lee Harvey Oswald

had ever been a customer in the Irving Sports Shop. Neither has

any recollection of either Oswald or his Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, nor does either recall the transaction allegedly represented by the

repair tag or the person for whom the repair was supposedly made.^^^

Although Ryder stated to the FBI that he was ''quite sure" that he

had seen Oswald and that Oswald may have been in the store at one

time, when shown a photograph of Oswald during his deposition,

Ryder testified he knew the picture to be of Oswald, "as the pictures

in the paper, but as far as seeing the guy personally, I don't thmk I ever have." ^^^ Subsequent events also reflect on Ryder's credibility. In his deposition, Ryder emphatically denied that he talked to any reporters about

this matter prior to the time a story about it appeared in the November 28, 1963, edition of the Dallas Times-Herald.^^ Earlier, however,

he told an agent of the U.S. Secret Service that the newspaper had

misquoted him.^^" Moreover, a reporter for the Dallas Times-Herald

has testified that on November 28, 1963, he called Ryder at his home

and obtained from him all of the details of the alleged transaction,

and his story is supported by the testimony of a second reporter who

overheard one end of the telephone conversation.^^ No other person

by the name of Oswald in the Dallas-Fort TVorth area has been found

who had a rifle repaired at the Irving Sports Shop.^^^

Possible corroboration for Ryder's story is provided by two women,

Mrs. Edith AYhitworth, who operates the Furniture Mart, a furniture

store located about I14 blocks from the Irving Sports Shop, and Mrs.

Gertrude Hunter, a friend of Mrs. T^Hiitworth. They testified that

m early November of 1963, a man who they later came to believe was Oswald drove up to the Furniture Mart m a two-tone blue and white

1957 Ford automobile, entered the store and asked about a part for

a gun, presumably l>ecause of a sign that appeared in the building advertising a gunsmith shop that had formerly occupied part of the

premises. ^"\lien he found that he could not obtain the part, the man

allegedly returned to his car and then came back mto the store with

a woman and two young children to look at furniture, remaining in

the store for about 30 to 40 mmutes.^^^

316
Upon confronting Marina Oswald, both women identified her as the

woman whom they had seen in the store on the occasion in question,

although Mrs. Hunter could not identify a picture of Lee Harvey

Oswald and Mrs. Whitworth identified some pictures of Oswald but

not others. Mrs. Hunter purported to identify Marina Oswald by her

eyes, and did not observe the fact that Marina Oswald had a front

tooth missing at the time she supposedly saw her.^*^ After a thorough

inspection of the Furniture Mart, Marina Oswald testified that she

had never been on the premises before.^*^ The circumstances surrounding the testimony of the two women

are helpful in evaluating the weight to be given to their testimony,

and the extent to which they lend support to Ryder's evidence. The

women previously told newspaper reporters that the part for which

the man was looking was a "plunger," which the Commission has

been advised is a colloquial term used to describe a firing pin.^^^

This work was completely different from the work covered by Ryder's

repair tag, and the firing pin of the assassination weapon does not appear to have been recently replaced.^** At the time of their depositions, neither woman was able to recall the type of work which the

man wanted done.^*^ Mrs. Wliitworth related to the FBI that the man told her that the

younger child with him was born on October 20, 1963, which was in

fact Rachel Oswald's birthday.^*® In her testimony before the Commission, however, Mrs. Whitworth could not state that the man had

told her the child's birthdate was October 20, 1963, and in fact ex- pressed uncertainty about the birthday of her own grandchild, which

she had previously used as a guide to remembering the birthdate of

the younger child in the shop.^^^ Mrs. Hunter thought that the man

she and Mrs. Whitworth believed was Oswald drove the car to and

from the store ; ®*^ however, Lee Harvey Oswald apparently was not

able to drive an automobile by himself and does not appear to have had

access to a car.^*^ The two women claimed that Oswald was in the Furniture Mart on a weekday, and in midaftemoon. However, Oswald had reported to work at the Texas School Book Depository on the dates referred to by

the women and there is no evidence that he left his job during business

hours.^^^ In addition, Ruth Paine has stated that she always accompanied Marina Oswald whenever Marina left the house with her chil- dren and that they never went to the Furniture Mart, either with or without Lee Harvey Oswald, at any time during October or November

of 1963.^^^ There is nothing to indicate that in November the Oswalds

were interested in buying furniture.®^^

Finally, investigation has produced reason to question the credibility of Mrs. Hunter as a witness. Mrs. Hunter stated that one

of the reasons she remembers the description of the car in which Oswald supposedly drove to the furniture store was that she was awaiting

the arrival of a friend from Houston, who drove a similar automobile.^^^ However, the friend in Houston has advised that in November 1963, she never visited or planned to visit Dallas, and that she

317
told no one that she intended to make such a trip. Moreover the

friend added, according to the FBI interview report, that Mrs. Hunter

has "a strange obsession for attempting to inject herself into any big

event which comes to her attention" and that she "is likely to claim some personal knowledge of any major crime which receives much publicity." ®^* She concluded that "the entire family is aware of these

'tall tales' Mrs. Hunter tells and they normally pay no attention to

her." 655 Another allegation relating to the possible ownership of a second

rifle by Oswald comes from Robert Adrian Taylor, a mechanic at a

service station in Irving. Some 3 weeks after the assassination, Taylor reported to the FBI that he thought that, in March or April of

1963, a man he believed to be Oswald had been a passenger in an auto- mobile that stopped at his station for repairs ; since neither the driver nor the passenger had sufficient funds for the repair work, the person

believed to be Oswald sold a U.S. Army rifle to Mr. Taylor, using

the proceeds to pay for the repairs.^^^ However, a second employee

at the service station, who recalled the incident, believed that, despite

a slight resemblance, the passenger was not Oswald.^^^ Upon reflec- tion, Taylor himself stated that he is very doubtful that the man was

Oswald.«5«

Rifle practice.—Several witnesses believed that in the weeks preceding the assassination, they observed a man resembling Oswald practicing with a rifle in the fields and wooded areas surrounding Dallas,

and at rifle ranges in that area. Some witnesses claimed Oswald was

alone, while others said he was accompanied by one or more other

persons. In most instances, investigation has disclosed that there

is no substantial basis for believing that the person reported by the

various witnesses was Oswald.^^

One group of witnesses, however, believed that they observed Lee

Harvey Oswald at the Sports Drome Rifle Range in Dallas at vari- ous times from September through November of 1963. In light of

the number of witnesses, the similarity of the descriptions of the

man they saw, and the type of weapon they thought the individual was

shooting, there is reason to believe that these witnesses did see the same person at the firing range, although the testimony of none of

these witnesses is fully consistent with the reported observations of

the other witnesses.

The witnesses who claimed to have seen Oswald at the firing range

had more than a passing notice of the person they observed. Malcolm

H. Price, Jr., adjusted the scope on the individual's rifle on one

occasion ; ^^^ Garland G. Slack had an altercation with the individual on another occasion because he was shooting at Slack's target ; ^®^ and Sterling C. Wood, who on a third date was present at the range

with his father. Dr. Homer Wood, spoke with his father and very

briefly with the man himself about the individual's rifle.^^^ All three

of these persons, as well as Dr. Wood, expressed confidence that the

man they saw was Oswald.^^^ Two other persons believed they saw

318
a person resembling Oswald firing a similar rifle at another range

near Irving 2 days before the assassination.^^*

Although the testimony of these witnesses was partially corroborated

by other witnesses,®^^ there was other evidence which prevented the

Commission from reaching the conclusion that Lee Hai-vey Oswald was

the person these witnesses saw. Others who were at the firing range

remembered the same individual but, though noting a similarity to Oswald, did not believe that the man was Oswald ; ^^^ others either were unable to state whether the man was Oswald or did not recall see- ing anybody who they feel may have been Oswald.^^^ Moreover, when

interviewed on December 2, 1963, Slack recalled that the individual

whom he saw had blond hair,^®^ and on December 3, 1963, Price

stated that on several occasions when he saw the individual, he was

wearing a "Bulldogger Texas style" hat and had bubble gum or chewing tobacco in his cheek.^^^ None of these characteristics match those

known about Lee Harvey Oswald.

Moreover, the date on which Price adjusted the scope for the

unknown person was September 28, 1963, but Oswald is known to have been in Mexico City at that time ; ^^^ since a comparison of the

events testified to by Price and Slack strongly suggests that they were

describing the same man,^^^ there is reason to believe that Slack was

also describing a man other than Oswald. In addition, Slack believed

he saw the same person at the rifle range on November 10 ^^^ and there

is persuasive evidence that on November 10, Oswald was at the Paine's

home in Irving and did not leave to go to the rifle range.^^^ Finally,

the man whom Price assisted on September 28 drove an old car, possibly a 1940 or 1941 Ford.^^* However, there is evidence that Oswald could

not drive at that time, and there is no indication that Oswald ever had

access to such a car.^^^ Neither Oswald's name nor any of his known

aliases was found in the sign-in register maintained at the Sports

Drome Rifle Range, though many customers did not sign this

register.^^^ The allegations pertaining to the companions who re- portedly accompanied the man believed to be Oswald are also inconsistent among themselves ^^^ and conform to no other credible information ascertained by the Commission. Several witnesses noticed a bearded man at the club when the person believed to be Oswald was

there, although only one witness thought the two men were together ; ®^^ the bearded gentleman was located, and he was not found to have any

connection with Oswald.^^^

It seems likely that the identification of Price, Slack, and the Woods

was reinforced in their own minds by the belief that the man whom

they saw was firing a rifle perhaps identical to Oswald's MannlicherCarcano. The witnesses agreed that the man they observed was firing a Mauser-type bolt-action rifle with the ammunition clip immediately

in front of the trigger action, and that a scope was mounted on the

rifle.^^^ These features are consistent with the rifle Oswald used for

the assassination.^^^ The witnesses agreed that the man had accurate aim with the rifle.^®^ 319
However, the evidence demonstrated that the weapon fired by the

man they observed was different from the assassination rifle. The

witnesses agreed that the barrel of the gun which the individual was

firing had been shortened in the process of "sporterizing" the

weapon.^^^ In addition, Price and Slack recalled that certain pieces were missing from the top of the weapon,^^^ and Dr. Wood and his

son, and others, remembered that the weapon spouted flames when

fired.^^^ None of these characteristics correspond with Oswald's

Mannlicher-Carcano.^^^ Price and Slack believed that the gun did not have a sling, but the assassination weapon did have one. Sterling

Wood, on the other hand, recalled that the rifle which he saw had a

sling.^*^ Price also recalled that he examined the rifle briefly for some

indication as to where it had been manufactured, but saw nothing,

whereas the words "MADE ITALY" are marked on the top of

Oswald's Mannlicher-Carcano.^*®

The scope on the rifle observed at the firing range does not appear

to be the same as the one on the assassination weapon. Price remembered that the individual told him that his scope was Japanese, that

he had paid $18 for it, and that he had it mounted in a gunshop in

Cedar Hills, though apparently no such shop exists in that area.^^^ The scope on the Mannlicher-Carcano was of Japanese origin but it was

worth a little more than $7 and was already mounted when he re- ceived the rifle from a mail-order firm in Chicago.^^° Sterling Wood

and Slack agreed that the scope had a somewhat different appearance

from the scope on the assassination rifle.^®^ Though the person believed to be Oswald retained his shell casings,

presumably for reuse,^^^ all casings recovered from areas where it is believed that Oswald may have practiced have been examined by the

FBI Laboratory, and none has been found which was fired from

Oswald's rifle.^^^ Finally, evidence discussed in chapter TV tends to prove that Oswald brought his rifle to Dallas from the home of the

Paines in Irving on November 22, and there is no other evidence which

indicates that he took the rifle or a package which might have con- tained the rifle out of the Paine's garage, where it was stored, prior

to that date.^^* Automobile demonstration.—The testimony of Albert Guy Bogard

has been carefully evaluated because it suggests the possibility that

Oswald might have been a proficient automobile driver and, during

November 1963, might have been expecting funds with which to purchase a car. Bogard, formerly an automobile salesman with a Lincoln-Mercury firm in Dallas, testified that in the early afternoon of

November 9, 1963, he attended a prospective customer who he believes was Lee Harvey Oswald. According to Bogard, the customer, after

test driving an automobile over the Stemmons Freeway at 60 to 70

miles per hour, told Bogard that in several weeks he would have the

money to make a purchase. Bogard asserted that the customer gave

his name as "Lee Oswald," which Bogard wrote on a business card.

After Oswald's name was mentioned on the radio on November 22,

Bogard assertedly threw the card in a trash can, making Ihe comment

320
to coemployees that he supposed Oswald would no longer wish to buy

a car.^^^ Bogard's testimony has received corroboration.^^^ The assistant

sales manager at the time, Frank Pizzo, and a second salesman, Eugene

M. Wilson, stated that they recall an instance when the customer described by Bogard was in the showroom.^^^ Another salesman, Oran

Brown, recalled that Bogard asked him to assist the customer if he

appeared during certain evenings when Bogard was away from the

showroom. Brown stated that he too wrote down the customer's name

and both he and his wife remember the name "Oswald" as being on a paper in his possession before the assassination.^^^

However, doubts exist about the accuracy of Bogard^s testimony.

He, Pizzo, and Wilson differed on important details of what is supposed to have occurred when the customer was in the showroom.

Whereas Bogard stated that the customer said he did not wish credit

and wanted to purchase a car for cash,^^^ Pizzo and Wilson both indicated that the man did attempt to purchase on credit.'^°° According to Wilson, when the customer was told that he would be unable to purchase a car without a credit rating, substantial cash or a lengthy employment record, he stated sarcastically, "Maybe I'm going to have to go back to Russia to buy a car." ^°^ While it is possible that Oswald

would have made such a remark, the statement is not consistent with

Bogard's story. Indeed, Bogard has made no mention that the cus- tomer ever spoke with Wilson while he was in the showroom.'^^^ More

important^ on November 23, a search through the showroom's refuse was made, but no paper bearing Oswald's name was found.'^^^ The

paper on which Brown reportedly wrote Oswald's name also has never

been located.^^* The assistant sales manager, Mr. Pizzo, who saw Bogard's prospect on November 9 and shortly after the assassination felt that Oswald

may have been this man, later examined pictures of Oswald and ex- pressed serious doubts that the person with Bogard was in fact

Oswald. While noting a resemblance, he did not believe that Oswald's

hairline matched that of the person who had been in the showroom on November 9.^°^ Wilson has stated that Bogard's customer was only

about 5 feet tall.'^^^ Several persons who knew Oswald have testi- fied that he was unable to drive,^^^ although Mrs. Paine, who was

giving Oswald driving lessons, stated that Oswald was showing some

improvement by November.'^°^ Moreover, Oswald's whereabouts on November 9, as testified to by Marina Oswald and Ruth Paine, would

have made it impossible for him to have visited the automobile show- room as Mr. Bogard claims.^^^ Alleged association with various Mexican or Cuban individuals.—

The Commission has examined Oswald's known or alleged contacts and activities in an effort to ascertain whether or not he was involved

in any conspiracy may be seen in the investigation it conducted

as a result of the testimony given by Mrs. Sylvia Odio. The Commission investigated her statements in connection with its consid321
eration of the testimony of several witnesses suggesting that Oswald

may have been seen in the company of unidentified persons of

Cuban or Mexican background. Mrs. Odio was born in Havana in 1937 and remained in Cuba until 1960; it appears that both

of her parents are political prisoners of the Castro regime. Mrs.

Odio is a member of the Cuban Revolutionary Junta (JURE), an

anti-Castro organization.'^^° She testified that late in September

1963, three men came to her apartment in Dallas and asked

her to help them prepare a letter soliciting funds for JURE activities. She claimed that the men, who exhibited personal familiarity with

her imprisoned father, asked her if she were "working in the underground," and she replied that she was not.'^^^ She testified that two

of the men appeared to be Cubans, although they also had some characteristics that she associated with Mexicans. Those two men did not

state their full names, but identified themselves only by their fictitious underground "war names." Mrs. Odio remembered the name of one of

the Cubans as "Leopoldo." ^^^ The third man, an American, allegedly was introduced to Mrs. Odio as "Leon Oswald," and she was told that

he was very much interested in the Cuban cause. ^" Mrs. Odio said

that the men told her that they had just come from New Orleans and

that they were then about to leave on a trip."^^* Mrs. Odio testified that the next day Leopoldo called her on the telephone and told her

that it was his idea to introduce the American into the underground

"because he is great, he is kind of nuts." ^^^ Leopoldo also said that the

American had been in the Marine Corps and was an excellent shot, and

that the American said the Cubans "don't have any guts * * * be- cause President Kennedy should have been assassinated after the Bay

of Pigs, and some Cubans should have done that, because he was the one that was holding the freedom of Cuba actually." ^^^ Although Mrs. Odio suggested doubts that the men were in fact

members of JURE, ^^^ she was certain that the American who was in- troduced to her as Leon Oswald was Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ Her sister,

who was in the apartment at the time of the visit by the three men, and

who stated that she saw them briefly in the hallway when answering

the door, also believed that the American was Lee Har^^ey Oswald.^^^

By referring to the date on which she moved from her former apartment, October 1, 1963, Mrs. Odio fixed the date of the alleged visit on the Thursday or Friday immediately preceding that date, i.e., September 26 or 27. She was positive that the visit occurred prior to October l.'^^o During the course of its investigation, however, the Commission

concluded that Oswald could not have been in Dallas on the evening

of either September 26 or 27, 1963. It also developed considerable

evidence that he was not in Dallas at any time between the beginning

of September and October 3, 1963. On April 24, Oswald left Dallas

for New Orleans, where he lived until his trip to Mexico City in late September and his subsequent return to Dallas. Oswald is known to 322
have been in New Orleans as late as September 23, 1963, the date on which Mrs. Paine and Marina Oswald left New Orleans for Dallas/^^

Sometime between 4 p.m. on September 24 and 1 p.m. on September

25, Oswald cashed an unemployment compensation check at a store

in New Orleans ; ^^^ under normal procedures this check would not

have reached Oswald's postal box in New Orleans until at least 5 a.m. on September 25.^^^ The store at which he cashed the check did not

open until 8 a.m.^-^ Therefore, it appeared that Oswald's presence in

New Orleans until sometime between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on September

25 was quite firmly established.

Although there is no firm evidence ,of the means by which Oswald

traveled from New Orleans to Houston, on the first leg of his Mexico

City trip, the Commission noted that a Continental Trailways bus leaving New Orleans at 12 :30 p.m. on September 25 would have brought

Oswald to Houston at 10 :50 p.m. that evening.^^^ His presence on this

bus would be consistent with other evidence before the Commission.'^^®

There is strong evidence that on September 26, 1963, Oswald traveled on Continental Trailways bus No. 5133 which left Houston

at 2:35 a.m. for Laredo, Tex. Bus company records disclose that one ticket from Houston to Laredo was sold during the night shift on September 25-26, and that such ticket was the only one of its kind sold in the period of September 24 through September 26. The agent who sold this ticket has stated that Oswald could have

been the purchaser.^^'^ Two English passengers. Dr. and Mrs. John

B. McFarland, testified that they saw Oswald riding alone on this

bus shortly after they awoke at 6 a.m.^^ The bus was scheduled to arrive in Laredo at 1 :20 p.m. on September 26, and Mexican immigration records show that Oswald in fact crossed the border at Laredo to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on that

day.^2^ Evidence set out in appendix XIII establishes that Oswald

did not leave Mexico until October 3, and that he arrived in Dallas

the same day.

The Commission noted that the only time not strictly accounted for

during the period that Mrs. Odio thought Oswald might have visited

her is the span between the morning of September 25 and 2 :35 a.m. on September 26. The only public means of transportation by which

Oswald could have traveled from New Orleans to Dallas in time to catch his bus from Houston to Laredo, would have been the airlines. Investigation disclosed no indication that he flew between these

points.^^^ Moreover, it did not seem probable that Oswald would

speed from New Orleans, spend a short time talking to Sylvia Odio,

and then travel from Dallas to Mexico City and back on the bus.

Automobile travel in the time available, though perhaps possible,

would have been difficult.'^^^ The Commission noted, however, that if Oswald had reached Dallas on the evening of September 25, he could

have traveled by bus to Alice, Tex., and there caught the bus which

had left Houston for Laredo at 2:35 a.m. on September 26, 19'63.'^^2 Further investigation in that regard indicated, however, that no tickets were sold, during the period September 23-26, 1963 for travel from

323
Dallas to Laredo or points beyond by the Dallas office of Continental

Trailways, the only bus line on which Oswald could have made con- nections with the bus on which he was later seen. Furthermore, if Oswald had traveled from Dallas to Alice, he would not have readied

the Houston to Laredo bus until after he was first reportedly observed on it by the McFarlands/^^ Oswald had also told passengers on the

bus to Laredo that he had traveled from New Orleans by bus, and made

no mention of an intervening trip to Dallas."* In addition, the Commission noted evidence that on the evening of September 25, 1963,

Oswald made a telephone call to a party in Houston proposing to visit a resident of Houston that evening "^ and the fact that such a call would appear to be inconsistent with Oswald's having been in Dallas

at the time. It thus appeared that the evidence was persuasive that

Oswald was not in Dallas on September 25, and, therefore, that he was

not in that city at the time Mrs. Odio said she saw him.

In spite of the fact that it appeared almost certain that Oswald

could not have been in Dallas at the time Mrs. Odio thought he was,

the Commission requested the FBI to conduct further investigation

to determine the validity of Mrs. Odio's testimony."^^® The Commission considered the problems raised by that testimony as important in view of the possibility it raised that Oswald may have

had companions on his trip to Mexico."^^ The Commission specifically

requested the FBI to attempt to locate and identify the two men who

Mrs. Odio stated were with the man she thought was Oswald.^^'^- In an effort to do that the FBI located and interviewed Manuel Ray,

a leader of JURE who confirmed that Mrs. Odio's parents were

political prisoners in Cuba, but stated that he did not know anything

about the alleged Oswald visit."^^^ The same was true of Rogelio

Cisneros,^*^ a former anti-Castro leader from Miami who had visited

Mrs. Odio in June of 1962 in connection with certain anti-Castro

activities."^*^ Additional investigation was conducted in Dallas and

in other cities in search of the visitors to Mrs. Odio's apartment.'^*^

Mrs. Odio herself was reinterviewed."^*^

On September 16, 1964, the FBI located Loran Eugene Hall in

Johnsandale, Calif.'^** Hall has been identified as a participant in numerous anti-Castro activities."^*^ He told the FBI that in September of 1963 he was in Dallas, soliciting aid in connection with antiCastro activities. He said he had visited Mrs. Odio. He was accompanied by Lawrence Howard, a Mexican-American from East Los

Angeles and one William Seymour from Arizona. He stated that

Seymour is similar in appearance to Lee Harvey Oswald; he speaks

only a few words of Spanish,^*^ as Mrs. Odio had testified one of the

men who visited her did.^*^ Wliile the FBI had not yet completed

its investigation into this matter at the time the report went to press, the Commission has concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was not at Mrs. Odio's apartment in September of 1963.

The Commission has also noted the testimony of Evaristo Rodriguez, a bartender in the Habana Bar in New Orleans, to the effect that

he saw Oswald in that bar in August of 1963 in the company of a 324
Latin-appearing man.*^^^ Rodriguez' description of the man accom- panying the person he thought to be Oswald was similar in respects to the description given by Sylvia Odio since both testified that the man

may have been of either Cuban or Mexican extraction, and had a slight

bald spot on the forepart of his hairline/*^ Rodriguez' identification

of Oswald was uncorroborated except for the testimony of the owner

of the bar, Orest Pena ; according to Rodriguez, Pena was not in a position to observe the man he thought later to have been Oswald.'^^^ Although Pena has testified that he did observe the same person as did Rodriguez, and that this person was Oswald,^^^ an FBI interview

report indicated that a month earlier Pena had stated that he "could

not at this time or at any time say whether or not the person was identical with Lee Harvey Oswald." ^^^ Though when testifying, Pena

identified photographs of Oswald, the FBI report also recorded that

Pena "stated the only reason he was able to recognize Oswald was

because he had seen Oswald's picture in the news media so often after

the assassination of President John F. Kennedy." ^^^ When present

at Pena's bar, Oswald was supposed to have been intoxicated to the

extent that he became ill,^^* which is inconsistent with other evidence

that Oswald did not drink alcoholic beverages to excess.*^^^ The Commission has also noted the testimony of Dean Andrews, an

attorney in New Orleans. Andrews stated that Oswald came to his

office several times in the summer of 1963 to seek advice on a less than honorable discharge from the Armed Forces, the citizenship status of his wife and his own citizenship status. Andrews, who believed

that he was contacted on November 23 to represent Oswald, testified that Oswald was always accompanied by a Mexican and was at times

accompanied by apparent homosexuals.^^^ Andrews was able to locate no records of any of Oswald's alleged visits, and investigation has

failed to locate the person who supposedly called Andrews on November 23, at a time when Andrews was under heavy sedation."^^^ While

one of Andrews' employees felt that Oswald might have been at his

office, his secretary has no recollection of Oswald being there.^^® Oswald Was Not an Agent for the U.S. Government

From the time of his release from the Marine Corps until the as- sassination, Lee Harvey Oswald dealt in various transactions with

several agencies of the U.S. Government. Before departing the

United States for the Soviet Union in 1959, he obtained an American

passport, which he returned to the Embassy in Moscow in October

1959 when he attempted to renounce his U.S. citizenship. Thereafter,

while in the Soviet Union, Oswald had numerous contacts with the

American Embassy, both in person and through correspondence. Two

years later, he applied for the return and renewal of his passport,

which was granted him. His application concerning the admittance

of his wife to this country was passed upon by the Immigration and

Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice in addition to the State Department. And before returning to this country, he

325
secured a loan from the State Department to help cover his transporta-r

tion costs from Moscow to New York. These dealings with the Dapartment of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service have

been reviewed earlier in this chapter and are considered in detail in

appendix XV. After his return, Oswald was interviewed on three

occasions by agents of the FBI, and Mrs. Paine was also questioned

by the FBI about Oswald^s activities. Oswald obtained a second

passport in June of 1963. And both the FBI and the CIA

took note of his Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities in New

Orleans and his appearance at the Soviet consulate in Mexico City.

For reasons which Avill be discussed fully in chapter VIII, Oswald's

name was never given to the U.S. Secret Service.

These dealings have given rise to numerous rumors and allegations

that Oswald may have been a paid informant or some type of undercover agent for a Federal agency, usually the FBI or the CIA. The

Commission has fully explored whether Oswald had any official or

unofficial relationship with any Federal agency beyond that already

described.

Oswald's mother, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, testified before the Commission that she believes her son went to Eussia and returned as an

undercover agent for the U.S. Government."® Mrs. Oswald mentioned the belief that her son was an agent to a State Department

representative whom she visited in January 1961, when she was trying

to locate her son.^^° She had been interviewed earlier by FBI Agent

John W. Fain, within some 6 months of Oswald's departure for Russia, and did not at that time suggest such an explanation for Oswald's

departure.'^^^ Though provided the opportunity to present any material she considered pertinent, Mrs. Oswald was not able to give the

Commission any reasonable basis for her speculation.^^^ As discussed

later in this chapter, the Commission has investigated Marguerite Oswald's claim that an FBI agent showed her a picture of Jack Ruby

after the assassination but before Lee Harvey Oswald had been killed

;

this allegation was inaccurate, since the picture was not of Ruby.

After the assassination it was reported that in 1962 Oswald had told

Pauline Bates, a public stenographer in Fort Worth, Tex., that he

had become a "secret agent" of the U.S. Government and that he was

soon going back to Russia "for Washington." ^^^ Mrs. Bates in her sworn testimony denied that Oswald ever told her anything to that

effect.'^^* She testified that she had stated "that when he first said that

he went to Russia and had gotten a visa that I thought—it was just a thought—that maybe he was going over under the auspices of the State

Department—as a student or something." ^^ In order to evaluate the nature of Oswald's dealings with the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service,

the Commission has obtained the complete files of both the Department

and the Service pertaining to Lee Harvey Oswald. Officials who were

directly involved in dealing with the Oswald case on these matters

have testified before the Commission. A critical evaluation of the manner in which they were handled by these organizations is set forth

326
in appendix XV. The record establishes that Oswald received no

preferential treatment and that his case involved no impropriety on

the part of any Government official. Director John A. McCone and Deputy Director Richard Helms of

the Central Intelligence Agency testified before the Commission that no one connected with the CIA had ever interviewed Oswald or communicated with him in any way.'^^^ In his supplementing affidavit,

Director McCone stated unequivocally that Oswald was not an agent,

employee, or informant of the CIA, that the Agency never conununicated with him in any manner or furnished him any compensation,

and that Oswald was never directly or indirectly associated with the

CIA.^^^ The Commission has had access to the full CIA file on Oswald which is entirely consistent with Director McCone's statements. The Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, Assistant to the Director Alan H. Belmont, FBI Agents John W. Fain and John L. Quigley, who interviewed Oswald, and FBI Agent James P. Hosty,

Jr., who was in charge of his case at the time of the assassination,

have also testified before the Commission. All declared, in substance,

that Oswald was not an informant or agent of the FBI, that he did not

act in any other capacity for the FBI, and that no attempt was made

to recruit him in any capacity."^^® Director Hoover and each Bureau

agent, who according to the FBI would have been responsible for or aware of any attempt to recruit Oswald as an informant, have also

provided the Commission with sworn affidavits to this effect. "^^^ Director Hoover has sworn that he caused a search to be made of the

records of the Bureau, and that the search discloses that Oswald "was

never an informant of the FBI, and never assigned a symbol number

in that capacity, and was never paid any amount of money by the

FBI in any regard." ^^° This testimony is corroborated by the Commission's independent review of the Bureau files dealing with the

Oswald investigation.

The Commission also investigated the circumstances which led to the presence in Oswald's address book of the name of Agent Hosty

together with his office address, telephone number, and license number.^^^ Hosty and Mrs. Paine testified that on November 1, 1963,

Hosty left his name and phone number with Mrs. Paine so that she

could advise Hosty when she learned where Oswald was living in

Dallas.^^2 Mrs. Paine and Marina Oswald have testified that Mrs.

Paine handed Oswald the slip of paper on which Hosty had written

this information.''^^ In accordance with prior instructions from

Oswald,^^* Marina Oswald noted Hosty's license number which she

gave to her husband."^ The address of the Dallas office of the FBI

could have been obtained from many public sources. Thus, close scrutiny of the records of the Federal agencies involved

and the testimony of the responsible officials of the U.S. Government

establish that there was absolutely no type of informant or undercover

relationship between an agency of the U.S. Government and Lee

Harvey Oswald at any time.

327
Oswald's Finances

In search of activities or payments demonstrating the receipt of un- explained funds, the Commission undertook a detailed study of

Oswald's receipts and expenditures starting with the date of his

return from the Soviet Union on June 13, 1962, and continuing to the

date of his arrest on November 22, 1963. In appendix XIV there

appears a table listing Oswald's estimated receipts and expenditures on a monthly basis during this period.

The Commission was assisted in this phase of the investigation by

able investigators of the Internal Eevenue Service of the Department

of the Treasury and by agents of the FBI. The investigation extended

far beyond interrogation of witnesses who appeared before the Commission. At banks in New Orleans, La. ; Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston,

and Laredo, Tex., inquiries were made for any record of a checking,

savings, or loan accounts or a safe deposit box rented in the names of

Lee Harvey Oswald, his known aliases, or members of his immediate

family. In many cases a photograph of Oswald was exhibited to bank officials who were in a position to see a person in the safe deposit

box area of their banks. No bank account or safe deposit boxes were

located which could be identified with Oswald during this period of

his life, although evidence was developed of a bank account which he

had used prior to his trip to the Soviet Union in 1959. Telegraph

companies were checked for the possibility of money orders that may

have been sent to Oswald. All known locations where Oswald cashed

checks which he received were queried as to the possibility of his having

cashed other checks there. Further inquiries were made at Oswald's

places of employment, his residences and with local credit associations,

hospitals, utility companies, State and local government offices, post

offices, periodicals, newspapers, and employment agencies."^^®

Marina Oswald testified that she knew of no sources of income

Oswald other than his wages and his unemployment compensation."^ No evidence of other cash income has been discovered.

The Commission has found that the funds known ^to have been available to Oswald during the period June 13, 1962, through November 22,

1963, were sufficient to cover all of his known expenditures during this

period. Including cash on hand of $63 when he arrived from the

Soviet Union, the Oswalds received a total of $3,665.89 in cash from

wages, unemployment compensation benefits, loans, and gifts from

acquaintances. His cash disbursements durmg this period were esti- mated at $3,501.79, leaving a balance of $164.10. (See app. XIV.)

This estimated balance is within $19 of the $183.87 in cash which was

actually in Oswald's possession at the time of his arrest, consisting

of $13.87 on his person and $170 in his wallet left at the Paine house."^* In computing Oswald's expenditures, estimates were made for food,

clothing, and incidental expenses. The incidental expenses included

telephone calls, the cost of local newspapers, money order and checkcashing fees, postage, local transportation costs, personal care goods

and services, and other such small items. All of these expenses, in- 328
eluding food and clothing, were estimated at a slightly higher figure

than would be normal for a family with the income of the Oswalds,

and probably higher than the Oswalds actually spent on such items.'''^ This was done in order to be certain that even if some of Oswald's

minor expenditures are not known, he had adequate funds to cover

his known expenditures.

During the 17-month period preceding his death, Oswald's pattern

of living was consistent with his limited income. He lived with his

family in furnished apartments whose cost, including utilities, ranged

from about $60 to $75 per month.'^^° Witnesses testified to his wife's

disappointment and complaints and to their own shock and misgivings about several of the apartments in which the Oswalds lived

during the period.^*^ Moreover, the Oswalds, particularly Marina,

frequently lived with relatives and acquaintances at no cost. Oswald

and his family lived with his brother Eobert and then with Marguerite

Oswald from June until sometime in August 1962.'^*2 ^g discussed

previously, Marina Oswald lived with Elena Hall and spent a few

nights at the Taylors' house during October of 1962 ; ^®^ in November of that same year, Marina Oswald lived with two families."^^* When living away from his family Oswald rented rooms for $7 and

$8 per week or stayed at the YMCA in Dallas where he paid $2.25

per day.^^^ During late April and early May 1963, Oswald lived

with relatives in New Orleans, while his wife lived with Ruth Paine

in Irving, Tex.^^^ From September 24, 1963, until November 22,

Marina Oswald stayed with Ruth Paine, while Oswald lived in roominghouses in Dallas."^^^ During the period Marina Oswald resided

with others, neither she nor her husband made any contribution to her

support."^^^

The Oswalds owned no major household appliances, had no

automobile, and resorted to dental and hospital clinics for medical

care."^^^ Acquaintances purchased baby furniture for them, and paid

dental bills in one instance.^^° After his return to the United States,

Oswald did not smoke or drink, and he discouraged his wife from

doing so."^^ Oswald spent much of his time reading books which he

obtained from the public library, and periodicals to which he subscribed."^^^ He resided near his place of employment and used buses

to travel to and from work."^^^ When he visited his wife and the chil- dren on weekends in October and November 1963, he rode in a neighbor's car, making no contribution for gasoline or other expenses."^^*

Oswald's personal wardrobe was also very modest. He customarily wore T-shirts, cheap slacks, well-worn sweaters, and well-used zipper

jackets. Oswald owned one suit, of Russian make and purchase, poor

fitting and of heavy fabric which, despite its unsuitability to the

climates of Texas and Louisiana and his obvious discomfort, he wore

on the few occasions that required dress."^^^ Food for his family was extremely meager. Paul Gregory testified that during the 6 weeks that Marina Oswald tutored him he took the

Oswalds shopping for food and groceries on a number of occasions

and that he was "amazed at how little they bought." ^^® Their friends

329

730-900 0-64—23
in the Dallas-Fort Worth area frequently brought them food and

groceries/^^ Marina testified that her husband ate "very little." He

"never had breakfast. He just drank coffee and that is all. Not be- cause he was trying to economize. Simply he never liked to eat." She estimated that when he was living by himself in a roominghouse,

he would spend "about a dollar, $1.30" for dinner and have a sandwich and soft drink for lunch.'^^ The thrift which Oswald exercised in meeting his living expenses

allowed him to accumulate sufficient funds to meet other expenses

which he incurred after his return from the Soviet Union. From his

return until January of 1963, Oswald repaid the $435.71 he had borrowed from the State Department for travel expenses from Moscow,

and the $200 loan he had obtained from his brother Robert to fly from

New York to Dallas upon his return to this country. He completed the

retirement of the debt to his brother in October 1962.^^^ His cash

receipts from all sources from the day of his arrival in Fort Worth

through October 1962 aggregated $719.94; it is estimated that he

could have made the repayments to Robert and met his other known

expenses and still have been left with savings of $122.06 at the end

of the month. After making initial $10 monthly payments to the

K!'i:ate Department, Oswald paid the Government $190 in December

and $206 in January, thus liquidating that debt.^°° From Ms net earning of $805.96 from November through January plus his prior

savings, Oswald could have made these payments to the State Department, met his other known expenses, and still have had a balance

of $8.59 at the end of January 1963. In discussing the repayment

of these debts, Marina Oswald testified : "Of course we did not live in luxury. We did not buy anything that was not absolutely needed,

because Lee had to pay his debt to Robert and to the Government.

But it was not particularly difficult." ®°^ Included in the total figure for Oswald's disbursements were $21.45

for the rifle used in the assassination and $31.22 for the revolver with

which Oswald shot Officer Tippit. The major portion of the purchase

price for these weapons was paid in March 1963, when Oswald had

finished paying his debts, and the purchases were compatible with

the total funds then available to him.^^^ During May, June, and July

of 1963, Oswald spent approximately $23 for circulars, application

blanks, and membership cards for his one-man New Orleans chapter

of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.^°^ In August he paid $2 to one and possibly two young men to assist in passing out circulars and then

paid a $10 court fine after pleading guilty to a charge of disturbing

the peace.^°* Although some of these expenses were incurred after

Oswald lost his job on July 19, 1963, his wages during June and July,

and his unemployment compensation thereafter, provided sufficient funds to enable him to finance these activities out of his own

resources.^^^ Although Oswald paid his own busfare to New Orleans on April 24,

1963, his wife and the baby were taken there, at no cost to Oswald,

by Ruth Paine.^°^ Similarly, Ruth Paine drove to New Orleans in

330
September and brought Marina Oswald and the baby back to Irving,

Tex.^°^ Oswald's uncle, Charles Murret, also paid for the short trip

taken by Oswald and his family from New Orleans to Mobile, Ala., on

July 27, 1963.^°^ It is estimated that when Oswald left for Mexico

City in September 1963, he had accumulated slightly over $200.

Marina Oswald testified that when he left for Mexico City he had

"a little over $100," though she may not have taken into account the

$33 unemployment compensation check which Oswald collected after

her departure from New Orleans.^°^ In any event, expenses in

Mexico have been estimated as approximately $85, based on trans- portation costs of $50 and a hotel expense of about $1.28 per day.

Oswald ate inexpensively and, allowing $15 for entertainment and

miscellaneous items, it would appear that he had the funds available to finance the trip.^^°

The Commission has considered the testimony of Leonard E. Hutchison, proprietor of Hutch's Market in Irving, in comiection with

Oswald's finances. Hutchison has testified that on a Friday during

the first week in November, a man he believes to have been Lee Harvey

Oswald attempted to cash a "two-party," or personal check for $189,

but that he refused to cash the check since his policy is to cash personal

checks for no more than $25.®^^ Oswald is not known to have received

a check for this amount from any source. On Friday, November 1, Oswald did cash a Texas Unemployment

Commission check for $33 at another supermarket in Irving,^^2 so that

a possible explanation of Hutchison's testimony is that he refused to cash this $33 check for Oswald and is simply in error as to the amount

of the instrument. However, since the check cashed at the supermarket was issued by the State comptroller of Texas, it is not likely

that Hutchison could have confused it with a personal check.

Examination of Hutchison's testimony indicates that a more likely

explanation is that Oswald was not in his store at all. Hutchison

testified that the man who attempted to cash the check was a customer

in his store on previous occasions; in particular, Hutchison recalled

that the man, accompanied by a woman he believes was Marina

Oswald and an elderly woman, were shopping in his store in October

or November of 1963 on a night he feels certain was a Wednesday

evening.^^^ Oswald, however, is not known to have been in Irving on any Wednesday evening during this period.^^^ Neither of the two

checkers at the market recall such a visit by a person matching the

description provided by Hutchison, and both Marina Oswald and

Marguerite Oswald deny that they were ever in Hutchison's store.^^^ Hutchison further stated that the man made irregular calls at his

grocery between 7 :20 a.m. and 7 :45 a.m. on weekday mori;ings, and

always purchased cinnamon rolls and a full gallon of milk.^^^ However, the evidence indicates that except for rare occasions Oswald

was in Irving only on weekends; moreover, Buell Wesley Frazier,

who drove Oswald to and from Irving on these occasions, testified that on Monday mornings he picked Oswald up at a point which

is many blocks from Hutchison's store and ordinarily by 7 :20 a.m.®^^ 331
Hutchison also testified that Ruth Paine was an occasional customer

in his store; ^^^ however, Mrs. Paine indicated that she was not in

the store as often as Hutchison testified ; ^^^ and her appearance is dis- similar to the description of the woman Hutchison stated was Mrs.

Paine.^2'' In light of the strong reasons for doubting the correctness of Hutchison's testimony and the absence of any other sign that Oswald

ever possessed a personal check for $189, the Commission was unable to conclude that he ever received such a check.

The Commission has also examined a report that, not long before

the assassination, Oswald may have received unaccounted funds

through money orders sent to him in Dallas. Five days after the

assassmation, C. A. Hamblen, early night manager for the Western

Union Telegraph Co. in Dallas, told his superior that about 2 weeks

earlier he remembered Oswald sending a telegram from the office to Washington, D.C., possibly to the Secretary of the Navy, and that the

application was completed in an unusual form of hand printing.^^^

The next day Hamblen told a magazine correspondent who was in

the Western Union office on other business that he remembered seeing

Oswald in the office on prior occasions collecting money orders for

small amounts of money.^^^ Soon thereafter Hamblen signed a state- ment relating to both the telegram and the money orders, and specifying two instances in which he had seen the person he believed to be

Oswald in the office ; in each instance the man had behaved disagreeably

and one other Western Union employee had become involved in as- sisting him.^^

During his testimony, Hamblen did not recall with clarity the

statements he had previously made, and was imable to state whether

the person he reportedly had seen m the Western Union office was or was not Lee Harvey Oswald.^^* Investigation has disclosed that a second employee does recall one of the occurrences described by

Hamblen, and believes that the money order in question was delivered

"to someone at the YMCA" ; however, he is unable to state whether or not the man involved was Oswald.^^^ The employee referred to by

Hamblen in connection with the second incident feels certain that the

unusual episode described by Hamblen did not occur, and that she at no time observed Oswald in the Western Union office.^^^ At the request of Federal investigators, officers of Western Union

conducted a complete search of their records in Dallas and in other

cities, for the period from June through November 1963, for money

orders payable to Lee Harvey Oswald or his known aliases and for

telegrams sent by Oswald or his known aliases. In addition, all money

orders addressed to persons at the YMCA in Dallas during October

and November 1963 were inspected, and all telegrams handled from

November 1 through November 22 by the employee who Hamblen

assertedly saw service Oswald were examined, as were all telegrams

sent from Dallas to Washington during November. No indication of

any such money order or telegram was found in any of these records.^^^ Hamblen himself participated in this search, and was "unab"'e * * * to pin down any of these telegrams or money orders that would indicate

332
it was Oswald." ^^^ Hamblen's superiors have concluded "that this

whole thing was a figment of Mr. Hamblen's imagination," ^^^ and the

Commission accepts this assessment.

POSSIBLE CONSPIRACY INVOLVING JACK RUBY

Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald at 11:21 a.m., on Sunday,

November 24, 1963, shortly after Ruby entered the basement of the

Dallas Police Department. Almost immediately, speculation arose that Ruby had acted on behalf of members of a conspiracy who had

planned the killing of President Kennedy and wanted to silence

Oswald. This section of chapter VI sets forth the Commission's in- vestigation into the possibility that Ruby, together with Oswald

or with others, conspired to kill the President, or that Ruby, though

not part of any such conspiracy, had accomplices in the slaying of

Oswald. Presented first are the results of the Commission's detailed inquiry into Ruby's actions from November 21 to November 24. In addition, this section analyzes the numerous rumors and suspicions

that Ruby and Oswald were acquainted and examines Ruby's background and associations for evidence of any conspiratorial relationship or motive. A detailed life of Ruby is given in appendix XVI which

provides supplemental information about Ruby and his associations.

Ruby's Activities From November 21 to November 24, 1963

The Commission has attempted to reconstruct as precisely as possible the movements of Jack Ruby during the period November

21-November 24, 1963. It has done so on the premise that, if Jack Ruby were involved in a conspiracy, his activities and associations during this period would, in some way, have reflected the conspiratorial relationship. The Commission has not attempted to determine

the time at which Ruby first decided to make his attack on Lee Harvey

Oswald, nor does it purport to evaluate the psychiatric and related

legal questions which have arisen from the assault upon Oswald.

Ruby's activities during this 3-day period have been scrutinized, however, for the insight they provide into whether the shooting of Oswald

was grounded in any form of conspiracy.

The eve of the President'^s visit.—On Thursday, November 21, Jack

Ruby was attending to his usual duties as the proprietor of two Dallas

night spots—^the Carousel Club, a downtown nightclub featuring strip- tease dancers, and the Vegas Club, a rock-and-roll establishment in the

Oaklawn section of Dallas. Both clubs opened for business each day

in the early eveniag and continued 7 days a week until after midnight.^2^ Ruby arrived at the Carousel Club at about 3 p.m. Thursday

afternoon, as was his custom,®^^ and remained long enough to chat

with a friend and receive messages from Larry Crafard, a handyman

and helper who lived at the Carousel.^^^ Earlier in the day Ruby

had visited with a young lady who was job hunting in Dallas,^^^ paid

333
his rent for the Carousel premises,^^* conferred about a pea^e bond he

had been obliged to post as a result of a fight ^vith one of his striptease

dancers,^^^ consulted with an attorney about problems he was having

with Federal tax authorities,^^^ distributed membership cards for the

Carousel Club,^^^ talked with Dallas County Assistant District Attorney William F. Alexander about insufficient fund checks which a friend had passed,^^^ and submitted advertising copy for his nightclubs to the Dallas Morning News.^^'* Ruby's evening activities on Thursday, November 21, were a combination of business and pleasure. At approximately 7:30 p.m., he

drove Larry Crafard to the Vegas Club which Crafard was overseeing

because Ruby's sister, Eva Grant, who normally managed the club, was convalescing from a recent illness.^*° Thereafter, Ruby re- turned to the Carousel Club and conversed for about an hour

with Lawrence Meyers, a Chicago businessman.^^^ Between 9 :45 and

10:45 p.m., Ruby had dinner with Ralph Paul, his close friend and

financial backer. Wliile dining Ruby spoke briefly with a Dallas

Morning News employee, Don Campbell, who suggested that they go

to the Castaway Club, but Ruby declined.^*^ Thereafter, Ruby re- turned to the Carousel Club where he acted as master of ceremonies for

his show and peacefully ejected an unruly patron.^*^ At about midnight Ruby rejoined Meyers at the Bon Vivant Room of the Dallas

Cabana where they met Meyers' brother and sister-in-law.^^* Neither

Ralph Paul nor Lawrence Meyers recalled that Ruby mentioned the

President's trip to Dallas.^*^ Leaving Meyers at the Cabana after a brief visit. Ruby returned to close the Carousel Club and obtain the

night's receipts.**^ He then went to the Vegas Club which he helped

Larry Crafard close for the night; ®*^ and, as late as 2:30 a.m., Ruby

was seen eating at a restaurant near the Vegas Club.^*^ Friday morning at the Dallas Morning News.—Jack Ruby learned

of the shooting of President Kennedy while in the second-floor advertising offices of the Dallas Morning News, five blocks from the Texas

School Book Depository, where he had come Friday morning to place

regular weekend advertisements for his two nightclubs.**^ On arriving

at the newspaper building at about 11 or 11 :30 a.m., he talked briefly

with two newspaper employees concerning some diet pills he had

recommended to them.*^^ Ruby then went to the office of Morning

News columnist, Tony Zoppi, where he states he obtained a brochure on his new master of ceremonies that he wanted to use in preparing

copy for his advertisements.*^^ Proceeding to the advertising department, he spoke with advertising employee Don Campbell from about noon until 12 :25 p.m. when Campbell left the office.*^^ In addition to the business at hand, much of the conversation concerned Ruby's un- happiness over the financial condition of his clubs and his professed

ability to handle the physical fights which arose in connection with the

cJubs.^*^ According to Campbell, Ruby did not mention the Presidential motorcade nor did he display any unusual behavior.*^*

About 10 minutes after the President had been shot but before word

had spread to the second floor, Jolm Newnam, an advertising de334
partment employee, observed Ruby sitting at the same spot where

Campbell had left him. At that time Ruby had completed the

advertisement, which he had apparently begun to compose when

Campbell departed, and was reading a newspaper.^^^ To Newnam,

Ruby voiced criticism of the black-bordered advertisement entitled

"Welcome, Mr. Kennedy" appearing in the morning paper and bearing

the name of Bernard Weissman as the chairman of the committee

sponsoring the advertisement.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 1031,

p. 294. ) According to Eva Grant, Ruby's sister, he had telephoned her

earlier in the morning to call her attention to the ad.^^"^ At about 12 :45 p.m., an employee entered the office and announced that shots had been

fired at the President. Newnam remembered that Ruby responded

with a look of "stunned disbelief." ^^^ Shortly afterward, according to Newnam, "confusion reigned" in

the office as advertisers telephoned to cancel advertising they had

placed for the weekend.^^® Ruby appears to have believed that some

of those cancellations were motivated by the Weissman advertisement.^^° After Newnam accepted a few telephone calls, he and Ruby

walked toward a. room where other persons were watching television.^^^ One of the newspaper employees recalled that Ruby then appeared

"obviously shaken, and an ashen color—just very pale * * *" ^^^ showed little disposition to converse,^^^ and sat for a while with a dazed

expression in his eyes.^^*

After a few minutes. Ruby placed telephone calls to Andrew Armstrong, his assistant at the Carousel Club, and to his sister, Mrs.

Grant. He told Armstrong, "If anything happens we are going to

close the club" and said he would see him in about 30 minutes.^^^

During the call to his sister. Ruby again referred to the Weissman

advertisement; at one point he put the telephone to N'ewnam's ear, and Newnam heard Mrs. Grant exclaim, "My God, what do they

want?" It was Newnam's recollection that Ruby tried to calm her.^®^ Ruby testified that after calling his sister he said, "John, I will have

to leave Dallas." ^^ Ruby explained to the Commission

:

I don't know why I said that, but it is a funny reaction that you

feel ; the city is terribly let down by the tragedy that happened.

And I said, "John, I am not opening up tonight."

And I don't know what else transpired. I know people were

just heartbroken * * *. I left the building and I went down and I got in my car and

I couldn't stop crying. * * * ^^^ Newnam estimated that Ruby departed from the Morning N'ews at about 1 :30 p.m., but other testimony indicated that Ruby may have

left earlier.^^^ Ruby^s alleged visit to Parhland Hospital.—The Commission has

investigated claims that Jack Ruby was at Parkland Hospital at about

1 :30 p.m., when a Presidential press secretary, Malcolm Kilduff, an- nounced that President Kennedy was dead. Seth Kantor, a newspaperman who had previously met Ruby in Dallas, reported and later 335
testified that Jack Ruby stopped him momentarily inside the main en- trance to Parkland Hospital some time between 1 :30 and 2 p.m., Friday, November 22, 1963.^^^ The only other person besides Kantor who

recalled seeing Ruby at the hospital did not make known her observation until April 1964, had never seen Ruby before, allegedly saw him

only briefly then, had an obstructed view, and was uncertain of the

time.^^^ Ruby has firmly denied going to Parkland and has stated

that he went to the Carousel Club upon leaving the Morning News.®^^

Video tapes of the scene at Parkland do not show Ruby there, although

Kantor can be seen.^^^ Investigation has limited the period during which Kantor could have

met Ruby at Parkland Hospital on Friday to a few minutes before

and after 1 :30 p.m. Telephone company records and the testimony of

Andrew Armstrong established that Ruby arrived at the Carousel

Club no later than 1 :45 p.m. and probably a few minutes earlier.^^* Kantor was engaged in a long-distance telephone call to his Washington office from 1 :02 p.m. until 1 :27 p.m.^^^ Kantor testified that, after

completing that call, he immediately left the building from which he

had been telephoning, traveled perhaps 100 yards, and entered the

main entrance of the hospital. It was there, as he walked through a small doorway, that he believed he saw Jack Ruby, who, Kantor said,

tugged at his coattails and asked, "Should I close my places for the

next three nights, do you think?" Kantor recalled that he turned

briefly to Ruby and proceeded to the press conference at which the

President's death was announced. Kantor was certain he encountered

Ruby at Parkland but had doubts about the exact time and place.^^^

Kantor probably did not see Ruby at Parkland Hospital in the few

minutes before or after 1 :30 p.m., the only time it would have been

possible for Kantor to have done so. If Ruby immediately returned

to the Carousel Club after Kantor saw him, it would have been neces- sary for him to have covered the distance from Parkland in approximately 10 or 15 minutes in order to have arrived at the club before 1 :45 p.m., when a telephone call was placed at Ruby's request to his entertainer, Karen Bennett Carlin.^^^ At a normal driving speed under nor- mal conditions the trip can be made in 9 or 10 minutes.^^^ However, it

is likely that congested traffic conditions on November 22 would have

extended the driving time.^^^ Even if Ruby had been able to drive

from Parkland to the Carousel in 15 minutes, his presence at the Dallas

Morning News until after 1 p.m., and at the Carousel prior to

1 :45 p.m., would have made his visit at Parkland exceedingly brief. Since Ruby was observed at the Dallas Police Department during a 2

hour period after 11 p.m. on Friday,*^^ when Kantor was also present,

and since Kantor did not remember seeing Ruby there,^^^ Kantor

may have been mistaken about both the time and the place that

he saw Ruby. When seeing Ruby, Kantor was preoccupied with

the important event that a press conference represented. Both

Ruby and Kantor were present at another important event, a press

conference held about midnight, November 22, in the assembly room

of the Dallas Police Department. It is conceivable that Kantor's en- 336
counter with Euby occurred at that time, perhaps near the small doorway there.^®^ Ruby^s decision to close his clubs.—Upon arriving at the Carousel

Club shortly before 1 :45 p.m., Euby instructed Andrew Armstrong,

the Carousel's bartender, to notify employees that the club would be

closed that night.^^^ During much of the next hour Ruby talked by

telephone to several persons who were or had been especially close to him, and the remainder of the time he watched television and spoke

with Armstrong and Larry Crafard about the assassination.^^* At

1 :51 p.m., Ruby telephoned Ralph Paul in Arlington, Tex., to say that

he was going to close his clubs. He urged Paul to do likewise with his

drive-in restaurant.^^^ Unable to reach Alice Nichols, a former girl

friend, who was at lunch. Ruby telephoned his sister, Eileen Kaminsky, in Chicago.^^^ Mrs. Kaminsky described her brother as completely imnerved and crying about President Kennedy's death.^^"^ To Mrs. Nichols, whose return call caused Ruby to cut short his con- versation with Mrs. Kaminsky, Ruby expressed shock over the assassination.^^^ Although Mrs. Nichols had dated Ruby for nearly 11

years, she was surprised to hear from him on November 22 since they

had not seen one another socially for some time.^^^ Thereafter, Ruby

telephoned at 2 :37 p.m. to Alex Gruber, a boyhood friend from Chicago

who was living in Los Angeles.^^ Gruber recalled that in their 3- minute conversation Ruby talked about a dog he had promised to send

Gruber, a carwash business Gruber had considered starting, and the

assassination.^^^ Ruby apparently lost his self-control during the

conversation and terminated it.^^^ However, 2 minutes after that call ended. Ruby telephoned again to Ralph Paul.*^^ Upon leaving the Carousel Club at about 3 :15 p.m., Ruby drove to Eva Grant's home but left soon after he arrived, to obtain some weekend food for his sister and himself.^^* He first returned to the Carousel

Club and directed Larry Crafard to prepare a sign indicating that

the club would be closed ; however. Ruby instructed Crafard not to post

the si^n until later in the evening to avoid informing his competitors

that he would be closed.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit 2427, p. 339.)

Before leaving the club. Ruby telephoned Mrs. Grant who reminded

him to purchase food.^^^ As a result he went to the Ritz Delicatessen,

about two blocks from the Carousel Club, and bought a great quantity

of cold cuts.«9^ Ruby probably arrived a second time at his sister's home close to

5 :30 p.m. and remained for about 2 hours. He continued his rapid

rate of telephone calls, ate sparingly, became ill, and attempted to get some rest.^^^ While at the apartment. Ruby decided to close his clubs

for 3 days. He testified that after talking to Don Saffran, a columnist

for the Dallas Times-Herald

:

I put the receiver down and talked to my sister, and I said, "Eva,

what shall we do?"

And she said, "Jack, let's close for the 3 days." She said, "We

don't have anything anyway, but we owe it to—" (chokes up.)

337
So I called Don Safi'ran back immediately and I said, "Don, we decided to close for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday."

And he said, *'Okay." ««^ Euby then telephoned the Dallas Morning News to cancel his advertisement and, when unable to do so, he changed his ad to read that his

clubs would be closed for the weekend.®^^ Ruby also telephoned Cecil

Hamlin, a friend of many years. Sounding very "broken up," he told

Hamlin that he had closed the clubs since he thought most people

would not be in the mood to visit them and that he felt concern for

President Kennedy's "kids." ^°^ Thereafter he made two calls to as- certain when services at Temple Shearith Israel would be held.^^^ He

placed a second call to Alice Nichols to tell her of his intention to attend those services ^^^ and phoned Larry Crafard at the Carousel to ask whether he had received any messages.^^* Eva Grant testified

:

When he was leaving, he looked pretty bad. This I remember.

I can't explain it to you. He looked too broken, a broken man

already. He did make the remark, he said, "I never felt so bad

in my life, even when Ma or Pa died."

So I said, "Well, Pa was an old man. He was almost 89

years. * * *" ^^^ Friday evening,—Ruby is uncertain whether he went directly from

his sister's home to his apartment or possibly first to his club.^*^^ At

least 5 witnesses recall seeing a man they believe was Ruby on the

third floor of police headquarters at times they have estimated between

6 and 9 p.m. ; ®°^ however, it is not clear that Ruby was present at the Police and Courts Building before 11 p.m. With respect to three of the witnesses, it is doubtful that the man observed was Ruby.

Two of those persons had not known Ruby previously and described

wearing apparel which differed both from Ruby's known dress that

night and from his known wardrobe.^"^ The third, who viewed from

the rear the person he believed was Ruby, said the man unsuccessfully

attempted to enter the homicide office.^°^ Of the police officers on

duty near homicide at the time of the alleged event, only one remembered the episode, and he said the man in question definitely was not

Ruby.^^^ The remaining witnesses knew or talked with Ruby, and

their testimony leaves little doubt that they did see him on the third

floor at some point on Friday night; however the possibility remains

that they observed Ruby later in the evening, when his presence is conclusively established.®^^ Ruby has denied being at the police department Friday night before approximately 11 :15 p.m.®^^

In any event. Ruby eventually returned to his own apartment before

9 p.m. There he telephoned Ralph Paul but was unable to persuade

Paul to join him at synagogue services.®^^ Shortly after 9 p.m., Ruby

called the Chicago home of his oldest brother, Hyman Rubenstein,

and two of his sisters, Marion Carroll and Ann Volpert.®^* Hyman

Rubenstein testified that, during the call, his brother was so disturbed

338
"CLOSED" SIGN POSTED IN THE WINDOW OF THE

CAROUSEL CLUB AND RUBY'S NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT ANNOUNCING THAT THE VEGAS AND

CAROUSEL CLUBS WILL BE CLOSED

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2427)

tvanieu uie Stock market

ibilizing action when

icxt week after the

president of the UnitChicago, San FranAngeles, St. Louis,

1, Portland, MinneV Orleans witnessed m a 1 meetings of led financiers and

tying to asses what

chief executive and a new president

) the nation' and

community.

nation's financial

' York Stock Exrading shortly aftsui-ance. Listing a notable group of bank- Closed

fontqht tt Suwdoy CAROUSELS

Closed

Vegas Club |te^

fijh balls, frMCh

FUN! COMBO! PRIZES! iJ£2SiM&

DALLAS TIMES HERALD

SATURDAY, NOV. 23, 1963 PAGE A-13

339
about the situation in Dallas that he mentioned selling his business

and returning to Chicago.®^^ From his apartment, Ruby drove to Temple Shearith Israel, arriving near the end of a 2-hour service

which had begun at 8 p.m.^^^ Rabbi Hillel Silverman, who greeted

him among the crowd leaving the services ^^^ was surprised that

Ruby, who appeared depressed, mentioned only his sister's recent ill- ness and said nothing about the assassination.^^^

Ruby related that, after joining in the postservice refreshments,^^^

he drove by some night clubs, noticing whether or not they had been

closed as his were.^^^ He testified that, as he drove toward town, a radio announcement that the Dallas police were working overtime

prompted the thought that he might bring those at police headquarters

something to eat.®^^ At about 10 :30 p.m., he stopped at a delicatessen near the Vegas Club and purchased 8 kosher sandwiches and 10 soft

drinks.®^^ From the delicatessen, he called the police department but was told that the officers had already eaten.^^^ He said he then tried to

offer the food to employees at radio station KLIF but failed in several

attempts to obtain the private night line number to the station.^^^ On

three occasions between phone calls. Ruby spoke with a group of stu- dents whom he did not know, lamenting the President's death, teasing one of the young men about being too young for his clubs, borrowing

their copy of the Dallas Times Herald to see how his advertisements

had been run, and stating that his clubs were the only ones that had

closed because of the assassination. He also expressed the opinion, as he had earlier in the day, that the assassination would be harmful to the convention business in Dallas.®^^ Upon leaving the delicatessen

with his purchases. Ruby gave the counterman as a tip a card granting

free admission to his clubs.^^^ He drove downtown to the police sta- tion where he has said he hoped to find an employee from KLIF who

could give him the "hot line" phone number for the radio station.^"

The third floor of police headquarters.—Ruby is known to have

made his way, by about 11 :30 p.m., to the third floor of the Dallas

Police Department where reporters were congregated near the homicide bureau.®^® Newsman John Rutledge, one of those who may well

have been mistaken as to time, gave the following description of his

first encounter with Ruby at the police station

:

I saw Jack and two out-of-state reporters, whom I did not

know, leave the elevator door and proceed toward those television cameras, to go around the corner where Captain Fritz's office was. Jack walked between them. These two out-of-state re- porters had big press cards pinned on their coats, great big red

ones, I think they said "President Kennedy's Visit to Dallas

Press", or something like that. And Jack didn't have one, but

the man on either side of him did. And they walked pretty

rapidly from the elevator area past the policeman, and Jack was bent over like this—writing on a piece of paper, and talking

to one of the reporters, and pointing to something on the piece

of paper, he was kind of hunched over.®^^ 340
Commission Exhibit No. 2424

Jack Ruby at press conference in basement assembly room about midnight November 22, 1963. (Jack Ruby is the individual in the dark suit, back row, right-hand side, wearing horn-rimmed glasses.)

Commission Exhibit No. 2424

341
Detective Augustus M. Eberhardt, who also recalled that he fii*st saw Kuby earlier in the evening, said Ruby carried a note pad and

professed to be a translator for the Israeli press. He remembered

Euby's remarking how unfortunate the assassmation was for the city

of Dallas and that it was "hard to realize that a complete nothing, a zero like that, could kill a man like President Kemiedy * * *." ^^'^ Video tapes confirm Ruby's statement that he was present on the

third floor when Chief Jesse E. Curry and District Attorney Henry M.

Wade announced that Oswald would be shown to the newsmen at a press conference in the basement.®^^ Though he has said his original

purpose was only to locate a KXIF employee, Ruby has stated that

while at the police station he was "carried away with the excitement

of history." ^^^ He accompanied the newsmen to the basement to observe Oswald. His presence at the midnight news conference is established by television tapes and by at least 12 witnesses.^^^ When

Oswald arrived. Ruby, together with a number of newsmen, was

standing atop a table on one side of the room.^^* (See Commission

Exhibit No. 2424, p. 341.) Oswald was taken from the room after a brief appearance, and Ruby remained to hear reporters question

District Attorney Wade. During the press conference, Wade stated

that Oswald would probably be moved to the county jail at the beginning of the next week.®^^ In answer to one question. Wade said that

Oswald belonged to the "Free Cuba Committee." A few reporters

spoke up correcting Wade and among the voices was that of Jack

Ruby.936

Ruby later followed the district attorney out of the press conference,

walked up to him and, according to Wade, said "Hi Henry * * * Don't

you know me ? * * * I am Jack Ruby, I run the Ve^as Club. * * *" 937 Ruby also introduced himself to Justice of the Peace David L. Johnston, shook his hand, gave Johnston a business card to the Carousel

Club, and, upon learning Johnston's official position, shook Jolinston's

hand again.^^ After talking with Johnston, he gave another card to Icarus M. Pappas, a reporter for New York radio station WNEW.^^^

From a representative of radio station KBOX in Dallas, Ruby obtained the "hot line" telephone number to KLIF.^*° He then called

the station and told one of the employees that he would like to come up

to distribute the sandwiches and cold drinks he had purchased.^*^ Observing Pappas holding a telephone line open and attempting to get

the attention of District Attorney Wade, Ruby directed Wade to Pappas, who proceeded to interview the district attomey.^*^ Ruby

then called KLIF a second time and offered to secure an interview with

Wade; he next summoned Wade to his phone, whereupon KLIF re- corded a telephone interview with the district attorney.^*^ A few

minutes later. Ruby encountered Russ Knight, a reporter from KLIF

who had left the station for the police department at the beginning of

Ruby's second telephone call. Ruby directed Knight to Wade and

waited a short distance away while the reporter conducted another

interview with the district attorney.^**

342
At radio station KLIF.—^Wlien Ruby left police headquarters, he

drove to radio station KLIF, arriving at approximately 1 :45 a.m. and remaining for about 45 minutes.®'^^ After first distributing liis sandwiches and soft drmks, Ruby settled in the newsroom for the 2 a.m. newscast in which he was credited with suggesting that Russ Knight

ask District Attorney Wade whether or not Oswald was sane.^^ After

the newscast, Ruby gave a Carousel card to one KLIF employee,

although another did not recall that Ruby was promoting his club as he

normally did.^*^ When speaking with KLIF's Danny Patrick McCurdy, Ruby mentioned that he was going to close his clubs for the

weekend and that he would rather lose $1,200 or $1,500 than remain

open at that time in the N'ation's history. McCurdy remembered that

Ruby "looked rather pale to me as he was talking to me and he kept

looking at the floor." ^^ To announcer Glen Duncan, Ruby expressed

satisfaction that the evidence was mounting against Oswald. Duncan

said that Ruby did not appear to be grieving but, instead, seemed

pleased about the personal contact he had had with the investigation

earlier in the evening.^^^

Ruby left the radio station accompanied by Russ Knight. Engaging Knight in a short conversation. Ruby handed him a radio script

entitled "Heroism" from a conservative radio program called "Life

Line." It was apparently one of the scripts that had come into

Ruby's hands a few weeks before at the Texas Products Show when

Hunt Foods were including such scripts with samples of their products.®^° The script extolled the virtues of those who embark upon

risky business ventures and stand firmly for causes they believe to be correct.®^^ Ruby asked Knight's view^s on the script and suggested that there was a group of "radicals" in Dallas which hated

President Kemiedy and that the owner of the radio station should

editorialize against this group. Knight could not clearly determine

whether Ruby had reference to persons who sponsored programs like

"Life Line" or to those who held leftwing views.^^^ Knight gained

the impression that Ruby believed such persons, whoever they might

be, were partially responsible for the assassination.^^^

Early morning of November 23.—At about 2:30 a.m.. Ruby en- tered his automobile and departed for the Dallas Times-Herald Building. En route, he stopped for about an hour to speak with Kay Helen

Coleman, one of his dancers, and Harry Olsen, a member of the

Dallas Police Department, who had hailed him from a parking

garage at the comer of Jackson and Field Streets. The couple were

crying and extremely upset over the assassination. At one point,

according to Ruby, the police officer remarked that "they should cut

this guy [Oswald] inch by inch into ribbons," and the dancer said

that "in England they would drag him through the streets and would

have hung him." ^^^ Although Ruby failed to mention this episode

during his first two FBI interviews,^^^ he later explained that his reason for failing to do so was that he did not "want to involve

them in anything, because it was supposed to be a secret that he

[the police officer] was going with this young lady." ^^^ About

343
6 weeks after the assassination, Olsen left the Dallas Police Department and married Miss Coleman. Both Olsen and his wife testified that they were greatly upset during their lengthy conversation with

Kuby early Saturday morning; but Mrs. Olsen denied and Olsen

did not recall the remarks ascribed to them.^^^ The Olsens claimed

instead that Ruby had cursed Oswald.^^ Mrs. Olsen also mentioned

that Ruby expressed sympathy for Mrs. Kennedy and her children.^^^ From Jackson and Field Streets, Ruby drove to the Dallas TimesHerald, where he talked for about 15 minutes with composing room

employee Roy Pryor, who had just finished a shift at 4 a.m. Ruby mentioned that he had seen Oswald earlier in the night, that he

had corrected Henry Wade in connection with the Fair Play for Cuba

Committee, and that he had set up a telephone interview with Wade.

Pryor testified that Ruby explicitly stated to him that he believed he was in good favor with the district attorney.^*^ Recalling that Ruby

described Oswald as a "little weasel of a guy" and was emotionally con- cerned about the President's wife and children, Pryor also was impressed by Ruby's sorrowful mood and remembered that, as he talked,

Ruby shook a newspaper to emphasize his concern over the

assassination.^^^

When Pryor left the composing room, Ruby remained and continued

speaking with other employees, includmg Arthur Watherwax and the

foreman, Clyde Gadash. Ruby, who often visited the Times-Herald

at that early morning hour in connection with his ads, sought Watherwax's views on his decision to close his clubs and indicated he was

going to attempt to persuade other club owners to do likewise.

Watherwax described Ruby as "pretty shaken up" about the assassi- nation and at the same time "excited" that he had attended Oswald's

Friday night press conference.^^^ While at the Times-Herald, Ruby displayed to the composing room

employees a "twistboard" he had previously promised to Gadash.®^^

The twistboard was an exercising device consisting of two pieces of

hardened materials joined together by a lazy susan bearing so that one piece could remain stationary on the floor while a person stood

atop it and swiveled to and fro.^^^ Ruby had been trying to promote

sales of the board in the weeks before President Kennedy was killed.^^^ Considerable merriment developed when one of the women employees

at the Times-Herald demonstrated the board, and Ruby himself, put on a demonstration for those assembled.^^^ He later testi- fied : "* * * not that I wanted to get in with the hilarity of frolicking,

but he [Gadash] asked me to show him, and the other men gathered

around." ^^^ Gadash agreed that Ruby's general mood was one of

sorrow.^^

At about 4:30 a.m., Ruby drove from the Dallas Times-Herald

to his apartment where he awakened his roommate George Senator.^^® During his visit in the composing room Ruby had expressed

the view that the Weissman advertisement was an effort to discredit

the Jews.®^° Senator testified that when Ruby returned to the apartment, he began to discuss the Weissman advertisement and also a sign344
board he had seen in Dallas urging that Chief Justice Earl Warren

be impeached.^^^ Shortly thereafter, Ruby telephoned Larry Crafard

at the Carousel Club.^^ He told Crafard to meet him and Senator

at the Nichols Garage adjacent to the Carousel Club and to bring a Polaroid camera kept in the club.^''^ After Crafard joined Ruby and

Senator, the three men drove to the "Impeach Earl Warren"

sign near Hall Avenue and Central Expressway in Dallas. There

Ruby instructed Crafard to take three photographs of the billboard.

Believing that the sign and the Weissman newspaper ad might some- how be connected. Ruby noted on the back of an envelope a name and

post office box number that appeared on the sign.^^^ According to George Senator:

* * * when he was looking at the sign and taking: pictures

of it, and the newspaper ad, * * * this is where he really wanted

to know the whys or why these things had to be out. He is trving

to combine these two together, which I did hear him say, "This

is the work of the John Birch Society or the Communist Party

or maybe a combination of both." ^^^ Pursuing a possible connection between the billboard and the news- paper advertisement. Ruby drove to the post office and asked a postal

employee for the name of the man who had rented the box indicated on

the billboard, but the employee said that he could not provide such

information. Ruby inspected the box, however, and was upset to

find it stuffed with mail.^^^ The three men then drove to a coffee- shop where Ruby continued to discuss the two advertisements. After

about 30 minutes, they left the coffeeshop. Crafard was taken to the Carousel Club ; Ruby and Senator returned to their apartment,^^^

and Ruby retired at about 6 a.m.^''^ The morning and afternoon of Noverriber 23.—At 8 or 8:30 a.m. Crafard, who had been asked to feed Ruby's dogs, telephoned Ruby

at his apartment to inquire about food for the animals.^^^ Ruby

forgot that he had told Crafard he did not plan to go to bed and reprimanded Crafard for waking him.®^° A few hours thereafter Crafard

assembled his few belongings, took from the Carousel cash register $5

of money due him from Ruby, left a receipt and thank-you note, and

began hitchhiking to Michigan. Later that day, Andrew Armstrong

found the note and telephoned Ruby.^^^

Ruby apparently did not return to bed following Crafard's call. During the morning hours, he watched a rabbi deliver on television a moving eulogy of President Kennedy.^^^ According to Ruby, the

rabbi

:

went ahead and eulogized that here is a man that fought in every

battle, went to every country, and had to come back to his own

country to be shot in the back [starts crying] * * *. That cre- ated a tremendous emotional feeling for me, the way he said that. Prior to all the other times, I was carried away.®^

345

730-900 0-64—24
An employee from the Carousel Club who telephoned Ruby during

the morning remembered that his "voice was shaking" when he spoke

of the assassination.^^*

Ruby has stated that, upon leaving his apartment some time between noon and 1 :30 p.m., he drove to Dealey Plaza where a police officer,

who noted Ruby's solemnity, pointed out to him the window from

which the rifleshots had been fired the day before.^^^ Ruby related

that he inspected the wreaths that had been placed in memory of the

President and became filled with emotion while speaking with the

police officer.^^^ Ruby introduced himself to a reporter for radio

station KRLD who was working inside a mobile news unit at the

plaza ; the newsman mentioned to Ruby that he had heard of Ruby's

help to KLIF in obtaining an interview with Henry Wade, and Ruby

pointed out to the reporter that Capt. J. Will Fritz and Chief Curry

were then in the vicinity. Thereafter, the newsman interviewed and

photographed the officers.^^^ Ruby said that he next drove home and

returned downtown to Sol's Turf Bar on Commerce Street.^^^ The evidence indicated, however, that sometime after leaving Dealey

Plaza, Ruby went to the Nichols Parking Garage adjacent to the

Carousel Club, where he was seen by Garnett C. Hallmark, general

manager of the garage, and Tom Brown, an attendant. Brown

believed that at about 1 :30 p.m. he heard Ruby mention Chief Curry's

name in a telephone conversation from the garage. Brown also re- called that, before finally departing. Ruby asked him to inform

acquaintances whom he expected to stop by the garage that the Carousel would be closed.^^^ Hallmark testified that Ruby drove into the

garage at about 3 p.m., walked to the telephone, inquired whether

or not a competing burlesque club would be closed that night, and

told Hallmark that he (Ruby) was "acting like a reporter." ^^° Hallmark then heard Ruby address someone at the other end of the

telephone as "Ken" and caught portions of a conversation concern- ing the transfer of Oswald.^^^ Hallmark said Ruby never called

Oswald by name but used the pronoun "he" and remarked to the

recipient ,of the call, "you know I'll be there." ^^^ Ken Dowe, a KLIF announcer, to whom Ruby made at least two telephone calls within a short span of time Saturday afternoon,

confirmed that he was probably the person to whom Hallmark and

Brown overheard Ruby speaking. In one call to Dowe, Ruby asked

whether the station knew when Oswald would be moved; and, in

another, he stated he was going to attempt to locate Henry Wade.^^^

After Ruby finished his calls, he walked onto Commerce Street, passed

the Carousel Club, and returned a few minutes later to get his car.^^* Ruby's comment that he was "acting like a reporter" and that he

would be at the Oswald transfer suggests that Ruby may have spent

part of Saturday afternoon shuttling back and forth from the Police

and Courts Building to Dealey Plaza. Such activity would explain

the fact that Tom Brown at the Nichols Garage believed he saw Ruby

at 1 :30 p.m. while Garnett Hallmark placed Ruby at the garage at 3 p.m. It would also explain Ken Dowe's receiving two phone calls 346
from Ruby. The testimony of five news reporters supports the possibility that Ruby was at the Police and Courts Building Saturday

afternoon.^^^ One stated that Ruby provided sandwiches for newsmen

on duty there Saturday afternoon, although no news representative

has mentioned personally receiving such sandwiches.^®® Another testi- fied that he received a card to the Carousel Club from Ruby about 4

p.m. that day at the police station.®^" A third believed he saw Ruby

enter an office in which Henry Wade was working, but no one else reported a similar event.^®^ The remaining two witnesses mentioned no specific activities.®^® None of the persons who believed they saw Ruby at the police department on Saturday had known him previously,- and no police officer has reported Ruby's presence on that

day. Ruby has not mentioned such a visit. The Commission, therefore, reached no firm conclusion as to whether or not Ruby visited

the Dallas Police Department on Saturday.

Shortly after 3 p.m. Ruby went to Sol's Turf Bar on Commerce

Street where he remained for about 45 minutes. Ruby, a nondrinker,

stated that he visited Sol's for the purpose of talking with his ac- countant, who customarily prepared the bar's payroll on Saturday

afternoon. The accountant testified, however, that he saw Ruby only

briefly and mentioned no business conversation with Ruby.^^*^° Ruby

was first noticed at the Turf Bar by jeweler Frank Bellochio, who,

after seeing Ruby, began to berate the people of Dallas for the assassination.^^''^ Ruby disagreed and, when Bellochio said he might close

his jewelry business and leave Dallas, Ruby attempted to calm him,

saying that there were many good citizens in Dallas.^^^^ In response, Bellochio pointed to a copy of the Bernard Weissman advertisement.^°°^ To Bellochio's bewilderment. Ruby then said he believed that

the advertisement was the work of a group attempting to create antiSemitic feelings in Dallas and that he had learned from the Dallas

Morning News that the ad had been paid for partly in cash.^*'^* Ruby

thereupon produced one of the photographs he had taken Saturday

morning of the "Impeach Earl Warren" sign and excitedly began to

rail against the sign as if he agreed with Bellochio's original criticism

of Dallas.^^*^^ He "seemed to be taking two sides—he wasn't co- herent," Bellochio testified.^^^ When Bellochio saw Ruby's photographs, which Bellochio thought supported his argument against

Dallas, he walked to the front of the bar and showed them to Tom

Apple, with whom he had been previously arguing. In Apple's

presence, Bellochio asked Ruby for one of the pictures but Ruby

refused, mentioning that he regarded the pictures as a scoop.^°^^

Bellochio testified : "I spoke to Tom and said a few more words to Tom, and Ruby was gone—never said 'Goodbye' or 'I'll be seeing

YQ^^J 5? 1008 Ruby may have left in order to telephone Stanley Kaufman, a friend and attorney who had represented him in civil matters.^^^® Kaufman testified that, at approximately 4 p.m.. Ruby called him

about the Bernard Weissman advertisement. According to Kaufman,

"Jack was particularly impressed with the [black] border as being a 347
tipoff of some sort—that this man knew the President was going to be assassinated * * *." ^°^° Ruby told Kaufman that he had tried to locate Weissman by going to the post office and said that he was at- tempting to be helpful to law enforcement authorities.^^^^ Considerable confusion exists as to the place from which Ruby placed

the call to Kaufman and as to his activities after leaving Sol's Turf

Bar. Eva Grant stated that the call was made from her apartment

about 4 p.m.^^^2 Ruby, however, believed it was made from the Turf

Bar. He stated that from the Turf Bar he went to the Carousel and

then home and has not provided additional details on his activities during the hours from about 4 to 9 :30 p.m.^°^^ Robert Larkin saw him

downtown at about 6 p.m.^°^^ and x^ndrew Armstrong testified that

Ruby visited the Carousel Club between 6 and 7 p.m. and remained

about an hour.^°^^ At Eva Granfs apartment Saturday evening.—Eva Grant believed

that, for most of the period from 4 until 8 p.m., Ruby was at her apartment. Mrs. Grant testified that her brother was still disturbed about

the Weissman advertisement when he arrived, showed her the

photograph of the Warren sign, and recounted his argument with

Bellochio about the city of Dallas. Still curious as to whether or not

Weissman was Jewish, Mrs. Grant asked her brother whether he had

been able to find the name Bernard Weissman in the Dallas city

directory, and Ruby said he had not. Their doubts about Weissman's

existence having been confirmed, both began to speculate that the

Weissman ad and the Warren sign were the work of either "Commies

or the Birchers," and were designed to discredit the Jews.^°^^ Apparently in the midst of that conversation Ruby telephoned Russ Knight

at KLIF and, according to Knight, asked who Earl Warren was.^^^' Mrs. Grant has testified that Ruby eventually retired to her bedroom

where he made telephone calls and slept.^''^® About 8 :30 p.m., Ruby

telephoned to Thomas J. O'Grady, a friend and former Dallas police

officer who had once worked for Ruby as a boimcer. To O'Grady,

Ruby mentioned closing the Carousel Club, criticized his competitors

for remaining open, and complained about the "Impeach Earl Warren" sign.ioi^

Saturday evening at Ruhy'^s apartment.—By 9 :30 p.m.. Ruby had

apparently returned to his apartment where he received a telephone

call from one of his striptease dancers, Karen Bennett Carlin, who,

together with her husband, had been driven from Fort Worth to Dallas

that evening by another dancer, Nancy Powell.^^^^ All three had

stopped at the Colony Club, a burlesque nightclub which competed

with the Carousel.^'^2^ Mrs. Carlin testified that, in need of money, she

telephoned Ruby, asked whether the Carousel would be open that

night, and requested part of her salary .^^2- According to Mrs. Carlin,

Ruby became angry at the suggestion that the Carousel Club might be

open for business but told her he would come to the Carousel in about an hour.^^2^ Thereafter, in a depressed mood. Ruby telephoned his sister Eva

Grant, who suggested he visit a friend.^°2* Possibly in response to 348
that suggestion, Kuby called LaAvrence Meyers, a friend from Chicago with whom he had visited two nights previously.^^^^ Meyers

testified that, during their telephone conversation, Ruby asked him

what he thought of this "terrible thing." Ruby then began to criticize his competitors, Abe and Barney Weinstein, for failing to close their

clubs on Saturday night. In the course of his conversation about the

Weinsteins and the assassination, Ruby said "I've got to do something

about this." ^^^^ Meyers initially understood that remark to refer to the Weinsteins. Upon reflection after Osw^ald was shot, Meyers was

uncertain whether Ruby was referring to his competitors, or to the

assassination of President Kennedy; for Ruby had also spoken at length about Mrs. Kennedy and had repeated "those poor people,

those poor people." ^^^^ At the conclusion of their conversation,

Meyers declined Ruby's invitation to join him for a cup of coffee but

invited Ruby to join him at the motel. When Ruby also declined, the

two agreed to meet for dinner the following evening.^^^s

Meanwhile, Karen Carlin and her husband grew anxious over Ruby's failure to appear with the money they had requested.^^^®

After a substantial wait, they returned together to the Nichols Garage

where Mr. Carlin telephoned to Ruby.^°^° Carlin testified that he

told Ruby they needed money in order to return to Fort Worth ^°^^ although Nancy Powell testified that she drove the Carlins home that

evening.^°^2 Agreeing to advance a small sum, Ruby asked to speak

to Mrs. Carlin, who claimed that Ruby told her that if she needed more money she should call him on Sunday.^°^ Thereafter, at Ruby's

request, garage attendant Huey Reeves gave Mrs. Carlin $5, and she

signed with her stage name "Little Lynn" a receipt which Reeves timestamped 10 :33 p.m., November 23.^°^* (See Commission Exhibit No.

1476, p. 351.)

Inconsistent testimony was developed regarding Ruby's activities

during the next 45 minutes. Eva Grant testified that she did not see her brother on Saturday night after 8 p.m. and has denied calling

Ralph Paul herself that night.^°^ Nonetheless, telephone company

records revealed that at 10 :44 p.m. a call was made to Ralph Paul's

Bull Pen Drive-In in Arlington, Tex., from Mrs. Grant's apartment.^^^^

It was the only call to Paul from her apartment on Friday or Saturday ; ^°" she recalled her brother making such a call that weekend ; ^°^^ and Ralph Paul has testified that Ruby telephoned him Saturday

night from Eva Grant's apartment and said he and his sister were

there crying.^^^^

Nineteen-year-old Wanda Helmick, a former waitress at the Bull

Pen Drive-In, first reported in June, 1964 that some time during the

evening she saw the cashier answer the Bull Pen's pay telephone and

heard her call out to Paul, "It is for you. It is Jack." "^^ Mrs. Helmick claimed she overheard Paul, speaking on the telephone, mention

something about a gun which, she understood from Paul's conversation, the caller had in his possession. She said she also heard Paul

exclaim "Are you crazy?" ^^^^ She provided no other details of the

conversation. Mrs. Helmick claimed that on Sunday, November 24,

349
after Oswald had been shot, she heard Paul repeat the substance of the

call to other employees as she had related it and that Paul said Ruby

was the caller.^^^^ Ralph Paul denied the allegations of Mrs.

Helmick.^^*^ Both Paul and Mrs. Helmick agreed that Paul went

home soon after the call, apparently about 11 p.m.^°**

Shortly after 11 p.m.. Ruby arrived at the Nichols Garage where he

repaid Huey Reeves and obtained the receipt Mrs. Carlin had

signed.^°^^ Outside the Carousel, Ruby exchanged greetings with

Police Officer Harry Olsen and Kay Coleman, whom he had seen late the previous night."*^ Going upstairs to the club. Ruby made a

series of five brief long-distance phone calls, the first being to the

Bull Pen Drive-In at 11 :18 p.m. and lasting only 1 minute.^^*'' Apparently unable to reach Paul there. Ruby telephoned Paul's home in

Arlington, Tex., for 3 minutes.^*'^ A third call was placed at 11 :36 p.m. for 2 minutes, again to Paul's home."*^ At 11 :44 p.m. Ruby

telephoned Breck Wall, a friend and entertainer who had gone to Galveston, Tex., when his show in Dallas suspended its performance

out of respect to President Kennedy. The call lasted 2 minutes.^°^°

Thereafter, Ruby immediately placed a 1 -minute phone call to Paul's

home.^°^^

Although Ruby has mentioned those calls, he has not provided

details to the Commission ; however, he has denied ever indicating to Paul or Wall that he was going to shoot Oswald and has said he did not

consider such action until Sunday morning.^^^^ Ralph Paul did not

mention the late evening calls in his interview with FBI agents on November 24, 1963.^°^ Later Paul testified that Ruby called him from

downtown to say that nobody was doing any business.^*'^^ Breck Wall

testified that Ruby called him to determine whether or not the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), which represented striptease

dancers in Dallas, had met concerning a dispute Ruby was having

with the union.^^^^ Ruby's major difference with AGVA during the

preceding 2 weeks had involved what Ruby considered to be AGVA's

failure to enforce against his 2 competitors, Abe and Barney Weinstein, AGVA's ban on "striptease contests" and performances by

"amateurs." "^^ As recently as Wednesday, November 20, Ruby had

telephoned an AGVA representative in Chicago about that complaint

and earlier in November he had unsuccessfully sought to obtain assist- ance from a San Francisco gambler and a Chicagoan reputed for his

heavyhanded union activities.^^^^ Wall testified that Ruby "was very

upset the President was assassinated and he called Abe Weinstein or Bernie Weinstein * * * some names for staying open * * * ." Wall

added, "he was very upset * * * that they did not have the decency

to close on such a day and he thought out of respect they should

close." ^«^ Ruby''s dctivities after midnight.—After completing the series of

calls to Paul and Wall at 11 :48 p.m.. Ruby went to the Pago Club,

about a 10-minute drive from the Carousel Club.^°^^ He took a table near the middle of the club and, after ordering a Coke, asked the waitress in a disapproving tone, "Why are you open?" ^°^° When Robert

350
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REPUBLIC CARkOADINP . $!£;j|n^»

COPY OF TELEGRAM ORDER FOR MONEY

SENT TO LITTLE LYNN ON NOVEMBER

24, 1963, STAMPED 11:17 A.M. (DOYLE LANE DEPOSITION 5118)

(bupxicate of original a»ney or'der

hk COPY OF RECEIPT GIVEN BY LITTLE LYNN TO HUEY REEVES AT 10:33 P.M., ^ NOVEMBER 23, 1963 (COMMISSION EXHIBIT 1476)

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COPY OF WESTERN UNION OFFICE COPY OF RECEIPT GIVEN

I TO JACK RUBY ON NOVEMBER 24, 1963, STAMPED 11:17 A.M.

' (DOYLE LANE DEPOSITION 5119)

MF DALLAS. TEXAS ^ V .t/^

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COPY OF BACK OF WESTERN UNION RECEIPT GIVEN TO

JACK RUBY ON NOVEMBER 24, 1963, STAMPED 11:16 A.M. (COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2421)

„. OF FACE OF WESTERN

UNION RECEIPT GIVEN TO JACK RUBY ON NOVEMBER 24, 1963 (COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2420)

351
^N'orton, the club's manager, joined Ruby a few minutes later he ex- pressed to Ruby his concern as to whether or not it was proper to operate the Pago Club that evening. Ruby indicated that the Carousel was closed but did not criticize Norton for remaining open.^°^^ N'orton raised the topic of President Kennedy's death and said, "[W]e

couldn't do enough to the person that [did] this sort of thing."

Norton added, however, that "Nobody has the right to take the life of another one." ^°^^ Ruby expressed no strong opinion, and closed the

conversation by saying he was going home because he was tired.^°^^ Later, Ruby told the Commission: "he knew something was wrong

with me in the certain mood I was in." ^°^* Ruby testified that he went home after speaking with Norton and

went to bed about 1 :30 a.m.^°^^ By that time, George Senator claimed,

he had retired for the night and did not remember Ruby's return.^°^^ Eva Grant testified that her brother telephoned her at about 12:45

a.m. to learn how she was feeling.^^^''

Sunday morning.—Ruby's activities on Sunday morning are the

subject of conflicting testimony. George Senator believed that Ruby

did not rise until 9 or 9 :30 a.m. ; ^°^^ both Ruby and Senator maintained that Ruby did not leave their apartment until shortly before

11 :00 a.m., and two other witnesses have provided testimony which

supports that account of Ruby's whereabouts.^^^^ On the other hand,

three WBAP-TV television technicians—^Warren Richey, John Smith,

and Ira Walker—believed they saw Ruby near the Police and Courts

Building at various times between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.^^^^ But there are

substantial reasons to doubt the accuracy of their identifications.

None had ever seen Ruby on a prior occasion. None looked for an

extended period at the man believed to be Ruby,^^^^ and all were

occupied with their duties and had no reason to remember the man's

appearance until they saw Ruby's picture on television.^^"^ Smith, for one, was not entirely positive about his identification of

Ruby as the man he saw ; ^^^^ and Richey was looking down from atop

a TV mobile unit when he observed on the sidewalk the man he believed was Ruby.^°^^ In addition, Richey and Smith provided descriptions of Ruby which differ substantially from information about Ruby

gathered from other sources. Smith described the man he saw as being an "unkempt person that possibly could have slept with his clothes on * * *," 1075 Ruby was characteristically clean and well groomed.^^"^

In fact. Senator testified that Ruby shaved and dressed before leaving

their apartment that morning, and at the time Ruby shot Oswald he was dressed in a hat and business suit.^*^"^^ Richey described Ruby as wearing a grayish overcoat,^^^* while investigation indicated that

Ruby did not own an overcoat and was not wearing one at the time of

the shooting.^°^^ (See Pappas Deposition Exhibit No. 1, p. 356.) Although Walker's identification of Ruby is the most positive, his cer- tainty must be contrasted with the indefinite identification made by

Smith, who had seen the man on one additional occasion.^^*^ Both

Smith and Walker saw a man resembling Ruby when the man, on two

occasions, looked through the window of their mobile news unit and

352
once asked whether Oswald had been transferred. Both saw only

the man's head, and Smith was closer to the window ; yet Smith would

not state positively that the man was Kuby.^^^^ Finally, video tapes

of scenes on Sunday morning near the NBC van show a man close to the Commerce Street entrance who might have been mistaken for

George Senator said that when he arose, before 9 a.m., he began

to do his laundry in the basement of the apartment building while

Ruby slept.^^^ During Senator's absence. Ruby received a telephone

call from his cleaning lady, Mrs. Elnora Pitts, who testified that she

called sometime between 8 :30 and 9 a.m. to learn whether Ruby wanted

her to clean his apartment that day.^^^ Mrs. Pitts remembered that

Ruby "sounded terrible strange to me." She said that "there was something wrong with him the way he was talking to me." ^°^^ Mrs. Pitts

explained that, although she had regularly been cleaning Ruby's

apartment on Sundays, Ruby seemed not to comprehend who she was or

the reason for her call and required her to repeat herself several

times.^^^^ As Senator returned to the apartment after the call, he was

apparently mistaken for Ruby by a neighbor, Sidney Evans, Jr. Evans had never seen Ruby before but recalled observing a man re- sembling Ruby, clad in trousers and T-shirt, walk upstairs from the

"washateria" in the basement of their building and enter Ruby's suite

with a load of laundry. Later in the morning, Malcolm Slaughter who

shared an apartment with Evans, saw an individual, similarly clad, on

the same floor as Ruby's apartment.^^^^ Senator stated that it was not

Ruby's custom to do his own washing and that Ruby did not do so that

morning.^^^^

While Senator was in the apartment. Ruby watched television, made

himself coffee and scrambled eggs, and received, at 10 :19 a.m., a tele- phone call from his entertainer, Karen Carlin.^*^^^ Mrs. Carlin testi- fied that in her telephone conversation she asked Ruby for $25 inasmuch as her rent was delinquent and she needed groceries.^^^° She

said that Ruby, who seemed upset, mentioned that he was going downtown anyway and that he would send the money from the Western

Union office.^^^^ According to George Senator, Ruby then probably

took a half hour or more to bathe and dress.^^^^ Supporting the accounts given by Mrs. Carlin and Mrs. Pitts of

Ruby's emotional state. Senator testified that during the morning

Ruby:

* * * was even mumbling, which I didn't understand. And right

after breakfast he got dressed. Then after he got dressed he was

pacing the floor from the living room to the bedroom, from the

bedroom to the living room, and his lips were going. What he was jabbering I don't know. But he was really pacing.^°^^

Ruby has described to the Commission his own emotions of Sunday

morning as follows

:

353
* * * Sunday morning ***[!] saw a letter to Caroline, two

columns about a 16-inch area. Someone had written a letter to Caroline. The most heartbreaking letter. I don't remember the

contents. * * * alongside that letter on the same sheet of paper was a small comment in the newspaper that, I don't know how

it was stated, that Mrs. Kennedy may have to come back for the

trial of Lee Harvey Oswald. * * * I don't know Avhat bug got ahold of me. I don't know what it is, but I am going to tell the truth word for word.

I am taking a pill called Preludin. It is a harmless pill, and it is very easy to get in the drugstore. It isn't a highly prescribed

pill. I use it for dieting. I don't partake of that much food. I think that was a stimulus

to give me an emotional feeling that suddenly I felt, which was

so stupid, that I wanted to show my love for our faith, being of

the Jewish faith, and I never used the term and I don't want to go into that—suddenly the feeling, the emotional feeling came

within me that someone owed this debt to our beloved President

to save her the ordeal of coming back. I don't know why that came through my mind.^°^*

(See Commission Exhibit No. 2426, p. 355.)

Sunday morning trip to police department.—Leaving his apartment a few minutes before 11 a.m.. Ruby went to his automobile taking

with him his dachshund, Sheba, and a portable radio.^'^®' He

placed in his pocket a revolver which he routinely carried in a bank

moneybag in the trunk of his car.^°®^ Listening to the radio, he drove

downtown, according to his own testimony, by a route that took him

past Dealey Plaza where he observed the scattered wreaths. Ruby

related that he noted the crowd that had gathered outside the county

jail and assumed that Oswald had already been transferred. However, when he passed the Main Street side of the Police and Courts

Building, which is situated on the same block as the Western Union

office, he also noted the crowd that was gathered outside that buildjj^g 1097 ;N'ormal driving time for the trip from his apartment would

have been about 15 minutes, but Ruby's possible haste and the slow

movement of traffic through Dealey Plaza make a reliable estimate

difficult.1098 Ruby parked his car in a lot directly across the street from the

Western Union office. He apparently placed his keys and billfold in

the trunk of the car, then locked the trunk, which contained approximately $1,000 in cash, and placed the trunk key in the glove compartment of the car. He did not lock the car doors.^^^^ With his revolver, more than $2,000 in cash, and no personal identification. Ruby walked from the parking lot across the street to the

Western Union office where he filled out forms for sending $25 by

telegraph to Karen Carlin.^^°° After waiting in line while one other

Western Union customer completed her business,^^^^ Ruby paid for

the telegram and retained as a receipt one of three time-stamped docu364
BEDROOM OF JACK RUBY'S APARTMENT

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2426)

Heros 5^ri^' tor Kennedy

Set in Arlington Cemetery My Dear

Caroline

Money-Raising Dinner

, Becomes Proyer Service ffo ^'TH

f^lFLB

ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON NOVEMBER 24, 1963, A COPY OF THAT MORNING'S DALLAS TIMES HERALD WAS FOUND AT THE FOOT OF JACK RUBY'S BED (B). AS REVEALED IN THE BLOW-UP

(A), THE PAPER WAS OPEN TO PAGE A-3 (A AND D). THE FACING PAGE, 2-A, BORE A LETTER

TO CAROLINE KENNEDY (C) WHICH JACK RUBY TESTIFIED THAT HE READ THAT MORNING BEFORE SHOOTING LEE HARVEY OSWALD.

355
JACK RUBY MOVING TOWARD OSWALD

IN FRONT OF NEWSMAN IKE PAPPAS

PAPPAS DEPOSITION EXHIBIT 2

356
ments which show that the transaction was completed at almost exactly 11 :17 a.m., c.s.t.^^^ (See Commission Exhibits Nos. 1476, 2420,

2421; D. Lane Deposition Exhibits Nos. 5118, 5119, p. 351.) The

Western Union clerk who accepted Ruby's order recalls that Ruby

promptly turned, walked out of the door onto Main Street, and proceeded in the direction of the police department one block away.^^^^

The evidence set forth in chapter V indicates that Ruby entered the

police basement through the auto ramp from Main Street and stood

behind the front rank of newsmen and police officers who were crowded

together at the base of the ramp awaiting the transfer of Oswald to the

county jail.^^°* As Oswald emerged from a basement office at approximately 11 :21 a.m.. Ruby moved quickly forward and, without speaking,"^^ fired one fatal shot into Oswald's abdomen before being subdued by a rush of police officers.^^°® Evaluation of activities.—Examination of Ruby's activities immediately preceding and following the death of President Kennedy revealed no sign of any conduct which suggests that he was involved in the

assassination. Prior to the tragedy. Ruby's activities were routine.

Though persons who saw him between November 22 and 24 disagree

as to whether or not he appeared more upset than others around him,

his response to the assassination appears to have been one of genuine

shock and grief. His indications of concern over the possible effects of

the assassination upon his businesses seem consistent with other evi- dence of his character.^^^^ During the course of the weekend, Ruby

seems to have become obsessed with the possibility that the Impeach

Earl Warren sign and the Bernard Weissman ad were somehow con- nected and related to the assassination. However, Ruby's interest in

these public notices was openly expressed and, as discussed below, the

evidence reveals no connection between him and any political organization.

Examination of Larry Crafard's sudden departure from Dallas

shortly before noon on November 23 does not suggest that Ruby was

involved in a conspiracy. To be sure, Grafard started hitchhiking to Michigan, where members of his family lived, with only $7 in his

pocket.^^^* He made no attempt to communicate with law enforcement officials after Oswald's death ; ^^°^ and a relative in Michigan

recalled that Grafard spoke very little of his association with Ruby.^^^^

When finally located by the FBI 6 days later, he stated that he left Ruby's employ because he did not wish to be subjected to further verbal

abuse by Ruby and that he went north to see his sister, from whom he

had not heard in some time.^^^^ An investigation of Grafard's unusual behavior confirms that his departure from Dallas was innocent. After Oswald was shot, FBI

agents obtained from the Garousel Glub an unmailed letter drafted by

Grafard to a relative in Michigan at least a week before the assassination.^^^2 The letter revealed that he was considering leaving Dallas at that time.^^^^ On November 17, Grafard, who had been receiving only

room, board, and incidental expenses, told Ruby he wanted to stop

working for him; however, Grafard agreed to remain when Ruby

357
promised a salary.^^^* Then on the morning of November 23, Ruby

and Crafard had a minor altercation over the telephone.^^^^ Although

Crafard did not voluntarily make known to the authorities his associations with Ruby, he spoke freely and with verifiable accuracy when

questioned. The automobile driver who provided Crafard his first ride from Dallas has been located ; his statement generally conforms

with Crafard's story ; and he did not recall any unusual or troubled behavior by Crafard during that ride/^^^

Although Crafard's peremptory decision to leave Dallas might be

unusual for most persons, such behavior does not appear to have been

uncommon for him. His family residence had shifted frequently

among California, Michigan, and Oregon.^^^^ During his 22 years, he

had earned his livelihood picking crops, working in carnivals, and

taking other odd jobs throughout the country.^^^^ According to his

testimony, he had previously hitchhiked across the country with his

then wife and two infant children.^^^^ Against such a background, it is most probable that the factors motivating Crafard's departure from

Dallas on November 23 were dissatisfaction with his existence in

Ruby's employ, which he had never considered more than temporary.

Ruby's decision to close his clubs for 3 days, the argument on Saturday

morning, and his own desire to see his relatives in Michigan. There is no evidence to suggest any connection between Crafard's departure and

the assassination of the President or the shooting of Oswald.

The allegations of Wanda Helmick raised speculation that Ruby's

Saturday night phone calls to Ralph Paul and Breck Wall might have

concerned the shooting of OsAvald, but investigation has found nothing

to indicate that the calls had conspiratorial implications. Paul was

a close friend, business associate, and adviser to Jack Ruby. Ruby

normally kept in close telephone contact with Paul, who had a substantial sum of money committed to the Carousel Club.^^^^ Paul ex- plained that Ruby called him Saturday evening once to point out his

ads, another time to say that nobody seemed to be doing any business in

downtown Dallas, and a third time to relate that both he and his sister were crying over the assassination.^^^^ Between two of those phone

calls to Paul, Ruby telephoned to Galveston, Tex., to speak with Wall,

a friend and former business associate who was an official of the American Guild of Variety Artists. Wall related that during that call Ruby criticized the Weinsteins for failing to close their clubs. Having earlier made the same complaint to Lawrence Meyers to whom he mentioned a need "to do something about this" it would have

been characteristic for Ruby to want to direct Breck Wall's attention, as an AGVA official, to what he regarded as the Weinsteins' improper

conduct. The view that the calls to Wall and Paul could have had

conspiratorial implications also is belied in large measure by the con- duct of both men before and after the events of November 22-24. A

check of long-distance telephone records reveals no suspicious activity

by either man.^^^^ Paul, in fact, is not known to have visited Dallas

during the weekend of the assassination except to appear openly in an effort to arrange counsel for Ruby within a few hours of the at- 358
tack on Oswald. Neither the FBI nor the CIA has been able to provide any information that Ralph Paul or Breck Wall ever engaged

in any form of subversive activity.^^^^ Moreover, Mrs. Helmick's reliability is undermined by her failure

to report her information to any investigative official until June 9, 1964.^^2* Although a sister-in-law confirms that Mrs. Helmick wrote

her "something about a gun" shortly after the shooting/^^^ the only

mention of any statement by Paul which was included in a letter writ- ten by Mrs. Helmick after the Ruby trial was that Paul believed Ruby

was "not in his right mind." ^^^^ No corroborating witness named by

Mrs. Helmick has been found who remembers the conversations she

mentioned.^^2^ Both Ruby and Paul have denied that anything was

said, as Mrs. Helmick suggests, about a gun or an intent to shoot

Oswald, and Wall has stated that Ruby did not discuss such matters

with him.^^2^ Even if Mrs. Helmick is accurate the statements

ascribed to Paul indicate only that he may have heard of a possible

reference by Ruby to shooting Oswald. According to her, Paul's

response was to exclaim "Are you crazy?" But under no circumstances does the report of Mrs. Helmick or any other fact support a

belief that Paul or Wall was involved in the shooting of Oswald.

The Commission has conducted an investigation of the telephone

call Ruby received from Karen Carlin at 10 :19 Sunday morning to determine whether that call was prearranged for the purpose of con- veying information about the transfer of Oswald or to provide Ruby

an excuse for being near the police department. The Commission has

examined the records of long-distance telephone calls on Sunday morning for Jack Ruby,^^29 ^j^^ Carlins,^^^^ the Dallas police,^^^^ and several other persons ^^^^ and has found no sign of any indirect communication to Ruby through Mr. or Mrs. Carlin. No other evidence showing any link between the Carlins and the shooting of Oswald has

been developed.

Ruby and Oswald Were Not Acquainted

The possibility of a prior acquaintanceship between Ruby and

Oswald has been suggested by some persons who viewed the shooting on television and believed that a look of recognition appeared on

Oswald's face as Ruby moved toward him in the jail basement. The

Commission has examined the television tapes and movie films which

were made as Oswald moved through the basement and has observed no facial expressions which can be interpreted as signifying recognition of Ruby by Oswald. It is doubtful even that Oswald could have

seen Ruby sufficiently clearly to discern his identity since Oswald was

walking from a dark corridor into "the flash from the many cameras"

and the lights of TV cameramen which were "blinding." "^^ In addition to such generalized suspicion, there have been numerous specific

allegations that Oswald was seen in the company of Ruby prior to November 22, often at Ruby's Carousel Club. All such allegations

have been investigated, but the Commission has found none which

359
merits credence. In all but a few instances where the Commission was

able to trace the claim to its source, the person responsible for the report

either denied making it or admitted that he had no basis for the original allegations."^* Frequently those responsible for the allegations

have proved to be persons of erratic memory or dubious mental stabil- j^y 1135 jj^ ^ fg^ instances, the source of the story has remained unidentified, and no person has come forward to substantiate the

rumor.^^^^

The testimony of a few witnesses who claim to have seen Ruby with

a person who they feel may have been Oswald warrants further

comment. One such witness, Eobert K. Patterson, a Dallas electronics

salesman, has stated that on a date established from sales records

as November 1, 1963, Ruby, accompanied by a man who resembled

Oswald, purchased some equipment at his business establishment.^^^^

However, Patterson did not claim positively that the man he saw was

Oswald,^^^^ and two of his associates who were also present at the

time could not state that the man was Oswald.^"^ Other evidence in- dicates that Ruby's companion was Larry Crafard. Crafard, whp

lived at the Carousel Club while working for Ruby from mid-October

until November 23, 1963, stated that sometime in late October or early

November he accompanied Ruby to an electronics store in connection

with the purchase of electronics equipment.^^*^ Ruth Paine testified that Crafard's photograph bears a strong resemblance to Oswald;

and employment records of the Texas School Book Depository show

that Oswald worked a full day on November 1, 1963.^^*^ "William D. Crowe, Jr., a young nightclub master of ceremonies who

had worked for Ruby on three occasions and had begun a 4- or 5-week

engagement at the Carousel Club on November 11, 1963, was the first person who reported a possible association between Ruby and

Oswald."*^ While attempting to enter the Carousel Club on November 24, shortly after Oswald was shot, Crowe encountered two news

media representatives who were gathering information on Jack

Ruby."*^ At that time, Crowe, who included a memory act in his

repertoire,^^** mentioned the "possibility" that he had seen Oswald at the Carousel Club.^^*^ As a result he was asked to appear on television.

In Crowe's own words, the story "started snowballing." He testified

:

They built up the memory thing and they built up the bit of

having seen Oswald there, and I never stated definitely, positively, and they said that I did, and all in all, what they had in

the paper was hardly even close to what I told them.^"®

Crowe added that his memory act involved a limited system which

did not, in fact, improve his memory and that his memory might not even be as good as that of the average person. When asked how cer- tain he was that the man he saw was Oswald, Crowe testified: "* * * the face seemed familiar as some faces do, and I had associated

him with a patron that I had seen in the club a week before. That was about it." ^^*^ 360
A possible explanation for Crowe's belief that Oswald's face seemed

familiar was supplied by a freelance photographer, Eddie Rocco, who

had taken pictures at the Carousel Club for Ruby at about the time

Crowe was employed there. Rocco produced one of those photographs which depicted a man who might have been mistaken for

Oswald by persons having no reason to remember the man at the time

they saw him.^^*® When shown the Rocco photograph, Crowe said

that there was as strong a possibility that the man he recalled seeing was the man in the photograph as there was that he was Oswald.^^^^

Crowe's imcertainty was further underscored by his failure initially to provide his information about Oswald to David Hoy, a news- media friend whom Crowe telephoned in Evansville, Ind., less than 20 minutes after Oswald was shot.^^^^ By then the possible

recognition had occurred to Crowe,^^^^ and Hoy said he was quite

surprised that Crowe had given the information first to other news

representatives instead of telling him in that early conversation.^^^^

After Crowe's identification had been publicized, four other per- sons also reported seeing Oswald at the Carousel Club. One man said

he saw Ruby and Oswald seated at a table together and recalled that

the man resembling Oswald was addressed by a blond-haired waitress

as "Bettit" or "Pettit." The witness was unable to give any description of "Pettit" except that he was the man who had been shot

by Ruby. He could not describe the inside of the Carousel and was

unable to give a precise location for the club.^^^^ Another witness, a resident of Tennessee, related seeing a man resembling Oswald at the Carousel Club on November 10.^^^* Ruth Paine has testified, however, that Oswald spent the entire holiday weekend of November 9, 10, and 11 at her home in Irving, Tex.^^^^ Two of Ruby's former employees, Karen Carlin and Billy Joe Willis, also believed they had

seen a person who resembled Oswald. Willis believed he saw the man

at the Carousel Club but did not think the man was Oswald.^^^^

Mrs. Carlin likewise was not certain that the man was Oswald nor was she sure where she had seen him.^^^^ Neither reported any connection between the man and Ruby. No other employees recalled

seeing Oswald or a person resembling him at the Carousel Club."^^

Wilbryn Waldon (Robert) Litchfield II also claimed to have seen

at the Carousel Club a man resembling Oswald. Litchfield stated

that during a visit to the Carousel Club in late October or early

November 1963, he saw such a man enter Ruby's office, apparently to confer with Ruby.^^^^ Although there is substantial evidence that

Litchfield did see Ruby at the Carousel Club about that time,^^^*^ there

is strong reason to believe that Litchfield did not see Lee Harvey

Oswald. Litchfield described the man he saw as having pockmarks

on the right side of his chin ; ^"^ Oswald did not have such identifying

marks.^^^2 Moreover, the Commission has substantial doubts concern- ing Litchfield's credibility. Although present at an FBI interview of

another witness on November 29, Litchfield made no mention of his

observation to public officials until December 2, 1963.^"^ Litchfield,

who had twice been convicted for offenses involving forged

361

730-900 0-64—25
checks/^^* testified that he first recalled that Oswald resembled the

visitor he saw at the Carousel Club while watching a television

showing on Sunday morning, November 24, of the shooting by

Ruby.^^^^ At that time Litchfield was playing poker with three

friends, and he testified that he promptly informed them of the re- semblance he observed.^^^^ However, none of the three poker companions remembered Litchfield's making such a remark; and two

added that Litchfield's statements were often untrustworthy.^^^'^ With regard to all of the persons who claimed to have seen Euby and

Oswald together, it is significant that none had particular reason to pay close attention to either man, that substantial periods of time

elapsed before the events they assertedly witnessed became meaningful,

and that, unlike the eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen Oswald

on November 22, none reported their observations soon after Oswald

was arrested. In the course of its investigation, the Commission has

encountered numerous clear mistakes of identification. For example,

at least four persons, other than Crafard, are known to have been

mistaken for Oswald."^^ Other persons have been misidentified as Jack Ruby.^^^^ Under all the available evidence there is no substantial

likelihood that the person the various witnesses claimed to have seen with Ruby was in fact Oswald.

In addition to probing the reported evidence that Ruby and Oswald

had been seen together, the Commission has examined other circumstances for signs that the two men were acquainted. From the time

Oswald returned from Mexico, both he and Jack Ruby lived in the

Oak Cliff section of Dallas, slightly more than a mile apart. Numerous neighbors of both Oswald and Ruby were interviewed, and none knew of any association between the two.^^^° Oswald's work began

at 8 each weekday morning and terminated at 4 :45 each afternoon.^^'^^ Jack Ruby usually remained in his apartment until past 9 a.m. each

day.^^^2 Although both men worked in downtown Dallas, they nor- mally traveled to their places of employment by ' different routes. Ruby owned an automobile, and the shortest route downtown from his

home was via a freeway adjacent to his apartment.^^^^ Oswald did not own a car and had, at best, a rudimentary ability to drive.^^^^ From

his roominghouses on North Beckley Avenue and on Marsalis Street, he

normally took public transportation which did not bring him within

six blocks of either Ruby's apartment or his downtown nightclub, nor

did Oswald's route from the bus stop to home or work bring him near Ruby's home or business.^^^^ Persons at Oswald's roominghouse testi- fied that he regularly came home promptly after work and remained in

his room.^^^® '\'\niile in Dallas, he is not known to have visited any

nightclub."^"^ Ruby was generally at the Carousel Club from 9 o'clock each evening until after 1 a.m.^^'^ In a few instances. Ruby

and Oswald patronized the same stores, but no indication has been

found that they ever met at such stores.^^^^ Ruby at one time fre- quented a restaurant where Oswald occasionally ate breakfast, but

the times of their patronage were widely separated and restaurant employees knew of no acquaintance between Ruby and Oswald.^^^°

362
Likewise, Kuby has held various memberships in the Dallas YMCA

and Oswald lived there for brief periods ; however, there is no indication that they were there at the same time.^^^^ Both Ruby and Oswald maintained post office boxes at the terminal annex of the U.S. post office in Dallas, but there is no indication that

those facts were more than coincidental. On November 1, 1963, Oswald rented box No. 6225, his third since October 1962.^^^^ Oswald's

possible purpose has been discussed previously in this chapter. On

November 7, 1963, Jack Ruby rented post office box No. 5475 because

he hoped to receive mail responses to advertisements for the twistboard

exercise device which he was then promoting.^^^^ Although it is conceivable that Oswald and Ruby coincidentally encountered one an- other while checking their boxes, the different daily schedules of the

two men render even this possibility unlikely. Moreover, Oswald's

withdrawn personality makes it improbable that the two would have

spoken if their paths had crossed.

The Commission has also examined the known friends and acquaint- ances of Ruby and Oswald for evidence that the two were acquainted,

but it has found very few possible links. One conceivable association was through Jolin Carter, a boarder at 1026 North Beckley Avenue

while Oswald lived there. Carter was friendly with Wanda Joyce

Killam, who had known Jack Ruby since shortly after he moved to Dallas in 1947 and worked for him from July 1963 to early November 1963. Mrs. Killam, who volunteered the information about Carter's residence during an interview with an agent of the FBI, has

stated that she did not believe Carter ever visited the Carousel Club

and that she did not think Carter knew Ruby.^^^* Carter s( ated that

he had not heard of Ruby until Oswald was shot, had talked briefly

with Oswald only once or twice, and had never heard Oswald mention

Ruby or the Carousel Club.^^^^ The Commission has no reason to dis- believe either Mrs. Killam or Mr. Carter. A second possible link between Oswald and Ruby was through Earlene Roberts, the housekeeper at 1026 North Beckley Avenue. Bertha

Cheek, the sister of Mrs. Roberts, is known to have visited Jack Ruby

at the Carousel Club during the afternoon of November 18, 1963.

Mrs. Cheek testified that she had met with Ruby and a person whom

Ruby represented to be an interior decorator for the purpose of dis- cussing the possibility of financially backing Ruby in a new nightclub which he planned to open. Mrs. Cheek said she had met Ruby

only once, a few years before, and that she had not heard of Oswald

until he shot President Kennedy."^^ Mr. Frank Boerder, the decorator who was present at the November 18 meeting, confirmed the substance of the discussion reported by Mrs. Cheek,^^^^ and other witnesses

establish that Ruby was, in fact, seeking an associate for a new nightclub venture.^^^^ There is no evidence that Jack Ruby ever associated

with Earlene Roberts, nor is there any indication that Mrs, Cheek

knew of Lee Harvey Oswald prior to November 22."®^ Oswald's trips to the home of Mrs. Ruth Paine at 2115 West Fifth

Street in Irving, Tex., presented another possible link to Ruby.

363
T^Hiile Oswald's family resided with Mrs. Paine, William F. Simmons,

pianoplayer in the musical combo which worked at the Carousel Club

from September 17, 1963, until November 21, 1963, lived at 2539 West

Fifth Street, in Irving. Simmons has stated that his only relationship to Ruby was as an employee, that Euby never visited him, that

he did not know Oswald, and that he had never seen Oswald at the

Carousel Club.^^^° Other persons in the neighborhood knew of no

connection between Ruby and Oswald.^^®^

The Commission has investigated rumors that Jack Ruby and Lee

Harvey Oswald were both homosexuals and, thus, might have known

each other in that respect. However, no evidence has been uncovered

to support the rumors, the closest acquaintances of both men emphatically deny them,"^^ ^nd Rubj^'s nightclubs were not known to have been frequented by homosexuals.^^^^ A final suggestion of a connection between Jack Ruby and Lee

Harvey Oswald arises from the testimony of Oswald's mother. Marguerite Oswald. Wlien appearing before the Commission, Mrs.

Oswald related that on November 23, 1963, before Ruby shot Oswald,

FBI Agent Bardwell D. Odum showed her a picture of a man she

believed was Jack Ruby, and asked whether the man shown was

familiar to her. Odum had first attempted to see Marina Oswald, but

Marguerite refused to allow Marina to be disturbed at that time.^^^* In the course of Marguerite's testimony, the Commission asked the

FBI for a copy of the photograph displayed by Odum to her. When

Marguerite viewed the photograph provided the Commission, she

stated that the picture was different from the one she saw in November,

in part because the "top two comers" were cut differently and because

the man depicted was not Jack Ruby.^^^^

The Commission has investigated this matter and determined that

Special Agent Odum did show a picture to Marguerite Oswald for

possible identification but that the picture was nof of Jack Ruby.

On November 22 the CIA had provided the FBI with a photograph

of a man who, it was thought at the time, might have been associated

with Oswald. To prevent the viewer from determining precisely

where the picture had been taken, FBI Agent Odum had trimmed the

background from the photograph by making a series of straight cuts which reduced the picture to an irregular hexagonal shape.^^^^ The

picture which was displayed by the Commission to Marguerite Oswald

was a copy of the same picture shown her by Agent Odum; however,

in supplying a duplicate photograph for Commission use the FBI

had cropped the background by cutting along the contours of the

body of the man shown,^^^'' resulting in a photograph without any

background, unlike the first photograph Marguerite viewed on November 23. Affidavits obtained from the CIA and from the two FBI

agents who trimmed the photogi^aphs established that the one shown to Mrs. Oswald before the Commission, though trimmed differently from

the one shown her on November 23, was a copy of the same picture.

Neither picture was of Jack Ruby.^^^^ The original photograph had

been taken by the CIA outside of the United States sometime between

364
July 1, 1963, and November 22, 1963, during all of which time Euby

was within the country.^^^

Ruby's Background and Associations

In addition to examining in detail Jack Ruby's activities from

November 21 to November 24 and his possible acquaintanceship with

Lee Harvey Oswald, the Commission has considered whether or not

Ruby had ties with individuals or groups that might have obviated the need for any direct contact near the time of the assassination.

Study of Jack Ruby's background, which is set out more fully in

appendix XVI, leads to the firm conclusion that he had no such ties. Business activities.—Ruby's entire life is characteristic of a rigorously independent person. He moved from his family home soon

after leaving high school at age 16, although a "family" residence has

been maintained in Chicago throughout the years.^^°° Later, in 1947,

he moved from Chicago to Dallas and maintained only sporadic contact with most of his family.^^^^ For most of his working years and

continuously since 1947, Jack Ruby was self-employed.^^^^ Although

he had partners from time to time, the partnerships were not lasting,

and Ruby seems to have preferred to operate independently.

Ruby's main sources of income were his two nightclubs—the Carousel Club and the Vegas Club—^although he also frequently pursued a number of independent, short-lived business promotions.

(Ruby's business dealings are described in greater detail in app.

XVI.) At the time of the assassination, the United States claimed

approximately $44,000 in delinquent taxes, and he was in substantial

debt to his brother Earl and to his friend Ralph Paul.^^^^ However,

there are no indications that Earl Ruby or Ralph Paul was exerting

pressure for payment or that Ruby's tax liabilities were not susceptible

to an acceptable settlement. Ruby operated his clubs on a cash basis,

usually carrying large amounts of cash on his person; thus there is no particular significance to the fact that approximately $3,000 in

cash was found on his person and in his automobile when arrested.

Nor do his meager financial records reflect any suspicious activities. He used his bank accounts only infrequently, with no unexplained

large transactions; and no entries were made to Ruby's safe-deposit

boxes in over a year prior to the shooting of Oswald.^^^* There is no evidence that Ruby received any sums after his arrest except royalties from a syndicated newspaper article on his life and small contributions for his defense from friends, sympathizers, and family

members.^2^^

Ruby'^s political activities.—Jack Ruby considered himself a Democrat, perhaps in part because his brother Hyman had been active

in Democratic ward politics in Cliicago.^^^^ When Ruby was arrested,

police officers found in his apartment, 10 political cards urging the

election of the "Conservative Democratic slate," ^^^"^ but the Commission has found no evidence that Ruby had distributed that literature

and he is not known ever to have campaigned for any political candi365
dates.^2^^ None of his friends or associates expressed any knowledge

that he belonged to any groups interested in political issues, nor did

they remember that h6 had discussed political problems except on rare

occasions.^2^

As a young man, Kuby participated in attacks upon meetings of the

German-American Bund in Chicago, but the assaults were the efforts of poolhall associates from his predominantly Jewish neighborhood

rather than the work of any political group. His only other known

activities which had any political flavor possessed stronger overtones of financial self-interest. In early 1942 he registered a copyright for a placard which displayed an American flag and bore the inscription

"Remember Pearl Harbor." The placard was never successfully promoted. At other times, he is reported to have attempted to sell busts

of President Franklin D. Eoosevelt.^^^" The rabbi of Ruby's synagogue expressed the belief that Ruby was too unsophisticated to grasp ,or have a significant interest in any political creed.^^^^ Although various views have been given concerning Ruby's attitude

toward President Kennedy prior to the assassination, the over- whelming number of witnesses reported that Ruby had considerable

respect f,or the President, and there has been no report of any

hostility toward him.^^^^

There is also no reliable indication that Ruby was ever associated

with any Communist or radical causes. Jack Ruby's parents were

born in Poland in the 1870's and his father served in the Czarist

Russian army from 1893-98. Though neither parent became a citizen

after emigrating to the United States in the early 1900's, the evi- dence indicates that neither Ruby nor his family maintained any

ties with relatives in Europe.^^^^ Jack Ruby has denied ever being

connected with any Communist activities. The FBI has reported

that, prior to the shooting of Oswald, its nationwide files contained no information ,of any subversive activities by Ruby.^^^^ In addition, a Commission staff member has personally examined all subversive activities reports from the Dallas-Fort Worth office of the

FBI for the year 1963 and has found no reports pertaining to Jack

Ruby or any of his known acquaintances.^^^^

The Commission has directed considerable attention to an allegation that Jack Ruby was connected with Communist Party activities in Muncie, Ind. On the day after Oswald's death, a former resident

of Muncie claimed that between 1943 and 1947 a Chicagoan resembling

Ruby and known to him as Jack Rubenstein was in Muncie on three oc- casions and associated with persons who the witness suspected were Communists. The witness stated that the man resembling Ruby visited

Muncie during these years as a guest of the son-in-law of a now-deceased jeweler for whom the witness worked.^^^^ A second son- in-law of the jewelry store owner suggested that he may have known

Ruby while the two resided in Chicago,^^^^ but the son-in-law whom

Ruby allegedly visited disclaimed any acquaintanceship with

Ruby.^2^® Both sons-in-law denied any Communist activities and

366
the Commission has found no contrary evidence other than the

testimony pf the witness.

On the first two occasions on which Euby is alleged to have been

in Muncie, military records show him to have been on active military

duty in the South.^^^® The witness also said that the man he knew

as Kubenstein owned or managed a nightclub when he met him, but

the Commission has no reliable evidence that Jack Ruby ever owned

or worked in any nightclubs when he lived in Chicago.^^^^ The wit- ness further stated that on one occasion he found the name of Jack

Rubenstein, or perhaps a similar name, together with the names of

others he believed were Communists, on a list which had been left in a room above the jewelry store after a meeting held there. The

witness said he gave the list to his wife's cousin, now deceased, who

was then the chief of detectives in Muncie.^^^^ However, neither

the list nor a person identifiable as Jack Ruby has been located after a thorough search by the FBI of its own files and those of the Muncie

Police Department, the Indiana State Police, and other agencies.^^^^

The witness did not recall seeing Rubenstein in Muncie during the

period of that meeting, and he had never heard Rubenstein say anything which would indicate he was a Communist.^^^^

The FBI has interviewed all living persons who the witness stated were involved with Ruby in Communist activities in Muncie. One

person named by the witness was known previously to have been

involved in Communist Party activities, but subversive activities files have revealed no such activities for any of the others.^^^* The admitted former Communist denied knowing Ruby and stated that the

jewelry store owner was not known to him as a Communist and that

Communist meetings were never held above the store.^^^^ All other

Muncie residents named by the witness as possible associates of Ruby

denied knowing Ruby.^226 Similarly, fellow employees of the witness

whom he did not claim were Communists knew of no Communist

activities connected with the jewelry store owner or any visits of Jack

Ruby, and FBI informants familiar with Communist activities in

Indiana and Chicago did not know of any participation by Ruby.^^^^

Finally, the witness testified that even though he believed as early as 1947 that all of the persons named by him were Communists he had

never brought his information to the attention of any authority investigating such activities, except for providing the alleged list to his

cousin.^228 r^Y^Q Commission finds no basis for accepting the witness's

testimony.

The Commission has also investigated the possibility that Ruby was

associated with ultraconservative political endeavors in Dallas. Upon

his arrest, there were found in Ruby's possession two radio scripts of

a right-wing program promoted by H. L. Hunt, whose political views

are highly conservative. Ruby had acquired the scripts a few weeks

earlier at the Texas Products Show, where they were enclosed in bags

of Hunt food products. Ruby is reported to have become enraged

when he discovered the scripts, and threatened to send one to "Kennedy." ^229 jjg ig j^Q^ known to have done anything with them prior to 367
giving one to a radio announcer on Nevember 23 ; and on that day he

seemed to confuse organizations of the extreme right with those of the

far left.^^^'^ On November 21, Ruby drove Connie Trammel, a young

college graduate whom he had met some months previously, to the

office of Lamar Hunt, the son of H. L. Hunt, for a job interview. Although Ruby stated that he would like to meet Hunt, seemingly to es- tablish a business connection, he did not enter Hunt's office with her.^^^^ An allegation that Ruby was a visitor at the home of Maj. Gen.

Edwin A. Walker (Resigned, U.S. Army) appears totally unfounded.

The allegation was made in late May 1964 to an agent of the U.S.

Secret Service by William McEwan Duff. Duff, who was discharged

from military service in June 1964 because of a fraudulent enlistment,

disclaimed any knowledge of Ruby or Oswald when questioned by

FBI agents in January 1964.^232 Another allegation connecting Jack Ruby with right-wing activities was Mark Lane's assertion, mentioned previously, that an un- named informant told him of a meeting lasting more than 2 hours in

the Carousel Club on November 14, 1963, between Jack Ruby, Patrolman J. D. Tippit, and Bernard Weissman.^"^^ Although the name of

Lane's informant has never been revealed to the Commission, an in- vestigation has been conducted in an effort to find corroboration for the

claimed Tippit, Weissman, and Ruby meeting. No employee of the

Carousel Club has any knowledge of the meeting described by Lane.^^^* Ruby and Weissman both deny that such a meeting occurred, and

Officer Tippit's widow has no knowledge that her late husband ever went to the Carousel Club.^^^^ Some confusion has arisen, however, because early Friday after- noon, November 22, Ruby remarked that he knew the Tippit who

had been shot by Oswald. Later Ruby stated that he did not

know J. D. Tippit but that his reference was to G. M. Tippit, a member of the special services bureau of the Dallas Police Department who

had visited Ruby establishments occasionally in the course of his official duties.^^^^ Larry Crafard was unable to recognize photographs of

J. D. Tippit and had no recollection of a Tippit, Weissman, and Ruby

meeting at any time.^^^^ However, uncertainty was introduced when

Crafard identified a photograph of Bernard Weissman as resembling a man who had visited the Carousel Club and had been referred to by

Ruby as "Weissman." ^^^^ In a subsequent interview Crafard stated

that he believed Weissman was a detective on the Dallas Police Department, that his first name may have been Johnny, and that he was in

his late thirties or early forties.^^^^ As set forth previously, Bernard

Weissman was a 26-year-old New York carpet salesman. Crafard

added "I could have my recollection of a Mr. Weissman mixed up

with someone else".^^**^ Ruby's conduct on November 22 and 23, 1963, corroborates his denial

that he knew Bernard Weissman. Ruby expressed hostility to the

November 22 full-page advertisement to many persons. To none

did he give any indication that he was familiar with the person listed as responsible for the advertisement.^^*^ His attempt on November 23

368
to trace the holder of the post office box shown on the "Impeach Earl

Warren" sign and to locate Weissman's name in a Dallas city directory ^^*^ also tends to indicate that in fact he was not familiar with

Weissman. Had he been involved in some type of unlawful activity

with Weissman, it is highly unlikely that Ruby would have called

attention to Weissman as he did.

Investigation has disclosed no evidence that Officer J. D. Tippit was

acquainted with either Ruby or Oswald. Neither Tippit's wife nor his

close friends knew of such an acquaintanceship.^^^^ Tippit was not

known to frequent nightclubs ^^^^ and he had no reason during the

course of his police duties to enter Ruby's clubs.^^^^ Although at the

time of the assassination Tippit was working weekends in a Dallas

restaurant owned by a member of the John Birch Society, the restaurant owner stated that he never discussed politics with Tippit.^^*®

Persons close to Tippit related that Tippit rarely discussed political

matters with any person and that he was a member of no political

organization.^2*^ Telephone records for the period following September 26, 1963, revealed no suspicious long-distance calls from the Tippit

household.1248

Tippit's encounter with Oswald following the shooting of the President is indicative of no prior association between the two men. Police

radio logs show that, as part of general directions issued to all officers immediately after the assassination, Tippit was specifically directed

to patrol the Oak Cliff area where he came upon Oswald.^^^^ His

movement from the area which he had been patrolling into the central

Oak Cliff area was also in conformity with the normal procedure

of the Dallas Police Department for partol cars to cover nearby

districts when the patrol cars in that district became otherwise en- gaged, as occurred after the assassination.^^^^ Oswald fit the general

description, which, 15 minutes after the assassination, was broadcast to

all police cars of a suspect described by a bystander who had seen Oswald in the sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.^^^^ There is thus no basis for any inference that, in approaching

Oswald, Tippit was acting other than in the line of police duty.

Allegations of Cuban activity.—No substantiation has been found

for rumors linking Ruby with pro- or anti-Castro Cuban activities,^^^^

except for one incident in January 1959 when Ruby made preliminary

inquiries, as a middleman, concerning the possible sale to Cuba of some surplus jeeps located in Shreveport, La., and asked about the

possible release of prisoners from a Cuban prison. No evidence has

been developed that the project ever became more than a "possibility".

Ruby explained that in early 1959 United States sentiment toward

Cuba was still favorable and that he was merely pursuing a moneymaking opportunity.^2^^

During the period of the "jeep sale", R. D. Matthews, a gambler

and a "passing acquaintance" of Ruby, returned to Dallas from Havana where he had been living. In mid-1959, he returned to Cuba

until mid-1960.1254 Qn October 3, 1963, a telephone call was made from

the Carousel Club to Matthews' former wife in Shreveport.^'^^ No

369
evidence has been uncovered that Matthews was associated with the

sale of jeeps or the release of prisoners or that he knew of Oswald

prior to the assassination.^^^® Matthews' ex-wife did not recall the

phone call in October of 1963, and she asserted that she did not know

Jack Kuby or anybody working for him.^^^^

In September 1959, Ruby traveled to Havana as a guest of a close friend and known gambler, Lewis J. McWillie. Both Ruby and

McWillie state the trip was purely social.^^^^ In January 1961,

McWillie left Cuba with strong feelings of hostility to the Castro

regime. In early 1963, Ruby purchased a pistol which he shipped to McWillie in Nevada, but McWillie did not accept the package.^^^^

The Commission has found no evidence that McWillie has engaged in

any activities since leaving Cuba that are related to pro- or anti-Castro

political movements or that he was involved in Ruby's abortive jeep

transaction.

The Commission has also received evidence that in April 1962, a telegram sent to Havana, Cuba, was charged to the business telephone

of Earl Ruby, brother of Jack Ruby.^^eo j^^rl Ruby stated that he was unable to recall that telegram but testified that he had never trav- eled to Cuba nor had any dealings with persons in Cuba.^^®^ Jack

Ruby is not known to have visited his brother at that time, and during

that period Earl and Jack did not maintain a close relationship.^^^^

Earl Ruby is not known to have been involved in any subversive

activities.^^^^ Finally, examination of FBI information relative to Cuban groups

in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the year 1963 fails to disclose any

person who might provide a link between Ruby and such groups.^**

The Central Intelligence Agency has no information suggesting that

Jack Ruby or any of his closest associates have been involved in any

type of revolutionary or subversive Cuban activity.^^

Possible vmderworld connections.—The Commission has investigated Ruby's possible criminal activities, looking with particular concern for evidence that he engaged in illegal activities with members of the organized underworld or that, on his own, he was a promoter of illegal endeavors. The results of that investigation are more

fully detailed in appendix XVI. Ruby was reared in a Chicago

neighborhood where he became acquainted with local criminals and

with persons who later became criminals. Throughout liis life. Ruby's

friendships with persons of that character were limited largely to professional gamblers, although his night club businesses brought him

in contact with persons who had been convicted of other offenses. There is no credible evidence that Ruby, liimself, gambled on other

than a social basis or that he had any unpaid gambling debts.^^^^ He

had never been charged with a felony prior to his attack on Oswald

;

his only encounters in Chicago stemmed from ticket scalping and the

unauthorized sale of copyrighted music; and, m Dallas, his law violations, excluding traffic charges, resulted from the operation of his

clubs or outbursts of temper.^^®^ Ruby has disclaimed that he was

370
associated with organized criminal activities, and law enforcement

agencies have confirmed that denial.^^^^ Investigation of George Senator.—In addition to examining Ruby's

own activities and background, the Commission has paid careful atten- tion to the activities and background of George Senator, Ruby's

roommate and one of his closest friends in Dallas. Senator was interrogated by staff members over a 2-day period ; he provided a detailed

account of his own life and cooperated fully in all aspects of the

Commission's inquiry into the activities of Jack Ruby.

Senator was 50 years old at the time Ruby shot Oswald. He had

been born September 4, 1913, in Gloversville, N.Y., and had received an eighth grade education. Upon leaving school, he worked in Gloversville and New York City until about age 25. For the next few

years he worked in various restaurants and cafeterias in New York

and Florida until enlisting in the Army in August 1941.^^^^ After his

honorable discharge in September 1945, Senator was employed for

most of the next 13 years selling inexpensive dresses throughout the

South and Southwest. In the course of that employment he moved

to Dallas where he met Jack Ruby while visiting Ruby's Vegas Club

in about 1955 or 1956.^^^^ Ruby was one of many who helped Senator

when he encountered financial difficulties during the years 1958 to

1962, For a while in 1962, Ruby provided room and board in ex- change for Senator's help in his clubs and apartment. In August

1963, Senator was imable to maintain his own apartment alone following his roommate's marriage. Ruby again offered to help and on November 1, 1963, Senator moved into Ruby's apartment.^^^^ The

Commission has found no evidence that Senator ever engaged in any

political activities. ^^^^ Against this background the Commission has evaluated Senator's

account of his own activities on November 22, 23, and 24. When

questioned by Dallas and Federal authorities hours after the shooting

of Oswald, Senator omitted mention of having accompanied Ruby

to photograph the "Impeach Earl Warren" sign on Saturday morning.

Senator stated to Commission staff members that in the interviews of

November 24 he omitted the incident because of oversight.^^^^ However, he spoke freely about it in his sworn testimony and no inaccuracies have been noted in that portion of his testimony. Senator also

failed to mention to the Commission and to previous interrogators

that, shortly after Ruby left their apartment Sunday morning, he

called friends, Mr. and Mrs. William Downey, and offered to visit their

apartment and make breakfast for them.^^^^ Downey stated, in June

1964, that Senator said he was alone and that, after Downey declined

the offer. Senator remarked that he would then go downtown for

breakfast.^2^^ When told of Downey's account. Senator denied it and

explained that the two were not friendly by the time Senator left Dallas about six weeks after the assassination.^276

The Commission also experienced difficulty in ascertaining the

activities of Senator on November 22 and 23. He was unable to ac- count specifically for large segments of time when he was not with

371
E-uby.^^'^^ And, as to places and people Senator says he visited on

those days prior to the time Oswald was shot, the Commission has

been unsuccessful in obtaining verification.^^^^ Senator admitted that

he had spent much of that time drinking but denied that he was

intoxicated.^2^® It is difficult to know with complete certainty whether Senator

had any foreknowledge of the shooting of Oswald. Ruby testified that

at about 10:15 a.m. on Sunday morning, November 24, he said, in

Senator's presence, "If something happened to this person, that then

Mrs. Kennedy won't have to come back for the trial." ^^so According to Ruby, this is the most explicit statement he made concerning Oswald

that moming.^2®^ Senator denies any knowledge of Ruby's intentions.^^^^ Senator's general response to the shooting was not like that of a per- son seeking to conceal his guilt. Shortly before it was known that

Ruby was the slayer of Oswald, Senator visited the Eatwell Restaurant

in downtown Dallas. Upon being informed that Ruby was the at- tacker. Senator exclaimed, "My God," in what appeared to be a genuinely surprised tone.^^^^ He then ran to a telephone, returned to gulp

down his coffee, and quickly departed.^^* He drove promptly to the

home of James Martin, an attorney and friend. Martin recalled that

Senator's concern was for his friend Ruby and not for himself.^^**^ Martin and Senator drove to the Dallas Police Department where Senator voluntarily submitted himself to police questioning, and gave in- terviews to newspaper and television reporters.^^^^ The Commission

has concluded, on the basis of its investigation into Senator's background, activities, and reaction to the shooting, that Senator did not

aid or conspire with Jack Ruby in the killing of Oswald.

Ruby'^s activities preceding President''s trip.—In addition to the

broad investigation into Ruby's background and associations, the

Commission delved particularly into Ruby's pattern of activities during the 2 months preceding President Kennedy's visit to Dallas in

order to determine whether there was unusual conduct which might

be linked to the President's forthcoming trip.

The Commission has been able to account specifically for Jack Ruby's

presence in Dallas on every day after September 26, 1963, except

five—September 29, 30 and October 11, 14, and 24—and there is no evi- dence that he was out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area on those days.^^^^

The report of one person who saw Ruby on September 28 indicates that

Ruby probably remained in Dallas on September 29 and 30,^^^^ when

Oswald was in Mexico City. The Commission has looked for but has

found no evidence that Ruby traveled to Mexico at that time.^^^^ Both

Ruby and Ralph Paul have stated that Ruby did not leave the DallasFort Worth area during September, October, or November 1963.^^^° During October and November of 1963, Jack Ruby maintained his

usual vigorous pace of business activities. In particular, he directed

considerable attention to his two nightclubs and to other business

372
promotions.^^^^ During the final month before the Kennedy trip, his

time was increasingly occupied with personnel problems at both his

clubs. There is no indication that he devoted less than full atten- tion to these matters or that he appeared preoccupied with other affairs. His acquaintances did feel that Ruby seemed depressed and

concerned that his friends were deserting him.^^^^ However, there were no signs of secretive conduct.

Scrutiny of Ruby's activities during the several days preceding

the President's arrival in Dallas has revealed no indication of any

unusual activity. Ruby is remembered to have discussed the President's impending trip with only two persons and only briefly.^^^^

Two newspapers containing a description of the expected motorcade

routes through Dallas and Fort Worth were found in Ruby's car at the time of this arrest. However, such papers circulated widely in

Dallas, and Ruby's car, like his apartment, was so cluttered with other

newspapers, notebooks, brochures, cards, clothing, and personal

items ^2^* that there is no reason to attach any significance to the papers.

Aside from the results of the Commission's investigation reported

above, there are other reasons to doubt that Jack Ruby would have

shot Oswald as he did if he had been involved in a conspiracy to carry

out the assassination, or that he would have been delegated to perform

the shooting of Oswald on behalf of others who were involved in

the slaying of the President. By striking in the city jail. Ruby was

certain to be apprehended. An attempt to silence Oswald by having

Ruby kill him would have presented exceptionally grave dangers to any other persons involved in the scheme. If the attempt had failed,

Oswald might have been moved to disclose his confederates to the

authorities. If it succeeded, as it did, the additional killing might

itself have produced a trail to them. Moreover, Ruby was regarded

by most persons who knew him as moody and unstable—hardly one to have encouraged the confidence of persons involved in a sensitive conspiracy.^2®^

Since his apprehension, Jack Ruby has provided the Federal authorities with several detailed accounts of his activities both preceding and following the assassination of President Kennedy. Ruby has

shown no reluctance to answer any questions addressed to him. The

accounts provided by Ruby are consistent with evidence available to the Commission from other sources. These additional considerations are thus fully consistent with the

results of the Commission's investigation. Rumors of a connection

between Ruby and Oswald have proved groundless, while examination of Ruby's background and associations, his behavior prior to the assassination, and his activities during the November 22-24 weekend has yielded no evidence that Ruby conspired with anyone in

planning or executing the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald. Whatever

the legal culpability of Jack Ruby for his act of November 24, the

evidence is persuasive that he acted independently in shooting Oswald.

373
CONCLUSION

Based upon the investigation reviewed in this chapter, the Commission concluded that there is no credible evidence that Lee Harvey

Oswald was part of a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy.

Examination of the facts of the assassination itself revealed no indication that Oswald was aided in the planning or execution of his scheme.

Eeview of Oswald's life and activities since 1959, although productive

in illuminating the character of Lee Harvey Oswald (which is dis- cussed in the next chapter), did not produce any meaningful evi- dence of a conspiracy. The Commission discovered no evidence

that the Soviet Union or Cuba were involved in the assassination

of President Kennedy. Nor did the Commission's investigation of

Jack Ruby produce any grounds for believing that Ruby's killing

of Oswald was part of a conspiracy. The conclusion that there is no

evidence of a conspiracy was also reached independently by Dean

Rusk, the Secretary of State; Robert S. McNamara, the Secretary of

Defense ; C. Douglas Dillon, the Secretary of the Treasury ; Robert F. Kennedy, the Attorney General ; J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the

FBI ; John A. McCone, the Director of the CIA ; and James J. Rowley, the Chief of the Secret Service, on the basis of the information

available to each of them.^^^^

374
CHAPTER VII

Lee Harvey Oswald: Background and

Possible Motives

THE EVIDENCE reviewed above identifies Lee Harvey

Oswald as the assassin of President Kennedy and indicates

that he acted alone in that event. There is no evidence that

he had accomplices or that he was involved in any conspiracy directed

to the assassination of the President. There remains the question of

what impelled Oswald to conceive and to carry out the assassination

of the President of the United States. The Commission has considered

many possible motives for the assassination, including those which

might flow from Oswald's commitment to Marxism or communism,

the existence of some personal grievance, a desire to effect changes in

the structure of society or simply to go down in history as a well

publicized assassin. None of these possibilities satisfactorily explains

Oswald's act if it is judged by the standards of reasonable men. The

motives of any man, however, must be analyzed in terms of the

character and state of mind of the particular individual involved.

For a motive that appears incomprehensible to other men may be the

moving force of a man whose view of the world has been twisted,

possibly by factors of which those around him were only dimly aware. Oswald's complete state of mind and character are now outside of

the power of man to know. He cannot, of course, be questioned or observed by those charged with the responsibility for this report or by

experts on their behalf. There is, however, a large amount of material

available in his writings and in the history of his life which does give some insight into his character and, possibly, into the motives for his

act.Since Oswald is dead, the Commission is not able to reach any

definite conclusions as to whether or not he was "sane" under prevailing legal standards. Under our system of justice no forum could

properly make that determination unless Oswald were before it. It certainly could not be made by this Commission which, as has been

pointed out above, ascertained the facts surrounding the assassination

but did not draw conclusions concerning Oswald's legal guilt.

Indications of Oswald's motivation may be obtained from a study

of the events, relationships and influences which appear to have been

375
significant in shaping his character and in guiding him. Perhaps the

most outstanding conclusion of such a study is that Oswald was profoundly alienated from the world in which he lived. His life was

characterized by isolation, frustration, and failure. He had very few,

if any, close relationships Avith other people and he appeared to have

great difficulty in finding a meaningful place in the world. He was

never satisfied with anything. When he was in the United States he

resented the capitalist system which he thought was exploiting him

and others like him. He seemed to prefer the Soviet Union and he

spoke highly of Cuba.^ When he was in the Soviet Union, he apparently resented the Communist Party members, who were accorded special privileges and who he thought were betraying communism, and he

spoke well of the United States.^ He accused his wife of preferring

others to himself and told her to return to the Soviet Union without

him but without a divorce. At the same time he professed his love for

her and said that he could not get along without her.^ Marina Oswald

thought that he would not be happy anywhere, "Only on the moon,

perhaps." * While Oswald appeared to most of those who knew him as a meek

and harmless person, he sometimes imagined himself as "the Commander" ^ and, apparently seriously, as a political prophet—a man who

said that after 20 years he would be prime minister.^ His wife testified that he compared himself with great leaders of history. Such ideas of

grandeur were apparently accompanied by notions of oppression.'^

He had a great hostility toward his environment, whatever it happened

to be, which he expressed in striking and sometimes violent acts long

before the assassination. There was some quality about him that led

him to act with an apparent disregard for possible consequences.^ He

defected to the Soviet Union, shot at General Walker, tried to go to Cuba and even contemplated hijacking an airplane to get there. He

assassinated the President, shot Officer Tippit, resisted arrest and

tried to kill another policeman in the process. Oswald apparently started reading about commmiism when he was

about 15. In the Marines, he evidenced a strong conviction as to the

correctness of Marxist doctrine, which one associate described as "ir- revocable," but also as "theoretical" ; that associate did not think that

Oswald was a Communist.® Oswald did not always distinguish

between Marxism and communism.^" He stated several times that he was a Communist but apparently never joined any Communist Party.^^ His attachment to Marxist and Communist doctrine was probably,

in some measure, an expression of his hostility to his environment.

While there is doubt about how fully Oswald understood the doctrine

which he so often espoused, it seems clear that his commitment to Marxism was an important factor influencing his conduct during his

adult years. It was an obvious element in his decision to go to Russia

and later to Cuba and it probably influenced his decision to shoot at General Walker. It was a factor which contributed to his character

376
and thereby might have influenced his decision to assassinate President

Kennedy.

The discussion below will describe the events known to the Commission which most clearly reveals the formation and nature of Oswald's

character. It will attempt to summarize the events of his early life, his experience in New York City and in the Marine Corps, and his in- terest in Marxism. It Avill examine his defection to the Soviet Union

in 1959, his subsequent return to the United States and his life here

after June of 1962. The review of the latter period will evaluate his

personal and employment relations, his attempt to kill General Walker,

his political activities, and his unsuccessful attempt to go to Cuba in

late September of 1963. Various possible motives will be treated in

the appropriate context of the discussion outlined above.

The Early Years

Significant in shaping the character of Lee Harvey Oswald was

the death of his father, a collector of insurance premiums. This

occurred 2 months before Lee was born in New Orleans on October 18, 1939.^2 That death strained the financial fortunes of the remainder

of the Oswald family. It had its effect on Lee's mother. Marguerite,

his brother Robert, who had been born in 1934, and his half-brother

John Pic, who had been born in 1932 during Marguerite's previous marriage.^^ It forced Marguerite Oswald to go to work to provide for

her family.^* Reminding her sons that they were orphans and that

the family's financial condition was poor, she placed John Pic and

Robert Oswald in an orphans' home.^^ From the time Marguerite

Oswald returned to work until December 26, 1942, when Lee too was

sent to the orphans' home, he was cared for principally by his mother's

sister, by babysitters and by his mother, when she had time for him.^^

Marguerite Osw^ald withdrew Lee from the orphans' home and took

him with her to Dallas when he was a little over 4 years old.^^ About

6 months later she also withdrew John Pic and Robert Oswald.^^ Apparently that action was taken in anticipation of her marriage to Edwin A. Ekdahl, which took place in May of 1945.^^ In the fall of

that year John Pic and Robert Oswald went to a military academy

where they stayed, except for vacations, until the spring of 1948.^^ Lee Oswald remained with his mother and Ekdahl,^^ to whom he be- came quite attached. John Pic testified that he thought Lee found

in Ekdahl the father that he never had.^^ That situation, however, was short-lived, for the relations between Marguerite Oswald and

Ekdahl were stormy and they were finally divorced, after several

separations and reunions, in the summer of 1948.^^ After the divorce Mrs. Oswald complained considerably about how

unfairly she was treated, dw^elling on the fact that she was a widow

with three children. John Pic, however, did not think her position was worse than that of many other people.^^ In the fall of 1948 she

told John Pic and Robert Oswald that she could not afford to send

them back to the military school and she asked Pic to quit school

377

730-900 0-64—26
entirely to help support the family, which he did for 4 months in the

fall of 1948.2^ In order to supplement their income further she falsely swore that Pic was 17 years old so that he could join the Marine Corps

Reserves.^^ Pic did turn over part of his income to his mother, but he

returned to high school in January of 1949, where he stayed until 3

days before he was scheduled to graduate, when he left school in order

to get into the Coast Guard.^^ Since his mother did not approve of

his decision to continue school he accepted the responsibility for that

decision himself and signed his mother's name to all his own excuses and

report cards. ^^ Pic thought that his mother overstated her financial problems and was unduly concerned about money. Referring to the period after

the divorce from Ekdahl, which was apparently caused in part by

Marguerite's desire to get more money from him, Pic said : "Lee was

brought up in this atmosphere of constant money problems, and I am

sure it had quite an effect on him, and also Robert." ^^ Marguerite

Oswald worked in miscellaneous jobs after her divorce from Ekdahl.^° When she worked for a time as an insurance saleslady, she would sometimes take Lee with her, apparently leaving him alone in the car while

she transacted her business.^^ When she worked during the school

year, Lee had to leave an empty house in the morning, return to it for

lunch and then again at night, his mother having trained him to do

that rather than to play with other children.^^

An indication of the nature of Lee's character at this time was provided in the spring of 1950, when he was sent to New Orleans to visit the family of his mother's sister, Mrs. Lillian Murret, for 2 or 3 weeks. Despite their urgings, he refused to play with the other

children his own age.^^ It also appears that Lee tried to tag along

with his older brothers but apparently was not able to spend as much

time with them as he would have liked, because of the age gaps of 5 and 7 years, which became more significant as the children grew

older.3* New York City

Whatever problems may have been created by Lee's home life in

Louisiana and Texas, he apparently adjusted well enough there to have had an average, although gradually deteriorating, school record

with no behavior or truancy problems. That was not the case, however, after he and his mother moved to New York in August of 1952,

shortly before Lee's 13th birthday. They moved shortly after Robert

joined the Marines; they lived for a time with John Pic who was

stationed there with the Coast Guard.^^ Relations soon became

strained, however,^® so in late September Lee and his mother moved

to their own apartment in the Bronx.^^ Pic and his wife would

have been happy to have kept Lee, however, who was becoming quite a disciplinary problem for his mother, having struck her on at least one occasion.^^

The short-lived stay with the Pics was terminated after an incident

in which Lee allegedly pulled out a pocket knife during an argument

378
and threatened to use it on Mrs. Pic. When Pic returned home, Mrs.

Oswald tried to play down the event but Mrs. Pic took a different view

and asked the Oswalds to leave. Lee refused to discuss the matter with

Pic, whom he had previously idolized, and their relations were strained

thereafter.^^ On September 30, 1952, Lee enrolled in P.S. 117,^ a junior high

school in the Bronx, where the other children apparently teased him be- cause of his "western" clothes and Texas accent.^^ He began to stay

away from school, preferring to read magazines and watch television at home by himself.*^ This continued despite the efforts of the school

authorities and, to a lesser extent, of his mother to have him return to

school.*^ Truancy charges were brought against him alleging that he was "beyond the control of his mother insofar as school attendance is concerned." ^* Lee Oswald was remanded for psychiatric observation

to Youth House, an institution in which children are kept for psychiatric observation or for detention pending court appearance or com- mitment to a child-caring or custodial institution such as a training

school.^^ He was in Youth House from April 16 to May 7, 1953,*®

during which time he was examined by its Chief Psychiatrist, Dr.

Renatus Hartogs, and interviewed and observed by other members of

the Youth House staff.*^ Marguerite Oswald visited her son at Youth House, where she re- called that she waited in line "with Puerto Ricans and Negroes and

everything." *^ She said that her pocketbook was searched "because

the children in this home were such criminals, dope fiends, and had

been in criminal offenses, that anybody entering this home had to be

searched in case the parents were bringing cigarettes or narcotics or anything." ^^ She recalled that Lee cried and said, "Mother, I want to get out of here. There are children in here who have killed people,

and smoke. I want to get out." ^° Marguerite Oswald said that she

had not realized until then in what kind of place her son had been

confined.^^

On the other hand, Lee told his probation officer, John Carro, that

"while he liked Youth House he miss[ed] the freedom of doing what

he wanted. He indicated that he did not miss his mother." ^^ Mrs.

Evelyn Strickman Siegel, a social worker who interviewed both Lee

and his mother while Lee was confined in Youth House, reported

that Lee "confided that the worse thing about Youth House was the

fact that he had to be with other boys all the time, was disturbed about

disrobing in front of them, taking showers with them etc." ^^ Contrary to reports that appeared after the assassination, the psychiatric examination did not indicate that Lee Oswald was a potential

assassin, potentially dangerous, that "his outlook on life had

strongly paranoid overtones" or that he should be institutionalized.^*

Dr. Hartogs did find Oswald to be a tense, withdrawn, and evasive

boy who intensely disliked talking about himself and his feelings.

He noted that Lee liked to give the impression that he did not care

for other people but preferred to keep to himself, so that he was not

bothered and did not have to make the effort of communicating. Os379
wald's withdrawn tendencies and solitary habits were thought to be

the result of "intense anxiety, shyness, feelings of awkwardness

and insecurity." ^^ He was reported to have said "I don't want a friend and I don't like to talk to people" and "I dislike everybody." -^^ He was also described as having a "vivid fantasy life, turning around

the topics of omnipotence and power, through which he tries to compensate for his present shortcomings and frustrations." ^^ Dr. Hartogs summarized his report by stating

:

This 13 year old well built boy has superior mental resources and functions only slightly below his capacity level in spite of

chronic truancy from school which brought him into Youth

House. No finding of neurological impairment or psychotic

mental changes could be made. Lee has to be diagnosed as "personality pattern disturbance with schizoid features and passive

aggressive tendencies." Lee has to be seen as an emotionally, quite

disturbed youngster who suffers under the impact of really exist- ing emotional isolation and deprivation, lack of affection, ab- sence of family life and rejection by a self involved and conflicted

mother.^^

Dr. Hartogs recommended that Oswald be placed on probation on

condition that he seek help and guidance through a child guidance

clinic. There, he suggested, Lee should be treated by a male psychiatrist who could substitute for the lack of a father figure. He also recommended that Mrs. Oswald seek "psychotherapeutic guidance

through contact with a family agency." The possibility of commitment was to be considered only if the probation plan was not successful.^^ Lee's withdrawal was also noted by Mrs. Siegel, who described him

as a "seriously detached, withdrawn youngster." ^° She also noted

that there was "a rather pleasant, appealing quality about this emotionally starved, affectionless youngster which grows as one speaks

to him." ^^ She thought that he had detached himself from the world

around him because "no one in it ever met any of his needs for love." ^^ She observed that smce Lee's mother worked all day, he made his

own meals and spent all his time alone because he didn't make friends

with the boys in the neighborhood. She thought that he "withdrew

into a completely solitary and detached existence where he did as he

wanted and he didn't have to live by any rules or come into contact with people." ^^ Mrs. Siegel concluded that Lee "just felt that

his mother never gave a damn for him. He always felt like a burden

that she simply just had to tolerate." ^^ Lee confirmed some of

those observations by saying that he felt almost as if there were a

veil between him and other people through which they could not

reach him, but that he preferred the veil to remain intact. He admitted to fantasies about being powerful and sometimes hurting and

killing people, but refused to elaborate on them. He took the position

that such matters were his own business.^^

380
A psychological human figure-drawing test corroborated the interviewer's findings that Lee was insecure and had limited social contacts. Irving Sokolow, a Youth House psychologist reported that:

The Human Figure Drawings are empty, poor characterizations

of persons approximately the same age as the subject. They

reflect a considerable amount of impoverishment in the social and

emotional areas. He appears to be a somewhat insecure youngster exhibiting much inclination for warm and satisfying relationships to others. There is some indication that he may relate to men more easily than to women in view of the more mature conceptualisation. He appears slightly withdrawn and in view of

the lack of detail within the drawings this may assume a more

significant characteristic. He exhibits some difficulty in relationship to the maternal figure suggesting more anxiety in this area than in any other.^® Lee scored an IQ of 118 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. According to Sokolow, this indicated a "present intellectual

functioning in the upper range of bright normal intelligence." ®^ Sokolow said that although Lee was "presumably disinterested in

school subjects he operates on a much higher than average level." ^^ On the Monroe Silent Reading Test, Lee's score indicated no retardation in reading speed and comprehension ; he had better than average

ability in arithmetical reasoning for his age group.^^

Lee told Carro, his probation officer, that he liked to be by himself be- cause he had too much difficulty in making friends."^^ The reports

of Carro and Mrs. Siegel also indicate an ambivalent attitude toward

authority on Oswald's part. Carro reported that Lee was disruptive

in class after he returned to school on a regular basis in the fall of

1953. He had refused to salute the flag and was doing very little, if any, work. It appears that he did not want to do any of the things

which the authorities suggested in their efforts to bring him out of the

shell into which he appeared to be retreating.'^ He told Mrs. Siegel

that he would run away if sent to a boarding school. On the other

hand he also told her that he wished his mother had been more firm

with him in her attempts to get him to return to school.'^^ The reports of the New York authorities indicate that Lee's mother gave him very little affection and did not serve as any sort of substitute for a father. Furthermore she did not appear to understand her own relationship to Lee's psychological problems. After

her interview with Mrs. Oswald, Mrs. Siegel described her as a "smartly

dressed, gray haired woman, very self-possessed and alert and superficially affable," but essentially a "defensive, rigid, self-involved person

who had real difficulty in accepting and relating to people" and who

had "little understanding" of Lee's behavior and of the "protective

shell he has drawn around himself." " Dr. Hartogs reported that Mrs.

Oswald did not understand that Lee's withdrawal was a form of "violent but silent protest against his neglect by her and represents his reac- 381
tion to a complete absence of any real family life." ^* Carro re- ported that when questioned about his mother Lee said, "well I've got

to live with her. I guess I love her." ^^ It may also be significant that, as reported by John Pic, "Lee slept with my mother until I joined the

service in 1950. This would make him approximately 10, well, almost

11 years old." ^^ The factors in Lee Oswald's personality which were noted by those

who had contact with him in New York indicate that he had great

difficulty in adapting himself to conditions in that city. His usual

reaction to the problems which he encountered there was simply

withdrawal. Those factors indicated a severe inability to enter

into relationships with other people. In view of his experiences when

he visited his relatives in New Orleans in the spring of 1950, and his

other solitary habits, Lee had apparently been experiencing similar

problems before going to New York, and as will be shown below, tliis failure to adapt to his environment was a dominant trait in his later

life.It would be incorrect, however, to believe that those aspects of Lee's personality which were observed in New York could have led anyone

to predict the outburst of violence which finally occurred. Carro was

the only one of Oswald's three principal observers who recommended

that he be placed in a boy's home or similar institution.^' But Carro was quite specific that his recommendation was based primarily on the

adverse factors in Lee's environment—his lack of friends, the apparent

unavailability of any agency assistance and the ineffectualness of his

mother—and not on any particular mental disturbance in the boy

himself.^^ Carro testified that

:

There was nothing that would lead me to believe when I saw him at the age of 12 that there would be seeds of destruction for

somebody. I couldn't in all honesty sincerely say such a thing.''^

Mrs. Siegel concluded her report with the statement that

:

Despite his withdrawal, he gives the impression that he is not

so difficult to reach as he appears and patient, prolonged effort in a sustained relationship with one therapist might bring results. There are indications that he has suffered serious per- sonality damage but if he can receive help quickly this might be

repaired to some extent.^*^ Lee Oswald never received that help. Few social agencies even

in New York were equipped to provide the kind of intensive treat- ment that he needed, and when one of the city's clinics did find room

to handle him, for some reason the record does not show, advantage was

never taken of the chance afforded to Oswald. "^Ylien Lee became a dis- ciplinary problem upon his return to school in the fall of 1953, and

when his mother failed to cooperate in any way with school authorities,

authorities were finally forced to consider placement in a home for

boys. Such a placement was postponed, however, perhaps in part at 382
least because Lee's behavior suddenly improved. Before the court took

any action, the Oswalds left New York ^^ in January of 1954, and re- turned to New Orleans where Lee finished the ninth grade before he

left school to work for a year.^^ Then in October of 1956, he joined

the Marines.®^

Return to New Orleans and Joining the Marine Corps

After his return to New Orleans Oswald was teased at school because

of the northern accent which he had acquired.^^ He concluded that

school had nothing to offer him.*^ His mother exercised little control over him and thought he could decide for himself whether to go on in

school.^^ Neighbors and others who knew him at that time recall an

introverted boy who read a great deal.^^ He took walks and visited

museums, and sometimes rode a rented bicycle in the park on Saturday

mornings.^^ Mrs. Murret believes that he talked at length with a girl on the telephone, but no one remembers that he had any dates.^^ A

friend, Edward Voebel, testified that "he was more bashful about girls

than anything else." ^° Several witnesses testified that Lee Oswald was not aggressive.®^ He

was, however, involved in some fights. Once a group of white boys beat

him up for sitting in the Negro section of a bus, which he apparently

did simply out of ignorance.®^ Another time, he fought with two

brothers who claimed that he had picked on the younger of them, 3

years Oswald's junior. Two days later, "some big guy, probably from

a high school—he looked like a tremendous football player" accosted

Oswald on the way home from school and punched him in the mouth,

making his lip bleed and loosening a tooth. Voebel took Oswald back

to the school to attend to his wounds, and their "mild friendship"

stemmed from that incident.®^ Voebel also recalled that Oswald once

outlined a plan to cut the glass in the window of a store on Rampart

Street and steal a pistol, but he was not sure then that Oswald meant to carry out the plan, and in fact they never did. Voebel said that

Oswald "wouldn't start any fights, but if you wanted to start one with

him, he was going to make sure that he ended it, or you were going

to really have one, because he wasn't going to take anything from

anybody." ®* In a space for the names of "close friends" on the ninth

grade personal history record, Oswald first wrote "Edward Vogel," an obvious misspelling of Voebel's name, and "Arthor Abear," most

likely Arthur Hebert, a classmate who has said that he did not

know Oswald well. Oswald erased those names, however, and indicated that he had no close friends.®^ It has been suggested that this misspelling of names, apparently on

a phonetic basis, was caused by a reading-spelling disability from

which Oswald appeared to suffer.®^ Other evidence of the existence

of such a disability is provided by the many other misspellings that

appear in Oswald's writings, portions of which are quoted below.

Sometime during this period, and under circumstances to be dis- cussed more fully below, Oswald started to read Communist litera- 383
ture, which he obtained from the public library.^' One of his fel- low employees, Palmer McBride, stated that Oswald said he would

like to kill President Eisenhower because he was exploiting the working class.^^ Oswald praised Khrushchev and suggested that he and

McBride join the Communist Party "to take advantage of their social

functions." ^^ Oswald also became interested in the New Orleans

Amateur Astronomy Association, an organization of high school stu- dents. The association's then president, William E. Wulf, testified that he remembered an occasion when Oswald

* * * started expounding the Communist doctrine and saying

that he was highly interested in communism, that communism

was the only way of life for the worker, et cetera, and then came

out with a statement that he was looking for a Communist cell in

town to join but he couldn't find any. He was a little dismayed

at this, and he said that he couldn't find any that would show any

interest in him as a Communist, and subsequently, after this

conversation, my father came in and we were kind of arguing

back and forth about the situation, and my father came in the

room, heard what we were arguing on communism, and that this

boy was loud-mouthed, boisterous, and my father asked him to leave the house and politely put him out of the house, and that

is the last I have seen or spoken with Oswald.^°°

Despite this apparent interest in communism, Oswald tried

to join the Marines when he was 16 years old.^°^ This was 1 year before his actual enlistment and just a little over 21^ years

after he left New York. He wrote a note in his mother's name

to school authorities in New Orleans saying that he was leaving school

because he and his mother were moving to San Diego. In fact, he had

quit school in an attempt to obtain his mother's assistance to join the

Marines.^^^ ^Vhile he apparently was able to induce his mother to make a false statement about his age he was nevertheless unable to convince the proper authorities that he was really 17 years old.^°^ There is evidence that Oswald was greatly influenced in his decision to join the Marines by the fact that his brother Robert had done so approximately 3 years before.^^* Robert Oswald had given his Marine

Corps manual to his brother Lee, who studied it during the year fol- lowing his unsuccessful attempt to enlist until "He knew it by

heart." ^°^ According to Marguerite Oswald, "Lee lived for the time

that he would become 17 years old to join the Marines—that whole

year." ^°® In John Pic's view, Oswald was motivated to join the

Marines in large part by a desire "to get from out and under * *

* the yoke of oppression from my mother." ^^^ Oswald's inability or lack of desire to enter into meaningful rela- tionships with other people continued during this period in New

Orleans (1954—56).^°^ It probably contributed greatly to the general

dissatisfaction which he exhibited with his environment, a dissatisfaction which seemed to find expression at this particular point in his

384
intense desire to join the Marines and get away from his surroundings

and his mother. His study of Communist literature, which might

appear to be inconsistent with his desire to join the Marines, could have

been another manifestation of Oswald's rejection of his environment.^°^

His difficulty in relating to other people and his general dissatisfaction with the world around him continued while he was in the Marine

Corps. Kerry Thornley, a marine associate, who, shortly after Oswald's defection, wrote an as yet unpublished novel based in considerable part on Oswald's life, testified that "definitely the Marine Corps was not what he had expected it to be when he joined." He said

that Oswald "seemed to guard against developing real close friendships." ^^° Daniel Powers, another marine who was stationed with

Oswald for part of his marine career, testified that Oswald seemed

"always [to be] striving for a relationship, but whenever he did * * * his general personality would alienate the group against him." ^^^ Other marines also testified that Oswald had few friends and kept

very much to himself.^^^ While there is nothing in Oswald's military records to indicate that

he was mentally unstable or otherwise psychologically unfit for duty in

the Marine Corps,"^ he did not adjust well to conditions which

he found in that service.^ ^^ He did not rise above the rank of

private first class, even though he had passed a qualifying examination for the rank of corporal.^^^ His Marine career was not

helped by his attitude that he was a man of great ability and intelli- gence and that many of his superiors in the Marine Corps were not

sufficiently competent to give him orders.^^^ While Oswald did not seem to object to authority in the abstract, he did think that he should

be the one to exercise it. John E. Donovan, one of his former officers, testified that Oswald thought "that authority, particularly the Marine

Corps, ought to be able to recognize talent such as his own, without a given magic college degree, and put them in positions of prominence." ^^^ Oswald manifested this feeling about authority by baiting his offi- cers. He led them into discussions of foreign affairs about which they

often knew less than he did, since he had apparently devoted considerable time to a study of such matters.^^^ When the officers were unable to

discuss foreign affairs satisfactorily with him, Oswald regarded them

as unfit to exercise command over him.^^^ Nelson Delgado, one of Oswald's fellow Marines, testified that Oswald tried to "cut up anybody

that was high ranking" in those arguments "and make himself come

out top dog." ^2° Oswald probably engaged his superiors in arguments

on a subject that he had studied in an attempt to attract attention to himself and to support his exaggerated idea of his own abilities. Thornley also testified that he thought that Oswald's extreme personal sloppiness in the Marine Corps "fitted into a general personality

pattern of his : to do whatever was not wanted of him, a recalcitrant

trend in his personality." ^^^ Oswald "seemed to be a person who

would go out of his way to get into trouble" ^^^ and then used the

"special treatment" he received as an example of the way in which

385
he was being picked on and "as a means of getting or attempting

to get sympathy." ^^^ In Thomley's view, Oswald labored under a per- secution complex which he strove to maintain and "felt the Marine

Corps kept a pretty close watch on him because of his 'subversive'

activities." Thornley added : "I think it was kind of necessary to him

to believe that he was being picked on. It wasn't anything extreme.

I wouldn't go as far as to call it, call him a paranoid, but a definite

tendency there was in that direction, I think." ^2* Powers considered Oswald to be meek and easily led,^^^ an "individual that you would brainwash, and quite easy * * * [but] I think once he believed in something * * * he stood in his beliefs." ^^^ Powers

also testified that Oswald was reserved and seemed to be "somewhat

the frail, little puppy in the litter." ^^^ He had the nickname "Ozzie

Eabbit." ^^s Oswald read a good deal, said Powers, but "he would never be

reading any of the shoot-em-up westerns or anything like that. Normally, it would be a good type of literature ; and the one that I recall was 'Leaves of Grass,' by Walt Wliitman." ^^^ According to Powers,

Oswald said : " 'All the Marine Corps did was to teach you to kill' and

after you got out of the Marines you might be good gangsters." ^^° Powers believed that when Oswald arrived in Japan he acquired a

girlfriend, "finally attaining a male status or image in his own

eyes." ^^^ That apparently caused Oswald to become more self-confident, aggressive and even somewhat pugnacious, although Powers

"wouldn't say that this guy is a troublemaker." ^^- Powers said

"now he was Oswald the man rather than Oswald the rabbit." ^^^ Oswald once told Powers that he didn't care if he returned to the

United States at all.^^* While in Japan, Oswald's new found apparent self confidence and

pugnaciousness led to an incident in which he spilled a drink on one

of his sergeants and abusively challenged him to fight.^^^ At the court- martial hearing which followed, Oswald admitted that he had been

rather drunk when the incident occurred. He testified that he had

felt the sergeant had a grudge against him and that he had unsuccessfully sought a transfer from the sergeant's unit. He said that he had

simply wanted to discuss the question with the sergeant and the drink

had been spilled accidentally. The hearing officer agreed with the

latter claim but found Oswald guilty of wrongfully using provoking

words and sentenced him to 28 days, canceling the suspension of a 20- day sentence that Oswald had received in an earlier court-martial for

possessing an unauthorized pistol with which he had accidentally shot

himself.^^® At his own request, Oswald was transferred from active duty to the Marine Corps Reserve under honorable conditions in September

of 1959, 3 months prior to his regularly scheduled separation date,^^'^ ostensibly to care for his mother who had been injured in an accident

at her work.^^^ He was undesirably discharged from the Marine

Corps Reserve, to which he had been assigned on inactive status fol- lowing his transfer from active duty, after it was learned that he had
defected to the Soviet Union.^^^ In an attempt to have this discharge

reversed, Oswald wrote to then Secretary of the Navy Connally on January 30, 1962, stating that he would "employ all means to right this gross mistake or injustice." ^^° Governor Connally had just resigned to run for Governor of Texas,

so he advised Oswald that he had forwarded the letter to his successor.^*^ It is thus clear that Oswald knew that Governor Connally was never directly concerned with his discharge and he must have

known that President Kennedy had had nothing to do with it. In

that connection, it does not appear that Oswald ever expressed any

dissatisfaction of any kind with either the President or Governor

Connally.^^^ Marina Oswald testified that she "had never heard anything bad about Kennedy from Lee. And he never had anything

against him." ^^ Mrs. Oswald said that her husband did not say anything about Governor Connally after his return to the United States. She testified : "But while we were in Eussia he spoke well of him. * * * Lee said that when he would return to the United States he would

vote for him [for Governor]." ^** Oswald must have already learned

that the Governor could not help him with his discharge because he was no longer Secretary of the Navy, at the time he made that remark.

Even though Oswald apparently did not express any hostility

against the President or Governor Connally, he continued to be con- cerned about his undesirable discharge.^^ It is clear that he thought

he had been unjustly treated. Probably his complaint was due to the

fact that his discharge was not related to anything he had done while on active duty and also because he had not received any notice of the

original discharge proceedings, since his whereabouts were not

known.^*® He continued his efforts to reverse the discharge by petitioning the Navy Discharge Review Board, which finally declined to modify the discharge and so advised him in a letter dated July 25,

1963.1*^ Governor Connally's connection with the discharge, although indirect, caused the Commission to consider whether he might have been

Oswald's real target. In that connection, it should be noted that

Marina Oswald testified on September 6, 1964, that she thought her

husband "was shooting at Connally rather than President Kennedy."

In support of her conclusion Mrs. Oswald noted her husband's undesirable discharge and that she could not think of any reason why

Oswald would want to kill President Kennedy.^*^ It should be noted,

however, that at the time Oswald fired the shots at the Presidential

limousine the Governor occupied the seat in front of the President, and

it would have been almost impossible for Oswald to have hit the Governor without hitting the President first. Oswald could have shot the

Governor as the car approached the Depository or as it was making the

turn onto Elm Street. Once it had started down Elm Street toward the

Triple Underpass, however, the President almost completely blocked

Oswald's view of the Governor prior to the time the first shot struck the

President.^^^ Furthermore, Oswald would have had other and more fa- vorable opportunities to strike at the Governor than on this occasion

387
when, as a member of the President's party, he had more protection

than usual. It would appear, therefore, that to the extent Oswald's

undesirable discharge affected his motivation, it was more in terms

of a general hostility against the government and its representatives

rather than a grudge against any particular person.

Interest in Marxism

As indicated above, Oswald started to read Communist literature

after he and his mother left New York and moved to New Orleans.^^^

He told Aline Mosby, a reporter who interviewed him after he arrived

in Moscow:

I'm a Marxist, * * * I became interested about the age of 15. From an ideological viewpoint. An old lady handed me a pamphlet about saving the Rosenbergs. * * * i looked at that paper

and I still remember it for some reason, I don't know why.^^^

Oswald studied Marxism after he joined the Marines and his sympathies in that direction and for the Soviet Union appear to have

been widely known, at least in the unit to which he was assigned

after his return from the Far East. His interest in Russia led some of his associates to call him "comrade" ^^^ or "Oswaldskovitch." ^^* He always wanted to play the red pieces in chess because,

as he said in an apparently humorous context, he preferred the "Red

Army." ^^^ He studied the Russian language,^^^ read a Russian language newspaper ^^^ and seemed interested in what was going on in

the Soviet Union.^^® Thornley, who thought Oswald had an "irre- vocable conviction" that his Marxist beliefs were correct, testified

:

I think you could sit down and argue with him for a number of

years * * * and I don't think you could have changed his mind

on that unless you knew why he believed it in the first place. I certainly don't. I don't think with any kind of formal argument you could have shaken that conviction. And that is why

I say irrevocable. It was just—never getting back to looking

at things from any other way once he had become a Marxist,

whenever that was.^^^ Thornley also testified about an incident which grew out of a combination of Oswald's known Marxist sympathies and George

Orwell's book "1984," one of Oswald's favorite books which Thornley

read at Oswald's suggestion. Shortly after Thornley finished reading that book the Marine unit to which both men were assigned was required to take part in a Saturday morning parade in honor of some retiring noncommissioned officers, an event which they both ap- proached with little enthusiasm. ^^H^iile waiting for the parade to

start they talked briefly about "1984" even though Oswald seemed

to be lost in his own thoughts. After a brief period of silence Os-
wald remarked on the stupidity of the parade and on how angry it made him, to which Thomley replied: "Well, comes the revolution

you will change all that." Thomley testified

:

At which time he looked at me like a betrayed Caesar and

screamed, screamed definitely, "Not you, too, Thornley." And

I remember his voice cracked as he said this. He was definitely

disturbed at what I had said and I didn't really think I had said

that much. * * * I never said anything to him again and he

never said anything to me again. ^^° Thomley said that he had made his remark only in the context of

"1984" and had not intended any criticism of Oswald's political views

which is the way in which, Thomley thought, Oswald took his

remarks.^^^

Lieutenant Donovan testified that Oswald thought that "there were many grave injustices concerning the affairs in the international sit- uation." He recalled that Oswald had a specific interest in Latin

America, particularly Cuba, and expressed opposition to the Batista

regime and sympathy for Castro, an attitude which, Donovan said, was

"not * * * unpopular" at that time. Donovan testified that he never heard Oswald express a desire personally to take part in the elimination of injustices anywhere in the world and that he "never heard

him in any way, shape or form confess that he was a Communist, or

that he ever thought about being a Communist." ^^^ Delgado testified that Oswald was "a complete believer that our way of government was

not quite right" and believed that our Government did not have "too much to offer," but was not in favor of "the Communist way of life." Delgado and Oswald talked more about Cuba than Russia, and sometimes imagined themselves as leaders in the Cuban Army or Government, who might "lead an expedition to some of these other islands

and free them too." ^®^ Thornley also believed that Oswald's Marxist beliefs led to an

extraordinary view of history under which

:

He looked upon the eyes of future people as some kind of tribunal,

and he wanted to be on the winning side so that 10,000 years from

now people would look in the history books and say, "Well, this

man was ahead of his time." * * * The eyes of the future became

* * * the eyes of God. * * * He was concerned with his image

in history and I do think that is why he chose * * * the particular

method [of defecting] he chose and did it in the way he did. It got him in the newspapers. It did broadcast his name out.^^* Thomley thought that Oswald not only wanted a place in history

but also wanted to live comfortably in the present. He testified that

if Oswald could not have that "degree of physical comfort that he ex- pected or sought, I think he would then throw himself entirely on the

other thing he also wanted, which was the image in history. * * * 389
I think he wanted both if he could have them. If he didn't, he wanted

to die with the knowledge that, or with the idea that he w^as somebody." ^^^ Oswald's interest in Marxism led some people to avoid him, even though as his wife suggested, that interest may have been motivated

by a desire to gain attention.^^^ He used his Marxist and associated

activities as excuses for his difficulties in getting along in the world,

which w^ere usually caused by entirely different factors. His use of

those excuses to present himself to the world as a person who was

being unfairly treated is shown most clearly by his employment rela- tions after his return from the Soviet Union. Of course, he made

his real problems worse to the extent that his use of those excuses prevented him from discovering the real reasons for and attempting

to overcome his difficulties. Of greater importance, Oswald's com- mitment to Marxism contributed to the decisions Avhich led him to defect to the Soviet Union in 1959, and later to engage in activities on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in the summer of 1963,

and to attempt to go to Cuba late in September of that year. Defection to the Soviet Union

After Oswald left the Marine Corps in September of 1959, ostensibly to care for his mother, he almost immediately left for the Soviet

Union where he attempted to renounce his citizenship. At the age

of 19, Oswald thus committed an act which was the most striking

indication he had yet given of his willingness to act on his beliefs

in quite extraordinary ways.

While his defection resulted in part from Oswald's commitment to Marxism, it appears that personal and psychological factors were also

involved. On August 17, 1963, Oswald told Mr. William Stuckey, who

had arranged a radio debate on Oswald's activities on behalf of the Fair

Play for Cuba Committee, that while he had begun to read Marx and

Engels at the age of 15,

the conclusive thing that made him decide that Marxism was the answer was his service in Japan. He said living conditions over

there convinced him something was wrong with the system, and

that possibly Marxism was the answer. He said it was in Japan

that he made up his mind to go to Russia and see for himself how

a revolutionary society operates, a Marxist society.^®^

On the other hand, at least one person who knew Oswald after his

return thought that his defection had a more personal and psychological basis.^^^ The validity of the latter observation is borne out by some of the things Oswald wrote in connection with his defection

indicating that his motivation was at least in part a personal one. On November 26, 1959, shortly after he arrived in the Soviet Union,

and probably before Soviet authorities had given him permission to stay indefinitely, he w^rote to his brother Robert that the Soviet Union

390
was a country which "I have always considered * * * to be my own"

and that he went there "only to find freedom. * * * i could never have been personally happy in the U.S." ^^^ He wrote in another let- ter that he would "never return to the United States which is a country

I hate." ^''^ His idea that he was to find "freedom" in the Soviet

Union was to be rudely shattered.

Whatever Oswald's reasons for going to the Soviet Union might

have been, however, there can be little doubt that his desire to go was

quite strong. In addition to studying the Russian language while

he was in the Marines, Oswald had managed to save enough money

to cover the expenses of his forthcoming trip. While there is no proof

that he saved $1,500, as he claimed, it would have taken considerable

discipline to save whatever amount was required to finance his defection out of the salary of a low ranking enlisted man.^^^

The extent of Oswald's desire to go to the Soviet Union and of

his initial commitment to that country can best be understood, however, in the context of his concomitant hatred of the United States,

which was most clearly expressed in his November 26, 1959, letter to his brother Robert. Addressing himself to the question of why "I and

my fellow workers and communist's would like to see the present

capitalist government of the U.S. overthrown" Oswald stated

that that government supported an economic system "which exploits all its workers" and under which "art, culture and the sprit of

man are subjected to commercial enterpraising, [and] religion and

education are used as a tool to surpress what would otherwise be a population questioning their government's unfair economic system

and plans for war." ^^^ He complained in his letter about segregation, unemployment, auto- mation, and the use of military forces to suppress other populations.

Asking his brother why he supported the American Government and

what ideals he put forward, Oswald wrote

:

Ask me and I will tell you I fight for comnbunism. * * * I will

not say your grandchildren will live under communism, look for

yourself at history, look at a world map! America is a dicing

country, I do not wish to be a part of it, nor do I ever again wish

to be used as a tool in its military aggressions.

This should ansewer your question, and also give you a glimpse

of my way of thinking.

So you speak of advantages. Do you think that is why I am

here? For personal, material advantages? Happiness is not

based on oneself, it does not consist of a small home, of taking and

getting, Happiness is taking part in the struggle, where there is no borderline between one's own personal world, and the world

in general. I never believed I would find more material advantages at this stage of development in the Soviet Union than I might of had in the U.S.

391
I have been a pro-communist for years and yet I have never met a communist, instead I kept silent and observed, and what I observed plus my Marx'ist learning brought me here to the Soviet

Union. I have always considered this country to be my own.^"

Responding to Robert's statement that he had not "renounced" him,

Oswald told his brother "on what terms I want this arrangement."

He advised Robert that

:

1. In the event of war I would kill any american who put a uniform on in defence of the american government—any american.

2. That in my own mind I have no attachment's of any kind in

the U.S.

3. That I want to, and I shall, live a normal happy and peacful

life here in the Soviet Union for the rest of my life. 4. that my mother and you are (in spite of what the newspaper

said) not objects of affection, but only examples of workers in the

U.S.^^^

Despite this commitment to the Soviet Union Oswald met disappointments there just as he had in the past. At the outset the Soviets

told him that he could not remain. It seems that Oswald immediately

attempted suicide—a striking indication of how much he desired to remain in the Soviet Union.^"^ It shows how willing he was to act dramatically and decisively when he faced an emotional crisis with

few readily available alternatives at hand. He was shocked to find

that the Soviet Union did not accept him with open arms. The entry

in his self-styled "Historic Diary" for October 21, 1959, reports:

I am shocked ! ! My dreams! * * * I have waited for 2 year

to be accepted. My fondes dreams are shattered because of a petty offial, * * * I decide to end it. Soak rist in cold water to numb the pain, Than slash my leftwrist. Than plaug wrist into

bathtum of hot water. * * * Somewhere, a violin plays, as I wacth

my life whirl aw^ay. I think to myself "How easy to Die" and "A

Sweet Death, (to violins) * * * ^^^ Oswald was discovered in time to thwart his attempt at suicide.^'^ He was taken to a hospital in Moscow where he was kept until October 28, 1959.^^«

Still intent, however, on staying in the Soviet Union, Oswald

went on October 31, to the American Embassy to renounce his U.S.

citizenship. Mr. Richard E. Snyder, then Second Secretary and senior

consular official at the Embassy, testified that Oswald was extremely

sure of himself and seemed "to know what his mission was. He took

charge, in a sense, of the conversation right from the beginning." ^'^ He presented the following signed note

:

I Lee Harvey Oswald do hereby request that my present citizen- ship in the United States of America, be revoked.

392
I have entered the Soviet Union for the express purpose of

appling for citizenship in the Soviet Union, through the means of

naturalization.

My request for citizenship is now pending before the Surprem

Soviet of the U.S.S.E. . I take these steps for political reasons. My request for the re- voking of my American citizenship is made only after the longest

and most serious considerations. I affirm that my allegiance is to the Union of Soviet Socialist

Kepublics.i^o ( See Commission Exhibit 913, p. 261.

)

As his "principal reason" for renouncing his. citizenship Oswald

stated : "I am a Marxist." ^^^ He also alluded to hardships endured

by his mother as a worker, referring to them as experiences that he did

not intend to have himself,^*^ even though he stated that he had never

held a civilian job.^^^ He said that his Marine service in Okinawa

and elsewhere had given him "a chance to observe 'American imperialism.' " but he also displayed some sensitivity at not having reached

a higher rank in the Marine Corps.^^* He stated that he had

volunteered to give Soviet officials any information that he had con- cerning Marine Corps operations,^^^ and intimated that he might know

something of special interest.^^^ Oswald's "Historic Diary" describes the event in part as follows

:

I leave Embassy, elated at this showdown, returning to my

hotel I feel now my enorgies are not spent in vain. I'm sure Russians will except me after this sign of my faith in them.^^^

The Soviet authorities finally permitted Oswald to remain in their

country.^^^ No evidence has been found that they used him for any

particular propaganda or other political or informational purposes.

They sent him to Minsk to work in a radio and television factory as a metal worker.^^^ The Soviet authorities denied Oswald permission to attend a university in Moscoav,^^^ but they gave him a monthly allow- ance of 700 rubles a month (old exchange rate)^^^ in addition to his

factory salary of approximately equal amount^^^ and considerably better living quarters than those accorded to Soviet citizens of equal age

and station.^^^ The subsidy, apparently similar to those sometimes

given to foreigners allowed to remain in the Soviet Union, together

with his salary, gave Oswald an income Avhich he said approximated

that of the director of the factory in which he worked.^^*

Even though he received more money and better living quarters

than other Russians doing siinilar work, he envied his wife's uncle, a colonel in the MVD, because of the larger apartment in which he

lived. Reminiscent of his attitude toward his superiors in the Marine

Corps, Oswald apparently resented the exercise of authority over him

and the better treatment afforded to Communist Party officials.^^^ After he returned to the United States he took the position that the

Communist Party officials in the Soviet Union were opportunists who

393

730-900 0-64—27
were betraying their positions for personal gain. He is reported to have expressed the conclusion that they had "fat stinking politicians over there just like we have over here." ^^^ Oswald apparently continued to have personal difficulties while

he was in Minsk. Although Marina Oswald told the Commission that

her husband had good personal relationships in the Soviet Union/^^

Katherine Ford, one of the members of the Kussian community in

Dallas with which the Oswalds became acquainted upon their arrival

in the United States, stated that Mrs. Oswald told her everybody in

Eussia "hated him." ^^^ Jeanne De Mohrenschildt, another member

of that group, said that Oswald told her that he had returned because

"I didn't find what I was looking for." ^^^ George De Mohrenschildt

thought that Oswald must have become disgusted with life in the

Soviet Union as the novelty of the presence of an American wore off and he began to be less the center of attention.^'^^ The best description of Oswald's state of mind, however, is set forth in his own "Historic Diary." Under the entry for May 1, 1960,

he noted that one of his acquaintances "relats many things I do

not know about the U.S.S.R. . I begin to feel uneasy inside, its true!" 2°^ Under the entry for August-September of that year he

wrote

:

As my Eussian improves I become increasingly concious of

just what sort of a sociaty I live in. Mass gymnastics, complusory

afterwork meeting, usually political information meeting. Complusory attendence at lectures and the sending of the entire shop

collective (except me) to pick potatoes on a Sunday, at a state col- lective farm: A "patroict duty" to bring in the harvest. The

opions of the workers (unvoiced) are that its a great pain in the

neck : they don't seem to be esspicialy enthusiastic about any of the

"collective" duties a natural feeling. I am increasingly aware of

the presence, in all thing, of Lebizen, shop party secretary, fat,

fortyish, and jovial on the outside. He is a no-nonsense party

regular.202

Finally, the entry of January 4-31 of 1961

:

I am stating to reconsider my disire about staying the work is drab the money I get has nowhere to be spent. No night clubs or bowling allys no places of recreation acept the trade union dances

I have have had enough.^"^

Shortly thereafter, less than 18 months after his defection, about

6 weeks before he met Marina Prusakova, Oswald opened negotiations

with the U.S. Embassy in Moscow looking toward his return to the

United States.^^* Return to the United States In view of the intensity of his earlier commitment to the Soviet

Union, a great change must have occurred in Oswald's thinking to 394
induce him to return to the United States. The psychological effects of that change must have been highly unsettling. It should be

remembered that he was not yet 20 years old when he went to the

Soviet Union with such high hopes and not quite 23 when he returned

bitterly disappointed. His attempt to renounce his citizenship had

been an open expression of hostility against the United States and

a profound rejection of his early life. The dramatic break with society

in America now had to be undone. His return to the United States

publicly testified to the utter failure of what had been the most important act of his life. Marina Oswald confirmed the fact that her husband was experiencing psychological difficulties at the time of his return. She said that

"immediately after coming to the United States Lee changed. I did

not know him as such a man in Russia." ^^^ She added that while he

helped her as he had done before, he became more of a recluse, that

"[he] was very irritable, sometimes for a trifle" and that "Lee was very

unrestrained and very explosive" during the period from November

19, 1962 to March of 1963.^06 After the assassination she wrote that

:

In general, our family life began to deteriorate after we ar- rived in America. Lee was always hot-tempered, and now this

trait of character more and more prevented us from living to- gether in harmony. Lee became very irritable, and sometimes some completely trivial thing would drive him into a rage. I myself do not have a particularly quiet disposition, but I had to change my character a great deal in order to maintain a more or

less peaceful family life.^°^ Marina Oswald's judgment of her husband's state of mind may

be substantiated by comparing material which he wrote in the Soviet

Union with what he wrote while on the way back to the United States

and after his return. While in the Soviet Union he wrote his longest and clearest piece of work, "The Collective." This was a fairly

coherent description of life in that country, basically centered around

the radio and television factory in which he worked.^^ While it was

apparently intended for publication in the United States, and is in

many respects critical of certain aspects of life in the Soviet Union, it appears to be the work of a fairly well organized person. Oswald

prefaced his manuscript with a short autobiographical sketch which

reads in part as follows:

Lee Harvey Oswald was born in Oct 1939 in New Orleans La.

the son of a Insuraen Salesmen whose early death left a far mean streak of indepence brought on by negleck. entering the

US Marine corp at 17 this streak of independence was strengthed

by exotic journeys to Japan the Philipines and the scores of

odd Islands in the Pacific immianly after serving out his 3 years

395
PHOTOGRAPHS OF LEE HARVEY «F OSWALD TAKEN IN MINSK

COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2892

PHOTOGRAPH OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD

TAKEN AFTER HIS RETURN FROM THE SOVIET UNION

(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2788)

396
in the USMC he abonded his american life to seek a new life in

the USSK. full of optimism and hope he stood in red square

in the fall of 1959 vowing to see his chosen course through, after,

however, two years and alot of growing up I decided to return

to the USA. * * * 209 "The Collective" contrasts sharply with material which Oswald

seems to have written after he left the Soviet Union,^^^ which appears

to be more an expression of his own psychological condition than of

a reasoned analysis. The latter material expresses great hostility to both communism and capitalism. He wrote, that to a person knowing both of those systems, "their can be no mediation between those

systems as they exist to-day and that person. He must be opposed to their basic foundations and representatives" ^^^ and yet it is imature to take the sort of attitude which says

"a curse on both your houses!"

their are two great represenative of power in the world, simply

expressed, the left and right, and their offopring factions and

concers. any practical attempt at one alternative must have as its nuclus

the triditionall ideological best of both systems, and yet be

utterly opposed to both systems.^^^

Such an alternative was to be opposed both to capitalism and com- munism because

:

No man, having known, having lived, under the Eussian Communist and American capitalist system, could possibly make a choice between them, there is no choice, one offers oppresstion the

other poverty. Both offer imperilistic injustice, tinted with two

brands of slavery.^^^

Oswald actually did attempt to formulate such an alternative ^^^ which he planned to "put forward" himself.^^^ He thought the new

alternative would have its best chance to be accepted after "conflict

between the two world systems leaves the world country without defense or foundation of goverment," ^^^ after which the survivors would

"seek a alturnative oppoocd to those systems which have brough them

misery." ^i^ Oswald realized that "their thinking and education will

be steeped in the traiditions of those systems [and] they would never

except a 'new order' complete beyond their understanding." -^^ As a

result he thought it would be "neccary to oppose the old systems but

at the same time support their cherised trations." ^^^ Expanding on his ideas on how his alternative to communism and

capitalism might be introduced, he wrote of a "readily foreseeable * * * economic, political or military crisis, internal or external, [which]

will bring about the final destrution of the capitalist system," ^^^ and

indicated that "preparation in a special party could safeguard an inde397
pendant course of action after the debacle," ^^^ which would achieve

the goal, which was

:

The emplacement of a separate, democratic, pure communist

sociaty * * * but one with union-communes, democratic socializing

of production and without regard to the twisting apart of Marxiom

Marxist Communism by other powers.^^^

While "[rjesoufualniss and patient working towards the aforesaid

goal's are prefered rather than loud and useless manifestation's of

protest," 22^ Oswald went on to note

:

But these prefered tactics now, may prove to be too limited in the near future, they should not be confused with slowness, in- desision or fear, only the intellectualy fearless could even be re- motly attracted too our doctrine, and yet this doctrine requirers

the uptmoot utmost restraint, a state of being in itself majustic in

power.22^

Oswald's decided rejection of both capitalism and communism

seemed to place him in a situation in which he could not live with

satisfaction either in the United States or in the Soviet Union. The

discussion above has already set forth examples of his expression of

hatred for the United States. He also expressed hatred of the Soviet

Union and of the Communist Party, U.S.A., even though he later referred to the latter as "trusted long time fighters for progress." ^^s He wrote:

The Conmiunist Party of the United States has betrayed itself

!

it has turned itself into the tradional lever of a foreign power

to overthrow the goverment of the United States ; not in the name

of freedow or high ideals, but in servile conformity to the wishes

of the Soviet Union and in anticipation of Soviet Russia's complete domination of the American continent.^^^

4: 4i 4: % ^ :ic 4:

' There can be no sympathy for those who have turned the idea

of communism into a vill curse to western man. The Soviets have committed crimes unsurpassed even by their

early day capitalist counterparts, the imprisonment of their own

peoples, with the mass extermination so typical of Stalin, and

the individual surpresstion and regimentation under Krushchev.

The deportations, the purposefull curtailment of diet in the consumer slighted population of Russia, the murder of history,

the prositution of art and culture.^^^ A suggestion that Oswald hated more than just capitalism and

communism is provided by the following, which was apparently writ- ten either on the ship coming back, or after his return from the So\det

Union

:

398
I have offen wondered why it is that the communist, anarchist

capitalist and even the fasist and anarchist elements in american,

allways profess patrotistism toward the land and the people, if not

the goverment ; although their idcalo movements must surly lead

to the bitter destruction of all and everything. I am quite sure these people must hate not only the goverment

but e«i» the poop culture, traditions, heritage and very people

itself, and yet th&y stand up and piously pronouce themselfs

patriots, displaying their war medles, that they gained in conflicts lestg-pasfe between themselfs.

I wonder what would happen it somebody was to stand up

and say he was utterly opposed not only to the goverments, but

to the people, too the entire land and complete foundations of

his socically.228

Oswald demonstrated his thinking in connection with his return

to the United States by preparing two sets of identical questions of

the type which he might have thought he would be asked at a press

conference when he returned. With either great ambivalence or

cold calculation he prepared completely different answers to the same

questions. Judged by his other statements and writings, however, he

appears to have indicated his true feelings in the set of answers first presented and to have stated in the second w^hat he thought would

be least harmful to him as he resumed life in the United States. For

example, in response to his questions about his decision to go to the

Soviet Union, his first draft answered "as a mark of dicuss and protest against american political policies in foriengn countrys, my per- sonal sign of discontent and horror at the misguided line of resoning

of the U.S. Goverment." ^^^ His second answer was that he "went

as a citizen of the U.S. (as a tourist) residing in a forieng country

which I have a perfect right to do. I went there to see the land, the

people and how their system works." ^^^ To the question of "Are you a communits?" he first answered "Yes,

basically, allthough I hate the USSR and socialist system I still think

marxism can work under different circumstances." ^^^ His second answer to this question was, "No of course not, I have never even know a communist, outside of the ones in the USSR but you can't help that." ^^^ His first set of questions and answers indicated his

belief that there were no outstanding differences between the Soviet

Union and the United States, "except in the US. the living standard is a little higher, freedoms are about the same, medical aid and

the educational system in the USSR is better than in the USA." ^^^ In the second simulated transcript which ended with the statement

"Newspapers, thank you sir; you are a real patriot! !" he apparently

concluded that the United States offered "freedom of speech travel

outspoken opposition to unpopular policies freedom to believe in god,"

while the Soviet Union did not.^^* 399
Despite the hatred that Oswald expressed toward the Soviet Union

after his residence there, he continued to be interested in that country

after he returned to the United States. Soon after his arrival he

wrote to the Soviet Embassy in Washington requesting information on how to subscribe to Russian newspapers and magazines and asked

for "any periodicals or bulletins which you may put out for the beneifit of your citizens living, for a time, in the U.S.A.." "s Oswald subsequently did subscribe to several Soviet journals. ^^ While Marina

Oswald tried to obtain permission to return to the Soviet Union she

testified that she did so at her husband's insistence.^^

In July of 1963, Oswald also requested the Soviet Union to provide

a visa for his return to that country.^^^ In August of 1963, he gave the

New Orleans police as a reason for refusing to permit his family to learn English, that "he hated America and he did not want them to become 'Americanized' and that his plans were to go back to Russia." ^^ Even though his primary purpose probably was to get to Cuba, he sought an immediate grant of visa on his trip to Mexico City

in late September of 1963.^*° He also inquired about visas for himself

and his wife in a letter which he wrote to the Soviet Embassy in

Washington on November 9, 1963.^^

Personal Relations

Apart from his relatives, Oswald had no friends or close associates

in Texas when he returned there in June of 1962, and he did not

establish any close friendships or associations, although it appears

that he came to respect George De Mohrenschildt.^^^ Somewhat of a nonconformist,^^^ De Mohrenschildt was a peripheral member of the

so-called Russian community, with which Oswald made contact through Mr. Peter Gregory, a Russian-speaking petroleum engineer

whom Oswald met as a result of his contact with the Texas Employment Commission office in Fort Woilh.^*^ Some of the members of

that group saw a good deal of the Oswalds through the fall of 1963,

and attempted to help Mrs. Oswald particularly, in various ways.^^^

In general, Oswald did not like the members of the Russian community.^*^ In fact, his relations with some of them, particularly George

Bouhe, became quite hostile.^*^ Part of the problem resulted from the

fact that, as Jeanne De Mohrenschildt testified, Oswald was "very,

very disagreeable and disappointed." ^*^ He also expressed considerable resentment at the help given to his wife by her Russian-American

friends. Jeanne De Mohrenschildt said

:

Marina had a hundred dresses given to her * * * [and] he

objected to that lavish help, because Marina was throwing it into

his face. He was offensive with the people. And I can understand why,

* * * because that hurt him. He could never give her what the

400
people were showering on her. * * * no matter how hard he

worked—and he worked very hard/249 The relations between Oswald and his wife became such that Bouhe

wanted to "liberate" her from Oswald.^^^ While the exact sequence

of events is not clear because of conflicting testimony, it appears that

De Mohrenschildt and his wife actually went to Oswald's apartment

early in November of 1962 and helped to move the personal effects of

Marina Oswald and the baby. Even though it appears that they may

have left Oswald a few days before, it seems that he resisted the move

as best he could. He even threatened to tear up his wife's dresses and

break all the baby things. According to De Mohrenschildt, Oswald

submitted to the inevitable, presumably because he was "small, you

know, and he was rather a puny individual." ^^^ De Mohrenschildt

said that the whole affair made him nervous since he was "interfering

in other people's affairs, after all." ^^^ Oswald attempted to get his wife to come back and, over Bouhe's

protest, De Mohrenschildt finally told him where she was. De Mohrenschildt admitted that:

if somebody did that to me, a lousy trick like that, to take my wife

away, and all the furniture, I would be mad as hell, too. I am

surprised that he didn't do something worse.^^^ After about a 2-week separation, Marina Oswald returned to her

husband.2^* Bouhe thoroughly disapproved of this and as a result

almost all communication between the Oswalds and members of the

Eussian community ceased. Contacts with De Mohrenschildt and

his wife did continue and they saw the Oswalds occasionally until

the spring of 1963.^^

Shortly after his return from the Soviet Union, Oswald severed

all relations with his mother; he did not see his brother Robert from

Thanksgiving of 1962 until November 23, 1963.2=6 At the time of his

defection, Oswald had said that neither his brother, Eobert, nor his

mother were objects of his affection, "but only examples of workers in

the U.S." He also indicated to officials at the American Embassy in

Moscow that his defection was motivated at least in part by so-called

exploitation of his mother by the capitalist system.^^ Consistent with

this attitude he first told his wife that he did not have a mother, but

later admitted that he did but that "he didn't love her very much." ^^s When they arrived from the Soviet Union, Oswald and his family lived at first with his brother Robert. The latter testified that

they "were just together again," as if his brother "had not been to Russia." He also said that he and his family got along well with

Marina Oswald and enjoyed showing her American things.^^^ After

about a month with his brother, Oswald and his family lived for a

brief period with his mother at her urging, but Oswald soon decided

to move out.260 401
Marguerite Oswald visited her son and his family at the first apartment which he rented after his return, and tried to help them get

settled there. After she had bought some clothes for Marina Oswald

and a highchair for the baby, Oswald emphatically told her to stop.

As Marguerite Oswald testified, "he strongly put me in my place about

buying things for his wife that he himself could not buy.'' ^^^ Oswald

objected to his mother visiting the apartment and became quite in- censed with his wife when she would open the door for her in spite of

his instructions to the contrary.^^^ Oswald moved to Dallas on about

October 8, 1962, without telling his mother where he was going.

He never saw or communicated with her in any way again until

she came to see him after the assassination.^^^

Even though Oswald cut olf relations with his mother, he attempted

for the first time to learn something about his family background

when he went to New Orleans in April of 1963. He visited some of

his father's elderly relatives and the cemetery where his father was

buried in an effort to develop the facts of his genealogy.^^* Wliile

it does not appear that he established any new relationships as a re- sult of his investigation, he did obtain a large picture of his father

from one of the elderly relatives with whom he spoke.^^^ Oswald's

interest in such things presents a sharp contrast with his attitude at the time of his defection, when he evidenced no interest in his father

and hardly mentioned him, even when questioned.^^^

Employment

Oswald's defection, his interest in the Soviet Union, and his activities on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee not only caused him

difficulties in his employment relations, but they also provided him

with excuses for employment failures which were largely of his own

making. Oswald experienced some difficulty finding employment.

Perhaps this was partially because of his lack of any specific skill or

training.^^^ Some of his acquaintances, feeling that Oswald tried to impress people with the fact that he had lived and worked in Russia, were led to the belief that his employment difficulties were caused

by his telling prospective employers that he had last been employed in

Minsk.2^^ While he might have expected difficulty from such an approach, in fact the evidence indicates that Oswald usually told his

prospective employers and employment counselors that he had re- cently been discharged from the Marine Corps.^^^ Oswald obtained a job in July of 1962 as a sheet metal worker with

a company in Fort Worth. His performance for that company was

satisfactory.2^° Even though he told his wife that he had been fired,

he voluntarily left on October 8, 1962, and moved to Dallas.^^^ On October 9, 1962 he went to the Dallas office of the Texas Employment Commission where he expressed a reluctance to work in the industrial field.2^2 jjg indicated an interest in writing. An employment

counselor testified, on the basis of a general aptitude test Oswald had

taken, that he had some aptitude in that area, "because the verbal score 402
is high and the clerical score is high." -^^ Wliile that counselor

found that he was qualified to handle many different types of jobs,

because of his need for immediate employment she attempted to obtain for him any job that was available at the time. Oswald made

qualifying marks in 19 of 23 categories included on the general aptitude examination and scored 127 on the verbal test, as compared with

50 percent of the people taking it who score less than 100. The counselor testified that there was some indication that Oswald was capable

of doing college work and noted that Oswald's verbal and clerical

potential was "outstanding." ^^^ Employment Commission records

concerning Oswald stated: "Well-groomed & spoken, business suit, alert replies—Expresses self extremely well." ^^^ Oswald said that

he hoped eventually to develop qualifications for employment as a junior executive through a work-study program at a local college.

He indicated, however, that he would have to delay that program

because of his immediate financial needs and responsibilities.^^^

On October 11, 1962, the Employment Commission referred Oswald to a commercial advertising photography firm in Dallas,^^^ where

he was employed as a trainee starting October 12, 1962.^^^ Even

though Oswald indicated that he liked photographic work,^^^ his employer found that he was not an efficient worker. He was not able to produce photographic work which adhered with sufficient precision to the job specifications and as a result too much of his work had to be

redone.^^ He also had difficulty in working with the othei* employees. This was at least in part because of the close physical confines

in which some of the work had to be done.^^ He did not seem to be

able to make the accommodations necessary when people work under such conditions and as a result became involved in conflicts, some

of which were fairly heated, with his fellow employees.^^

In February or March of 1963, it began to appear that Oswald was

having • considerable difficulty doing accurate work and in getting

along with the other employees. It appears that his discharge was

hastened by the fact that he brought a Russian language newspaper

to work.^^ It is not possible to tell whether Oswald did this to provide an excuse for his eventual discharge, or whether he brought the

Russian language newspaper with him one day after his other diffi- culties became clear. It is possible that his immediate supervisor

noticed the newspaper at that time because his attention had otherwise been drawn more directly to Oswald. In any event, Oswald

was discharged on April 6, 1963, ostensibly because of his inefficiency

and difficult personality. His supervisor admitted, however, that

while he did not fire Oswald because of the newspaper incident or even weigh it heavily in his decision, "it didn't do his case any

good." 284 Upon moving to New Orleans on April 24, 1963, Oswald's employment problems became more difficult. He left his wife and child at the home of a friend, Mrs. Ruth Paine, of Irving, Tex.^^^ In New

Orleans he obtained work as a greaser and oiler of coffee processing

machines for the William B. Reily Co., beginning May 10, 1963.2^^ 403
After securing this job and an apartment, Oswald asked his wife to

join him. Mrs. Paine brought Oswald's family to New Orleans.^®^

Refusing to admit that he could only get work as a greaser, Oswald

told his wife and Mrs. Paine that he was working as a commercial

photographer.^® He lost his job on July 19, 1963, because his work

was not satisfactory ^^^ and because he spent too much time loitering

in the garage next door, where he read rifle and hunting magazines.^^*^

Oswald apparently concluded that his Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities were not related to his discharge.^^^ The correct- ness of that conclusion is supported by the fact that he does not seem to have been publicly identified with that organization until

August 9, 1963, almost a month after he lost his job.^^^

His Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities, however, made it more difficult for him to obtain other employment. A placement

interviewer of the Louisiana Department of Labor who had previously

interviewed Oswald, saw him on television and heard a radio debate

in which he engaged on August 21, 1963. He consulted with his

supervisor and "it was determined that we should not undertake to furnish employment references for him." ^^^ Ironically, he failed to get a job in another photographic firm after his return to Dallas in

October of 1963, because the president of the photographic firm for

which he had previously worked told the prospective employer that

Oswald was "kinda peculiar sometimes and that he had some knowledge of the Russian language," and that he "may be a damn Communist. I can't tell you. If I was you, I wouldn't hire him." 2^* The

plant superintendent of the new firm testified that one of the employees

of the old firm "implied that Oswald's fellow employees did not like

him because he was propagandizing and had been seen reading a foreign newspaper." As a result Oswald was not hired.^^^ He subsequently found a job with the Texas School Book Depository for which

he performed his duties satisfactorily.^^®

Attack on General Walker

The Commission has concluded that on April 10, 1963, Oswald

shot at Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker (Resigned, U.S. Army),

demonstrating once again his propensity to act dramatically and, in

this instance violently, in furtherance of his beliefs. The shooting

occurred 2 weeks before Oswald moved to New Orleans and a few

days after he had been discharged by the photographic firm. As indicated in chapter IV, Oswald had been planning his attack on

General Walker for at least 1^^^ and perhaps as much as 2

months.^^® He outlined his plans in a notebook and studied them at considerable length before his attack.^^^ He also studied Dallas bus

schedules to prepare for his later use of buses to travel to and from

General Walker's house.^^^ Sometime after March 27, but according

to Marina Oswald, prior to April 10, 1963,^°^ Oswald posed for two

pictures with his recently acquired rifle and pistol, a copy of the March

24, 1963, issue of the Worker, and the March 11, 1963, issue of the

404
Militant.^^^ He told his wife that he wanted to send the pictures to the Militant and he also asked her to keep one of the pictures for his

daughter, June.^^^ Following his unsuccessful attack on Walker, Oswald returned

home. He had left a note for his wife telling her what to do in case he

were apprehended, as well as his notebook and the pictures of himself

holding the rifle. ^°* She testified that she was agitated because she

had found the note in Oswald's room, where she had gone, contrary

to his instructions, after she became Avorried about his absence.^^^ She

indicated that she had no advance knowledge of Oswald's plans, that

she became quite angry when Oswald told her what he had done, and

that she made him promise never to repeat such a performance. She

said that she kept the note to use against him "if something like that

should be repeated again." ^^^ When asked if Oswald requested the

note back she testified that

:

He forgot about it. But apparently after he thought that what he

had written in his book might be proof against him, and he

destroyed it. [the book] ^°^ She later gave the following testimony [^indicates that the witness

answered without using the interpreter] : Q. After he brought the rifle home, then, he showed you the

book?

*A. Yes. Q. And you said it was not a good idea to keep this book ? *A. Yes. Q. And then he burned the book ? *A. Yes. Q. Did you ask him why he had not destroyed the book before

he actually went to shoot General Walker ? A. It never came to me, myself, to ask him that question.^^®

Marina Oswald's testimony indicates that her husband was not

particularly concerned about his continued possession of the most

incriminating sort of evidence.^*^^ If he had been successful and had

been apprehended even for routine questioning, his apartment would

undoubtedly have been searched, and his role would have been made

clear by the evidence which he had left behind. Leaving the note

and picture as he did would seem to indicate that he had considered

the possibility of capture. Possibly he might have wanted to be

caught, and wanted his involvement made clear if he was in fact

apprehended. Even after his wife told him to destroy the notebook

he removed at least some of the pictures which had been pasted in it and saved them among his effects, where they were found after the

assassination.^^^ His behavior was entirely consistent with his wife's

testimony that

:

405
I asked him what for he was making all these entries in the

book and he answered that he wanted to leave a complete record

so that all the details would be in it.

I am guessing that perhaps he did it to appear to be a brave

man in case he were arrested, but that is my supposition. * * * ^^^ The attempt on General Walker's life deserves close attention in any

consideration of Oswald's possible motive for the assassination and the

trail of evidence he left behind hmi on that occasion. AMiile there are

differences between the two events as far as Oswald's actions and planning are concerned, there are also similarities that should be considered.

The items which Oswald left at home when he made his attack on Walker suggest a strong concern for his place in history. If the at- tack had succeeded and Oswald had been caught, the pictures showing

him with his rifle and his Communist and Socialist Worker's Party

newspapers would probably have appeared on the front pages of newspapers or magazines all over the country, as, in fact, one of them did

appear after the assassination.^^^ xhe circumstances of the attack on Walker coupled with other indications that Oswald was concerned

about his place in history ^^^ and with the circumstances surroundmg

the assassination, have led the Commission to believe that such concern

is an important factor to consider in assessing possible motivation for

the assassination.

In any event, the Walker incident indicates that in spite of the

belief among those who knew him that he was apparently not dangerous,^^^ Oswald did not lack the determination and other traits re- quired to carry out a carefully planned killing of another human bemg

and was willing to constmimate such a purpose if he thought there was

sufficient reason to do so. Some idea of what he thought was sufficient reason for such an act may be found in the nature of the motive that

he stated for his attack on General Walker. Marina Oswald indicated that her husband had compared General Walker to Adolph

Hitler. She testified that Oswald said that General Walker ''was a very bad man, that he was a fascist, that he was the leader of a fascist

organization, and when I said that even though all of that might be

true, just the same he had no right to take his life, he said if someone had killed Hitler in time it would have saved many lives." ^^^

Political Activities

Oswald's political activities after his return to the United States

center around his interest in Cuba and in the Fair Play for Cuba

Committee. Although, as indicated above, the Commission has been

unable to find any credible evidence that he was involved in any conspiracy, his political activities do provide insight into certain aspects

of Oswald's character and into his possible motivation for the

assassination. A^Hiile it appears that he may have distributed

406
Fair Play for Cuba Committee materials on one mieventful oc- casion in Dallas sometime during the period April 6-24, 1963,^^^

Oswald's first public identification with that cause was in New Orleans. There, in late May and early June of 1963, under the name

Lee Osborne, he had printed a handbill headed in large letters "Hands

Off Cuba," an application form for, and a membership card in, the

New Orleans branch of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.^^^ He

first distributed his handbills and other material uneventfully in the

vicinity of the U.S.S. Wasp, which was berthed at the Dumaine Street

wharf in New Orleans, on June 16, 1963.^^^ He distributed literature

in downtown New Orleans on August 9, 1963, and was arrested because

of a dispute with three anti-Castro Cuban exiles, and again on August

16, 1963.^^^ Following his arrest, he was interviewed by the police, and

at his own request, by an agent of the FBI.^^° On August 17, 1963, he

appeared briefly on a radio program ^^^ and on AugTist 21, 1963, he

debated over radio station WDSU, New Orleans, with Carlos Bringuier, one of the Cuban exiles who had been arrested with him on August 9.^^^ Bringuier claimed that on August 5, 1963, Oswald had

attempted to infiltrate an anti-Castro organization with which he was

associated.^2^ While Oswald publicly engaged in the activities described above,

his "organization" was a product of his imagination.^^^ The imaginary

president of the nonexistent chapter was named A. J. Hidell,^^^ the name that Oswald used when he purchased the assassination weapon.^^^

Marina Oswald said she signed that name, apparently chosen because

it rhymed with "Fidel," ^^^ to her husband's membership card in the

New Orleans chapter. • She testified that he threatened to beat her if she did not do so.^^^ The chapter had never been chartered by the

national FPCC organization.^^^ It appears to have been a solitary

operation on Oswald's part in spite of his misstatements to the New

Orleans police that it had 35 members, 5 of which were usually present

at meetings which were held once a month.^^^

Oswald's Fair Play for Cuba activities may be viewed as a very

shrewd political operation in which one man single handedly created

publicity for his cause or for himself. It is also evidence of Oswald's

reluctance to describe events accurately and of his need to present

himself to others as well as to himself in a light more favorable than was justified by reality. This is suggested by liis misleading and sometime untruthful statements in his letters to Mr. V. T. Lee, then

national director of FPCC. In one of those letters, dated August 1. 1963, Oswald wrote that an office which he had previously claimed to have rented for FPCC activities had been "promply closed 3 days

later for some obsure reasons by the renters, they said something

about remodeling ect., I'm sure you understand." ^^^ He wrote that

"thousands of circulars were distrubed" ^^ and that he continued to receive inquiries through his post office box which he endeavored

"to keep ansewering to the best of my ability." ^^^ In his letter to V. T. Lee, he stated that he was then alone in his efforts on behalf

of FPCC, but he attributed his lack of support to an attack by Cuban

407
exiles in a street demonstration and being "officialy cautioned" by the

police, events which "robbed me of what support I had leaving me

alone." ^^^ In spite of those claims, the Commission has not been able to un- cover any evidence that anyone ever attacked any street demonstration

in which Oswald was involved, except for the Bringuier incident mentioned above, which occurred 8 days after Oswald wrote the above

letter to V. T. Lee.^^ Bringuier, who seemed to be familiar with many

anti-Castro activities in New Orleans, was not aware of any such

incident.^^^ Police reports also fail to reflect any activity on Oswald's

part prior to August 9, 1963, except for the uneventful distribution of

literature at the Dumaine Street wharf in June.^^ Furthermore, the

general tenor of Oswald's next letter to V. T. Lee, in which he supported his report on the Bringuier incident with a copy of the charges

made against him and a newspaper clipping reporting the event, suggests that his previous story of an attack by Cuban exiles was at least greatly exaggerated.^^ Wliile the legend "FPCC 5-M Camp St. XEW

ORLEANS, LA." was stamped on some literature that Oswald had

in his possession at the time of his arrest in New Orleans, extensive

investigation was not able to connect Oswald with that address, al- though it did develop the fact that an anti-Castro organization had

maintained offices there for a period ending early in 1962.^^^ The

Commission has not been able to find any other indication that Oswald

had rented an office in New Orleans. In view of the limited amount

of public activity on Oswald's part before August 9, 1963, there also seems to be no basis for his claim that he had distributed "thousands"

of circulars, especially since he had claimed to have printed only 2,000

and actually had only 1,000 printed. In addition, there is no evidence

that he received any substantial amount of materials from the national headquarters.^^^

In another letter to V. T. Lee, dated August 17, 1963, Oswald wrote

that he had appeared on Mr. William Stuckey's 15-minute television

program over WDSU-TV called "Latin American Focus" as a result of which he was "flooded with callers and invitations to debate's ect. as well as people interested in joining the F.P.C.C. New Orleans

branch." ^^ WDSU has no program of any kind called "Latin American Focus." ^*2 Stuckey had a radio program called "Latin Listening

Post," on which Oswald was heard for less than 5 minutes on August

17, 1963.^*^ It appears that Oswald had only one caller in response to

all of his FPCC activities, an agent of Bringuier's attempting to learn more about the true nature of the alleged FPCC "organization" in

New Orleans.^

Oswald's statements suggest that he hoped to be flooded with callers and invitations to debate. This would have made him a real center of

attention as he must have been when he first arrived in the Soviet L^nion

and as he was to some extent when he returned to the United States. The limited notoriety that Oswald received as a result of the street fracas and in the subsequent radio debate was apparently not enough

to satisfy him. He exaggerated in his letters to V. T. Lee in an appar408
OSWALD DISTRIBUTING FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA HANDBILLS IN NEW

ORLEANS, AUGUST 16, 1963 -INSETS SHOW SAMPLES OF HIS HANDBILLS ON WHICH HE HAD STAMPED HIS NAME AND THE NAME OF

^A J HIDELL"

-mr COMMISSION FxHiiB?^ ''wA^ R

COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2966 A -ip- OFF

I CUBA!

^oiit the Fair Play for

j Oiilia Committee

NEW CmLEANS CHARTER

mmMR BRANCH

Free Liicralure, hccfures LOCATION:

H A«^«^

OFF

CUBA

Join the Fmi

Cuba C^»irs NEW ORUEANS

MEMmRm

Free Ufe^rifitre

Ev

GARNER DEPOSITION EXHIBIT 1

730-900 0-64—28 400
ent attempt to make himself and his activities appear far more important than they really were. His attempt to express himself through his Fair Play for Cuba activities, however, was greatly impeded by the fact that the radio debate over WDSU on August 21, 1963, brought out the history of his defection to the Soviet Union.^^^ The basic facts of the event were uncovered independently by William Stuckey, who arranged the debate, and

Edward Butler, executive director of the Information Council of the

Americas, who also appeared on the program.^*^ Oswald was con- fronted with those facts at the beginning of the debate and was so thrown on the defensive by this that he was forced to state that Fair

Play for Cuba was "not at all Communist controlled regardless of

the fact that I had the experience of living in Russia." ^*^ Stuckey testified that uncovering Oswald's defection was very

important

:

I think that we finished him on that program. * * * because

we had publicly linked the Fair Play for Cuba Committee with a fellow who had lived in Russia for 3 years and who was an admitted Marxist.

The interesting thing, or rather the danger involved, was the

fact that Oswald seemed like such a nice, bright boy and was ex- tremely believable before this. We thought the fellow could

probably get quite a few members if he was really indeed serious

about getting members. We figured after this broadcast of

August 21, why, that was no longer possible.^**

In spite of the fact that Oswald had been surprised and was on the

defensive throughout the debate, according to Stuckey : "Mr. Oswald

handled himself very well, as usual." ^*^ Stuckey thought Oswald

"appeared to be a very logical, intelligent fellow," and "was arrested

by his cleancutness." ^'^^ He did not think Oswald looked like the

"type" that he would have expected to find associating with a group

such as the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.^^^ Stuckey thought that

Oswald acted very much as would a young attorney.^^^ Following the disclosure of his defection, Oswald sought advice

from the Communist Party, U.S.A., concerning his Fair Play for

Cuba activity.^^^ He had previously sent, apparently unsolicited, to the Party newspaper, the Worker, samples of his photographic work,

offering to contribute that sort of service without charge.^^* The

Worker replied : "Your kind offer is most welcomed and from time to time we shall call on you." ^^ He later wrote to another official of the

Worker, seeking employment, and mentioning the praise he had

received for submitting his photographic work.^^^ He presented

Arnold Johnson, Gus Hall, and Benjamin J. Davis honorary membership cards in his nonexistent New Orleans chapter of the Fair

Play for Cuba Committee, and advised them of some of his activities on behalf of the organization.^" Arnold Johnson, director of the in- 410
formation and lecture bureau of the Communist Party, U.S.A., replied

stating

:

It is good to know that movements in support of fair play

for Cuba has developed in New Orleans as well as in other cities. We do not have any organizational ties with the Committee, and

yet there is much material that we issue from time to time that

is important for anybody who is concerned about developments

in Cuba.^^^

Marina Oswald said that such correspondence from people he considered important meant much to Oswald. After he had begun his

Cuban activity in New Orleans "he received a letter from somebody

in New York, some Communist—probably from New York—I am not

sure from where—from some Communist leader and he was very

happy, he felt that this was a great mui that he had received the letter from." ^^^ Since he seemed to feel that no one else understood his political views, the letter was of great value to him for it "was proof

* * * that there were people who understood his activity." ^^^ He anticipated that the full disclosure of his defection would hinder him in "the struggle for progress and freedom in the United

States" ^^^ into which Oswald, in his own words, had "thrown" himself. He sought advice from the central committee of the Communist

Party, U.S.A., in a letter dated August 28, 1963, about whether he

could "continue to fight, handicapped as it were, by my past

record * * * [and] compete with anti-progressive forces, aboveground or weather in your opion I should always remain in the background, i.e. underground." ^^^ Stating that he had used his "position" with what he claimed to be the local branch of the Fair Play

for Cuba Committee to "foster communist ideals," Oswald wrote that

he felt that he might have compromised the FPCC and expressed con-^ cem lest "Our opponents could use my background of residence

in the U.S.S.R. against any cause which I join, by association, they

could say the organization of wliich I am a member, is Russian controled, ect." ^^^ In reply Arnold Johnson advised Oswald that, while

as an American citizen he had a right to participate in such organizations as he wished, "there are a number of organizations, including

possibly Fair Play, which are of a very broad character, and often it is advisable for some people to remain in the background, not underground." 26* By August of 1963, after a short 3 months in New Orleans, the city

in which he had been born and had lived most of his early life, Oswald

had fallen on difficult times. He had not liked his job as a greaser

of coffee processing machinery and he held it for only a little over 2

months.^^^ He had not found another job. His wife was expecting

their second child in October and there was concern about the cost which would be involved.^^^ His brief foray on behalf of

the Fair Play for Cuba Committee had failed to win any support.

While he had drawn some attention to himself and had actually ap411
peared on two radio programs, he had been attacked by Cuban exiles

and arrested, an event which his wife thought upset him and as a

result of which "he became less active, he cooled off a little." ^^^ More seriously, the facts of his defection had become known, leaving

him open to almost unanswerable attack by those who opposed his

views. It would not have been possible to have followed Arnold

Johnson's advice to remain in the background, since there was no background to the New Orleans FPCC "organization," which consisted solely of Oswald. Furthermore, he had apparently not received

any letters from the national headquarters of FPCC since May 29,

1963,^^^ even though he had written four detailed letters since that

time to Mr. V. T. Lee ^^^ and had also kept the national headquarters

informed of each of his changes of mailing address.^^° Those events no doubt had their effects on Oswald.

Interest in Cuba

By August of 1963, Oswald had for some time been considering

the possibility of leaving the United States again. On June 24, 1963,

he applied for a new passport ^^^ and in late June or early July he

told his wife that he wanted to return to the Soviet Union with her. She said that he was extremely upset, very unhappy, and that he

actually wept when he told her that.^^^ He said that nothing kept

him in the United States, that he would not lose anything if he re- turned to the Soviet Union, that he wanted to be with her and that

it would be better to have less and not have to be concerned about

tomorrow.^^

As a result of that conversation, Marina Oswald wrote the Soviet

Embassy in Washington concerning a request she had first made on February 17, 1963, for permission for herself and June to return to the Soviet Union.^^* While that first request, made according to Marina Oswald at her husband's insistence, specifically stated that

Oswald was to remain in the United States, she wrote in her letter of

July 1963, that "things are improving due to the fact that my husband

expresses a sincere wish to return together with me to the USSE." ^^^ Unknown to his wife, however, Oswald apparently enclosed a note with her letter of July in which he requested the Embassy to rush

his wife's entrance visa because of the impending birth of the second

child but stated that : "As for my return entrance visa please consider

it separtably.'^'^ ^^® Thus, while Oswald's real intentions, assuming that they were known to himself, are not clear, he may not have intended to go to the Soviet Union directly, if at all.^^^ It appears that he really wanted

to go to Cuba. In his wife's words

:

I only know that his basic desire was to get to Cuba by any

means, and that all the rest of it was window dressing for that

purpose.^^®

412
Marina Oswald testified that her husband engaged in Fair Play for

Cuba Committee activities "primarily for purposes of self-advertising. He wanted to be arrested. I think he wanted to get into the

newspapers, so that he would be known." ^^^ According to Marina

Oswald, he thought that would help him when he got to Cuba.^*° He

asked his wife to help him to hijack an airplane to get there, but gave

up that scheme when she refused.^^^ During this period Oswald may have practiced opening and dosing

the bolt on his rifle in a screened porch in his apartment.^^^ In September he began to review Spanish.^^^ He approved arrangements

for his family to return to Irving, Tex., to live with Mrs. Ruth

Paine.^®* On September 20, 1963, Mrs. Paine and her two children

arrived in New Orleans from a trip to the East Coast ^^^ and left for Irving with Marina Oswald and June and most of the Oswalds'

effects 3 days later.^^^ While Marina Oswald knew of her husband's

plan to go to Mexico and thence to Cuba if possible,^®^ Mrs. Paine was told that Oswald was going to Houston and possibly to Philadelphia to look for work.^^^

Oswald left for Mexico City on September 25, 1963, and arrived on September 27, 1963. He went almost directly to the Cuban

Embassy and applied for a visa to Cuba in transit to Russia.^^® Representing himself as the head of the New Orleans branch of the

"organization called 'Fair Play for Cuba,' he stated his desire that

he should be accepted as a 'friend' of the Cuban Revolution." ^^° He

apparently based his claim for a visa in transit to Russia on his previ- ous residence, his work permit for that country, and several unidentified letters in the Russian language. The Cubans would not, however,

give him a visa until he had received one from the Soviets, which

involved a delay of several months. When faced with that situation

Oswald became greatly agitated, and although he later unsuccessfully

attempted to obtain a Soviet visa at the Soviet Embassy in Mexico

City, he insisted that he was entitled to the Cuban visa because of

his background, partisanship, and personal activities on behalf of the

Cuban movement. He engaged in an angry argument with the

consul who finally told him that "as far as he was concerned he

would not give him a visa" and that "a person like him [Oswald]

in place of aiding the Cuban Revolution, was doing it harm." ^^^ Oswald must have been thoroughly disillusioned when he left Mexico City on October 2, 1963. In spite of his former residence in the

Soviet Union and his Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities he

had been rebuffed by the officials of both Cuba and the Soviet Union

in Mexico City. Now there appeared to be no chance to get to Cuba,

where he had thought he might find his communist ideal. The U.S.

Government would not permit travel there and as far as the performance of the Cubans themselves was concerned, he was "disappointed

at not being able to get to Cuba, and he didn't have any great desire to do so any more because he had run into, as he himself said—into

bureaucracy and red tape." ^^^ 413
Oswald's attempt to go to Cuba was another act which expressed

his hostility toward the United States and its institutions as well as a concomitant attachment to a country in which he must have thought were embodied the political principles to which he had been committed

for so long. It should be noted that his interest in Cuba seems to ha,ve

increased along with the sense of frustration which must have developed as he experienced successive failures in his jobs, in his politi- cal activity, and in his personal relationships. In retrospect his at- tempt to go to Cuba or return to the Soviet Union may well have been

Oswald's last escape hatch, his last gambit to extricate himself from

the mediocrity and defeat which plagued him throughout most of

his life. Oswald's activities with regard to Cuba raise serious questions as

to how much he might have been motivated in the assassination by

a desire to aid the Castro regime, which President Kennedy so out- spokenly criticized. For example, the Dallas Times Herald of November 19, 1963, prominently reported President Kennedy as having

"all but invited the Cuban people today to overthrow Fidel Castro's Communist regime and promised prompt U.S. aid if they do." ^^^ The

Castro regime severely attacked President Kennedy in connection

with the Bay of Pigs affair, the Cuban missile crisis, the ban on

travel to Cuba, the economic embargo against that country, and the

general policy of the United States with regard to Cuba. An examination of the Militant, to which Oswald subscribed,^^* for the 3-month

period prior to the assassination reflects an extremely critical attitude

toward President Kennedy and his administration concerning Cuban

policy in general as well as on the issues of automation and civil rights,

issues which appeared to concern Oswald a great deal.^^^ The Militant

also reflected a critical attitude toward President Kennedy's attempts

to reduce tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

It also dealt with the fear of the Castro regime that such a policy

might result in its abandonment by the Soviet Union.

The October 7, 1963, issue of the Militant reported Castro as saymg

Cuba could not accept a situation where at the same time the United

States was trying to ease world tensions it also "was increasing its efforts to 'tighten the noose' around Cuba." ^^® Castro's opposition to President Kennedy's attempt to reduce world tensions was also re- ported in the October 1, 1963, issue of the Worker, to which Oswald

also subscribed.^^^ In this connection it should be noted that in speaking of the Worker, Oswald told Michael Paine, apparently in all seriousness, that "you could tell what they wanted you to do * * * by

reading between the lines, reading the thing and doing a little reading

between the lines." ^®^ The general conflict of views between the United States and Cuba

was, of course, reflected in other media to such an extent that there can be no doubt that Oswald was aware generally of the critical atti- tude that Castro expressed about President Kennedy. Oswald was

asked during the New Orleans radio debate in which he engaged on August 21, 1963, whether or not he agreed with Castro that President

414
Kennedy was a "ruffian and a thief." He replied that he "would

not agree with that particular wording." ^^^ It should also be noted,

however, that one witness testified that shortly before the assassination

Oswald had expressed approval of President Kennedy's active role in

the area of civil rights.*°°

Although Oswald could possibly have been motivated in part by his

sympathy for the Castro government, it should be remembered that

his wife testified that he was disappointed with his failure to get to Cuba and had lost his desire to do so because of the bureaucracy and

red tape which he had encountered.^°^ His unhappy experience with

the Cuban consul seems thus to have reduced his enthusiasm for the

Castro regime and his desire to go to Cuba.

While some of Castro's more severe criticisms of President Kennedy

might have led Oswald to believe that he would be well received in

Cuba after he had assassinated the American President, it does not

appear that he had any plans to go there. Oswald was carrying only

$13.87 at the time of his arrest, although he had left, apparently by

design, $170 in a wallet in his wife's room in Irving.*^^ jf there was

no conspiracy which would help him escape, the possibility of which

has been considered in chapter VI, it is unlikely that a reasoning

person would plan to attempt to travel from Dallas, Tex., to Cuba with

$13.87 when considerably greater resources were available to him. The

fact that Oswald left behind the funds which might have enabled him

to reach Cuba suggests the absence of any plan to try to flee there and

raises serious questions as to whether or not he ever expected to escape.

Possible Influence of Anti-Kennedy Sentiment in Dallas

It has been suggested that one of the motivating influences operating on Lee Oswald was the atmosphere in the city of Dallas, especially an atmosphere of extreme opposition to President Kennedy that was present in some parts of the Dallas community and which re- ceived publicity there prior to the assassination.*^^ Some of that

feeling was expressed in the incident involving then vice-presidential

candidate Jolinson during the 1960 campaign, in the treatment of

Ambassador Adlai Stevenson late in October of 1963 and in the

extreme anti-Kennedy new^spaper advertisement and handbills that

appeared in Dallas at the time of the President's visit there.*°* The Commission has found no evidence that the extreme views ex- pressed toward President Kennedy by some rightwing groups centered

in Dallas or any other general atmosphere of hate or rightwing

extremism which may have existed in the city of Dallas had any con- nection with Oswald's actions on November 22, 1963. There is, of

course, no way to judge what the effect of the general political fer- ment present in that city might have been, even though Oswald was

aware of it. His awareness is shown by a letter that he wrote to Arnold Johnson of the Communist Party U.S.A., which Johnson

said he did not receive until after the assassination. The letter said in

part:

415
On October 23rd, I had attened a ultra-right meeting headed

by General Edwin A. Walker, who lives in Dallas.

This meeting preceded by one day the attack on A. E. Stevenson

at the United Nations Day meeting at which he spoke

As you can see, political friction between "left" and "right" is very great here.

Could you advise me as to the general view we have on the

American Civil Liberties Union ? *^^ In any event, the Commission has been unable to find any credible

evidence that Oswald had direct contact or association with any of

the personalities or groups epitomizing or representing the so-called

rightwing, even though he did, as he told Johnson, attend a meeting at which General Walker spoke to approximately 1,300 persons.*^^ Oswald's writings and his reading habits indicate that he had an extreme

dislike of the rightwing, an attitude most clearly reflected by his

attempt to shoot General Walker.

Relationship With Wife

The relations between Lee and Marina Oswald are of great importance in any attempt to understand Oswald's possible motivation. During the period from Oswald's return from Mexico to the

assassination, he and his wife spent every weekend but one together

at the Irving, Tex., home of Mrs. Ruth Paine, who was then separated

from her husband. The sole exception was the weekend of November 16-17, 1963, the weekend before the assassination, when his wife

asked Oswald not to come to Irving. During the week, Oswald lived

in a roominghouse in Dallas, but he usually called his wife on the tele- phone twice a day.*°^ She testified that after his return from Mexico

Oswald "changed for the better. He began to treat me better. * * * He helped me more—although he always did help. But he was more

attentive."**'^ Marina Oswald attributed that to their living apart

and to the irominent birth of their second child. She testified that

Oswald "was very happy" about the birth of the child.*^

While those considerations no doubt had an effect on Oswald's

attitude toward his family it would seem that the need for support

and sympathy after his recent rebuffs in Mexico City might also have

been important to him. It would not have been the first time that

Oswald sought closer ties with his family in time of adversity.*"^° His past relationships with his wife had been stormy, however, and

it did not seem that she respected him very much. They had been

married after a courtship of only about 6 weeks, a part of which

Oswald spent in the hospital. Oswald's diary reports that he married

his wife shortly after his proposal of marriage to another girl had

been rejected. He stated that the other girl rejected him partly be- cause he was an American, a fact that he said she had exploited. He

stated that "In spite of fact I married Marina to hurt Ella [the

girl that had rejected him] I found myself in love with Marina." *" 416
Many of the people with whom the Oswalds became acquainted after

their arrival in the United States thought that Marina Oswald had

married her husband primarily in the hope that she would be able to leave the Soviet Union. Marina Oswald has denied this.^^^ Marina Oswald expressed one aspect of her husband's attitude

toward her when she testified that

:

* * * Lee wanted me to g-o to Eussia, and I told him that if he

wanted me to go then that meant that he didn't love me, and that

in that case w^hat was the idea of coming to the United States in

the first place. Lee would say that it would be better for me if I went to Russia. I did not know why. I did not know what he

had in mind. He said he loved me but that it would be better for

me if I went to Russia, and what he had in mind I don't know.^^^

On the other hand, Oswald objected to the invitation that his wife

had received to live with Mrs. Ruth Paine, which Mrs. Paine had

made in part to give her an alternative to returning to the Soviet

Union.*" Marina Oswald wrote to Mrs. Paine that : "Many times he

[Oswald] has recalled this matter to me and said that I am just waiting for an opportunity to hurt him. It has been the cause of many of our arguments." *^^ Oswald claimed that his wife preferred others

to him.*^^ He said this about members of the Russian-speaking group

in the Ballas-Ft. Worth area, whom she said he tried to forbid her

from seeing,*^'' and also about Mrs. Paine.*^^ He specifically made

that claim when his wife refused to come to live with him in Dallas

as he asked her to do on the evening of November 21, 196e3.*^^ The instability of their relations was probably a function of the

personalities of both people. Oswald was overbearing in relations

with his wife. He apparently attempted to be "the Commander" by

dictating many of the details of their married life.*^^ While Marina

Oswald said that her husband wanted her to learn English,*^^ he made

no attempt to help her and there are other indications that he did not

want her to learn that language. Oswald apparently wished to continue practicing his own Russian with her.*^^ Lieutenant Martello of

the New Orleans police testified that Oswald stated that he did not

speak English in his family because he did not want them to become

Americanized.^23 Marina Oswald's inability to speak English also

made it more difficult for her to have an independent existence in this

country. Oswald struck his wife on occasion ,*2* did not want her to drink, smoke or wear cosmetics *^^ and generally treated her with lack

of respect in the presence of others.*^® The difficulties which Oswald's problems would have caused him

in any relationship were probably not reduced by his wife's conduct.

Katherine Ford, with whom Marina Oswald stayed during her separation from her husband in November of 1962, thought that Marina

Oswald was immature in her thinking and partly responsible for the

difficulties that the Oswalds were having at that time.^^? ^^.q p^^.^i

417
said that Marina Oswald admitted that she provoked Oswald on occasion.*28 There can be little doubt that some provocation existed.

Oswald once struck his wife because of a letter which she wrote to a former boy friend in Kussia. In the letter Marina Oswald stated

that her husband had changed a great deal and that she was very lonely

in the United States. She was "sorry that I had not married him

[the Kussian boy friend] instead, that it would have been much easier

for me." ^^s The letter fell into Oswald's hands when it was returned

to his post office box because of insufficient postage, which apparently

resulted from an increase in postal rates of which his wife had been

unaware.^^^ Oswald read the letter, but refused to believe that it was sincere, even though his wife insisted to him that it was. As a

result Oswald struck her, as to which she testified : "Generally, I think

that was right, for such things that is the right thing to do. There was some grounds for it.*^^ Although she denied it in some of her testimony before the Commission,*^^ it appears that Marina Oswald also complained that her

husband was not able to provide more material things for her.^^^ On

that issue George De Mohrenschildt, who was probably as close to the

Oswalds as anyone else during their first stay in Dallas, said that

:

She was annoying him all the time—"Why don't you make

some money?" * * * Poor guy was going out of his mind. * * * We told her she should not annoy him—poor guy, he is doing

his best, "Don't annoy him so much." * * * 434 The De Mohrenschildts also testified that "right in front" of Oswald

Marina Oswald complained about Oswald's inadequacy as a husband.*^^ Mrs. Oswald told another of her friends that Oswald was

very cold to her, that they very seldom had sexual relations and that

Oswald "was not a man." *^® She also told Mrs. Paine that she was

not satisfied with her sexual relations with Oswald.*^^

Marina Oswald also ridiculed her husband's political views, thereby

tearing down his view of his own importance. He was very much

interested in autobiographical works of outstanding statesmen of the

United States, to whom his wife thought he compared himself.^^^ She

said he was different from other people in "At least his imagination,

his fantasy, which was quite unfounded, as to the fact that he was an

outstanding man." ^^^ She said that she "always tried to point out

to him that he was a man like any others who were around us. But he simply could not understand that." ^^^ Jeanne De Mohrenschildt, however, thought that Marina Oswald "said things that

will hurt men's pride." ^^^ She said that if she ever spoke to her

husband the way Marina Oswald spoke to her husband, "we would

not last long." **2 Mrs. De Mohrenschildt thought that Oswald, whom

she compared to "a puppy dog that everybody kicked," ^^^ had a lot of good qualities, in spite of the fact that "Nobody said anything good

about him."*** She had "the impression that he was just pushed,

pushed, pushed, and she [Marina Oswald] was probably nagging, nag418
ging, nagging." **^ She thought that he might not have become in- volved in the assassination if people had been kinder to him.**^

In spite of these difficulties, however, and in the face of the economic

problems that were always with them, things apparently went quite

smoothly from the time Oswald returned from Mexico until the weekend of November 16-17, IDGS."^*^ Mrs. Paine was planning a birthday

party for one of her children on that w^eekend and her husband,

Michael, was to be at the house. Marina Oswald said that she knew

her husband did not like Michael Paine and so she asked him not to come out that weekend, even though he wanted to do so. She testified that she told him "that he shouldn't come every week, that perhaps it is not convenient for Euth that the whole family be there, live there."

She testified that he responded : "As you wish. If you don't want me

to come, I won't."**® Euth Paine testified that she heard Marina

Oswald tell Oswald about the birthday party.**^

On Sunday, November IT, 1963, Euth Paine and Marina Oswald

decided to call Oswald *^° at the place where he was living, unbeknownst to them, under the name of O. H. Lee.*^^ They asked for

Lee Oswald who was not called to the telephone because he was known

by the other name.*^^ T\^ien Oswald called the next day his wife

became very angry about his use of the alias.*^^ He said that he

used it because "he did not want his landlady to know his real name

because she might read in the paper of the fact that he had been in

Eussia and that he had been questioned." *^* Oswald also said that

he did not want the FBI to know where he lived "Because their visits were not very pleasant for him and he thought that he loses jobs

because the FBI visits the place of his employment.'' *^^ While the

facts of his defection had become known in New Orleans as a result

of his radio debate with Bringuier,*^^ it would appear to be unlikely

that his landlady in Dallas would see anything in the newspaper

about his defection, unless he engaged in activities similar to those

which had led to the disclosure of his defection in New Orleans.

Furthermore, even though it appeal^ that at times Oswald was really

upset by visits of the FBI, it does not appear that he ever lost his

job because of its activities, although he may well not have been aware of that fact.*^^ While Oswald's concern about the FBI had some basis in fact, in

that FBI agents had interviewed him in the past and had renewed their

interest to some extent after his Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities had become known, he exaggerated their concern for him. Marina

Oswald thought he did so in order to emphasize his importance.*^®

For example, in his letter of Novem.ber 9, 1963, to the Soviet Embassy

in Washington, he asked about the entrance visas for which he and

his wife had previously applied. He absolved the Soviet Embassy

in Mexico City of any blame for his difficulties there. He advised the

AVashington Embassy that the FBI w^as "not now" interested in his

Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities, but noted that the FBI "has

visited us here in Dallas, Texas, on November 1. Agent James P. Hasty warned me that if I engaged in F.P.C.C. activities in Texas

419
the F.B.I, will again take an 'interrest' in me." *^^ Neither Hosty nor any other agent of the FBI spoke to Oswald on any subject

from August 10, 1963, to the time of the assassination.^^° The claimed

warning was one more of Oswald's fabrications. Hosty had come to the Paine residence on November 1 and 5, 1963, but did not issue

any such warning or suggest that Marina Oswald defect from the Soviet Union and remain in the United States under FBI protection, as Oswald went on to say.*^^ In Oswald's imagination "I and my wife

strongly protested these tactics by the notorious F.B.I. "^^^ In fact,

his wife testified that she only said that she would prefer not to receive

any more visits from the Bureau because of the "very exciting and

disturbing effect" they had upon her husband,*^^ who was not even

present at that time.^^* The arguments he used to justify his use of the alias suggest that

Oswald may have come to think that the whole world was becoming

involved in an increasingly complex conspiracy against him. He may

have felt he could never tell when the FBI was going to appear on

the scene or who else was going to find out about his defection and

ase it against him as had been done in New Orleans.^^^ On the other

hand, the concern he expressed about the FBI may have been just

another story to support the objective he sought in his letter. Those arguments, however, were not persuasive to Marina Oswald,

to whom "it was nothing terrible if people were to find out that he

had been in Russia." *^ She asked Oswald : "After all, when will all your foolishness come to an end? All of these comedies. First one

thing and then another. And now this fictitious name." *^^ She said

:

"On Monday [November 18, 1963] he called several times, but after I hung up on him and didn't want to talk to him he did not call again.

He then arrived on Thursday [November 21, 1963]." *«« The events of that evening can best be appreciated through Marina

Oswald's testimony

:

Q. Did your husband give any reason for coming home on Thursday?

A. He said that he was lonely because he hadn't come the pre- ceding weekend, and he wanted to make his peace with me. Q. Did you say anything to him then ? A. He tried to talk to me but I would not answer him, and he was very upset. • Q. Were you upset with him ? A. I was angry, of course. He was not angry—he was upset. I was angry. He tried very hard to please me. He spent quite a bit of time putting away diapers and played with the children on the street. Q. How did you indicate to him that you were angry with him ? A. By not talking to him.

Q. And how did he show that he was upset ? A. He was upset over the fact that I would not answer him.

He tried to start a conversation w^ith m& several times, but I 420
would not answer. And he said that he didn't want me to be

angry at him because this upsets him.

On that day, he suggested that we rent an apartment in Dallas.

He said that he was tired of living alone and perhaps the reason

for my being so angry was the fact that we were not living to- gether. That if I want to he would rent an apartment in Dallas

tomorrow—that he didn't want me to remain with Euth any

longer, but wanted me to live with him in Dallas.

He repeated this not once but several times, but I refused.

And he said that once again I was preferring my friends to him,

and that I didn't need him.

Q. What did you say to that ? A. I said it would be better if I remained with Ruth until

the holidays, he would come, and we would all meet together.

That this was better because while he was living alone and I stayed with Ruth, we were spending less money. And I told him

to buy me a washing machine, because two children it became

too difficult to wash by hand.

Q. What did he say to that ? A. He said he would buy me a washing machine.

Q. What did you say to that ? A. Thank you. That it would be better if he bought something

for himself—that I would manage.*®^

That night Oswald went to bed before his wife retired. She did

not speak to him when she joined him there, although she thought that

he was still awake. The next morning he left for work before anyone

else arose.^^^ For the first time he left his wedding ring in a cup on

the dresser in his room.*^^ He also left $170 in a wallet in one of the

dresser drawers. He took with him $13.87 *^^ and the long brown package that Frazier and Mrs. Randle saw him carry and which he was

to take to the SchiOol Book Depository.*^^ The Unanswered Questions

No one will ever know what passed through Oswald's mind during

the week before November 22, 1963. Instead of returning to Irving on November 15 for his customary weekend visit, he remained in

Dallas at his wife's suggestion because of the birthday party. He had

argued with her over the use of an alias and had not called her after

that argument, although he usually telephoned once or twice a day.

Then on Thursday morning, November 21, he asked Frazier for a

ride to Irving that night, stating falsely that he wanted to pick up

some curtain rods to put in an apartment.*^*

He must have planned his attack at the very latest prior to Thursday morning when he spoke to Frazier. There is, of course, no way to determine the degree to which he was committed to his plan at that

time. While there is no way to tell when he first began to think specifically of assassinating the President it should be ixoted that mention of

421
the Trade Mart as the expected site of the Presidential luncheon appeared in The Dallas Times Herald on November 15, 1963.*^^ The

next day that paper announced the final approval of the Trade Mart as the luncheon site and stated that the motorcade "apparently will

loop through the downtown area, probably on Main Street, en route from Dallas Love Field" on its way to the Trade Mart on Stemmons

Freeway.*^^ Anyone who was familiar with that area of Dallas would

have known that the motorcade would probably pass the Texas School

Book Depository to get from Main Street onto the Stemmons Freeway. That fact was made precisely clear in subsequent news stories on November 19, 20, and 22.*^^ On November 15, 1963, the same day that his wife told him not to come to Irving, Oswald could have assumed that the Presidential

motorcade would pass in front of his place of work. Whether he

thought about assassinating the President over the weekend can never

be known, but it is reasonably certain that over the weekend he did

think about his wife's request that he not come to Irving, which was

prompted by the birthday party being held at the Paine home. Oswald

had a highly exaggerated sense of his own importance, but he had

failed at almost everything he had ever tried to do. He had great

difficulty in establishing meaningful relations with other people.

Except for his family he was completely alone. Even though he had

searched—in the Marine Corps, in his ideal of communism, in the

Soviet Union and in his attempt to get to Cuba—^he had never found

anything to which he felt he could really belong.

After he returned from his trip to Mexico where his application

to go to .Cuba had been sharply rejected, it must have appeared to him that he was unable to command even the attention of his family.

He could not keep them with him in Dallas, where at least he could

see his children whom, several witnesses testified, he seemed to love.*^® His family lived with Mrs. Paine, ostensibly because Oswald could

not afford to keep an apartment in Dallas, but it was also, at least in

part, because his wife did not want to live there with him.^'^^ Now

it appeared that he was not welcome at the Paine home, where he had

spent every previous weekend since his return from Mexico and his

wife was once again calling into question his judgment, this time

concerning his use of an alias. The conversation on Monday, November 18, 1963, ended when

Marina Oswald hung up and refused to talk to him. Although he

may long before have decided on the course he was to follow and may

have told his wife the things he did on the evening of November 21,

1963, merely to disarm her and to provide a justification of sorts, both

she and Mrs. Paine thought he had come home to make up after the

fight on Monday.*^° Thoughts of his personal difficulties must have

been at least partly on his mind when he went to Irving on Thursday

night and told his wife that he was lonely, that he wanted to make

peace with her and bring his family to Dallas where they could live with him again.

422
The Commission does not believe that the relations between Oswald

and his wife caused him to assassinate the President. It is milikely

that the motivation was that simple. The feelings of hostility and

aggression which seem to have played such an important part in

Oswald's life were part of his character long before he met his wife

and such a favorable opportunity to strike at a figure as great as the

President would probably never have come to him again.

Oswald's behavior after the assassination throws little light on his

motives. The fact that he took so little money with him when he

left Irving in the morning indicates that he did not expect to get

very far from Dallas on his own and suggests the possibility, as did

his note to his wife just prior to the attempt on General Walker,

that he did not expect to escape at all. On the other hand, he could

have traveled some distance with the money he did have and he did re- turn to his room where he obtained his revolver. He then killed

Patrolman Tippit when that police officer apparently tried to question him after he had left his roominghouse and he vigorously resisted arrest when he was finally apprehended in the Texas Theatre. Although it is not fully corroborated by others who were present, two

officers have testified that at the time of his arrest Oswald said something to the effect that "it's all over now." *^^ Oswald was overbearing and arrogant throughout much of the time

between his arrest and his own death.^^ He consistently refused to admit involvement in the assassination or in the killing of Patrolman

Tippit.^^ While he did become enraged at at least one point in his

interrogation, the testimony of the officers present indicates that he

handled himself with considerable composure during his questioning.

He admitted nothing that would damage him but discussed other

matters quite freely.^^* His denials under questioning, which have no

probative value in view of the many readily demonstrable lies he told

at that time *^^ and in the face of the overwhelming evidence against

him which has been set forth above, only served to prolong the period

during which he was the center of the attention of the entire world.

Conclusion

Many factors were undoubtedly involved in Oswald's motivation

for the assassination, and the Commission does not believe that it can

ascribe to him any one motive or group of motives. It is apparent,

however, that Oswald was moved by an overriding hostility to his

environment. He does not appear to have been able to establish meaningful relationships with other people. He was perpetually discontented with the world around him. Long before the assassination he

expressed his hatred for American society and acted in protest against

it. Oswald's search for what he conceived to be the perfect society was doomed from the start. He sought for himself a place in history—

a

role as the "great man" who would be recognized as having been in

advance of his times. His commitment to Marxism and communism

appears to have been another important factor in his motivation. He

423
also had demonstrated a capacity to act decisively and without regard

to the consequences when such action would further his aims of the

moment. Out of these and the many other factors which may have

molded the character of Lee Harvey Oswald there emerged a man

capable of assassinating President Kennedy.

424
CHAPTER VIII

The Protection of the President

IN THE 100 years since 1865 four Presidents of the United States have been assassinated—Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield,

William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. During this same

period there were three other attacks on the life of a President, a

President-elect, and a candidate for the Presidency, which narrowly

failed: on Theodore Roosevelt while campaigning in October of

1912; on President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt, when visiting

Miami on February 15, 1933; and on President Harry S. Truman

on November 1, 1950, when his temporary residence, Blair House, was

attacked by Puerto Rican Nationalists.^ One out of every live Presidents since 1865 has been assassinated; there have been attempts on

the lives of one out of every three. Prompted by these dismaying statistics, the Commission has in- quired into the problems and methods of Presidential protection in

effect at the time of President Kennedy's assassination. This study

has led the Commission to conclude that the public interest might be

served by any contribution it can make to the improvement of protective arrangements. The Commission has not undertaken a comprehensive examination of all facets of this subject; rather, it has

devoted its time and resources to those broader aspects of Presidential

protection to which the events of last November called attention.

In this part of its inquiry the Commission has had full access to a major study of all phases of protective activities prepared by the

Secret Service for the Secretary of the Treasury following the ast?assination. As a result of this study, the Secretary of the Treasury

has prepared a planning document dated August 27, 1964, which

recommends additional personnel and facilities to enable the Secret

Service to expand its protection capabilities. The Secretary of the

Treasury submitted this planning document on August 31, 1964, to the Bureau of the Budget for review and approval. This planning

document has been made a part of the Commission's published rec- ord; the underlying staff and consultants' reports reviewed by the

Commission have not, since a disclosure of such detailed information

relating to protective measures might undermine present methods of

protecting the President. However, all information considered by

425

730-900 0-64—29
the Commission which pertains to the protective function iis it was

carried out in Dallas has been published as part of this report.

The protection of the President of the Ignited States is an immensely difficult and complex task. It is unlikely that measures can

be devised to eliminate entirely the multitude of diverse dangers that

may arise, particularly when the President is traveling in this country or abroad. The protective task is further complicated by tlie reluctance of Presidents to take security precautions which might

interfere with the performance of their duties, or their desire to have

frequent and easy access to the people. The adequacy of existing

procedures can fairly be assessed only after full consideration of the

difficulty of the protective assignment, Avith particular attention to the diverse roles which the President is expected to fill. After re- viewing this aspect of the matter this chapter will set forth the

Commission's conclusions regarding certain protective measures in force at the time of the Dallas trip and propose recommendations

for improvements.

THE NATURE OF THE PROTECTIVE ASSIGNMENT

The President is Head of State, Chief Executive, Commander in

Chief, and leader of a political party. As the ceremonial head of the

Government the President must discharge a wide range of public

duties, not only in Washington but throughout the land. In this role he appears to the American people, in the words of William Howard

Taft, as "the personal embodiment and representative of their dignity

and majesty." ^ As Chief Executive, the President controls the

exercise of the vast, almost incalculable powers of the executive branch

of the Federal Grovernment. As Commander in Chief of the Armed

Forces, he must maintain ultimate authority over the development and

disposition of our military power. Finally, in accordance with George

Washington's maxim that Americans have a government "of accom- modation as well as a government of laws," ^ it is the President's right

and duty to be the active leader of his party, as when he seeks to be

reelected or to maintain his party in power.

In all of these roles the President must go to the people. Exposure

of the President to public view through travel among the people of

this country is a great and historic tradition of American life. Desired

by both the President and the public, it is an indispensable means of

communication between the two. More often than not, Presidential

journeys have served more than one purpose at the same time : cere- monial, administrative, political.

From George Washington to John F. Kennedy, such journeys have

been a normal part of the President's activities. To promote nationwide acceptance of his administration Washington made grand tours that served also to excite interest in the Presidency.^ In recent years. Presidential journeys have been frequent and extensive, partly be426
cause of the greater speed and comfort of travel and partly because

of the greater demands made on the President. It is now possible for

Presidents to travel the length and breadth of a land far larger

than the United States in 1789 in less time than it took George Washington to travel from New York to Mount Vernon or Thomas Jefferson

from Washington to Monticello. During his Presidency, Franklin J). Koosevelt made almost 400 journeys and traveled more than 350,000

miles.^ Since 1945, Eoosevelt's successors have ranged the world, and

their foreign journeys have come to be accepted as normal rather than

extraordinary.

John F. Kennedy's journey to Texas in November 1963 was in this

tradition. His friend and Special Assistant Kenneth O'Donnell, who

accompanied him on his last visit to Dallas, stated the President's

views of his responsibilities with simplicity and clarity

:

The President's views of his responsibilities as President of the

United States were that he meet the people, that he go out to their

homes and see them, and allow them to see him, and discuss, if possible, the views of the world as he sees it, the problems of the

country as he sees them. And he felt that leaving Washington

for the President of the United States was a most necessary—^not only for the people, but for the President himself, that he expose

himself to the actual basic problems that were disturbing the

American people. It helped him in his job here, he was able

to come back here with a fresh view of many things. I think he

felt very strongly that the President ought to get out of Washington, and go meet the people on a regular basis.® Whatever their purpose. Presidential journeys have greatly en- larged and complicated the task of protecting the President. The

Secret Service and the Federal, State, and local law enforcement

agencies which cooperate with it, have been confronted in recent years

with increasingly difficult problems, created by the greater exposure

of the President during his travels and the greater diversity of the

audiences he must face in a world torn by conflicting ideologies.

If the sole goal were to protect the life of the President, it could be

accomplished with reasonable assurance despite the multiple roles he must play. But his very position as representative of the people

prevents him from effectively shielding himself from the people. He

cannot and will not take the precautions of a dictator or a sovereign.

Under our system, measures must be sought to afford security without

impeding the President's performance of his many functions. The

protection of the President must be thorough but inconspicuous to avoid even the suggestion of a garrison state. The rights of private

individuals must not be infringed. If the protective job is well done,

its performance will be evident only in the unexceptional fact of its success. The men in charge of protecting the President, confronted

by complex problems and limited as they are in the measures they may

427
employ, must depend upon the utmost cooperation and understanding

from the public and the President.

The problem and the reasonable approach to its solution were ably

stated in a memorandum prepared by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

for the President soon after the assassination

:

The degree of security that can be afforded the President of the

United States is dependent to a considerable extent upon the

degree of contact with the general public desired by the President. Absolute security is neither practical nor possible. An

approach to complete security would require the President to operate in a sort of vacuum, isolated from the general public and

behind impregnable barriers. His travel would be in secret; his

public appearances would be behind bulletproof glass.

A more practical approach necessitates compromise. Any

travel, any contact with the general public, involves a calculated

risk on the part of the President and the men responsible for his

protection. Such risks can be lessened when the President recognizes the security problem, has confidence in the dedicated Secret

Service men who are ready to lay down their lives for him and

accepts the necessary security precautions which they recommend.

Many Presidents have been understandably impatient with the

security precautions which many years of experience dictate

because these precautions reduce the President's privacy and the

access to him of the people of the country. Nevertheless the procedures and advice should be accepted if the President wishes to have any security.^

EVALUATION OF PRESIDENTIAL PROTECTION AT THE

TIME OF THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY

The history of Presidential protection shows growing recognition over the years that the job must be done by able, dedicated, thoroughly professional personnel, using the best technical equipment

that can be devised.^ The assassination of President Kennedy demands an examination of the protective measures employed to safe- guard him and an inquiry whether improvements can be made which

will reduce the risk of another such tragedy. This section considers

first the means used to locate potential sources of danger to the President in time to take appropriate precautions. In this connection the

information available to Federal agencies about Lee Harvey Oswald

is set out and the reasons why this information was not furnished

to the Secret Service appraised. Second, the adequacy of other ad- vance preparations for the security of the President during his ^-isit to Dallas, largely measures taken by the Secret Service, is considered.

Finally, the performance of those charged with the immediate re- sponsibility of protecting the President on November 22 is reviewed.

428
Intelligence Functions Relating to Presidential Protection at the

Time of the Dallas Trip

A basic element of Presidential protection is the identification and

elimination of possible sonrces of dang-er to the President before the

danger becomes actual. The Secret Service has attempted to perform

this function through the activities of its Protective Research Section and requests to other agencies, Federal and local, for useful in- formation. The Commission has concluded that at the time of the

assassination the arrangements relied upon by the Secret Service

to perform this function were seriously deficient. Adequacy of preventive inteWgence operations of the Secret Service.—The main job of the Protective Research Section (PRS) is to

collect, process, and evaluate information about persons or groups

Avho may be a danger to the President. In addition to this function,

PRS is responsible for such tasks as obtaining clearance of some cate- gories of White House employees and all tradesmen who service the

'\^niite House, the security processing of gifts sent to the President,

and technical inspections against covert listening devices.^ At the

time of the assassination PRS was a very small group, comprised of

12 specialists and 8 clerks.^" Many persons call themselves to the attention of PRS by attempting

to visit the President for bizarre reasons or by writing or in some

other way attempting to communicate with him in a threatening or

abusive manner or with undue persistence. Robert I. Bouck, special

agent in charge of PRS, estimated that most of the material received

by his office originated in this fashion or from the occasional investigations initiated by the Secret Service, while the balance was furnished to PRS by other Federal agencies, with primary source being the FBI.^^ The total volume of information received by PRS

has risen steadily. In 1943 PRS received approximately 9,000 items

of information; in 1953 this had increased to more than 17,000 items;

in 1963 the total exceeded 32,000 items.^^ Since many items may pertain to a single case, these figures do not show the caseload. In the

period from November 1961 to November 1963, PRS received items

in 8,709 cases.^^ Before the assassination of President Kennedy, PRS expressed

its interest in receiving information on suspects in very general terms. For example, PRS instructed the White House mailroom, a source

of much PRS data, to refer all communications on identified existing

cases and, in addition, any communication "that in any way indicates

anyone may have possible intention of harming the President." ^* Slightly more specific criteria were established for PRS personnel

processing 'Wliite House mail referred by the White House mailroom,

but again the standards were very general.^^ These instructions to PRS personnel appear to be the only instance where an effort was made to reduce the criteria to writing.^^ When requested to provide

a specific statement of the standards employed by PRS in deciding

what information to seek and retain, the Secret Service responded:

429
The criteria in effect prior to November 22, 1963, for determining whether to accept material for tlie PRS general files were broad and flexible. All material is and was desired, accepted,

and filed if it indicated or tended to indicate that the safety

of the President is or miglit be in danger, either at the present or in the future. * * * There are many actions, situations, and

incidents that may indicate such potential danger. Some are

specific, such as threats; danger may be implied from others, such

as membership or activity in an organization which believes in

assassination as a political weapon. All material received by

PRS was separately screened and a determination made as to whether the information might indicate possible harm to the

President. If the material was evaluated as indicating some

potential danger to the President—no matter how small—it was

indexed in the general PRS files under the name of the individual

or group of individuals to whom that material related.^^ The general files of PRS consist of folders on individuals, card in- dexed by name. The files are manually maintained, without use of

any automatic data-processing techniques.^^ At the time of the assas- sination, the active PRS general files contained approximately 50,000

cases accumulated over a 20-year period,^^ some of wliich included more than one individual. A case file was established if the information available suggested that the subject might be a danger to the President. Many of these cases were not investigated by PRS. The case file served merely as a repository for information until enough had accu- mulated to warrant an investigation. -° During the period November

1961 to November 1963, PRS investigated 3i newly established or

reactivated cases concerning residents of Texas.-^ Most of these cases involved persons who used threatening language in communications

to or about the President. An additional 115 cases concerning Texas

residents were established but not investigated.-- When PRS learns of an individual whose conduct warrants scrutiny,

it requests an investigation by the closest Secret Service field office.-^ of which there are 65 throughout the country. If the field office determines that the case should be subject to continuing review, PRS

establishes a file which requires a checkup at least every 6 months.-^

This might involve a personal interview or interviews with members

of the person's household.-^ ^"Mierever possible, the Secret Service

arranges for the famil}^ and friends of the individual, and local law

enforcement officials, to advise the field office if the subject displays

signs of increased danger or plans to leave his home area. At the

time of the assassination there were approximately 400 persons

throughout the country who were subject to periodic review.^^

If PRS concludes after investigation that an individual presents

a significant danger to the life of the President, his name is placed in

a "trip index file" Avhich is maintained on a geographical field office basis.^^ At the time of the assassination the names of about 100

persons were in this index, all of whom were included in the group of

430
400 being reviewed regularly.^^ PRS also maintains an album of

photographs and descriptions of about 12 to 15 indi^dduals who are regarded as clear risks to the President and who do not have a fixed

place of residence.^ Members of the White House detail of the

Secret Service have copies of this album.^

Individuals who are regarded as dangerous to the President and

who are in penal or hospital custody are listed only in the general

files of PRS, but there is a system for the immediate notification of

the Secret Service by the confining institution when a subject is released or escapes.^^ PRS attempts to eliminate serious risks by

hospitalization or, where necessary, the prosecution of persons who

have committed an offense such as threatening the President.^^ In

June 1964 PRS had arrangements to be notified about the release or

escape of approximately 1,000 persons.^^

In summary, at the time of the assassination PRS had received, over a 20-year period, basic information on some 50,000 cases ; it had

arrangements to be notified about release from confinement in roughly

1,000 cases; it had established periodic regular review of the status of 400 individuals ; it regarded approximately 100 of these 400 cases

as serious risks and 12 to 15 of these cases as highly dangerous risks. Members of the "^Vliite House detail were expected to familiarize themselves with the descriptions and photographs of the highest risk cases. The cases subject to periodic review and the 100 or so cases in the

higher risk category were filed on a geographic basis, and could con- veniently be reviewed by a Secret Service agent preparing for a Presidential trip to a particular part of the country. These were the files reviewed by PRS on November 8, 1963, at the request of Special Agent

Lawson, advance agent for President Kennedy's trip to Dallas.^* The

general files of PRS were not indexed by geographic location and were

of little use in preparing for a Presidential visit to a specific locality.

Secret Service requests to other agencies for intelligence information were no more specific than the broad and general instructions to

its own agents and the TVHiite House mailroom. The head of PRS

testified that the Secret Service requested other agencies to provide

"any and all information that they may come in contact with that

would indicate danger to the President." ^^ These requests were not

communicated in writing by the Secret Service; rather, the Service

depended on the personal liaison maintained by PRS with the headquarters of the Federal intelligence agencies, particularly the FBI,

and at the working level with personnel of the field offices of the

various agencies.^^ The Service frequently participated in the training programs of other law enforcement agencies, and agents from

other agencies attended the regular Secret Service training schools. Presidential protection was an important topic in these training

programs."

In the absence of more specific instructions, other Federal agencies

interpreted the Secret Service's informal requests to relate principally

to overt threats to harm the President or other specific manifestations

of hostility. For example, at the time of the assassination, the FBI

431
Handbook, which is in the possession of every Bureau special agent,

provided

:

Threats aoainst the President of the U.S., members of his immediate family, the President-elect, and the Vice-President

Investigation of threats ao^ainst the President of the United

States, members of his immediate family, the President-Elect, and

the Vice-President is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S.

Secret Service. Any information indicating the possibility of an

attempt against the person or safety of the President, members

of the immediate family of the President, the President -Elect or

the Vice-President must be referred immediately by the most

expeditious means of communication to the nearest office of the

U.S. Secret Service. Advise the Bureau at the same time by

teletype of the information so furnished to the Secret Service

and the fact that it has been so disseminated. The above action

should be taken without delay in order to attempt to verify the

information and no evaluation of the information should be at- tempted. '\^nien the threat is in the fonn of a written communication, give a copy to local Secret Sennce and forward the original

to the Bureau where it will be made available to Secret Service

headquarters in Washington. The referral of the copy to local Secret Service should not delay the immediate referral of the

information by the fastest available means of communication to Secret Service locally.^

The State Department advised the Secret Service of all crank and

threat letter mail or crank visitors and furnished reports concerning

any assassination or attempted assassination of a ruler or other major

official anywhere in the world.^^ The several military intelligence

agencies reported crank mail and similar threats involving the President.*^ According to Special Agent in Charge Bouck, the Secret

Service had no standard procedure for the systematic review of its requests for and receipt of information from other Federal agencies.*^

The Commission believes that the facilities and procedures of the

Protective Research Section of the Secret Service prior to November

22, 1963, were inadequate. Its efforts appear to have been too largely

directed at the "crank" threat. Although the Service recognized

that its advance preventive measures must encompass more than

these most obvious dangers, it made little effort to identify factors in

the activities of an individual or an organized group, other than specific

threats, which suggested a source of danger against which timely pre- cautions could be taken. Except for its special "trip index'' file of

400 names, none of the cases in the PRS general files was available for

systematic review on a geographic basis when the President plamied a

particular trip.

As reported in chapter II, when the special file was reviewed on November 8, it contained the names of no persons from the entire

432
Dallas-Fort 'Worth area, notAvithstandino: the fact that Ambassador

Stevenson had been abused by pickets in Dallas less than a month

before. Bonck explained the failure to try to identify the individuals

involved in the Stevenson incident after it occurred on the ground

that PRS required a more direct indication of a threat to the President,

and that there was no such indication until the President's scheduled

visit to that area became known.*^ Such an approach seriously undermines the precautionary nature of PRS work: if the presence in Dallas

of the Stevenson pickets mio^ht have created a danger for the President on a visit to that city, PRS should have investigated and been pre- pared to guard against it. Other agencies occasionally provided information to the Secret Service concerning potentially dangerous political groups. This was

done in the case of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, for

example, but only after members of the group had resorted to

political violence.^^ However, the vague requests for information

which the Secret Service made to Federal intelligence and law en- forcement agencies were not well designed to elicit information from

them about persons other than those who were obvious threats to the President. The requests shifted the responsibility for evaluating difficult cases from the Service, the agency most responsible

for performing that task, to the other agencies. No specific

guidance was provided. Although the CIA had on file requests from

the Treasury Department for information on the counterfeiting of

U.S. currency and certain smuggling matters,^* it had no written

specification of intelligence information collected by CIA abroad which was desired by the Secret Service in advance of Presidential trips outside the United States. Information Janoum cihout Lee Harvey Osioald prior to the as- sassination.—No information concerning Lee Harv^ey Oswald appeared in PRS files before the President's trip to Dallas. Oswald

was known to other Federal agencies with which the Secret Service

maintained intelligence liaison. The FBI had been interested in him,

to some degree at least, since the time of his defection in October 1959.

It had interviewed him twice shortly after his return to the United

States, again a year later at his request and was investigating him at the time of the assassination. The Commission has taken the testi- mony of Bureau agents who interviewed Oswald after his return from

the Soviet Union and prior to November 22, 1963, the agent who was

assigned his case at the time of the assassination, the Director of the

FBI, and the Assistant to the Director in charge of all investigative

activities under the Director and Associate Director.*^ In addition,

the Director and Deputy Director for Plans of the CIA testified con- cerning that Agency's limited knowledge of Oswald before the assassination.*^ Finally, the Commission has reviewed the complete files on Oswald, as they existed at the time of the assassination, of the Department of State, the Office of Naval Intelligence, the FBI, and the

CIA. The information known to the FBI is summarized below.

433
From defection to return to Fort Worth.—Tlie FBI opened a file on Oswald in October 1950,''^ wlien news reports appeared of his defection to the Soviet I^nion.^^ The file was opened "for the purpose of

correlating infoniiation inasmncli as he was considered a possible

security risk in the event he returned to this country." "^ Oswald's

defection was also the occasion for the opening: of files by the Department of State, CIA, and the Office of Xaval Tntelli<rence. Until

April 1960, FBI activity consisted of placing in Oswald's file in- formation regarding his relations with the U.S. Embassy in ^foscow

and background data relating largely to his prior military service,

provided by other agencies. In April 1960, Mi^. Marguerite Oswald

and Kobert Oswald were interviewed in the coui*se of a routine FBI

investigation of transfers of small sums of money from Mrs. Oswald to her son in Russia.^° During the next 2 years the FBI continued to accumulate information, and kept itself informed on Oswald's status by periodic re- views of State Department and Office of Naval Intelligence files. In

this way, it learned that when Oswald had arrived in the Soviet

Union he had attempted to renounce his U.S. citizenship and applied

for Soviet citizenship, had descrilx^d himself as a ^farxist. had said

he would give the Soviet Union any useful information he had ac- quired as a marine radar technician and had displayed an arrogant

and aggressive attitude at the I^.S. Embassy; it learned also that

Oswald had been discharged from the Marine Corps Eeserve as undesirable in August 1960.^^ In June 196*2, the Bureau was advised

by the Department of State of Oswald's plan to return to the Ignited

States. The Bureau made arrangements to be advised by immigi*ation

authorities of his return, and instructed the Dallas office to interview him when he got back to determine whether he had been re- cruited by a Soviet intelligence service." Oswald's file at the Department of State Passport Office was reviewed in June 1962. It revealed

his letter of January 30, 1962, to Secretary of the Xavy Connally, in which he protested his discharge and declared that he would use ''all means" to correct it. The file reflected the Department's determination that Oswald had not expatriated himself.^^ From retuim to Fort Worth to move to Neio OrJean.^.—Oswald was

first interviewed by FBI Agents John W. Fain and B. Tom Carter on June 26, 1962, in Fort Worth.^* Agent Fain reported to headquarters that Oswald was impatient and arrogant, and iniwilling to answer questions regarding his motive for going to the Soviet Union.

Oswald "denied that he had ever denounced his U.S. citizenship, and

* * * that he had ever applied for Soviet citizenship specifically.'* ^^ Oswald was, however, willing to discuss his contacts with Soviet

authorities. He denied having any involvement with Soviet intelli- gence agencies and promised to advise the FBI if he heard from them.''^ Agent Fain was not satisfied by this interview and arranged to see Oswald again on August 16, 1962.^' According to Fain's con- temporaneous memorandum and his present recollection, while Oswald

remained somewhat evasive at this interview, he was not antagonistic

434
and seemed generally to be settling down.^^ (Marina Oswald, Iioay- ever, recalled that her husband was upset by this interview.)^"

Oswald again agreed to advise the FBI if he were approached under

suspicious circumstances; however, he deprecated the possibility of

this happening, particularly since his employment did not involve

any sensitive information.^^ Having concluded that Oswald was not

a security risk or potentially dangerous or violent, Fain determined

that nothing further remained to be done at that time and recom- mended that the case be placed in a closed status.^^ This is an

administrative classification indicating that no further work has been

scheduled. It does not preclude the agent in charge of the case from

reopening it if he feels that further work should be done.^^

From August 1962 until March 1963, the FBI continued to accumulate information regarding Oswald but engaged in no active investigation. Agent Fain retired from the FBI in October 1962, and the

closed Oswald case was not reassigned.^^ However, pursuant to a regular Bureau practice of interviewing certain immigrants from Iron

Curtain countries, Fain had been assigned to see Marina Oswald at an appropriate time.^* This assignment was given to Agent James

P. Hosty, Jr. of the Dallas office upon Fain's retirement. In March

1963, while attempting to locate Marina Oswald, Agent Hosty was

told by Mrs. M. F. Tobias, a former landlady of the Oswalds at 602

Elsbeth Street in Dallas, that other tenants had complained because

Oswald was drinking to excess and beating his wife.^^ This information led Hosty to review Oswald's file, from which he learned that

Oswald had become a subscriber to the AYorker, a Communist Party

publication. Hosty decided that the Lee Harvey Oswald case should

be reopened because of the alleged personal difficulties and the contact with the Worker, and his recommendation was accepted.^^ Pie decided, however, not to interview Marina Oswald at that time, and

merely determined that the Oswalds were living at 214 Neely Street

in Dallas.^^

On April 21, 1963, the FBI field office in New York was advised

that Oswald was in contact with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in

New York, and that he had written to the committee stating that he

had distributed its pamphlets on the streets of Dallas.^^ This informaion did not reach Agent Hosty in Dallas until June.^^ Hosty considered the information to be "stale" by that time, and did not attempt

to verify Oswald's reported statement.^° Under a general Bureau re- quest to be on tlie alert for activities of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, Hosty had inquired earlier and found no evidence that it was

functioning in the Dallas area.^^ In New Orleans.—In the middle of May of 1963, Agent Hosty

checked Oswald's last known residence and found that he had moved."^^

Oswald was tentatively located in New Orleans in June, and Hosty

asked the New Orleans FBI office to determine Oswald's address and

what he was doing.''^ The New Orleans office investigated and located

Oswald, learning his address and former place of employment on August 5, 1963."^^ s^ confidential informant advised the FBI that Oswald

435
was not known to be engaged in Communist Party activities in New

Orleans.^^

On June 24, Oswald applied in New Orleans for a passport, stating

that he planned to depart by ship for an extended tour of Western

European countries, the Soviet Union, Finland, and Poland. The

Passport Office of the Department of State in Washington had no

listing for Oswald requiring special treatment, and his application was approved on the following day.^^ The FBI had not asked to be

informed of any effort by Oswald to obtain a passport, as it might

have under existing procedures, and did not know of his application.^^

According to the Bureau,

We did not request the State Department to include Oswald

on a list which would have resulted in advising us of any application for a passport inasmuch as the facts relating to Oswald's

activities at that time did not warrant such action. Our investigation of Oswald had disclosed no evidence that Oswald was

acting under the instructions or on behalf of any foreign government or instrumentality thereof.^® On August 9, 1963, Oswald was arrested and jailed by the New

Orleans Police Department for disturbing the peace, in connection

with a street fight which broke out when he was accosted by antiCastro Cubans while distributing leaflets on behalf of the Fair Play

for Cuba Committee. On the next day, he asked the New Orleans

police to arrange for him to be interviewed by the FBI. The police

called the local FBI office and an agent, John L. Quigley, was sent to the police station. ^^ Agent Quigley did not know of Oswald's prior

FBI record when he interviewed him, inasmuch as the police had not given Oswald's name to the Bureau when they called the office.®^ Quigley recalled that Oswald was receptive when questioned about

his general background but less than completely truthful or cooperative when interrogated about the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.

Quigley testified: Wlien I began asking him specific details with respect to his

activities in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans

as to where meetings were held, who was involved, what occurred,

he was reticent to furnish information, reluctant and actually

as far as I was concerned, was completely evasive on them.^^

In Quigley's judgment, Oswald "was probably making a self-serving

statement in attempting to explain to me why he was distributing

this literature, and for no other reason, and when I got to questioning

him further then he felt that his purpose had been served and he

wouldn't say anything further." ^^ During the interview Quigley obtained background information

from Oswald which was inconsistent with information already in the

Bureau's possession. When Quigley returned to his office, he learned

436
that another Bureau agent, Milton R. Kaack, had been conducting a background investigation of Oswald at the request of Agent Hosty

in Dallas. Quigley advised Kaack of his interview and gave him a

detailed memorandum.®^ Kaack was aware of the facts known to the FBI and recognized Oswald's false statements.^* For example,

Oswald claimed that his wife's maiden name was Prossa and that they

had been married in Fort Worth and lived there until coming to Xew Orleans.*^ He had told the Xew Orleans arresting officers that

he had been born in Cuba.®^

Several days later, the Bureau received additional evidence that

Oswald had lied to Agent Quigley. On August 22, it learned that

Oswald had appeared on a radio discussion program on August 21.^'' William Stuckey, who had appeared on the radio program with

Oswald, told the Bureau on August 30 that Oswald had told him that

he had worked and been married in the Soviet Union.®^ Neither these

discrepancies nor the fact that Oswald had initiated the FBI interview was considered sufficiently unusual to necessitate another interview.^^

Alan H. Belmont, Assistant to the Director of the FBI, stated the Bureau's reasoning in this way

Our interest in this man at this point was to determine whether

his activities constituted a threat to the internal security of the

coimtry. It was apparent that he had made a self-serving state- ment to Agent Quigley. It became a matter of record in our files as a part of the case, and if we determined that the course of the

investigation required us to clarify or face him down with this

information, we would do it at the appropriate time.

In other words, he committed no violation of the law by telling us something that wasn't true, and unless this required further

investigation at that time, we would handle it in due course, in

accord with the whole context of the investigation.^^

On August 21, 1963, Bureau headquarters instructed the New Orleans

and Dallas field offices to conduct an additional investigation of Oswald

in view of the activities Avhich had led to his arrest.^^ FBI informants in the New Orleans area, familiar with pro- Castro or Communist

Party activity there, advised the Bureau that Oswald was unknown in

such circles.®^ In Dallas.—In early September 1963 the FBI transferred the principal responsibility for the Oswald case from the Dallas office to the

New Orleans office.^^ Soon after, on October 1, 1963, the FBI was

advised by the rental agent for the Oswalds' apartment in New Orleans

that they had moved again.^* According to the mformation received

by the Bureau they had vacated their apartment, and Marina Oswald

had departed with their child in a station wagon with Texas registration.^^ On October 3, Hosty reopened the case in Dallas to assist the

New Orleans office.^^ He checked in OsAvald's old neighborhood and

throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area but was unable to locate

Oswald.^^

437
The next word about Oswald's location was a communication from

the CIA to the FBI on October 10, advisinor tliat an individual tenta- tively identified as Oswald had been in toucli with the Soviet Embassy

in Mexico City in early Octol)er of lOBS.^"* The Bureau had had no

earlier information suggesting that Oswald had left the Ignited States. The possible contact with the Soviet Embassy in Mexico intensified

the FBI's interest in learning Oswald's whereabouts.^^ The FBI

representative in Mexico City arranged to follow up this information

with the CIA and to verify Oswald's entry into Mexico.^°° The CIA

message was sent also to the Department of State where it was re- viewed by personnel of the Passpoit Office, who knew from Oswald's

file that he had sought and obtained a passport on June 25, 1963.^^^ The Department of State did not advise either the CIA or the FBI

of these facts.^^^ On October 25, the New Orleans office of the FBI learned that

in September Oswald had given a forwarding addrCvSS of 2515 West

Fifth Street, Irving, Tex.^°^ After receiving this information on

October 29, Agent Hosty attempted to locate Oswald. On the same day Hosty interviewed neighbors on Fifth Street and learned that

the address was that of Mrs. Ruth Paine.""* He conducted a limited

background investigation of the Paines, intending to interview Mrs.

Paine and ask her particularly about Oswald's whereabouts."^

Having determined that Mrs. Paine was a responsible and reliable

citizen, Hosty interviewed her on November 1. The interview lasted

about 20-25 minutes.^^® In response to Hosty's inquiries, Mrs. Paine

* * * readily admitted that Mrs. Marina Oswald and Lee

Oswald's two children were staying with her. She said that Lee

Oswald was living somewhere in Dallas. She didn't know where.

She said it was in the Oak Cliff area but she didn't have his

address. I asked her if she knew where he worked. After a moment's

hesitation, she told me that he worked at the Texas School Book

Depository near the downtown area of Dallas. She didn't have

the exact address, and it is my recollection that we went to the

phone book and looked it up, found it to be 411 Elm Street."^

Mrs. Paine told Hosty also that Oswald was living alone in Dallas

because she did not want him staying at her house, although she was

willing to let Oswald visit his wife and children.^^^ According to Hosty, Mrs. Paine indicated that she thought she could find out where

Oswald was living and would let him know.^°^ At this point in the

interview, Hosty gave Mrs. Paine his name and office telephone number on a piece of paper.^^^ At the end of the interview, Marina

Oswald came into the room. AVhen he observed that she seemed

"quite alarmed" about the visit, Hosty assured her, through Mrs.

Paine as interpreter, that the FBI would not harm or harass her.^^^ On November 4, Hosty telephoned the Texas School Book Depository and learned that Oswald was working there and that he had given

438
as his address Mrs. Paine's residence in Irving."^ Hosty took the

necessary steps to have the Dallas office of the FBI, rather than

the New Orleans office, reestablished as the office with principal re- sponsibility."^ On November 5, Hosty was traveling near Mrs.

Paine's home and took the occasion to stop by to ask whether she

had any further information. Mrs. Paine had nothing to add to what

she had already told him, except that during a visit that past weekend,

Oswald had said that he was a "Trotskyite Communist," and that

she found this and similar statements illogical and somewhat amusing.^^^ On this occasion Hosty was at the Paine residence for only

a few minutes.^^^

During neither interview did Hosty learn Oswald's address or telephone number in Dallas. Mrs. Paine testified that she learned

Oswald's telephone number at the Beckley Street roominghouse

in the middle of October shortly after Oswald rented the room on

October 14. As discussed in chapter VI, she failed to report this to Agent Hosty because she thought the FBI was in possession of a great

deal of information and certainly would find it very easy to learn

where Oswald was living.^^^

Hosty did nothing further in connection with the Oswald case until

after the assassination. On November 1, 1963, he had received a copy

of the report, of the New Orleans office which contained Agent Quigley's memorandum of the interview in the New Orleans jail on August

10,^^'' and realized immediately that Oswald had given false biographic

information."* Hosty knew that he would eventually have to investigate this, and "was quite interested in determining the nature of his contact with the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City." ^^^ When asked

what his next step would have been, Hosty replied

Well, as I had previously stated, I have between 25 and 40 cases assigned to me at any one time. I had other matters to take care

of. I had now established that Lee Oswald was not employed in a sensitive industry. I can now afford to wait Until New Orleans

forwarded the necessary papers to me to show me I now had all the information. It was then my plan to interview Marina

Oswald in detail concerning both herself and her husband's

background.

Q. Had you planned any steps beyond that point ? A. No. I would have to wait until I had talked to Marina to

see what I could determine, and from there I could make my plans.

Q. Did you take any action on this case between November 5 and November 22 ? A. No, sir.120 The official Bureau files confirm Hosty's statement that from November 5 until the assassination, no active investigation was conducted.^21 Q^ November 18 the FBI learned that Oswald recently

had been in communication with the Soviet Embassy in Washington

and so advised the Dallas office in the ordinary course of business.

439
Hosty received this information on the afternoon of November 22,

1963.-^22 Nonreferral of Oswald to the Secret Service.—The Commission has

considered carefully the qiiestijon whether the FBI, in view of all the information concernino^ Oswald in its files, should have alerted

the Secret Service to Oswald's presence in Dallas prior to President

Kennedy's visit. The Secret Service and the FBI differ as to whether

Oswald fell within the cate^^ory of "threats aorainst the President''

which should be referred to the Service.

Robert I. Bouck, special agent in charge of the Protective Research

Section, testified that the information available to the Federal Government about Oswald before the assassination would, if known to PRS, have made Oswald a subject of conceni to the Secret Serv^ice.^^' Bouck pointed to a number of characteristics besides Oswald's defection the cumulative effect of which would have been to alert the

Secret Service to potential danger

I would think his continued a.ssociation with the Russian Embassy after his return, his association with the Castro groups would

have been of concern to us, a knowledge that he had, I believe,

been courtmartialed for illegal possession of a gim, of a hand

gun in the Marines, that he had owned a weapon and did a good

deal of himting or use of it, perhaps in Russia, plus a number of

items about his disposition and unreliability of character, I think

all of those, if we had had them altogether, would have added up

to pointing out a pretty bad individual, and I think that, together,

had we known that he had a vantage point would have seemed

somewhat serious to us, even though I must admit that none of

these in themselves would be—would meet our specific criteria, none of them alone.

But it is when you begin adding them up to some degree that

you begin to get criteria that are meaningful.^^*

Mr. Bouck pointed out, however, that he had no reason to believe that

any one Federal agency had access to all this information, including

the significant fact that Oswald was employed in a building which

overlooked the motorcade route.^^^ Agent Hosty testified that he was fully aware of the pending Presidential visit to Dallas. He recalled that the special agent in charge

of the Dallas office of the FBI, J. Gordon Shanklin, had discussed the

President's visit on several occasions, includmg the regular biweekly

conference on the morning of November 22 : Mr. Shanklin advised us, among other things, that in view of

the President's visit to Dallas, that if anyone had any indication

of any possibility of any acts of violence or any demonstrations

against the President, or Vice President, to immediately notify

the Secret Service and confirm it in writing. He had made the

440
same statement about a week prior at another special conference

which we had held. I don't recall the exact date. It was about

a week prior.^^®

In fact, Hosty participated in transmitting to the Secret Service two

pieces of information pertaining to the visit.^" Hosty testified that he

did not know until the evening of Thursday, November 21, that there was to be a motorcade, however, and never realized that the motorcade

would pass the Texas School Book Depository Building. He testified that he did not read the newspaper story describing the motorcade

route in detail, since he was interested only in the fact that the motorcade was coming up Main Street, "where maybe I could watch it if I had a chance." ^^^ Even if he had recalled that Oswald's place of employment was on

the President's route, Hosty testified that he would not have cited

him to the Secret Service as a potential threat to the President.^^®

Hosty interpreted his instructions as requiring "some indication that

the person planned to take some action against the safety of the President of the United States or the Vice President." ^^° In his opinion, none of the information in the FBI files—Oswald's defection, his Fair

Play for Cuba activities in New Orleans, his lies to Agent Quigley, his recent visit to Mexico City—indicated that Oswald was capable of

violence.^^^ Hosty's initial reaction on hearing that Oswald was a

suspect in the assassination, was "shock, complete surprise," because

he had no reason to believe that Oswald "was capable or potentially an assassin of the President of the United States." ^^^ Shortly after Oswald was apprehended and identified, Hosty's

superior sent him to observ^e the interrogation of Oswald.^^ Hosty

parked his car in the basement of police headquarters and there met

an acquaintance, Lt. Jack Revill of the Dallas police force. The

two men disagree about the conversation which took place between

them. They agree that Hosty told Revill that the FBI had known

about Oswald and, in particular, of Ms presence in Dallas and his

employment at the Texas School Book Depository Building.i34 j^^y.

ill testified that Hosty said also that the FBI had information that

Oswald was "capable of committing this assassination." ^^ According to Revill, Hosty indicated that he was going to tell this to Lieutenant Wells of the homicide and robbery bureau.^^^ Revill promptly

made a memorandum of this conversation in which the quoted state- ment appears.^^^ His secretary testified that she prepared such a

report for him that afternoon ^^^ and Chief of Police Jesse E. Curry

and District Attorney Henry M. Wade both testified that they saw it later that day.^^^

Hosty has unequivocally denied, first by affidavit and then in his

testimony before the Commission, that he ever said that Oswald was

capable of violence, or that he had any information suggesting this.^*° The only witness to the conversation was Dallas Police Detective V. J. Brian, who was accompanying Revill. Brian did not hear Hosty

make any statement concerning Oswald's capacity to be an

441

730-900 0-64—30
assassin but he did not hear tlie entire conversation because

of the commotion at police headquarters and because he was not

within hearing distance at all times.^^^ Hosty's interpretation of the prevailinor FBI instructions on refer- rals to the Secret Service Avas defended before the Commission by

his superiors. After summarizing the Bureau's investigative interest in Oswald prior to the assassination, J. Edgar Ploover concluded

that "There was nothing up to the time of the assassination that gave

any indication that this man was a dangerous character who might do

harm to the President or to the Vice President.'' ^^^ Director Hoover

emphasized that the first indication of Oswald's capacity for violence

w^as his attempt on General Walker's life, which did not become

known to the FBI until after the assassination.^^^ Both Director

Hoover and his assistant, Alan H. Belmont, stressed also the decision by the Department of State that Oswald should be permitted

to return to the United States.^^* Neither believed that the Bureau

investigation of him up to November 22 revealed any information

which would have justified referral to the Secret Service. According to Belmont, when Oswald returned from the Soviet Union,

* * * he indicated that he had learned his lesson, was dis- enchanted with Russia, and had a renewed concept—I am paraphrasing, a renewed concept—of the American free society.

We talked to him twice. He likewise indicated he was dis- enchanted with Russia. We satisfied ourselves that we had met

our requirement, namely to find out whether he had been recruited

by Soviet intelligence. The case was closed. We again exhibited interest on the basis of these contacts with

The Worker, Fair Play for Cuba Committee, which are relatively

inconsequential.

His activities for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New

Orleans, Ave knew, were not of real consequence as he was not con- nected with any organized activity there. The interview Avith him in jail is not significant from the standpoint of Avhether he had a propensity for violence.

Q. This is the Quigley intervicAv you are talking about ? A. Yes ; it was a self-serving intervieAv.

The visits Avith the Soviet Embassy Avere evidently for the purpose of securing a visa, and he had told us during one of the intervieAvs that he Avould probably take his Avife back to Soviet Russia some time in the future. He had come back to Dallas. Hosty

had established that he had a job, he Avas working, and had told

Mrs. Paine that Avhen he got the money he was going to take an

apartment Avhen the baby Avas old enough, he Avas going to take an apartment, and the family would live together.

He gave evidence of settling doAvn. NoAvhere during the course

of this iuA^estigation or the information that came to us from other

agencies Avas there any indication of a potential for A^olence on

his part.

442
Consequently, there was no basis for Hosty to go to Secret Service and advise them of Oswald's presence. * * * 145 As reflected in this testimony, the officials of the FBI believed that

there was no data in its files which gave warning that Oswald was a source of danger to President Kennedy. ^"\niile he had expressed

hostility at times toward the State Department, the Marine Corps, and

the FBI as agents of the Government,^'*^ so far as the FBI knew he

had not shown any potential for violence. Prior to November 22,

1963, no law enforcement agency had any information to connect

Oswald with the attempted shooting of General Walker. It was

against this background and consistent with the criteria followed by

the FBI prior to November 22 that agents of the FBI in Dallas did not

consider Oswald's presence in the Texas School Book Depository

Building overlooking the motorcade route as a source of danger to the

President and did not inform the Secret Service of his employment

in the Depository Building.

The Commission believes, however, that the FBI took an unduly

restrictive view of its responsibilities in preventive intelligence w^ork,

prior to the assassination. The Commission appreciates the large

volume of cases handled by the FBI (636,371 investigative matters

during fiscal year 1963).^*^ There were no Secret Service criteria

which specifically required the referral of Oswald's case to the Secret

Service; nor was there any requirement to report the names of defectors. However, there was much material in the hands of the FBI

about Oswald: the knowledge of his defection, his arrogance and

hostility to the United States, his pro-Castro tendencies, his lies when

interrogated by the FBI, his trip to Mexico where he was in contact with Soviet authorities, his presence in the School Book Depository job

and its location along the route of the motorcade. All this does seem

to amount to enough to have induced an alert agency, such as the FBI,

possessed of this information to list Oswald as a potential threat to the safety of the President. This conclusion may be tinged with

hindsight, but it stated primarily to direct the thought of those re- sponsible for the future safety of our Presidents to the need for a more

imaginative and less narrow interpretation of their responsibilities. It is the conclusion of the Commission that, even in the absence

of Secret Service criteria which specifically required the referral of

such a case as Oswald's to the Secret Service, a more alert and care- fully considered treatment of the Oswald case by the Bureau might

have brought about such a referral. Had such a review been undertaken by the FBI, there might conceivably have been additional in- vestigation of the Oswald case between November 5 and November

22. Agent Hosty testified that several matters brought to his at- tention in late October and early November, including the visit to the

Soviet Embassy in Mexico City, required further attention. Under

proper procedures knowledge of the pending Presidential visit might

have prompted Hosty to have made more vigorous efforts to locate

443
Oswald's roominghouse address in Dallas and to interview liim re- garding these unresolved matters. The formal FBI instructions to its agents outlining the information to be referred to the Secret Service were too narrow at the time

of the assassination. '\"\niile the Secret Service bears the principal

responsibility for this failure, the FBI instructions did not reflect fully the Secret Service's need for information regarding potential threats. The handbook referred thus to "the possibility of an attempt against the person or safety of the President." ^^^ It is clear from Hosty's testimony that this was construed, at least by him,

as requiring evidence of a plan or conspiracy to injure the President.^*^

Efforts made by the Bureau since the assassination, on the other hand,

reflect keen awareness of the necessity of communicating a much wider

range of intelligence information to the Service.^^° Most important, notwithstanding that both agencies have professed

to the Commission that the liaison between them was close and fully

sufficient,^^^ the Commission does not believe that the liaison between

the FBI and the Secret Service prior to the assassination was as

effective as it should have been. The FBI Manual of Instructions

provided

Liaison With Other Government Agencies

To insure adequate and effective liaison arrangements, each

SAC should specifically designate an Agent (or Agents) to be

responsible for developing and maintaining liaison with other

Federal Agencies. This liaison should take into consideration

FBI-agency commmiity of interests, location of agency headquarters, and the responsiveness of agency representatives. In

each instance, liaison contacts should be developed to include a close friendly relationship, mutual understanding of FBI and

agency jurisdictions, and an indicated willingness by the agency

representative to coordinate activities and to discuss problems

of mutual interest. Each field office should determine those

Federal agencies which are represented locally and with which

liaison should be conducted.^^^

The testimony reveals that liaison responsibilities in connection with

the President's visit were discussed twice officially by the special agent

in charge of the FBI office in Dallas. As discussed in chapter II, some limited information was made available to the Secret Service.^^^

But there was no fully adequate liaison between the two agencies.

Indeed, the Commission believes that the liaison between all Federal

agencies responsible for Presidential protection should be improved.

Other Protective Measures and Aspects of Secret Service

Performance

The President's trip to Dallas called into play many standard operating procedures of the Secret Service in addition to its preventive

444
intelligence operations. Examination of these procedures shows that

in most respects they were well conceived and ably executed by the

personnel of the Service. Against the background of the critical events of November 22, however, certain shortcomings and lapses from

the high standards which the Commission believes should prevail in

the field of Presidential protection are evident.

Advance preparations.—The advance preparations in Dallas by

Agent Winston G. Lawson of the White House detail have been described in chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels

of the Dallas field office of the Secret Service, Lawson was responsible

for working out a great many arrangements for the President's trip.

The Service prefers to have two agents perform advance preparations.

In the case of Dallas, because President Kennedy had scheduled visits to five Texas cities and had also scheduled visits to other parts of the

country immediately before the Texas trip, there were not enough

men available to permit two agents to be assigned to all the advance

work. Consequently, Agent Lawson did the advance work alone from

November 13 to November 18, when he Avas joined by Agent David

B. Grant, who had just completed advance work on the President's

trip to Tampa.

The Commission concludes that the most significant advance ar- rangements for the President's trip were soundly planned. In particular, the Commission believes that the motorcade route selected by

Agent Lawson, upon the advice of Agent in Charge Sorrels and with

the concurrence of the Dallas police, was entirely appropriate, in

view of the known desires of the President. There were far safer

routes via freeways directly to the Trade Mart, but these routes would

not have been in accordance with the White House staff instructions

given the Secret Service for a desirable motorcade route.^^* Much of

Lawson's time was taken with establishing adequate security over the

motorcade route and at the tAvo places Avhere the President Avould stop.

Love Field and the Trade ^Mart. The Commission concludes that the

arrangements Avorked out at the Trade Mart by these Secret Service

agents Avith the cooperation of the Dallas police and other local laAv enforcement agents, Avere carefully executed. Since the President was

to be at the Trade Mart longer than at any other location in Dallas and

in view of the security hazards presented by the building, the Secret

Service correctly gave particular attention in the advance preparations to those arrangements. The Commission also regards the security arrangements Avorked out by Lawson and Sorrels at Love Field

as entirely adequate.

The Commission belieA^es, hoAvever, that the Secret Service has in- adequately defined the responsibilities of its advance agents, aa'Iio have

been given broad discretion to determine what matters require atten- tion in making adA\ance preparations and to decide what action to

take. Agent LaAvson Avas not given Avritten instructions concerning

the Dallas trip or advice about any peculiar problems Avhich it might

invoh^e; all instructions from higher authority Avere communicated to him orally. He did not have a checklist of the tasks he was expected to 445
accomplish, either by his own efforts or witli tlie cooperation of local authorities/^^ The only systematic supervision of the activities of the

advance agent has been that provided by a requirement that he file interim and final reports on each advance assignment. The interim

report must be in the hands of tlie agent supervising the protective

group traveling with the President long enough before his departure

to apprise him of any particular problems encountered and the re- sponsive action taken.^^'^ Agent Lawson's interim report was received

by Agent Kellerman on Xovemljer 20, the day before departure on tlie Texas trip.^^"

The Secret Service has advised the Commission that no uiuisual

precautions were taken for the Dallas trip, and that ''the precautions

taken for the President's trip Avere the usual safeguards employed on

trips of this kind in the United States during the previous year.'' ^^s Special Agent in Charge Sorrels testified that the advance preparations

followed on this occasion were "pretty much the same" as those fol- lowed in 1936 during a trip to Dallas by President Roosevelt, which was Sorrels' fii^t important assignment in connection with Presidential

work.^^^

In vicAv of the constant change in the nature of threats to the President and the divei*sity of the dangers which may arise in the various

cities within the United States, the Commission believes that standard

procedures in use for many years and applied in all parts of the

country may not be sufficient. There is, for example, no Secret Service

arrangement for evaluating before a trip particular difficulties that

might be anticipated, which would bring to bear the judgment and

experience of members of the ^Aliite House detail other than the

advance agent. Constant reevaluation of procedures, Avith attention

to special problems and the development of instructions specific to particular trips, would be a desirable innovation.

Liaison with local law enforcement authorities.—In the description

of the important aspects of the advance preparations, tliere have been

references to the numerous discussions between Secret Service repre- sentatives and the Dallas Police Department. The wholehearted

support of these local authorities was indispensable to the Service in carrying out its duties. The Service had 28 agents participating in

the Dallas visit.^'^'^ Agent Lawson's advance planning called for the

deployment of almost 600 members of the Dallas Police Department,

Fire Department, Count}^ Sheriff's Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.^"^ Despite this dependence on local authorities, which would be substantially the same on a visit by the

President to any large city, the Secret Service did not at the time of

the assassination have any established procedure governing its rela- tionships with them.^-'- It had no prepared checklist of matters to be

covered with local police on such visits to metropolitan areas and no

written description of the role the local police were expected to per- form. Discussions with the Dallas authorities and requests made of

them were entirely informal.

446
The Commission believes that a more formal statement of assigned

responsibilities, supplemented in each case to reflect the peculiar conditions of each Presidential trip, is essential. This Avould help to eliminate varying interpretations of Secret Service instructions by

different local laAv enforcement representatives. For example, while

the Secret Service representatives in Dallas asked the police to station

guards at each overpass to keep "unauthorized personnel" off, this

term was not defined. At some overpasses all persons were excluded,

while on the overpass overlooking the assassination scene railroad and

yard terminal workmen were permitted to remain under police supervision, as discussed in chapter III.^^^ Assistant Chief Batchelor of the

Dallas police noted the absence of any formal statement by the Secret

Service of specific work assigned to the police and suggested the

desirability of such a statement.^^* Agent Lawson agreed that such a procedure would assist him and other agents in fulfilling their responsibilities as advance agents."^

Chech of buildings along route of motorcade,—Agent Lawson did

not arrange for a prior inspection of buildings along the motorcade

route, either by police or by custodians of the buildings, since it was

not the usual practice of the Secret Service to do so.^^® The Chief of

the Service has provided the Commission a detailed explanation of

this policy

Except for inauguration or other parades involving foreign

dignitaries accompanied by the President in Washington, it has

not been the practice of the Secret Service to make surveys or checks of buildings along the route of a Presidential motorcade.

For the inauguration and certain other parades in Washington

where the traditional route is known to the public long in advance

of the event, buildings along the route can be checked by teams

of law enforcement officers, and armed guards are posted along

the route as appropriate. But on out-of-town trips where the route is decided on and made public only a few days in advance,

buildings are not checked either by Secret Service agents or by

any other law enforcement officers at the request of the Secret

Service. With the number of men available to the Secret Service

and the time available, surveys of hundreds of buildings and

thousands of windows is not practical.

In Dallas the route selected necessarily involved passing

through the principal downtown section between tall buildings.

While certain streets thought to be too narrow could be avoided

and other choices made, it was not practical to select a route where the President could not be seen from roofs or windows of

buildings. At the two places in Dallas where the President would

remain for a period of time. Love Field and the Trade Mart,

arrangements were made for building and roof security by posting police officers where appropriate. Similar arrangements for

a motorcade of ten miles, including many blocks of tall commercial buildings is not practical. Nor is it practical to prevent

447
people from entering such buildings, or to limit access in every

building to those employed or having business there. Even if it were possible with a vastly larger force of security officers to do

so, many observers have felt that such a procedure would not be

consistent with the nature and purpose of the motorcade to let the people see their President and to welcome him to their city.

In accordance with its regular procedures, no survey or other

check was made by the Secret Service, or by any other law en- forcement agency at its request, of the Texas School Book Depository Building or those employed there prior to the time the

President was shot.^^^ This justification of the Secret Service's standing policy is not persuasive. The danger from a concealed sniper on the Dallas trip was

of concern to those who had considered the problem. President

Kennedy himself had mentioned it that morning,^^^ as had Agent

Sorrels when he and Agent Lawson were fixing the motorcade route.^^^ Admittedly, protective measures cannot ordinarily be taken with

regard to all buildings along a motorcade route. Levels of risk can be

determined, however, as has been confirmed by building surveys made

since the assassination for the Department of the Treasury.^^^ An

attempt to cover only the most obvious points of possible ambush

along the route in Dallas might well have included the Texas School

Book Depository Building.

Instead of such advance precautions, the Secret Service depended

in part on the efforts of local law enforcement personnel stationed

along the route. In addition, Secret Service agents riding in the

motorcade were trained to scan buildings as part of their general

observation of the crowd of spectators.^^^ These substitute measures were of limited value. Agent Lawson was unable to state whether

he had actually instructed the Dallas police to scan windows of buildings lining the motorcade route, although it was his usual practice

to do so.^^^ If such instructions were in fact given, they were not

effectively carried out. Television films taken of parts of the motorcade by a Dallas television station show the foot patrolmen facing

the passing motorcade, and not the adjacent crowds and buildings,

as the procession passed.^^^

Three officers from the Dallas Police Department were assigned to the intersection of Elm and Houston during the morning of November 22 prior to the motorcade.^^^ All received their instructions

early in the morning from Capt. P. W. Lawrence of the traffic division.^^^ According to Captain Lawrence

I th^n told the officers that their primary duty was traffic and

crowd control and that they should be alert for any persons who

might attempt to throw anything and although it was not a violation of the law to carry a placard, that they were not to tolerate

any actions such as the Stevenson incident and arrest any person

who might attempt to throw anything or try to get at the Presi448
dent and his party; paying particular attention to the crowd

for any unusual activity. I stressed the fact that this was our

President and he should be shown every respect due his position

and that it was our duty to see that this was done.^'^ Captain Lawrence was not instructed to have his men watch buildings

along the motorcade route and did not mention the observation of

buildings to them.^^" The three officers confirm that their primary

concern was crowd and traffic control, and that they had no opportunity to scan the windows of the Depository or any other building

in the vicinity of Elm and Houston when the motorcade was passing.

They had, however, occasionally observed the windoAvs of buildings

in the area before the motorcade arrived, in accordance with their

own understanding of their function.^^^

As the motorcade approached Elm Street there were several Secret

Service agents in it who shared the responsibility of scanning the

windows of nearby buildings. Agent Sorrels, riding m the lead car, did observe the Texas School Book Depository Building as he passed

by, at least for a sufficient number of seconds to gain a "general impression'' of the lack of any unusual activity.^^^ He was handicapped,

however, by the fact that he was riding in a closed car whose roof

at times obscured his view.^*° Lawson, also in the lead car, did not

scan any buildings since an important part of his job was to look

backAvard at the President's car.^®^ Lawson stated that he "was looking back a good deal of the time, watching his car, watching the sides,

watching the crowds, giving advice or asking advice from the Chief

and also looking ahead to the known hazards like overpasses, underpasses, railroads, et cetera." ^^- Agent Roy H. Kellerman, riding in

the front seat of the Presidential car, stated that he scanned the Depository Building, but not sufficiently to be alerted by anything in the

windows or on the roof.^^^ The agents in the followup car also were

expected to scan adjacent buildings. However, the Commission does

not believe that agents stationed in a car behind the Presidential car, Avho must concentrate primarily on the possibility of threats from

crowds along the route, provide a significant safeguard against dangers in nearby buildings.

Conduct of Secret Service agents m Fo7't Worth on November 22.—

In the early morning hours on November 22, 1963, in Fort Worth,

there occurred a breach of discipline by some mem-bers of the Secret

Service who were officially traveling with the President. After the

President had retired at his hotel, nine agents who were off duty

went to the nearby Fort Worth Press Club at midnight or slightly

thereafter, expecting to obtain food ; they had had little opportunity

to eat during the day.^^^ No food was available at the Press Club.

All of the agents stayed for a drink of beer, or in several cases, a mixed

drink. According to their affidavits, the drinking in no case amounted

to more than three glasses of beer or li/^ mixed drinks, and others

who Avere present say that no agent Avas inebriated or acted improperly. The statements of the agents involved are supported by

449
statements of members of the Fort Worth press who accompanied

or observed them and by a Secret Service investigation.^^^ According to their statements, the agents remained at the Press

Club for periods varying from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, and

the last agent left the Press Club by 2 a.m.^^^ Two of the nine agents

returned to their rooms. The seven others proceeded to an establishment called the Cellar Coffee House, described by some as a beatnik

place and by its manager as "a unique show place with continuous

light entertainment all night [serving] only coffee, fruit juices and no

hard liquors or beer.'' ^^^ There is no indication that any of the agents

who visited the Cellar Coffee House had any intoxicating drink at that

establishment.^^^ Most of the agents were there from about 1 :30 or 1:45 a.m. to about 2:45 or 3 a.m.; one agent was there from 2 until 5 a.m.i«9

The lobby of the hotel and the areas adjacent to the quarters of the

President were guarded during the night by members of the midnight to 8 a.m. shift of the ^Yliite House detail. These agents were

each relieved for a half hour break during the night.^^^ Three members of this shift separately took this opportunity to visit the Cellar

Coffee House.^^^ Only one stayed as long as a half hour, and none had

any beverage there.^^^ Chief RoAvley testified that agents on duty

in such a situation usually stay within the building during their relief,

but that their visits to the Cellar were "neither consistent nor inconsistent'* with their duty.^^^

Each of the agents who visited the Press Club or the Cellar Coffee

House (apart from the three members of the midnight shift) had duty

assignments beginning no later than 8 a.m. that morning. President

Kennedy was scheduled to speak across the street from his hotel in

Fort Worth at 8 :30 a.m.,^^^ and then at a breakfast, after which the

entourage would proceed to Dallas. In Dallas, one of the nine agents was assigned to assist in security measures at LoA^e Field, and four had

protective assigmnents at the Trade Mart. The remaining four had

key responsibilities as members of the complement of the followup car m the motorcade. Three of these agents occupied positions on the

running boards of the car, and the fourth was seated in the car.^^^ The supervisor of each of the off-duty agents who visited the Press

Club or the Cellar Coffee House advised, in the course of the Secret

Service investigation of these events, that each agent reported for

duty on time, with full possession of his mental and physical capabilities and entirely ready for the performance of his assigned

duties.^^® Chief Rowley testified that, as a result of the investigation

he ordered, he was satisfied that each of the agents performed his

duties in an entirely satisfactory manner, and that their conduct the

night before did not impede their actions on duty or in the slightest

way prevent them from taking any action that might have aA'erted the tragedy.^^' However, Chief Eowley did not condone the action

of the off-duty agents, particularly since it violated a regulation of

the Secret Service, which provides

450
Liquor^ use of.—a. Employees are strictly enjoined to refrain

from the use of intoxicating liquor during the hours they are

officially employed at their post of duty, or when they may

reasonably expect that they may be called upon to perform an

official duty. During entire periods of travel status, the special

agent is officially employed and should not use liquor, until the

completion of all of his official duties for the day, after which

time a very moderate use of liquor will not be considered a violation. However, all members of the White House Detail and

special agents cooperating with them on Presidential and similar

protective assignments are considered to be subject to call for

official duty at any time while in travel status. Therefore, the

use of intoxicating liquor of any kind, including beer and wine,

by members of the White House Detail and special agents co- operating with them, or by special agents on similar assignments,

while they are in a travel status, is prohibited.^®®

The regulations provide further that "violation or slight disregard"

of these provisions "will be cause for removal from the Service." ^^^ Chief Eowley testified that under ordinary circumstances he would

have taken disciplinary action against those agents who had been

drinking in clear violation of the regulation. However, he felt that

any disciplinary action might have given rise to an inference that

the violation of the regulation had contributed to the tragic events

of November 22. Since he was convinced that this was not the case, he believed that it would be unfair to the agents and their families

to take explicit disciplinary measures. He felt that each agent rec- ognized the seriousness of the infraction and that there was no danger

of a repetition.200

The Commission recognizes that the responsibilities of members of

the White House detail of the Secret Service are arduous. They work

long, hard hours, under very great strain, and must travel frequently.

It might seem harsh to circumscribe their opportunities for relaxation.

Yet their role of protecting the President is so important to the wellbeing of the country that it is reasonable to expect them to meet very

high standards of personal conduct, so that nothing can interfere

with their bringing to their task the finest qualities and maximum

resources of mind and body. This is the salutary goal to which the

Secret Service regulation is directed, when it absolutely forbids

drinking by any agent accompanying the President on a trip. Nor

is this goal served when agents remain out until early morning hours,

and lose the opportunity to get a reasonable amount of sleep. It is conceivable that those men who had little sleep, and who had con- sumed alcoholic beverages, even in limited quantities, might have

been more alert in the Dallas motorcade if they had retired promptly

in Fort Worth. However, there is no evidence that these men failed

to take any action in Dallas within their power that would have

averted the tragedy. As will be seen, the instantaneous and heroic

451
response to the assassination of some of the agents concerned was in

the finest tradition of Government service.

The motorcade in Dallas.—Rigorous security precautions had

been arranged at Love Field with the local law enforcement authorities by Agents Sorrels and Lawson. These precautions included

reserving a ceremonial area for the Presidential party, stationing

police on the rooftops of all buildings overlooking the reception area, and detailing police in civilian clothes to be scattered throughout the

sizable crowd.^^^ When President and Mrs. Kennedy shook hands

with members of the public along the fences surrounding the reception

area, they were closely guarded by Secret Service agents who re- sponded to the unplanned event with dispatch. ^°^ As described in chapter II, the President directed that his car stop on two occasions during the motorcade so that he could greet members

of the public.^°^ At these stops, agents from the Presidential followup car stood between the President and the public, and on one occasion

Agent Kellerman left the front seat of the President's car to take a similar position. The Commission regards such impromptu stops as presenting an unnecessary danger, but finds that the Secret Service

agents did all that could have been done to take protective measures. The Presidential limousine.—The limousine used by President Kennedy in Dallas was a convertible with a detachable, rigid plastic

"bubble" top which was neither bulletproof nor bullet resistant.^*^* The last Presidential vehicle with any protection against small-arms

fire left the White House in 1953. It was not then replaced because

the state of the art did not permit the development of a bulletproof

top of sufficiently light weight to permit its removal on those occasions

when the President wished to ride in an open car. The Secret Service

believed that it was very doubtful that any President would ride reg- ularly in a vehicle with a fixed top, even though transparent.^^^ Since

the assassination, the Secret Service, with the assistance of other Federal agencies and of private industry, has developed a vehicle for the

better protection of the President.^°®

Access to passenger compartment of Presidential car.—On occasion

the Secret Service has been permitted to have an agent riding in the

passenger compartment w^ith the President. Presidents have made it clear, however, that they did not favor this or any other arrangement which interferes with the privacy of the President and his

guests. The Secret Service has therefore suggested this practice only on extraordinary occasions. ^^^ Without attempting to prescribe or recommend specific measures which should be employed for the future

protection of Presidents, the Commission does believe that there are

aspects of the protective measures employed in the motorcade at Dallas which deserve special comment.

The Presidential vehicle in use in Dallas, described in chapter II, had no special design or equipment which would have permitted the

Secret Service agent riding in the driver's compartment to move into

the passenger section without hindrance or delay. Had the vehicle

been so designed it is possible that an agent riding in the front seat 452
could have reached the President in time to protect him from the

second and fatal shot to hit the President. However, such access to the President was interfered with both by the metal bar some 15

inches above the back of the front seat and by the passengers in the

jump seats. In contrast, the Vice Presidential vehicle, although not

specially designed for that purpose, had no passenger in a jump seat between Agent Youngblood and Vice President Johnson to interfere

with Agent Youngblood's ability to take a protective position in the

passenger compartment before the third shot was fired.^^^ The assassination suggests that it would have been of prime importance in the protection of the President if the Presidential car permitted immediate access to the President by a Secret Service

agent at the first sign of danger. At that time the agents on the

rumiing boards of the followup car were expected to perform such a

function. However, these agents could not reach the President's car when it was traveling at an appreciable rate of speed. Even if the

car is traveling more slowly, the delay involved in reaching the President may be crucial. It is clear that at the time of the shots in Dallas,

Agent Clinton J. Hill leaped to the President's rescue as quickly as humanly possible. Even so, analysis of the motion picture films taken

by amateur photographer Zapruder reveals that Hill first placed his

hand on the Presidential car at frame 343, 30 frames and therefore

approximately 1.6 seconds after the President was shot in the head.^°^ About 3.7 seconds after the President received this wound. Hill had

both feet on the car and was climbing aboard to assist President

and Mrs. Kennedy.^^^ Planning for motorcade contingencies.—In response to inquiry by

the Commission regarding the instructions to agents in a motorcade

of emergency procedures to be taken in a contingency such as that

which actually occurred, the Secret Service responded:

The Secret Service has consistently followed two general principles in emergencies involving the President. All agents are so

instructed. The first duty of the agents in the motorcade is to attempt to cover the President as closely as possible and practicable and to shield him by attempting to place themselves between the President and any source of danger. Secondly, agents

are instructed to remove the President as quickly as possible from

known or impending danger. Agents are instructed that it is not their responsibility to investigate or evaluate a present danger,

but to consider any untoward circumstances as serious and to

afford the President maximum protection at all times. No responsibility rests upon those agents near the President for the identification or arrest of any assassin or an attacker. Their primary

responsibility is to stay with and protect the President.

Beyond these two principles the Secret Service believes a detailed contingency or emergency plan is not feasible because the

variations possible preclude effective planning. A nmnber of

steps are taken, however, to permit appropriate steps to be taken

463
in an emero'ency. For instance, the lead car always is manned

by Secret Service agents familiar with the area and with local law enforcement officials; the radio net in use in motorcades is elaborate and permits a number of different means of communication Avith various local points. A doctor is in the motorcade.211 This basic approach to the problem of pLanning for emergencies is sound. Any effort to prepare detailed contingency plans might well

have the undesirable effect of inhibiting ([uick and imaginative re- sponses. If the advance preparation is thorough, and the protective

devices and techniques employed are sound, those in command should

be able to direct the response appropriate to the emergency.

The Commission finds that the Secret Service agents in the motorcade who were immediately responsible for the President's safety re- acted promptly at the time the shots were fired. Their actions demonstrate that the President and the Nation can expect courage and

devotion to duty from the agents of the Secret Service.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Commission's review of the provisions for Presidential protection at the time of President Kennedy's trip to Dallas demonstrates

the need for substantial improvements. Since the assassination, the

Secret Service and the Department of the Treasury have properly

taken the initiative in reexamining major aspects of Presidential protection. Many changes have ah'eady been made and others are con- templated, some of them in response to the Commission's questions

and informal suggestions.

Assassination a Federal Crime

There was no Federal criminal jurisdiction over the assassination

of President Kennedy. Had there been reason to believe that the

assassination was the result of a conspiracy. Federal jurisdiction could

have been asserted ; it has long been a Federal crime to conspire to injure any Federal officer, on account of, or while he is engaged in,

the lawful discharge of the duties of his office.^^- Murder of the

President has never been covered by Federal law, however, so that once it became reasonably clear that the killing was the act of a

single person, the State of Texas had exclusive jurisdiction. It is anomalous that Congress has legislated in other ways touching

upon the safety of the Chief Executive or other Federal officers, without making an attack on the President a crime. Threatening harm

to the President is a Federal .offense,^^^ as is advocacy of the overthrow

of the Government by the assassination of any of its officers.-^"^ The

murder of Federal judges, U.S. attorneys and marshals, and a number

of other specifically designated Federal law enforcement officers is a Federal crime.^^^ Equally anomalous are statutory provisions which

454
specifically authorize the Secret Service to protect the President,

without authorizing it to arrest anyone who harms him. The same

provisions authorize the Service to arrest w^ithout warrant persons

committing certain offenses, including counterfeiting and certain

frauds involving Federal checks or securities.^^^ The Commission

agrees with the Secret Service ^^^ that it should be authorized to make

arrests without warrant for all offenses within its jurisdiction, as are FBI agents and Federal marshals.^^®

There have been a number of efforts to make assassination a Federal crime, particularly after the assassination of President McKinley

and the attempt on the life of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.^^^

In 1902 bills passed both Houses of Congress but failed of enactment

when the Senate refused to accept the conference report.^^" A number

of bills were introduced immediately following the assassination of

President Kennedy.^^^ The Commission recommends to the Congress that it adopt legislation which would

Punish the murder or manslaughter of, attempt or conspiracy

to murder, kidnaping of and assault upon

the President, Vice President, or other officer next in the order

of succession to the Office of President, the President-elect and the

Vice-President-elect,

whether or not the act is committed while the victim is in the

performance of his official duties or on account of such

performance.

Such a statute would cover the President and Vice President or, in

the absence of a Vice President, the person next in order of succession.

During the period between election and inauguration, the Presidentelect and Vice-President-elect would also be covered. Restricting the

coverage in this way would avoid unnecessary controversy over the

inclusion or exclusion of other officials who are in the order of succes- sion or who hold important governmental posts. In addition, the re- striction would probably eliminate a need for the requirement which

has been urged as necessary for the exercise of Federal power, that

the hostile act occur while the victim is engaged in or because of the

performance of official duties.^^^ The governmental consequences of

assassination of one of the specified officials give the United States

ample power to act for its own protection.^^^ The activities of the victim at the time an assassination occurs and the motive for the assassination bear no relationship to the injury to the United States which

follows from the act. This point was ably made in the 1902 debate by

Senator George F. Hoar, the sponsor of the Senate bill

* * * what this bill means to punish is the crime of interruption

of the Government of the United States and the destruction of its security by striking down the life of the person who is actually in

the exercise of the executive power, or of such persons as have been

455
constitutionally and lawfully provided: to succeed thereto in case of a vacancy. It is important to this country that the interruption

shall not take place for an hour * * * 224 Enactment of this statute would mean that the investigation of any

of the acts covered and of the possibility of a further attempt would

be conducted by Federal law enforcement officials, in particular, the

FBI with the assistance of the Secret Service.^^^ At present, Federal agencies participate only upon the sufferance of the local authorities. While the police work of the Dallas authorities in the early

identification and apprehension of Oswald was both efficient and

prompt, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who strongly supports such

legislation, testified that the absence of clear Federal jurisdiction over

the assassination of President Kennedy led to embarrassment and

confusion in the subsequent investigation by Federal and local

authorities.22^ In addition, the proposed legislation will insure that

any suspects who are arrested will be Federal prisoners, subject to Federal protection from vigilante justice and other threats.^^^ Committee of Cabinet Officers

As our Government has become more complex, agencies other than

the Secret Service have become involved in pliases of the overall problem of protecting our national leaders. The FBI is the major domestic

investigating agency of the United States, while the CIA has the primary responsibility for collecting intelligence overseas to supplement

information acquired by the Department of State. The Secret Ser\^- ice must rely in large part upon the investigating capacity and ex- perience of these and other agencies for much of its information

regarding possible dangers to the President. The Commission believes

that it is necessary to improve the cooperation among these agencies

and to emphasize that the task of Presidential protection is one of

broad national concern. The Commission suggests that consideration might be given to as- signing to a Cabinet-level committee or the National Security Council

(which is responsible for advising the President respecting the co- ordination of departmental policies relating to the national security) ^^ the responsibility to review and oversee the protective

activities of the Secret Service and the other Federal agencies that

assist in safeguarding the President. The Committee should include

the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General, and, if the

Council is used, arrangements should be made for the attendance of

the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General at any meetings which are concerned with Presidential protection.^^® The Council already includes, in addition to the President and Vice President,

the Secretaries of State and Defense and has a competent staff. The foremost assignment of the Committee would be to insure that

the maximum resources of the Federal Government are fully engaged

456
in the job of protecting the President, by defining responsibilities

clearly and overseeing their execution. Major needs of personnel or other resources might be met more easily on its recommendation than

they have been in the past.

The Committee would be able to provide guidance in defoiing the

general nature of domestic and foreign dangers to Presidential security. As improvements are recommended for the advance detection

of potential threats to the President, it could act as a final review

board. The expert assistance and resources which it could draw upon

would be particularly desirable in this complex and sensitive area. This arrangement would provide a continuing high-level contact

for agencies that may wish to consult respecting particular protective measures. For various reasons the Secret Service has functioned

largely as an informal part of the White House staff, with the result

that it has been unable, as a practical matter, to exercise sufficient in- fluence over the security precautions which surround Presidential

activities. A Cabinet-level committee which is actively concerned with

these problems would be able to discuss these matters more effectively

with the President.

Responsibilities for Presidential Protection

The assignment of the responsibility of protecting the President to an agency of the Department of the Treasury was largely an historical

accident.^^^ The Secret Service was organized as a division of the

Department of the Treasury in 1865, to deal with counterfeiting. In

1894, while investigating a plot to assassinate President Cleveland, the

Service assigned a small protective detail of agents to the Wliite House.

Secret Service men accompanied the President and his family to their

vacation home in Massachusetts and special details protected him in

Washington, on trips, and at special functions. These informal and

part-time arrangements led to more systematic protection in 1902,

after the assassination of President McKinley ; the Secret Service, then

the only Federal investigative agency, assumed full-time responsibility

for the safety of the President. Since that time, the Secret Service

has had and exercised responsibility for the physical protection of

the President and also for the preventive investigation of potential

threats against the President.

Although the Secret Service has had the primary responsibility for

the protection of the President, the FBI, which was established within

tlie Department of Justice in 1908, has had in recent years an increasingly important role to play. In the appropriations of the FBI there

has recurred annually an item for the "protection of the person of the

President of the United States,'' which first appeared in the appropriation of the Department of Justice in 1910 under the heading "Miscellaneous Objects." 231 Although the FBI is not charged with the

jjhysical protection of the President, it does have an assigmnent, as do

other Government agencies, in the field of preventive investigation in

regard to the President's security. As discussed above, the Bureau has

457

730-900 0-64—31
attempted to meet its responsibilities in this field by spelling out in its Handbook the procedures which its agents are to follow in connection

with information received "indicating the possibility of an attempt

against the person or safety of the President" or other protected

persons. With two Federal agencies operating in the same general field of

preventive investigation, questions inevitably arise as to the scope of

each agency's authority and responsibility. As the testimony of

J. Edgar Hoover and other Bureau officials revealed, the FBI did not

believe that its directive required the Bureau to notify the Secret

Service of the substantial information about Lee Harvey Oswald

which the FBI had accumulated before the President reached Dallas.

On the other hand, the Secret Service had no knowledge whatever of

Oswald, his background, or his employment at the Book Depository,

and Robert I. Bouck, who was in charge of the Protective Research

Section of the Secret Service, believed that the accumulation of the

facts known to the FBI should have constituted a sufficient basis to warn the Secret Service of the Oswald risk. The Commission believes that both the FBI and the Secret Service

have too narrowly construed their respective responsibilities. The

Commission has the impression that too much emphasis is placed by

both on the investigation of specific threats by individuals and not

enough on dangers from other sources. In addition, the Commission

has concluded that the Secret Service particularly tends to be the

passive recipient of information regarding such threats and that its Protective Research Section is not adequately staffed or equipped to conduct the wider investigative work that is required today for the

security of the President.

During the period the Commission was giving thought to this situation, the Commission received a number of proposals designed to improve current arrangements for protecting the President. These

proposals included suggestions to locate exclusive responsibility for all phases of the work in one or another Government agency, to clarify the

division of authority between the agencies involved, and to retain the

existing system but expand both the scope and the operations of the

existing agencies, particularly those of the Secret Service and the FBI.

It has been pointed out that the FBI, as our chief investigative

agency, is properly manned and equipped to carry on extensive information gathering functions within the United States. It was also

suggested that it would take a substantial period of time for the Secret

Service to build up the experience and skills necessary to meet the

problem. Consequently the suggestion has been made, on the one hand,

that all preventive investigative functions relating to the security of

the President should be transferred to the FBI, leaving with the

Secret Service only the responsibility for the physical protection of

the President, that is, the guarding function alone.

On the other hand, it is urged that all features of the protection of

the President and his family should be committed to an elite and mdependent corps. It is also contended that the agents should be intimately

458
associated with the life of the Presidential family in all its ramifications and alert to every danger that might befall it, and ready at any instant to hazard great danger to themselves in the performance

of their tremendous responsibility. It is suggested that an organization shorn of its power to investigate all the possibilities of danger to the President and becoming merely the recipient of information

gathered by others would become limited solely to acts of physical

alertness and personal courage incident to its responsibilities. So cir- cumscribed, it could not maintain the esprit de corps or the necessary

alertness for this unique and challenging responsibility.

While in accordance with its mandate this Commission has necessarily examined into the functioning of the various Federal agencies

concerned with the tragic trip of President Kennedy to Dallas and

while it has arrived at certain conclusions in respect thereto, it seems

clear that it was not within the Commission's responsibility to make

specific recommendations as to the long-range organization of the

President's protection, except as conclusions flowing directly from its examination of the President's assassination can be drawn. The Commission was not asked to apply itself as did the Hoover Commission

in 1949, for example, to a determination of the optimum organization

of the President's protection. It would have been necessary for the

Commission to take considerable testimony, much of it extraneous to the facts of the assassination of President Kennedy, to put it in a

position to reach final conclusions in this respect. There are always

dangers of divided responsibility, duplication, and confusion of au- thority where more than one agency is operating in the same field; but on the other hand the protection of the President is in a real sense a Government-wide responsibility which must necessarily be

assumed by the Department of State, the FBI, the CIA, and the military intelligence agencies as well as the Secret Service. Moreover,

a number of imponderable questions have to be weighed if any change

in the intimate association now established betw^een the Secret Service

and the President and his family is contemplated.

These considerations have induced the Commission to believe that

the determination of whether or not there should be a relocation of

responsibilities and functions should be left to the Executive and the

Congress, perhaps upon recommendations based on further studies

by the Cabinet-level committee recommended above or the National

Security Council.

Pending any such determination, however, this Commission is con- vinced of the necessity of better coordination and direction of the

activities of all existing agencies of Government which are in a position to, and do, furnish information and services related to the security

of the President. The Commission feels the Secret Service and the

FBI, as well as the State Department and the CIA when the President travels abroad, could improve their existing capacities and

procedures so as to lessen the chances of assassination. Without,

therefore, coming to final conclusions respecting the long-range

organization of the President's security, the Commission believes

459
that the facts of the assassination of President Kennedy point

to certain measures which, while assuming no radical relocation of

responsibilities, can and should be recommended by this Commission

in the interest of the more efficient protection of the President. These

recommendations are reviewed below.

General Supervision of the Secret Service

The intimacy of the Secret Service's relationship to the TYhite

House and the dissimilarity of its protective functions to most activities of the Department of the Treasury have made it difficult for the

Treasury to maintain close and continuing supervision. The Commission believes that the recommended Cabinet-level committee will

help to correct many of the major deficiencies of supervision disclosed

by the Commission's investigation. Other measures should be taken as well to improve the overall operation of the Secret Service.

Daily supervision of the operations of the Secret Service within

the Department of the Treasury should be improved. The Chief of

the Service now reports to the Secretary of the Treasury through an Assistant Secretary whose duties also include the direct supervision of the Bureau of the Mint and the Department's Employment

Policy Program, and who also represents the Secretary of the Treasury on various committees and groups.^^^ The incumbent has no technical qualifications in the area of Presidential protection."^ The

Commission recommends that the Secretary of the Treasury appoint

a special assistant with the responsibility of supervising the Service.

This special assistant should be required to have sufficient stature and

experience in law enforcement, intelligence, or allied fields to be able

to provide effective continuing supervision, and to keep the Secretary

fully informed regarding all significant developments relating to Presidential protection.

This report has already pointed out several respects in which the

Commission believes that the Secret Service has operated with insufficient planning or control. Actions by the Service since the assas- sination indicate its awareness of the necessity for substantial improvement in its administration. A formal and thorough description of the responsibilities of the advance agent is now in preparation

by the Service.^^^ Work is going forward toward the preparation

of formal understandings of the respective roles of the Secret Service

and other agencies with which it collaborates or from which it derives

assistance and support. The Commission urges that the Service con- tinue this effort to overhaul and define its procedures. While manuals

and memoranda are no guarantee of effective operations, no sizable

organization can achieve efficiency without the careful analysis and

demarcation of responsibility that is reflected in definite and comprehensive operating procedures.

The Commission also recommends that the Secret Service consciously set about the task of inculcating and maintaining the highest

standard of excellence and esprit for all of its personnel. Tliis

460
involves tight and unswervingcliscipline as well as the promotion of an

outstanding degree of dedication and loyalty to duty. The Commission emphasizes that it finds no causal connection between the assassination and the breach of regulations which occurred on the night of

November 21 at Fort Worth. Nevertheless, such a breach, in which

so many agents participated, is not consistent with the standards

which the responsibilities of the Secret Service require it to meet.

Preventive Intelligence

In attempting to identify those individuals who might prove a danger to the President, the Secret Service has largely been the passive recipient of threatening communications to the President and

reports from other agencies which independently evaluate their information for potential sources of danger. This was the consequence

of the Service's lack of an adequate investigative staff, its inability

to process large amounts of data, and its failure to provide specific

descriptions of the kind of information it sought.^^^ The Secret Service has embarked upon a complete overhaul of its research activities.^^® The staff of the Protective Research Section

(PRS) has been augmented, and a Secret Service inspector has been

put in charge of this operation. With the assistance of the President's

Office of Science and Technology, and of the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense, it has obtained the services

of outside consultants, such as the Rand Corp., International Business

Machines Corp., and a panel of psychiatric and psychological experts.

It has received assistance also from data processing experts at the

CIA and from a specialist in psychiatric prognostication at Walter

Reed Hospital.^^^ As a result of these studies, the planning document submitted by the Secretary of the Treasury to the Bureau of the

Budget on August .31, 1964, makes several significant recommendations in this field.2^^ Based on the Commission's investigation, the

following minimum goals for improvements are indicated:

Broader and more selective criteria.—Since the assassination, both

the Secret Service and the FBI have recognized that the PRS files can no longer be limited largely to persons communicating actual

threats to the President. On December 26, 1963, the FBI circulated

additional instructions to all its agents, specifying criteria for information to be furnished to the Secret Service in addition to that covered

by the former standard, which was the possibility of an attempt

against the person or safety of the President. The new instructions

require FBI agents to report immediately information concerning:

Subversives, ultrarightists, racists and fascists (a) possessing

emotional instability or irrational behavior, (b) who have made

threats of bodily harm against officials or employees of Federal,

state or local government or officials of a foreign government, (c)

who express or have expressed strong or violent anti-U.S. senti- ments and who have been involved in bombing or bomb-making

461
or whose past conduct indicates tendencies toward violence, and

(d) whose prior acts or statements depict propensity for violence

and hatred against organized govemment.^^^

Alan H. Belmont, Assistant to the Director of the FBI, testified that

this revision was initiated by the FBI itself.^^^ The volume of refer- ences to the Secret Service has increased substantially since the new

instructions went into effect; more than 5,000 names were referred

to the Secret Service in the first 4 months of 1964.^*^ According to Chief Kowley, by mid-June 1964, the Secret Service had received

from the FBI some 9,000 reports on members of the Communist

Party.2*2 The FBI now transmits information on all defectors,^*^ a category which would, of course, have included Oswald.

Both Director Hoover and Belmont expressed to the Commission

the great concern of the FBI, which is shared by the Secret Service,

that referrals to the Secret Service under the new criteria might, if not properly handled, result in some degree of interference with the

personal liberty of those involved.^** They emphasized the necessity

that the information now being furnished be handled with judgment

and care. The Commission shares this concern. The problem is ag- gravated by the necessity that the Service obtain the assistance of

local law enforcement officials in evaluating the information which it receives and in taking preventive steps.

In June 1964, the Secret Service sent to a number of Federal law

enforcement and intelligence agencies guidelines for an experimental

program to develop more detailed criteria.^^^ The suggestions of

Federal agencies for revision of these guidelines were solicited. The

new tentative criteria are useful in making clear that the interest

of the Secret Service goes beyond information on individuals or groups threatening to cause harm or embarrassment to the President.2*^ Information is requested also concerning individuals or groups who have demonstrated an interest in the President or "other

high government officials in the nature of a complaint coupled with an expressed or implied determination to use a means, other than

legal or peaceful, to satisfy any grievance, real or imagined." ^^^ Under these criteria, whether the case should be referred to the Secret

Service depends on the existence of a previous history of mental

instability, propensity toward violent action, or some similar characteristic, coupled with some evaluation of the capability of the individual or group to further the intention to satisfy a grievance by

unlawful means.2**

While these tentative criteria are a step in the right direction, they seem unduly restrictive in continuing to require some manifestation

of animus against a Government official. It is questionable whether

such criteria would have resulted in the referral of Oswald to the

Secret Service. Chief Rowley believed that they would, because of

Oswald's demonstrated hostility toward the Secretary of the Navy

in his letter of January 30, 1962.2*^ • 462
I shall employ all means to right this gross mistake or injustice to a boni-fied U.S. citizen and ex-service man. The U.S. government has no charges or complaints against me. I ask you to look

into this case and take the necessary steps to repair the damage

done to me and my family.^^^

Even with the advantage of hindsight, this letter does not appear to express or imply Oswald's "determination to use a means, other than

legal or peaceful, to satisfy [his] grievance" within the meaning of

the new criteria.^^^ It is apparent that a good deal of further consideration and experimentation will be required before adequate criteria can be framed.

The Commission recognizes that no set of meaningful criteria will

yield the names of all potential assassins. Charles J. Guiteau, Leon F.

Czolgosz, John Schrank, and Guiseppe Zangara—four assassins or would-be assassins—were all men who acted alone in their criminal

acts against our leaders.^^^ None had a serious record of prior violence.

Each of them was a failure in his work and in his relations with others, a victim of delusions and fancies which led to the conviction that so- ciety and its leaders had combined to thwart him. It will require

every available resource of our Government to devise a practical

system which has any reasonable possibility of revealing such

malcontents.

Liaison with other agencies regarding intelligence.—The Secret

Service's liaison with the agencies that supply information to it has

been too casual. Since the assassination, the Service has recognized

that these relationships must be far more formal, and each agency

given clear understanding of the assistance which the Secret Service

expects.2^^

Once the Secret Service has formulated its new standards for col- lection of information, it should enter into written agreements with

each Federal agency and the leading State and local agencies that

might be a source of such information. Such agreements should describe in detail the information which is sought, the manner in which it will be provided to the Secret Service, and the respective responsibilities for any further investigation that may be required.

This is especially necessarj^ with regard to the FBI and CIA, which

carry the major responsibility for supplying information about potential threats, particularly those arising from organized groups,

within their special jurisdiction. Since these agencies are already

obliged constantly to evaluate the activities of such groups, they

should be responsible for advising the Secret Service if information

develops indicating the existence of an assassination plot and for re- porting such events as a change in leadership or dogma which indicate

that the group may present a danger to the President. Detailed for- mal agreements embodying these arrangements should be worked out

between the Secret Service and both of these agencies.

It should be made clear that the Secret Service will in no way seek

to duplicate the intelligence and investigative capabilities of the

463
agencies now operating in this field but will continue to use the data

developed by these agencies to carry out its special duties. Once ex- perience has been gained in implementing such agreements with the

Federal and leading State and local agencies, the Secret Service,

through its field offices, should negotiate similar arrangements with

such other State and local law enforcement agencies as may provide

meaningful assistance. Much useful information will come to the

attention of local law enforcement agencies in the regular course of

their activities, and this source should not be neglected by undue

concentration on relationships with other Federal agencies. Finally,

these agreements with Federal and local authorities will be of little value unless a system is established for the frequent formal review

of activities thereunder.

In this regard the Commission notes with approval several recent measures taken and proposed by the Secret Service to improve its liaison arrangements. In his testimony Secretary of the Treasury

C. Douglas Dillon informed tlie Commission that an interagency committee has been established to develop) more effective criteria. According to Secretary Dillon, the Committee will include representatives

of the President's Office of Science and Technology, Department of

Defense, CIA, FBI, and the Secret Service."^ In addition, the Department of the Treasury has requested five additional agents for its Protective Research Section to serve as liaison officers with law en- forcement and intelligence agencies.^^^ On the basis of the Department's review during the past several months, Secretary Dillon testi- fied that the use of such liaison officers is the only effective way to insure that adequate liaison is maintained.^^^ As a beginning step to improve liaison with local law enforcement officials, the Secret Service on August 26, 1964, directed its field representatives to send a form

request for intelligence information to all local, county, and State law

enforcement agencies in their districts.^" Each of these efforts appears sound, and the Commission recommends that these and the other measures suggested by the Commission be jDursued vigorously by the

Secret Service.

Automatic data jyTOcessmg.—Unless the Secret Service is able to deal rapidly and accurately with a growing body of data, the increased

information supplied by other agencies Avill be wasted. PRS must

develop the capacity to classify its subjects on a more sophisticated

basis than the present geographic breakdown. Its present manual

filing system is obsolete ; it makes no use of the recent developments in

automatic data processing which are widely used in the business world

and in other Government offices. The Secret Service and the Department of the Treasury now recognize this critical need. In the planning document currently under

review by the Bureau of the Budget, the Department recommends

that it be permitted to hire five qualified persons "to plan and develop

a workable and efficient automated file and retrieval system." ^^^ Also the Department requests the sum of $100,000 to conduct a detailed feasibility study; this money would be used to compensate

464
consultants, to lease standard equipment or to purchase specially

designed pilot equipment .^^^ On the basis of such a feasibility study,

the Department hopes to design a practical system which will fully

meet the needs of the Protective Research Section of the Secret Service.

The Commission recommends that prompt and favorable consideration be given to this request. The Commission further recommends

that the Secret Service coordinate its planning as closely as possible

with all of the Federal agencies from which it receives information.

The Secret Service should not and does not plan to develop its own

intelligence gathering facilities to duplicate the existing facilities of

other Federal agencies. In planning its data processing techniques,

the Secret Service should attempt to develop a system compatible

with those of the agencies from which most of its data will come.*

Protective Research participation in advance arrangements.—Since

the assassination. Secret Service procedures have been changed to require that a member of PRS accompany each advance survey team

to establish liaison with local intelligence gathering agencies and to provide for the immediate evaluation of information received from

them.2^^ This PRS agent will also be responsible for establishing an

informal local liaison committee to make certain that all protective

intelligence activities are coordinated. Based on its experience during this period, the Secret Service now recommends that additional

personnel be made available to PRS so that these arrangements can

be made permanent without adversely affecting the operations of the

Service's field offices.^*^^ The Commission regards this as a most useful innovation and urges that the practice be continued.

Liaison With Local Law Enforcement Agencies

Advice by the Se<iret Service to local police in metropolitan areas

relating to the assistance expected in connection Avith a Presidential

visit has hitherto been handled on an informal basis. ^^^ The Service

should consider preparing formal explanations of the cooperation anticipated during a Presidential visit to a city, in formats that can be

communicated to each level of local authorities. Thus, the local chief

of police could be given a master plan, prepared for the occasion, of

all protective measures to be taken during the visit; each patrolman

might be given a prepared booklet of instructions explaining what is expected of him.

*In evaluating data processing techniques of the Secret Service, the Commission had

occasion to become informed, to a limited extent, about the data processing techniques

of other Federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The Commission was struck by the apparent lack of effort, on an interagency basis, to develop coordinated and mutually compatible systems, even Avhere such coordination would not seem inconsistent with the particular purposes of the agency involved. The Commission recognizes that

this is a controversial area and that many strongly held views are advanced in resistance

to any suggestion that an effort be made to imi>ose any degree of coordination. This matter is obviously beyond the jurisdiction of the Commission, but it seems to warrant

further study before each agency becomes irrevocably committed to separate action. The

Commission, therefore, recommends that the President consider ordering an inquiry into the possibility that coordination might be achieved to a greater extent than seems now

to be contemplated, without interference with the primary mission of each agency involved. 465
The Secret Service has expressed concern that written instructions

might come into the hands of local newspapers, to the prejudice of

the precautions described.^^^ However, the instructions must be com- municated to the local police in any event and can be leaked to the

press whether or not they are in writing. More importantly, the lack

of carefully prepared and carefully transmitted instructions for

typical visits to cities can lead to lapses in protection, such as the

confusion in Dallas about whether members of the public were per- mitted on overpasses.^^ Such instructions will not fit all circumstances, of course, and should not be relied upon to the detriment of

the imaginative application of judgment in special cases.

Inspection of Buildings

Since the assassination of President Kennedy, the Secret Service

has been experimenting with new techniques in the inspection of

buildings along a motorcade route.^^^ According to Secretary Dillon,

the studies indicate that there is some utility in attempthig to designate certain buildings as involving a higher risk than others.^^^ The

Commission strongly encourages these efforts to improve protection

along a motorcade route. The Secret Service should utilize the per- sonnel of other Federal law enforcement offices in the locality to assure adequate manpower for this task, as it is now doing.^^^ Lack of adequate resources is an unacceptable excuse for failing to improve ad- vance precautions in this crucial area of Presidential protection.

Secret Service Personnel and Facilities

Testimony and other evidence before the Commission suggest that

the Secret Service is trying to accomplish its job with too few people

and without adequate modern equipment. Although Chief Rowley

does not complain about the pay scale for Secret Service agents, salaries are below those of the FBI and leading municipal police forces.^^^ The assistant to the Director of the FBI testified that the caseload of

each FBI agent averaged 20-25, and he felt that this was high.^^^

Chief Rowley testified that the present workload of each Secret Service agent averages 110.1 cases.^^*^ While these statistics relate to the

activities of Secret Service agents stationed in field offices and not the

White House detail, field agents supplement those on the detail, particularly when the President is traveling. Although the Commission

does not know whether the cases involved are entirel}^ comparable,

these figures suggest that the agents of the Secret Service are substantially overworked.

In its budget request for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1964, the

Secret Service sought funds for 25 new positions, primarily in field

offices.2^^ This increase has been approved by the Congress.^^^

Chief Rowley explained that this would not provide enough additional

manpower to take all the measures which he considers required. However, the 1964—65 budget request was submitted in November 1963 and

466
requests for additional personnel were not made because of the studies

then being conducted.^^^

The Secret Service has now presented its recommendations to the

Bureau of the Budget.^^^ The plan proposed by the Service would

take approximately 20 months to implement and require expenditures

of approximately $3 million during that period. The plan provides

for an additional 205 agents for the Secret Service. Seventeen of this

nmnber are proposed for the Protective Research Section; 145 are proposed for the field offices to handle the increased volume of security

investigations and be available to protect the President or Vice President w^hen they travel; 18 agents are proposed for a rotating pool

which will go through an intensive training cycle and also be available to supplement the White House detail in case of unexpected

need ; and 25 additional agents are recommended to provide the Vice

President full protection.

The Commission urges that the Bureau of the Budget review these

recommendations with the Secret Service and authorize a request for

the necessary supplemental appropriation, as soon as it can be justified. The Congress has often stressed that it will support any reasonable request for funds for the protection of the President.^^^

Manpower and Technical Assistance From Other Agencies

Before the assassination the Secret Service infrequently requested

other Federal law enforcement agencies to provide personnel to assist in its protection functions.^^^ Since the assassination, the Service

has experimented with the use of agents borrowed for short periods

from such agencies. It has used other Treasury law enforcement

agents on special experiments in building and route surveys in places

to which the President frequently travels.^" It has also used other

Federal law enforcement agents during Presidential visits to cities in which such agents are stationed. Thus, in the 4 months following

the assassination, the FBI, on 16 separate occasions, supplied a total of 139 agents to assist in protection work during a Presidential visit,^^^

which represents a departure from its prior practice.^^® From

February 11 through Jime 30, 1964, the Service had the advantage

of 9,500 hours of work by other enforcement agencies.^^^

The FBI has indicated that it is willing to continue to make such

assistance available, even though it agrees with the Secret Service that

it is preferable for the Service to have enough agents to handle all protective demands.^^^ The Commission endorses these efforts to supplement the Service's own personnel by obtaining, for short periods

of time, the assistance of trained Federal law enforcement officers. In

view of the ever-increasing mobility of American Presidents, it seems

unlikely that the Service could or should increase its own staff to a

size which would permit it to provide adequate protective manpower

for all situations. The Commission recommends that the agencies

involved determine how much periodic assistance they can provide, and

that each such agency and the Secret Service enter into a formal

467
agreement defining such arrangements. It may eventually be desirable

to codify the practice in an Executive order. The Secret Service will

be better able to plan its own long-range personnel requirements if

it Imows with reasonable certainty the amount of assistance that it can expect from other agencies.

The occasional use of personnel from other Federal agencies to assist in protecting the President has a further advantage. It symbolizes

the reality that tlie job of protecting the President has not been and

cannot be exclusively the responsibility of the Secret Service. The

Secret Service in the past has sometimes guarded its right to be ac- knoAvledged as the sole protector of the Chief Executive. This no

longer appears to be the case.-^- Protecting the President is a difficult and complex task which requires full use of the best resources of many

parts of our Government. Recognition that the responsibility must

be shared increases the likelihood that it will be met. Much of the Secret Service work requires the development and use of highly sophisticated equipment, some of which must be specially

designed to fit unique requirements. Even before the assassination,

and to a far greater extent thereafter, the Secret Service has been

receiving full cooperation in scientific research and technological

development from many Government agencies including the

Department of Defense and the President's Office of Science and

Technology.^^^

Even if the manpower and technological resources of the Secret

Service are adequately augmented, it will continue to rely in many

respects upon the greater resources of the Office of Science and Technology and other agencies. The Commission recommends that the

present arrangements with the Office of Science and Technolog}' and

the other Federal agencies that have been so helpful to the Secret Service be placed on a permanent and formal basis. The exchange of let- ters dated August 31, 1964, between Secretary Dillon and Donald F. Hornig, Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, is a useful effort in the right direction.^^ The Service should

negotiate a memorandum of understanding with each agency that has

been assisting it and from which it can expect to need help in the

future. The essential terms of such memoranda might well be embodied in an Executive order.

CONCLUSION

This Commission can recommend no procedures for the future protection of our Presidents which will guarantee security. The demands on the President in the execution of his responsibilities in

today's Avorld are so varied and complex and the traditions of the

office in a democracy such as ours are so deepseated as to preclude

absolute security.

The Commission has, however, from its examination of the facts

of President Kennedy's assassination made certain recommendations

468
which it believes would, if adopted, materially improve upon the

procedures in effect at the time of President Kennedy's assassination

and result in a substantial lessening of the danger.

As has been pointed out, the Commissi6n has not resolved all the

proposals which could be made. The Commission nevertheless is confident that, with the active cooperation of the responsible agencies and with the understanding of the people of the United States

in their demands upon their President, the recommendations we have

here suggested would greatly advance the security of the office Avithout

any impairment of our fundamental liberties.

469

APPENDIX I LMKEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMB£R 30, 1963

Office of the White House Press Secretsury

THE WHITE HOUSE EXECUTIVE ORDER

NO .11130 APPOINTING A COMMISSION TO REPORT UPON THE

ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F, KENNEDY

Pursuamt to the authority vested in me as President of the United

States, I hereby appoint a Commission to ascertain, evaluate and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the late President John F, Kennedy and the subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination. The Commission shall consist of -- The Chief Justice of the United States, Chairman;

Senator Richard B, Russell; Senator John Sherman Cooper; Congrescman Hale Boggs; Congressman Gerald R. Ford; The Honorable Alien W. Dulles; The Honorable John J. McCloy.

The purposes of the Commission are to examine the evidence developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and any additional evidence thai; may hereafter come to light or be uncovered by federal or state authorities; to make such further investigation as the Commission finds desirable; to evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding such assassination, including the subsequent violent death of

the man charged with the assassination, and to report to nne its findings and conclusions. The Commission is empowered to prescribe its own procedures

and to employ such assistants as it deems necessary. Necessary expenses of the Connmission may be paid fron^ the "Emergency Fund for the President".

All Executive departments and agencies are directed to furnish

the Commission with such facilities, services and cooperation as it may request from time to time. LYNDON B. JOHNSON

THE V/-HITE HOUSE,

November 29, 1963.

# # #

471
APPENDIX II IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 29 , 1963

Office of the Whice House Press Secretary

THE WHITE HOUSE

The President today announced that he is appointing a Special Commission to study and report upon all facts cuid circumstances relating

to the assassination of the late President, John F. Kennedy, and the subsequent violent death of the man charged with the assassination.

The President stated that the Majority and Minority Leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives have been consulted with

respect to the proposed Specicd Commission*

The members of the Special Commission are: Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chairman

Senator Richard Russell (Georgia) Senator John Sherman Cooper (Kentucky)

Representative Hale Boggs (Louisiana)

Representative Gerald Ford (Michigan)

Hon, Allen W, Dulles of Washington

Hon, John J, McCloy of New York

The President stated that the Special Commission is to be instructed

to evaluate all available information concerning the subject of the in- quiry. The Federal Bureau of Iis^estigation, pursuant to an earlier

directive of the President, is making complete investigation of the facts. An inquiry is also scbeduiod by a Texas Court of Laquiry convened by

the Attorney General of Texas xuxder Texas law. The Special Commission will have before it all evidence uncovered by

the Federal Bureau of Investigation and all information available to any

agency of the Federal Government, The Attorney General of Texas

has zlao offered his cooperation. All Federal agencies and offices are

being directed to furnish services and cooperation to the Special Commission, The Commission will also be empowered to conduct any

further investigation that it deems desirable.

The President is instructing the Special Commission to satisfy itself that the truth is known as far as it can be discovered, and to report its findings and conclusions to him, to the American people, and to the world,

# ## ##

472
APPENDIX III

Public Law 88-202

88th Congress, S. J. Res. 137

December 13, 1963

Joint lUBOtation

AiUh«irixiug rhe rmiiuiisHiuii (>!4riil»liKli«><I to rpimrt niMHi the asBMewInation of

PrvHidMit John P. Kennedy to <<«Muiiel the iittendniH-e nnd tevthuony of wltnettHett and the imidiu'tion i»f evidenw. Retolved by the Setmte and Home of Reprenentati&es of the United

State* of Amerlea in Congress assembled, Tliat (a) for the purposes cannissioa in- of this joint resohition, the term "Comnussion** means the Commission vestigating as- appointed by the President by Exe<Mitive Order 11130, dated November sassination of 29 1963 '

* President John

(b) Tlie Commission, or any meml>er of the Commission when so ?• Kenne<^y. authorized by the Commission, sliall liave jwwer to issue subpenas f^^®^ i?7aQ* requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the produc- ^^ ^*^' ^'^^'

tion of any evidence that rehites to any matter under investigation by

the Commission. Tlie Commission, or any member of the Commission

or .any agent or agency designated by the Commission for such purpcise, may administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and

receive evidence. Such attendance of witnesses and the pi*oduction of such e\ndence may be requii'ed from any place within the IJnited States

at any designated place of hearing.

(e) In case of •ontumacy or refiisal to ol)ey a subpna issued to any

person under subsection (b), any court of the United States within

the jurisdiction of which the inquiry is carried on or Avithin the juris- diction of which said person guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey

is fomid or resides or transacts business, upon application by the Commission shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person to appear before the Commission, its member, agent, or agency, there to produce evidence if so ordered, or there to give tes- timony touching the matter under investigation or in (question; and

any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by sjiid court as a contempt thereof. (d) Process and papei-s of the Commission, its members, agent, or itemer of ser.. agency, may be served either upon the witness in person or by regis- vioe. tered mail or by telegraph or by leaving a copy thereof at the residence or principal office or plai-e of business of the person required to be

served. The verified i-eturn by the mdividual so serving the same, set- ting forth the manner of such service, shall be proof ofthe same, and 77 stat, 362, the return post office receipt or telegraph receipt therefor when regis- 77 stat. 363. tered ahd mailed or telegraphed as aforesaid shall be proof of service of

the same. Witnesses sununoned before the Commission, its members,

agent, or agency, shall be paid the same fe^ and mileage that are Said witnesses in the courts of the XTnited States, and witnesses whose

epositions are taken and the persons taking the same shall severally be entitled to the same fees as are paid for like services in the courts of the United States.

(e) No person shidl be excused frcHn attoiding and testifying or privilege

from producing books, records, correspondence, documents, at other against self- evidence in ob^ence to a subpena, on the ground that the testimony inoriidjiation. or evidence required of him mav tend to incriminate him or subject

him to a penalty or forfeiture; but no individual shall be proeecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture (except demotion or removal from office) for or on aoooont of any transaction, matter, or thi^g con- cerning which he is compelled, after having claimed his privilege

473

730-900 0-64—32
Pub. Law 88-202 -2- December 13, 1963

77 STAT. 363,against self-incrimination, to testify ur produtw. evidence, excejpt tliat such individual so testifying shall not be exenij>( from pnMPCution nnd

punishment for perjury committed hi so testifying. Place of (f) All process of any court to whicli application may l)e ma<1e under

senrlM, this Act may be served in the judicial district whei-ein the person

required to he serve*! resides or may lie found. Approved December 13, 1963.

LEGISUTIVE HISTORY : CONGRiSSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 109 (1963)t Deo. 9t Passed Senate.

Deo. lOt Considered euid parsed ^ouse.

6P0 99*ISS

474
APPENDIX IV

Biographical Information and Acknowledgments

MEMBERS OF COMMISSION

The Honorable Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, was born in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 19, 1891. He graduated

from the University of California with B.L. and J.D. degrees, and was

admitted to the California bar in 1914. Chief Justice Warren was

attorney general of California from 1939 to 1943. From 1943 to 1953

he was Governor of California and in September 1953 was appointed

by President Eisenhower to be the Chief Justice of the United States. The Honorable Eichard B. Russell was bom in Winder, Ga., on November 2, 1897. He received his B.L. degree from the University

of Georgia in 1918 and his LL.B. from Mercer University in 1957.

Senator Russell commenced the practice of law in Winder, Ga., in

1918, became county attorney for Barrow County, Ga., and was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1921 to 1931.

He was Governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933, was elected to the U.S.

Senate in January 1933 to fill a vacancy, and has been Senator from

Georgia continuously since that date. The Honorable John Sherman Cooper was born in Somerset, Ky., on August 23, 1901. He attended Centre College, Kentucky, received

his A.B. degree from Yale College in 1923, and attended Harvard Law

School from 1923 to 1925. Senator Cooper has been a member of the

House of Representatives of the Kentucky General Assembly, a county

judge and circuit judge in Kentucky, and is now a member of the U.S.

Senate, where he has served, though not continuously, for 12 years. He was a delegate to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sessions of the

General Assembly of the United Nations, an advisor to the Secretary

of State in 1950 at meetings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Ambassador to India and Nepal in 1955-56. He served in

the 3d U.S. Army in World War II in Europe, and after the war

headed the reorganization of the German judicial system in Bavaria.

The Honorable Hale Boggs was bom in Long Beach, Miss., on

February 15, 1914. He graduated from Tulane University with a B.A.

degree in 1935 and received his LL.B. in 1937. He was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 1937 and practiced law in New Orleans. Representative Boggs was elected to the 77th Congress of the United States

and in World War II was an officer of the U.S. Naval Reserve and

of the Maritime Service. He has been a Member of Congress since

1946 when he was elected to represent the Second District, State

of Louisiana, in the 80th Congress, and he is currently the majority

whip for the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives.

475
The Honorable Gerald E. Ford was born in Omaha, Nebr., on July 14, 1913. He graduated from the University of Michigan with

a B.A. degree in 1935 and from Yale University Law School with an LL.B. degree in 1941. Eepresentative Ford was admitted to the

Michigan bar in 1941. He was first elected to Congress in 1948 and has

been reelected to each succeeding Congress. He served 47 months in

the U.S. Navy during World War II. Representative Ford was

elected in January 1963 the chairman of the House Republican

Conference.

The Honorable Allen W. Dulles was born in Watertown, N.Y., on

April 7, 1893. He received his B.A. degree from Princeton in 1914,

his M.A. in 1916, his LL.B. from George Washington University

in 1926, and LL.D. degrees. Mr. Dulles entered the diplomatic service

of the United States in 1916 and resigned in 1926 to take up law practice in New York City. In 1953 Mr. Dulles was appointed Director of

Central Intelligence and served in that capacity until 1961.

The Honorable John J. McCloy was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 31, 1895. He received an A.B. degree, cum laude, from Amherst College in 1916 ; LL.B. from Harvard, and LL.D. from Amherst

College. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1921 and is now

a member of the firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. He

was Assistant Secretary of War from April 1941 to November 1945.

Mr. McCloy was President of the World Bank from 1947 to 1949

and U.S. Military Governor and High Commissioner for Germany

from 1949 to 1952. He has been coordinator of U.S. disarmament

activities since 1961.

GENERAL COUNSEL

J. Lee Rankin was born in Hartington, Nebr., on July 8, 1907. He

received his A.B. degree from the University of Nebraska in 1928

and his LL.B. in 1930 from the University of Nebraska Law School.

He was admitted to the Nebraska bar in 1930 and practiced law in

Lincoln, Nebr., until January 1953 when he was appointed by President Eisenhower to be the assistant attorney general in charge of the

Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice. In August

1956 President Eisenhower appointed Mr. Rankin to be the Solicitor

General of the United States. Since January 1961 Mr. Rankin has

been in private practice in New York City. He accepted the appointment as General Counsel for the President's Commission on the

Assassination of President Kennedy on December 8, 1963.

ASSISTANT COUNSEL

Francis W. H. Adams was born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on June 26,

1904. He graduated from Williams College with an A.B. degree, and

received his LL.B. degree from Fordham Law School in 1928. Mr.

Adams has acted as chief assistant U.S. attorney in New York, special

476
assistant to the U.S. Attorney General, and as an arbitrator for the

War Labor Board. In 1954 and 1955 he served as police commissioner

of New York City. Mr. Adams is a member of the New Y,ork and

Washington law firm of Satterlee, Warfield & Stephens.

Joseph A. Ball was born in Stuart, Iowa, on December 16, 1902. He

received his B.A. degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebr.,

and his LL.B. degree from the University of Southern California in

1927. Mr. Ball teaches criminal law and procedure at the University

of Southern California. He is a member of the U.S. Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Mr. Ball is a member of the firm of Ball, Hunt & Hart, Long Beach

and Santa Ana, Calif.

David W. Belin was born in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 1928.

He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he earned three

degrees with high distinction : A.B. (1951), M. Bus. Adm. (1953), and

J.D. (1954). At the University of Michigan he was associate editor

of the Michigan Law Review. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and

the Order of the Coif. He is a member of the law firm of Herrick,

Langdon, Sandblom & Belin, Des Moines, Iowa.

William T. Coleman, Jr., was born in Germantown, Philadelphia,

Pa., on July 7, 1920. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1941 with an A.B. degree, summa cum laude, received his

LL.B. in 1946, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School and

served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. From 1947 to 1948

he served as law clerk to «Tudge Herbert F. Goodrich, U.S. Court of

Appeals for the Third Circuit, and during the 1948-49 term of the

U.S. Supreme Court, as law clerk to Justice Felix Frankfurter. Mr.

Coleman has served as a special counsel for the city of Philadelphia

and has been a consultant with the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency since January 1963. He is a member of the law firm

of Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish, Kohn & Dilks, Philadelphia, Pa.

Melvin A. Eisenberg was bom in New York City on December 3, 1934. He was graduated from Columbia College, A.B., summa cum

laude, in 1956, and from Harvard Law School, LL.B., summa cum

laude, in 1959. Mr. Eisenberg is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and

served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He is associated

with the law firm of Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler in

New York City.

Burt W. Griffin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 19, 1932.

He received his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Amherst College in

1954, and LL.B. from Yale University Law School in 1959. He was

note and comment editor of the Yale Law Journal. During 1959-60

Mr. Griffin served as law clerk to Judge George T. Washington of

the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. From

1960 to 1962 Mr. Griffin was an assistant U.S. attorney for the northern district of Ohio, and since 1962 he has been associated with the

firm of MacDonald, Hopkins & Hardy, Cleveland, Ohio.

Leon D. Hubert, Jr., was born in New Orleans, La., July 1, 1911.

He received his A.B. degree from Tulane University in 1932, and

477
LL.B. from Tulane in 1934. .He was associate editor of the Tulane

Law Review, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Order of the

Coif. Mr. Hubert was assistant U.S. attorney for the eastern district

of Louisiana, 1934-46, and a professor of law at Tulane LTniversity,

1942-60. He has worked with the Louisiana State Law Institute on

the revision of statutes and on the codes of civil and criminal procedure. Mr. Hubert is a member of the law firm of Hubert, Baldwin

& Zibilich, New Orleans, La.

Albert E. Jenner, Jr., was born in Chicago, 111., on June 20, 1907.

He received his law degree from the University of Illinois in 1930.

He is a member of the Order of the Coif. In 1956 and 1957 Mr. Jenner

served as a special assistant attorney general of Illinois in the investigation of fraud in the office of the auditor of public accounts of the

State of Illinois. Mr. Jenner is a Commissioner on Uniform State

Laws, a member of the U.S. Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and vice chairman of the

Joint Committee for the Effective Administration of Justice. He is a former professor of law at the Northwestern University School of

Law. Mr. Jenner is a member of the law firm of Raymond, Mayer,

Jenner & Block, Chicago, 111. Wesley J. Liebeler was born in Langdon, N. Dak., on May 9, 1931.

He received his B.A. degree from Macalester College, St. Paul, Minn.,

in 1953 and graduated, cum laude, from the University of Chicago

Law School in 1957. He was a managing editor of the University of

Chicago Law Review and is a member of the Order of the Coif. Mr.

Liebeler is associated with the law firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milbum,

New York City.

Norman Redlich was born in New York City on November 12, 1925.

He received his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Williams College

in 1947, his LL.B., cum laude, from Yale Law School in 1950, and

LL.M. (Taxation) in 1955 from the New York University School of

Law. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Order of the Coif,

and was executive editor of the Yale Law Journal. Mr. Redlich is Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law, and is editor in chief of the Tax Law Review, New York University.

W. David Slawson w^as born in. Grand Rapids, Mich., on June 2, 1931. He received his A.B. degree, summa cum laude, from Amherst

College in 1953, and M.A. from Princeton University in 1954. Mr.

Slawson received his LL.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1959. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was a note

editor of the Harvard Law Review. Mr. Slawson is a member of

the law firm of Davis, Graham & Stubbs, Denver, Colo.

Arlen Specter was bom in Wichita, Kans., on February 12, 1930.

He received his B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in

1951, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and received his

LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1956. He was an editor of the Yale

Law Journal. Mr. Specter was an associate of the law firm of

Dechert, Price & Rhoads in Philadelphia from 1956 to 1959, and from

1959 to 1964 he was an assistant in the Philadelphia district attorney's

478
office. Mr. Specter is a member of the firm of Specter & Katz, Philadelphia, Pa.

Samuel A. Stem was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on January 21, 1929.

He graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania with an A.B. in 1949. In 1952 he received his LL.B., magna cum laude, from

Harvard Law School, and was developments editor of the Harvard

Law Review. Mr. Stern served as law clerk to Chief Judge Calvert

Magruder, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, during 1954-55

and was law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren during 1955-66. He

is a member of the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Washington, D.C.

Howard P. Willens was bom in Oak Park, 111., on May 27, 1931.

He received his B.A. degree, with high distinction, from the University of Michigan in 1953 and his LL.B. from Yale Law School in

1956. Mr. Willens is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was an editor

of the Yale Law Journal. He was associated with the law firm of

Kirkland, Ellis, Hodson, Chaffetz & Masters, Washington, D.C, until

1961, when he was appointed Second Assistant in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

STAFF MEMBERS

Philip Barson was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on May 2, 1912. He

received his Bachelor of Science of Commerce, from Temple University, Philadelphia, in 1934. Mr. Barson has been employed by the

Internal Revenue Service, Intelligence Division, Philadelphia, since

September 1948, first as a special agent and since 1961 has been group

supervisor. Mr. Barson is a certified public accountant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Edward A. Conroy was born in Albany, N.Y., on March 20, 1920.

He attended Brooklyn Polytechnical Institute and Benjamin Franklin University, Washington, D.C. Mr. Conroy j,oined the Internal

Revenue Service as a revenue officer in 1946. After acting as executive

assistant to the assistant regional inspector, Boston, Mass., Mr. Conroy

became senior inspector in the Planning and Programing Branch of

the Internal Security Division, Inspection, of the Internal Revenue

Service. He currently occupies that position.

John Hart Ely was bom in New York City on December 3, 1938.

He graduated, summa cum laude, from Princeton University in 1960,

and from Yale Law School, magna cum laude, in 1963. He was note

and comment editor of the Yale Law Journal. He is a member of the

Phi Beta Kappa and the Order of the Coif. During the 1964-65

term Mr. Ely will serve as law clerk to Chief Justice Warren.

Alfred Goldberg was born in Baltimore, Md., on December 23, 1918. He received his A.B. degree from Western Maryland College

in 1938, and his Ph. D. from the Johns Hopkins University in 1950.

After 4 years' service with the U.S. Army, Dr. Goldberg became

historian with the U.S. Air Force Historical Division and later Chief

479
of the Current History Branch. In 1962-63 he was a visiting American fellow, King's College, University of London, and since his

return has been senior historian, U.S. Air Force Historical Division.

Dr. Goldberg is the author or editor of several publications on historical subjects and is a contributor to Encyclopedia Britannica and the

World Book.

Murray J. Laulicht was born in Brooklyn, X.Y., on May 12, 1940.

He received his B.A. in 1961 from Yeshiva College, and received his

LL.B. degree, summa cum laude, from Columbia University School of

Law in 1964. He was notes and comments editor of the Columbia Law

Review. During 1964-65 Mr. Laulicht will clerk for Senior Judge

Harold R. Medina of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second

Circuit.

Arthur K. Marmor was bom in New York City on December 5, 1915. He received a B.S.S. degree from the College of the City of

New York in 1937 and an A.M. degree from Columbia L^niversity in

1940. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II. Mr. Marmor

has been historian for the Departments of Interior, Army, and Air

Force, and Chief, Editorial Services Branch, Department of State. He has also taught for the American University and the University

of Maryland. Mr. Marmor has contributed to numerous Government

publications and has been in charge of the editing of historical and

legal volumes. At present he is a historian for the Department of

the Air Force. Richard M. Mosk was born in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 18, 1939.

He graduated from Stanford University, with great distinction, in

1960 and from Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1963. Mr. Mosk

is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. During the 1964-65 term of the

California Supreme Court Mr. Mosk will clerk for Justice Mathew

Tobriner.

John J. O'Brien was born in Somerville, Mass., on September 11,

1919. Mr. O'Brien received his B.B.A. degree in law and business,

cum laude, from Northeastern University, Boston, Mass. He re- received his M.A. degree in the field of governmental administration from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and in

1941 joined the Bureau of Internal Revenue. After service in the

U.S. Coast Guard, Mr. O'Brien resumed his work as an Internal

Revenue Service investigator, and is currently the Assistant Chief

of the Inspection Services Investigations Branch, in the National Office

of Internal Revenue.

Stuart R. Pollak was born in San Pedro, Calif., on August 24, 1937.

He received his B.A. degree from Stanford L^niversity, with great

distinction, in 1959, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Pollak obtained his LL.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School

in 1962, where he was book review and legislation editor of the Harvard Law Review. During the 1963-64 term Mr. Pollak was law

clerk to Justices Stanley Reed and Harold Burton. Mr. Pollak is a

staff assistant in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of

Justice.

480
Alfredda Scobey was born in Kankakee, 111. She received her A.B.

degree from American University, Washington, D.C., in 1933, studied

law at John Marshall Law School, Atlanta, Ga., and was admitted

to the Georgia bar in 1945. Miss Scobey did graduate study at the

National University of Mexico, at Duke University, and at Emory

University, Atlanta. She practiced law from 1945 to 1949 in Atlanta

and since 1949 has been a law assistant in the Court of Appeals,

Georgia.

Charles N. Shaffer, Jr., was born in New York City on June 8, 1932.

He attended Fordham College in 1951 and received his LL.B. from the

Fordham University School of Law in 1957. From 1958 to 1959 Mr.

Shaffer was associated with the law firm of Chadburn, Parke, Whiteside & Wolff, New York City. He was assistant U.S. attorney in the

southern district of New York from 1959 to 1961, when he was appointed Special Trial Attorney in the Criminal and Tax Divisions

of the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

Lloyd L. Weinreb was bom in New York City on October 9, 1936. He received B.A. degrees from Dartmouth College, summa cum laude,

in 1957, and from the University of Oxford in 1959. He received his

LL.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1962. He

was case editor of the Harvard Law Review. During the 1963-64

term Mr. Weinreb was law clerk to Justice John M. Harlan. Mr.

Weinreb is a staff assistant in the Criminal Division of the U.S.

Department of Justice.

Acknowledgments

During the taking of testimony in various parts of the United States,

the Commission was greatly assisted by the offices of numerous U.S. at- torneys of the Department of Justice. The Commission would like to acknowledge its gratitude for this assistance and thank in particular

Harold Barefoot Sanders, Jr., U.S. attorney for the northern district

of Texas, and his conscientious assistant, Martha Joe Stroud.

In addition the Commission wishes to thank the following lawyers,

secretaries, and clerks for their unstinting efforts on behalf of the

Commission

Sheila Adams Paul Dodyk

Stephen R. Barnett Charlee Dianne Duke

Thomas D. Barr Julia T. Eide

Miriam A. Bottum Josephine M. Farrar

Stephen G. Breyer William T. Finley, Jr. Patrick O. Burns Dennis M. Flannery

Charlene Chardwell James C. Gaither

Anne M. Clark Stephen R. Goldstein

Jonathan M. Clark Patricia E. Gormley

George C. Cochran Jeanne C. Hauer

Betty Jean Compton Beverly A. Heckman

Francine Davis Sadie M. Hennigan

Viola C. Davis Lela B. Hewlett

481
Elaine Johnson

Vivian Johnson

Pearl G. Kamber

Sharon Kegarise

Adele W. Lippard

David T. Luhm

Ella M. McCall

Louise S. McKenzie

Michael W. Maupin

Jean H. Millard

Seresa Mintor

Maurice Moore

Mary L. Norton

Vaughnie Perry

Jane W. Peter

Edward K. Pierpoint

James H. Pipkin, Jr.

S. Paul Posner

Douglas Prather

Monroe Price

Lucille Ann Robinson

Suzanne Rolston

Mary Ann Rowcotsky

Carolyn A. Schweinsberg

Ruth D. Shirley

Ray Shurtleff

Helen Tarko

Jane M. Vida

Jay Vogelson

Aime V. Welsh

Margaret C. Yager

482
APPENDIX V

List of Witnesses

The following is a list of the 552 witnesses w^hose testimony has been

presented to the Commission. Witnesses w^ho appeared before members of the Commission have a "C" following their names ; those questioned during depositions by members of the Commission's legal staff are indicated by a "D'' ; and those who supplied affidavits and state- ments are similarly identified with "A'' and "S". The brief descriptions of the witnesses pertain either to the time of their testimony or

to the time of the events concerning which they testified.

Witness Description Testimony

Abies, Don R.^ Jail Clerk, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 239. partment.

Abt, John J." New York City attorney Vol. X, p. lie. Adamcik, John P.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 202. partment.

Adams, R. L.^ " Placement interviewer, Texas Vol. X, p. 136. Employment Commission. Vol. XI, p. 480. Adams, Victoria Elizabeth". . Employee, Texas School Book Vol. VI, p. 386. Depository (TSBD).

Akin, Gene Coleman " Doctor, Parkland Hospital .... Vol. VI, p. 63. Alba, Adrian Thomas " Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. X, p. 219. New Orleans.

Allen, Mrs. J. U."^ Secretary, Chamberlin-Hunt Vol. XI, p. 472. Academy.

Altgens, James W." Witness at assassination Vol. VII, p. 515. scene. Anderson, Eugene D." Marine Corps markmanship Vol. XI, p. 301. expert. Andrews, Dean Adams, Jr." . . New Orleans attorney Vol. XI, p. 325. Applin, George Jefferson, Jr.". Witness of Oswald arrest Vol. VII, p. 85. Arce, Danny G." Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 363. Archer, Don Ray " Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 395. partment.

Armstrong, Andrew, Jr." Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . . Vol. XIII, p. 302. Arnett, Charles Oliver" Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 128. partment.

Aycox, James Thomas " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XV, p. 203. Baker, Marrion L."^ ^ Member, Dallas Police Depart- Vol. Ill, p. 242. ment. Vol. VII, p. 592. Baker, Mrs. (Raehley) Employee, TSBD Vol. VII, p. 507. Donald."

Baker, T. L.^ Member, Dallas Police Depart- Vol. IV, p. 248. ment.

Ballen, Samuel B." Acquaintance of the Oswalds in Vol. IX, p. 45. Texas.

Barbe, Emmett Charles, Jr.^ . . Employee, William B. Reily Vol. XI, p. 473. Co. Bargas, Tommy " Superintendent, Leslie Weld- Vol. X, p. 160. ing Co. 483
Witness Description Testimony

Barnes, W. E.^ Member, Dallas Police Depart- Vol. VII, p. 270.

inent. Barnett, W. E.^ do Vol. VII, p. 539. Barnhorst, Colin ^ Desk Clerk, YMCA, in Dallas . . Vol. X, p. 284. Bashoiir, Fouad A.^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital . . . Vol. VI, p. 61. Batchelor, Charles " Assistant Chief, Dallas Police Vol. XII, p. 1. Department. Vol. XV, p. 114. Bates, Pauline Virginia ^ Public stenographer, Fort Vol. VIII, p. 330. Worth.

Baxter, Charles Rufus ^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital Vol. VI, p. 39. Beaty, Buford Lee " Member, Dallas Police Depart- Vol. XII, p. 158. ment.

Beavers, William Robert ° Psychiatrist, Dallas Vol. XIV, p. 570. Beers, Ira J. "Jack", Jr.^ Newspaper photographer, Vol. XIII, p. 102. Dallas.

Bellocchio, Frank " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . Vol. XIV, p. 466. Belmont, Alan H.^ Assistant to the Director, Vol. V, p. 1. Federal Bureau of Investi- gation (FBI).

Benavides, Domingo " Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. VI, p. 444. Tippit crime scene. Benton, Nelson ^ Television reporter, CBS Vol. XV, p. 456. Bieberdorf, Fred A.^ First aid attendant, Dallas Vol. XIII, p. 83. Health Department.

Biggio, William S.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XIV, p. 48. partment.

Blalock, Vance " Observed Oswald in New Or- Vol. X, p. 81. leans. Bledsoe, Mary E." Oswald's former landlady in Vol. VI, p. 400. Dallas. Bogard, Albert Guy ^ Automobile salesman, Dallas.

Vol. X, p. 352. Bookhout, James W.'' Agent, FBI Vol. VII, p. 308. Boone, Eugene ^ Deputy Sheriff, Dallas County

Vol. Ill, p. 291. Boswell, J. Thornton ^ Doctor, Bethesda Naval Hos- Vol. II, p. 376.

pital. Botelho,' James Anthony ^ . . . . Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 315. Marine Corps.

Bouck, Robert Inman*^ Agent, U.S. Secret Service. . . . Vol, IV, p. 294. Boudreaux, Anne ^ Acquaintance of Oswald dur- Vol. VIII, p. 35. ing his youth.

Bouhe, George A.^ Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. VIII, p. 355. in Texas. Bowers, Lee E., Jr.^ Employee, Union Terminal Co. Vol. VI, p. 284. Bowron, Diana Hamilton ^ .. . Nurse, Parkland Hospital Vol. VI, p. 134. Boyd, Elmer L.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 119. partment.

Branch, John Henry " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . . Vol. XV, p. 473. Brennan, Howard Leslie'**^... Witness at assassination Vol. Ill, pp. 140, scene. 184, 211. Vol. XI, p. 206. Brewer, E. D.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VI, p. 302. partment.

Brewer, Johnny Calvin^ Witness of Oswald arrest Vol. VII, p. 1. Brian, V. J.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. V, p. 47. partment.

Bringuier, Carlos ° Cuban attorney, now a resi- Vol. X, p. 32. dent of New Orleans. Brock, Alvin R.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 171. partment.

484
Witness Description Testimony

Brock, Mary ^ Witness in the vicinity of Vol. VII, p. 593. the Tippit crime scene. Brock, Robert ^ do Vol. VII, p. 593. Brooks, Donald E.° Employment counselor, Texas Vol. X, p. 143. Employment Commission.

Brown, C. W.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 246. partment.

Brown, Earle V.^ do Vol. VI, p. 321. Brown, Peter Megargee ^ Counsel for Community Seiw- Vol. XI, p. 470.

ice Society, New York. Burcham, John W.'* Chief of Unemployment Insur- Vol. XI, p. 473. ance, Texas Employment

Commission.

Burns, Doris " Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 397. Burroughs, Warren H." Employee, Texas Theatre Vol. VII, p. 14. Cabell, Earle ° Mayor of Dallas Vol. VII, p. 476. Cabell, Mrs. Earle ^ Wife of Mayor Cabell Vol. VII, p. 485. Cadigan, James C.^ " Questioned document expert, Vol. IV, p. 89. FBI. Vol. VII, p. 418.

Call, Richard Dennis'^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 322. the Marine Corps.

Callaway, Ted ^ Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. Ill, p. 351. Tippit crime scene. Camarata, Donald Peter ^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 316. the Marine Corps.

Carlin, Bruce Ray ^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. .

Vol. XIII, p. 201. Vol. XV, p. 641. Carlin, Karen Bennett ^ do Vol. XIII, p. 205. Vol. XIV, p. 656. Carr, Waggoner ^ Attorney general of State of Vol. V, p. 258. Texas.

Carrico, Charles James ^ ^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital. . . . Vol. Ill, p. 357.

Vol. VI, p. 1. Carro, John ^ Probation officer, New York Vol. VIII, p. 202.

City, 1952^54.

Carroll, Bob K.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 17. partment.

Carswell, Robert ^ Special assistant to Secretary Vol. IV, p. 299. of the Treasury. Vol. V, p. 486. Carter, Clifton C.^ Assistant to President John- Vol. VII, p. 474. son. Cason, Frances ^ Telephone clerk, Dallas Po- Vol. XIII, p. 89. lice Department.

Cason, Jack Charles ^ President, TSBD Vol. VII, p. 379. Caster, Warren ^ Assistant manager. South- Vol. VII, p. 386. western Publishing Co., TSBD.

Chayes, Abram ^ Legal Adviser, Department of Vol. V, pp. 307,

State. 327. Cheek, Bertha ^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XIII, p. 382. Church, George B., Jr.A Passenger with Oswald on SS Vol. XI, p. 115. Marion Lykes.

Church, Mrs. George B., Jr.-^ do Vol. XI, p. 116. Clardy, Barnard S.° Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 403. partment.

Clark, Max E.° Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. VIII, p. 343.

in Texas. 485
Witnesa Description Testimony

Clark, Richard L.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 235. partment.

Clark, William Kemp^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital . Vol. VI, p. 18. Clements, Manning C.'' Agent, FBI Vol. VII, p. 318. Cole, Alwyn ^ ^ Questioned document exam- Vol. IV, p. 358.

iner, Treasury Department. Vol. XV, p. 703. Combest, B. H.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 176. partment.

Connally, John Bowden, Jlr.^. . Governor of Texas Vol. IV, p. 129. Connally, Mrs. John Bowden, Wife of the Governor of Vol. IV, p. 146. Jr.^ Texas. Connor, Peter Francis^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 317. the Marine Corps.

Conway, Hiram P.^ Fort Worth neighbor of the Vol. VIII, p. 84. Oswalds in Oswald's youth.

Corporon, Joihn.^ OflBcial of New Orleans radio Vol. XI, p. 471. station. ' Couch, Malcolm O.^ TV news cameraman, Dallas. Vol. VI, p. 153. Coulter, Harris ^ State Department inter- Vol. V, p. 408. preter. Cox, Roland A.^ Reserve force, Dallas Police Vol. XV, p. 153. Department.

Crafard, Curtis LaVerne ^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . Vol. XIII, p. 402. Vol. XIV, p. 1. Craig, Roger D.^ Witness at assa^ination Vol. VI, p. 260. scene. Crawford, James N.^ do Vol. VI, p. 171. Creel, Robert J.'* Employee, Louisiana Depart- Vol. XI, p. 477. ment of Labor, New Orleans. Crowe, William D., Jr. Acquaintance of Jack Ruby.. Vol. XV, p. 96. (a.k.a. Bill DeMar).^

Crowley, James D.-* Specialist in intelligence mat- Vol. XI, p. 482.

ters. Department of State. Croy, Kenneth Hudson " Reserve force, Dallas Police Vol. XII, p. 186. Department.

Crull, Elgin E.^ City Manager of Dallas Vol. XV, p. 138. Cunningham, Cortlandt * ^ . . . . Firearms identification ex- Vol. II, p. 251. pert, FBI. Vol. Ill, p. 451. Vol. VII, p. 591. Cunningham, Helen P.-^^ Employment Counselor, Tex- Vol. X, p. 117. as Employment Commis- VoL XI, p. 477.

sion. Curry, Jesse Edward ^^^ Chief, Dallas Police Depart- Vol. IV, p. 150. ment. Vol. XII, p. 25. Vol. XV, p. 124, 641. Curtis, Don Teel " Doctor, Parkland Hospital .... Vol. VI, p. 57. Cutchshaw, Wilbur Jay ^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 206. partment.

Daniels, John L.^ Employee, Dallas parking lot. Vol. XIII, p. 296. Daniels, Napoleon J.^ Former member, Dallas Police Vol. XII, p. 225. Department.

Davis, Barbara Jeanette ^ Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. Ill, p. 342. Tippit crime scene. Davis, Floyd Guy ^ Operator, Sports Drome Rifle Vol. X, p. 356. Range.

Davis, Virginia (Mrs. Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. VI, p. 454. Charles).^ Tippit crime scene. 486
Witness Description Testimony

Davis, Virginia Louise ^ Wife of Floyd Guy Davis Vol. X, i). 363. Day, J. C."^ '^ Lieutenant, Dallas Police De- Vol. IV, p. 249. partment. Vol. VII, p. 401. Dean, Patrick Trevore ^ ^ . . . . Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. V, p. 254. partment. Vol. XII, p. 415. Decker, J. E. (Bill)^ Sheriff, Dallas County Vol. XII. p. 42. Delgado, Nelson^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 228. Marine Corps.

DeMar, William (see Crowe,

William D., Jr.). De Mohrenschildt, George S." Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. IX, p. 1G6. in Texas. De Mohrenschildt, Jeanne ^ do Vol. IX, p. 285. Dhority, C. N.^ ^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, pp. 149, partment. 380. Dietrich, Edward C.^ Guard, Armored Motor Serv- Vol. XV, p. 269.

ice. Dillard, Tom C.^ Photographer-Journalist, Dai- Vol. VI, p. 162.

las. Dillon, C. Douglas *^ Secretary of the Treasury. ... Vol. V, p. 573. Dobbs, Farrell ^^ International Secretary, So- Vol. X, p. 109.

cialist Workers Party. Vol. XI, p. 208. Donabedian, George "^ Captain, U.S. Navy Vol. VIII, p. 311. Donovan, John E.^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 289. the Marine Corps.

Dougherty, Jack Edwin ^ Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 373. Dowe, Kenneth Lawry ^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XV, p. 430. Dulany, Richard B.^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital. . . . Vol. VI, p. 113. Duncan, William Glenn, Jr.^ . . Employee, radio station, Dal- Vol. XV, p. 482.

las. Dymitruk, Lydia ^ Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. IX, p. 60. in Texas. Dziemian, Arthur J.^ Wound ballistics expert, U.S. Vol. V, p. 90. Army.

Eberhardt, A. M.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XIII, p. 181. partment.

Edwards, Robert Edwin''. . . . Employee, Dallas City Court- Vol. VI, p. 200. house.

Euins, Amos Lee ^ Witness at assassination Vol. II, p. 201. scene. Evans, Julian ^ Husband of Myrtle Evans . . Vol. VIII, p. 66. Evans, Myrtle ". Acquaintance of Marguerite Vol. VIII, p. 45. Oswald in Oswald's youth.

Evans, Sidney, Jr.^ Resident of Ruby's apart- Vol. XIII, p. 195. ment house.

Fain, John W.^. Agent, FBI Vol. IV, p. 403. Fehrenbach, George Wil- Resident of Ashland, Oreg Vol. XV, p. 289. liam."

Feldsott, Louis "^ President, Crescent Fire- Vol. XI, p. 205. arms. Inc. Fenley, Robert Gene ^ Reporter, Dallas Vol. XI, p. 314. Finck, Pierre A.^ Doctor, Bethesda Naval Hos- Vol. II, p. 377.

pital. Fischer, Ronald B.^ Auditor, City of Dallas Vol. VI, p. 191. Fleming, Harold J.^ Employee, Armored Motor Vol. XV, p. 159. Service, Inc. 487
Witness Description Testimony

Folsom, Allison G., Jr.^ Lt. Col., U.S. Marine Corps. . Vol. VIII, p. 303. Ford, Declan P.^ Husband of Katherine N. Vol. II, p. 322. Ford and acquaintance of the Oswalds in Texas.

Ford, Katherine N.^. . Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. II, p. 295. in Texas.

Foster, J. W.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VI, p. 248. partment.

Frazier, Buell Wesley ^^.... Employee, TSBD and neigh- Vol. II, p. 210. bor of the Paines in Irving, Vol. A^II, p. 531. Tex.

Frazier, Robert A."^ ^ Firearms Identification Ex- Vol. Ill, p. 390.

pert, FBI. Vol. V, p. 58. Vol. VII, p. 590. Frazier, W. B.^ Captain, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 52. partment.

Fritz, John Will ^ ^ ^ do Vol. IV, p. 202. Vol. VII, p. 403. Vol. XV, p. 145. Fuqua, Harold R.^ Parking attendant in base- Vol. XIII, p. 141. ment of city hall. Gallagher, John F.^ Agent, FBI Vol. XV, p. 746. Gangl, Theodore Frank * Employee, Padgett Printing Vol. XI, p. 478. Corp.

Garner, Jesse J.-* Neighbor of the Oswalds in Vol. X, p. 276. New Orleans. Garner, Mrs. Jesse ^ Landlady of Oswald in New Vol. X, p. 264. Orleans. Gauthier, Leo J.^ Inspector, FBI Vol. V, p. 135. George, M. Waldo '^ Landlord of Oswalds in Dallas Vol. XI, p. 155. Geraci, Philip, III ^ Resident of New Orleans who Vol. X, p. 74. met Oswald.

Gibson, Mrs. Donald " Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. XI, p. 123. in Texas.

Gibson, John ^ Witness to Oswald arrest Vol. VII, p. 70. Giesecke, Adolph H., Jr.^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital. . . . Vol. VI, p. 72. Givens, Charles Douglas " Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 345. Glover, Everett D.° Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. X, p. 1. in Texas.

Goin, Donald Edward ^ Armored car operator Vol. XV, p. 168. Goldstein, David * Owner, Dave's House of Guns Vol. VII, p. 594. Goodson, Clyde Franklin^. .. . Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XV, p. 596. partment.

Graef, John G.^ Oswald's supervisor, Jaggars- Vol. X, p. 174, Chiles- Stovall, Dallas. Graf, Allen D.^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 317. Marine Corps.

Grant, Eva ^ Sister of Jack Ruby Vol. XIV, p. 429. Vol. XV, p. 321. Graves, Gene ^ Secretary, LesUe Welding Co.

Vol. XI, p. 479. Graves, L. C.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 251. partment. Vol. XIII, p. 1. Gravitis, Dorothy ° Acquaintance of Mrs. Paine Vol. IX, p. 131. in Dallas. Gray, Virginia ^ Employee, Duke University Vol. XI, p. 209. Library.

Greener, Charles W.^ Proprietor, Irving Sports Vol. XI, p. 245. Shop.

Greer, William Robert^ Agent, U.S. Secret Service Vol. II, p. 112. 488
Witness Description Testimony

Gregory, Charles F.*^ ^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital Vol. TV, p. 117. Vol. VI, p. 95. GregoiT, Paul Roderick'^ Son of Peter Paul Gregory Vol. IX, p. 141. and acquaintance of the Os- walds in Texas.

Gregory, Peter Paul ^ Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. II, p. 337.

in Texas. Guinyard, Sam^ Witness in the vicinity of Vol. VII, p. 395. Tippit crime scene. Hall, C. Ray " Agent, FBI Vol. XV, p. 62. Hall, Elena A." Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. VIII, p. 391. in Texas.

Hall, John Raymond ^ Husband of Elena A. Hall and Vol. VIII, p. 406. acquaintance of the Os- walds.

Hall, Marvin E. "Bert"" Employee, Armored Motor Vol. XV, p. 174. Service, Dallas. Hallmark, Gamett Claud "... Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . Vol. XV, p. 488. Hamblen, C. A." Employee, Western Union Vol. XI, p. 311. Telegraph Co. Hankal, Robert L." Director, television station. Vol. XIII, p. 112. Dallas. Hansen, Timothy M., Jr." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XV, p. 438. partment.

Hardin, Michael " City ambulance driver Vol. XIII, p. 94. Hargis, Bobby W." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VI, p. 293. partment.

Harkness, D. V." do Vol. VI, p. 308. Harrison, WilUam J." do Vol. XII, p. 234. Hartogs, Renatus " Psychiatrist, New York City . . Vol. VIII, p. 214. Hawkins, Ray " Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 91. partment.

Haygood, Clyde A." do Vol. VI, p. 296. Heindel, John Rene* Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 318. Marine Corps.

Helmick, Wanda Yvonne or Employee of Ralph Paul, an Vol. XV, p. 396. Wanda Sweat." acquaintance of Jack Ruby.

Helms, Richard M.^ * Deputy Director for Plans, Vol V, p. 120. Central Intelligence Vol. XI, p. 469. Agency.

Henchliffe, Margaret M." Nurse, Parkland Hospital Vol. VI, p. 139. Henslee, Gerald D." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VI, p. 325. partment.

Herndon, Bell P." Polygraph operator, FBI Vol. XIV, p. 579. Hicks, J. B." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 286. partment.

Hill, Clinton J.^ Agent, U.S. Secret Service Vol. II, p. 132.

Hill, Gerald Lynn " Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 43. partment.

Hill, Jean LoUis " Witness- at assassination Vol. VI, p. 205. scene. Hine, Geneva L." Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 393. Hodge, Alfred Douglas " Owner, Buckhorn Trading Vol. XV, p. 494. Post. Holland, S. M." Witness at assassination Vol. VI, p. 239. scene. Holly, Harold B., Jr." Reserve force, Dallas Police Vol. XII, p. 261. Department.

489

730-900 0-64—33
Witness Description Testimony

Holmes, Harry D." U.S. Post Office inspector Vol. VII, p. 280,

525. Hoover, J. Edgar ^ Director, FBI Vol. V, p. 97. Hosty, James, P., Jr.^ Agent, FBI Vol. IV, p. 440. Hewlett, John Joe ^ ^ Agent, U.S. Secret Service . . Vol. VII, p. 592. Vol. IX, p. 425. Hudson, Emmett J.^ Witness at assassination scene Vol. VII, p. 558. Huffaker, Robert S., Jr.° Newsman, Dallas Vol. XIII, p. 116. Hulen, Richard Leroy ^ Employee of Dallas YMCA. . . Vol. X, p. 277. Hulse, C. E.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XIII, p. 99. partment.

Humes, James J.^ Doctor, Bethesda Naval Hos- Vol. II, p. 347.

pital. Hunley, Bobb ^ Employee, Louisiana Depart- Vol. XI, p. 476. ment of Labor, New Orleans. Hunt, Jackie H.^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital . . Vol. VI, p. 76. Hunter, Gertrude^ Witness concerning alleged Vol. XI, pp. 253, encounter with Oswald. 275. Hutchison, Leonard Edwin '^

. Owner of grocery store in Vol. X, p. 327. Irving.

Hutson, Thomas Alexander^. Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 26. partment.

Isaacs, Martin ^ Employee, Special Services Vol. VIII, p. 324. Welfare Center, New York.

Jackson, Robert Hill ^ News photographer, Dallas. .Vol. II, p. 155. Jackson, Theodore ° Attendant at Dallas parking Vol. XIII, p. 299.

lot. James, Virginia H.° International Relations Offi- Vol. XI, p. 180.

cer. Office of Soviet Affairs, State Department.

Jarman, James, Jr.^ Employee, TSBD Vol. Ill, p. 198. Jenkins, Marion T.^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital. . .

Vol. VI, p. 45. Jenkins, Ronald Lee^ News editor, radio station, Vol. XV, p. 600. Dallas. Jimison, R. J.^ Orderly, Parkland Hospital. . . Vol. VI, p. 125. Johnson, Arnold Samuel ^ . . . . Director of Information and Vol. X, p. 95. Lecture Bureau, Communist Party, U.S.A. Johnson, Arthur Carl" Owner of roominghouse in Vol. X, p. 301. Dallas where Oswald re- sided. Johnson, Mrs. Arthur Carl". . Wife of A. C. Johnson Vol. X, p. 292. Johnson, Joseph Weldon, Jr.". Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XV, p. 218. Johnson, Lyndon B.^ President of the United States

Vol. V, p. 561. Johnson, Mrs. Lyndon B.^ Wife of the President of the Vol. V, p. 564. United States. Johnson, Marvin " Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 100. partment.

Johnson, Priscilla Mary Newspaper reporter who in- Vol. XI, p. 442. Post ". terviewed Oswald in Russia. Johnson, Speedy " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . . Vol. XV, p. 607. Johnston, David L." Justice of the peace, Dallas . .

Vol. XV, p. 503. Jones, O. A." Captain, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 58. partment.

Jones, Ronald C." Doctor, Parkland Hospital. . . . Vol. VI, p. 51. Kaiser, Frankie " Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 341. Kaminsky, Eileen " Jack Ruby's sister Vol. XV, p. 275. Kantor, Seth " Reporter, Vol. XV, p. 71. 490
Witness Description Testimony

Kaufman, Stanley M.^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . Vol. XV, p. 513. Kellernian, Roy H.^ Agent, U.S. Secret Service. . . . Vol. II, p. 61. Kelley, Thomas J.^ ^ Inspector, U.S. Secret Service Vol. V, pp. 129,

175. Vol. VII, pp. 403, 590. Kelly, Edward "^ Porter, Dallas City Hall Vol. XIII, p. 146. Kennedy, Mrs. John F.^ Widow of President John Vol. V, p. 178. Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Killion, Charles L."^ Firearms identification ex- Vol. VII, p. 591.

pert, FBI.

King, Glen D." Captain, Dallas Police De- Vol. XV, p. 51. partment.

Klause, Robert G.^ Printer of handbill attacking Vol. V, p. 535. President Kennedy.

Kleinlerer, Alexander ^ Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. XI, p. 118. in Texas. Kleinman, Abraham ^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby .

Vol. XV, p. 383. Kline, William ^ Agent, U.S. Customs Vol. XV, p. 640. Knight, Frances G.*^ Director, Passport Office, De- Vol. V, p. 371. partment of State. Knight, Russell (see Moore).

Kramer, Monica ^ Tourist in Minsk in 1961 Vol. XI, p. 212. Kravitz, Herbert B.^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. .

Vol. XV, p. 231. Kriss, Harry M.^ Reserve force, Dallas Police Vol. XII, p. 266. Department.

Krystinik, Raymond Frank- Fellow employee of Michael Vol. IX, p. 461.

lin.^ R. Paine in Texas.

Lane, Doyle E.° Clerk, Western Union Tele- Vol. XII, p. 221. graph Co. Lane, Mark R.^ Attorney, New York City Vol. II, p. 32. Vol. IV, p. 546. Latona, Sebastian F.*^ Fingerprint expert, FBI Vol. IV, p. 1. Lawrence, Perdue W.^ Captain, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 577. partment.

Lawson, Winston G. (accom- Agent, U.S. Secret Service. . .Vol. IV, p. 317. panied by Fred B. Smith ).^ Leavelle, James R.° Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 260. partment. Vol. VIII, p. 14. LeBlanc, Charles Joseph "... Maintenance man, William B. Vol. X, p. 213. Reily Co.

Lee, Ivan D.^ Agent, FBI Vol. XI, p. 481. Lee, Vincent T. ^^ Ofiicial, Fair Play for Cuba Vol. X, p. 86. Committee. Vol. XI, p. 208. Lehrer, James " Reporter, Dallas Vol. XI, p. 464.

Leslie, Helen " Member of Russian-speaking Vol. IX, p. 160. community in Dallas. Lewis, Aubrey Lee " Employee, Western Union Vol. IX, p. 318. Telegraph Co. Lewis, Erwin Donald^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII p. 323. Marine Corps.

Lewis, L. J.* Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. XV, p. 703. Tippit crime scene. Light, Frederick W., Jr.^ Wound ballistics expert, U.S. Vol. V, p. 94. Army.

Litchfield, Wilbyrn Waldon Acquaintance of Ruby Vol. XIV, p. 95. (Robert), IL"

Lord, Billy Joe ^ Passenger with Oswald on SS Vol. XI, p. 117. Marion Lykes.

491
Witness Description Testimony

Lovelady, Billy Nolan ^ Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 336. Lowery, Roy Lee ^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 271. partment.

Lujan, Daniel Gutierrez" Appeared in lineup with Vol. VII, p. 243. Oswald.

Lux, J. Philip ^ Employee, H. L. Green Co Vol. XI, p. 206

McClelland, Robert N." Doctor, Parkland Hospital. .

Vol. VI, p. 30. McCone, John Alex ^ Director, Central Intelligence Vol. V, p. 120. Agency,

McCullough, John G." Reporter, Philadelphia Vol. XV, p. 373. McCurdy, Danny Patrick "... Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . . Vol. XV, p. 529. McDonald, M. N.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. Ill, p. 295. partment.

McFarland, John Bryan * Passenger on bus with Os- Vol. XI, p. 214. wald to Mexico City in 1963. McFarland, Meryl ^ do Vol. XI, p. 214. McKinzie, Louis " Porter, Dallas City Hall Vol. XIII, p. 147. McMillon, Thomas Donald " . . Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XIII, p. 37. partment.

McVickar, John A.^ Foreign Service oflScer sta- Vol. V, pp. 299, tioned at American Em- 318. bassy in Soviet Union in 1959^1.

McWatters, Cecil J.^ Busdriver, Dallas Vol. II, p. 262. Malley, James R.^ Inspector, FBI Vol. XI, p. 468. Mallory, Katherine ^ Tourist in Minsk in 1961 Vol. XI, p. 210. Mamantov, Ilya A." Member of Russian-speaking Vol. IX, p. 102. community in Dallas. Mandella, Arthur ^ ( accom- Fingerprint expert, New York Vol. IV, p. 48. panied by Joseph A. City Police Department.

Mooney).

Markham, Helen Louise^". . . Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. Ill, p. 305. Tippit crime scene. Vol. VII, p. 499. Martello, Francis L.'* " Lieutenant, New Orleans Po- Vol. X, p. 51.

lice Department. Vol. XI, p. 471. Martin, B. J." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VI, p. 289. partment.

Martin, Frank M." Captain, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 277. partment.

Martin, James Herbert ^ Former business manager for Vol. I, p. 469. Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald. Vol. II, p. 1. Maxey, Billy Joe " Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 285. partment.

Mayo, Logan W." Reserve force, Dallas Police Vol. XII, p. 291. Department.

Meller, Anna N." Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. VIII, p. 379. in Texas. Meyers, Lawrence V." Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . . Vol. XV, p. 620. Michaelis, Heinz W." Manager, Seaport Traders, Vol. VII, p. 372.

Inc. Miller, Austin L." Witness at assassination scene. Vol. VI, p. 223. Miller, Dave L." Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. .

Vol. XV, p. 450. Miller, Louis D." Member. Dallas Police D«- Vol. XII, p. 297. partment.

Mitchell, Mary Ann " Witness at assassination Vol. VI, p. 175. scene. Molina, Joe R." Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 368. Montgomery, L. D." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 96. partment. Vol. XIII, p. 21. 492
Witness Description Testimony

Mooney, Luke ^ Deputy Sheriff, Dallas County. Vol. Ill, p. 281. Moore, Henry M.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 212. partment.

Moore, Russell Lee (Knight)". Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XV, p. 251. Mumford, Pamela " Passenger on bus '>^ath Oswald Vol. XI, p. 215.

to Mexico City in 1963. Murphy, Joe E." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VI, p. 256. partment.

Murphy, Paul Edward ^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 319. Marine Corps.

Murray, David Christie, Jr.^ do Vol. VIII, p. 319. Murret, Charles (Dutz) "" Uncle of Lee Harvey Oswald, Vol. VIII, p. 180. New Orleans. Murret, John Martial (Boo- Cousin of Lee Harvey Oswald, Vol. VIII, p. 188. gie)." New Orleans. Murret, Lillian * " Sister of Marguerite Oswald Vol. VIII, p. 91. and aunt of Lee Harvey Os- Vol. XI, p. 472. wald. New Orleans. Murret, Marilyn Dorothea ". . Cousin of Lee Harvey Oswald, Vol. VIII, p. 154. New Orleans. Naman, Rita ^ Tourist in Minsk in 1961 Vol. XI, p. 213. Nelson, Doris Mae " Nurse, Parkland Hospital Vol. VI, p. 143. Newman, William J." Reserve force, Dallas Police Vol. XII, p. 314. Department.

Newnam, John " Advertising department em- Vol. XV, p. 534. ployee, Dallas newspaper.

Nichols, Alice Reaves " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XIV, p. 110. Nichols, H. Louis" Former president, Dallas bar Vol. VII, p. 325. association.

Nicol, Joseph D.^ Firearms identification ex- Vol. Ill, p. 496.

pert. Bureau of Criminal

Identification and Investi- gation, Illinois Department

of Public Safety.

Norman, Harold '^ Employee, TSBD Vol. Ill, p. 186. Norton, Robert L." Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XV, p. 546. O'Brien, Lawrence F." Assistant to President Ken- Vol. VII, p. 457. nedy.

Odio, Sylvia " Former citizen of Cuba now Vol. XI, p. 367. residing in Dallas. O'Donnell, Kenneth " Assistant to President Ken- Vol. VII, p. 440. nedy.

Odum, Bardwell D.^ Agent, FBI Vol. XI, p. 468. Ofstein, Dennis Hyman " Employee, Jaggers-Chiles-Sto- Vol. X, p. 194.

vail, Dallas.

Olds, Gregory Lee" President, Dallas Chapter, Vol. VII, p. 322. American Civil Liberties Union.

Oliver, Revile P." Member of the council of the Vol. XV, p. 709. John Birch Society.

Olivier, Alfred G.^ Wound ballistics expert, U.S. Vol. V, p. 74. Army.

Olsen, Harry N." Former member, Dallas Police Vol. XIV, p. 624. Department.

Olsen, Kay Helen " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . Vol. XIV, p. MO.

Osborne, Mack * Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 321. Marine Corps.

493
Witness Description Testimony

O'Siillivan, Frederick S.^.... Acquaintance of Oswald at Vol. VIII, p. 27. Beauregard Junior High

School, New Orleans. Oswald, Marguerite ^ Mother of Lee Harvey Oswald

Vol, I, p. 126. Oswald, Marina ^ ^ Widow of Lee Harvey Oswald

Vol. I, p. 1. Vol. V, pp. 387,

410, 588. Vol. XI, p. 275. Oswald, Robert Edward Lee ^ Brother of Lee Harvey Os- Vol. I, p. 264. wald. Owens, Calvin Bud^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 78. partment.

P^iine. ]VIichael R.^ ^ Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. II, p. 384.

in Texas. Vol. IX, p. 434. Vol. XI, p. 398. Paine, Ruth Hyde ^ ^ ^ Wife of Michael R. Paine and Vol. II, p. 430. acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. Ill, p. 1. in Texas. Vol. IX, p. 331. Vol. XI, pp. 153,

389. Palmer, Thomas Stewart ^ . . Acquaintance of Jack Ruby .

Vol. XV, p. 206. Pappas, Icarus M." Reporter, radio station. New Vol. XV, p. 360. York City. Patterson, B. M."^ Witness in the vicinity of Vol. 15, p. 744. the Tippit crime scene. Patterson, Bobby G.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 334. partment.

Patterson, Robert Carl ^. . . . Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. .

Vol. XIV, p. 126. Paul, Ralph ^ do Vol. XIV, p. 134. Vol. XV, p. 664. Pena, Orest ^ Owner, Habana Bar, New Vol. XI, p. 346. Orleans. Pena, Ruperto ^ Brother of Orest Pena Vol. XI, p. 364. Perry. Malcolm O.*^ ^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital Vol. Ill, p. 366. Vol. VI, p. 7. Perry, W. E.° Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 232. partment.

Peterman, Viola ^ Neighbor of Oswald family in Vol. VIII, p. 38. New Orleans.

Peters, Paul C.^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital. . . . Vol. VI, p. 68. Peterson, Joseph Alexander" Acquaintance of Jack Ruby ... . Vol. XIV, p. 615. Phenilx, George R.^ Television cameraman and Vol. XIII. p. 123. reporter, Dallas.

Pic, Edward John, Jr.^ " First husband of Marguerite Vol. VIII, p. 196. Oswald. A^ol. XI, p. 82. Pic, John Edw^ard " Half brother of Lee Harvey Vol. XI, p. 1. Oswald.

Pierce, Edward E." Employee, Dallas City Hall. . . Vol. XIII, p. 156. Pierce, Rio S." Lieutenant, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 76. partment. Vol. XII, p. 337. Pinkston, Nat A." Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 334. Piper, Eddie " do Vol. VI, p. 382. Vol. A^II, p. 388.

Pitts, Elnora " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby ... Vol. XIII, p. 228. Pizzo, Frank " Assistant manager of auto Vol. X, p. 340. agency, Dallas. Poe, J. M." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 66. partment.

Postal, Julia " Cashier, Texas Theatre Vol. VII, p. 8. 494
Witness Description Testimony

Potts, Walter E.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 195. partment.

Powell, Nancy M. (a.k.a. Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XV, p. 404. Tammie True)."

Powers, Daniel Patrick ^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 266. Marine Corps.

Powers, David F.^ Assistant to President Ken- Vol. VII, p. 472. nedy.

Price, Cbarles Jack ^ Administrator, Parkland Hos- Vol. VI, p. 148.

pital. Price, Malcolm H., Jr." Patron, Sports Drome Rifle Vol. X, p. 369. Range.

Priddy, Hal Jr." Relief dispatcher, O'Neil Fu- Vol. XIII, p. 239. neral Home in Dallas. Pryor, Roy A." Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . . Vol. XV, p. 554. Pugh, Oran ^. Agent, U.S. Customs Vol. XV, p. 640. Pullman, Edward J." Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . . Vol. XV, p. 222. Putnam, James A." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 74. partment. Vol. XII, p. 341. Quigley, John L.<^ Agent, FBI. Vol. IV, p. 431. Rachal, John R.'^ Employee, Louisiana Depart- Vol. XI, p. 474. ment of Labor, New

Orleans. Rackley, George W., Sr." Employee, Coordinated RR. Vol. VI, p. 273. Co. Raigorodsky, Paul M." Member of Russian-speaking Vol. IX, p. 1. community in Dallas. Randle, Linnie Mae ^ Buell Wesley Frazier's sister Vol. II, p. 245. and neighbor of Ruth

Paine. Ray, Natalie (Mrs. Thomas Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. IX, p. 27. M.)." in Texas. Ray, Thomas M." Husband of Natalie Ray and Vol. IX, p. 38. acquaintance of the Os- walds in Texas. Ray, Valentine A. (Mrs. Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. VIII, p. 415. Frank H. ) ." in Texas.

Rea, Billy A." Advertising staff, Dallas Vol. XV, p. 571. newspaper.

Reeves, Huey " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby . . . Vol. XIII, p. 243. Reid, Mrs. Robert A.^ Employee, TSBD Vol. Ill, p. 270.

Reilly, Frank E." Witness at assassination Vol. VI, p. 227. scene.

Revill, Jack ^ " Lieutenant, Dallas Police De- Vol. V, p. 33. partment. Vol. XII, p. 73. Reynolds, Warren Allen "... Witness in the vicinity of the

Tippit crime scene. Vol. XI, p. 434. Rheinstein, Frederic " Producer-director, NBC Vol. XV, p. 354. Rich, Nancy Perrin " Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XIV, p. 330. Richey, Marjorie R." do Vol. XV, p. 192. Richey, Warren E." TV engineer, Fort Worth Vol. XIII, p. 255. Riggs, Alfreadia " Porter, City Hall Vol. XIII, p. 166. Riggs, Chester Allen, Jr.^ Landlord of the Oswalds in Vol. X, p. 229. Fort Worth.

Ritchie, James L." Passport Officer, Department Vol. XI, p. 191. of State. Roberts, Earlene -^ " Housekeeper at Oswald's Vol. VI, p. 434. roominghouse in Dallas. Vol. VII, p. 439. 495
Witness Description Testimony

Robertson, Mary Jane " Employee, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 404. partment.

Robertson, Victor F., Jr." Reporter, Dallas Vol. XV, p. 347. Rodriguez, Evaristo " Bartender at Habana Bar, Vol. XI, p. 339. New Orleans. Rogers, Eric ° Neighbor of the Oswalds in Vol. XI, p. 460. New Orleans. Romack, James E." Witness at assassination Vol. VI, p. 277. scene. Rose, Guy F." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 227. partment.

Ross, Henrietta M." Technician, Parkland Hos- Vol. VI, p. 123.

pital. Rossi, Joseph ^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby. . . Vol. XV, p. 235. Roussel, Henry J., Jr.-* Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 320. Marine Corps.

Rowland, Arnold Louis ^ Witness at assassination Vol. II, p. 165. scene. Rowland, Barbara (Mrs. Ar- do Vol. VI, p. 177. nold L.)."

Rowley, James J.^ Chief, U.S. Secret Service. . . . Vol. V, p. 449. Rubenstein, Hyman " Brother of Jack Ruby Vol. XV, p. 1. Ruby, Earl " do Vol. XIV, p. 364. Ruby, Jack ^ " Convicted slayer of Oswald. . . Vol. V, p. 181. Vol. XIV, p. 504. Ruby, Sam " Brother of Jack Ruby Vol. XIV, p. 488. Rusk, Dean ^ Secretary of State Vol. V, p. 363. Russell, Harold ^ Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. VII, p. 594. Tippit crime scene. Ryder, Dial D." Employee, Irving Sports Shop. Vol. XI, p. 224. Salyer, Kenneth E.'^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital. . . Vol. VI, p. 80. Saunders, Richard L." Advertising staff, Dallas Vol. XV, p. 577. newspaper. Sawyer, J. Herbert " Inspector, Dallas Police De- Vol. VI, p. 315. partment.

Sawyer, Mildred " Neighbor and acquaintance of Vol. VIII, p. 31. Oswald as a youth in New

Orleans. Schmidt, Hunter, Jr." City editor, Dallas Vol. XI, p. 240. Scibor, Mitchell J." Employee, Klein's Sports Vol. VII, p. 370. Goods.

Scoggins, William W.^ Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. Ill, p. 322. Tippit crime scene. Seeley, Carroll Hamilton, Jr.". Assistant Chief, Legal Divi- Vol. XI, p. 193.

sion. Passport Office, De- partment of State. Semingsen, W. W." Employee, Western Union Vol. X, p. 405. Telegraph Co. Senator, George " Roommate of Jack Ruby Vol. XIV, p. 164. Servance, John Olridge".... Head porter, City Hall and Vol. XIII, p. 175. Municipal Building.

Shaneyfelt, Lyndal L.^ " Photography expert, FBI Vol. IV, p. 279. Vol. V, p. 138, 176. Vol. VII, p. 410. Shasteen, Clifton M." Owner of barbershop in Irv- Vol. X, p. 309.

ing, Tex. Shaw, Robert Boeder ^ " Doctor, Parkland Hospital . . . Vol. IV, p. 101. Vol. VI, p. 83. 496
Witness Description Testimony

Shelley, William H.^ Employee, TSBD Vol. VI, p. 327. Vol. VII, p. 390. Shields, Edward ^ EmplQyee, TSBD Vol. VII, p. 393. Shires, George T.^ Doctor, Parkland Hospital Vol. VI, p. 104.

Siegel, Evelyn Grace Strick- Social worker. New York City. Vol. VIII, p. 224. man^

Simmons, Ronald ^ Weapons evaluation expert, Vol. Ill, p. 441. U.S. Army Weapons System Division. Sims, Richard M.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 158. partment.

Skelton, Royce G.^ Witness at assassination Vol. VI, p. 236. scene. Slack, Garland Glenwill "... Patron, Sports Drome Rifle Vol. X, p. 378. RangeSlack, Willie B.° Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 347. partment.

Slaughter, Malcolm R." Resident in Jack Ruby's Vol. XIII, p. 261. apartment building.

Smart, Vernon S." Lieutenant, Dallas Police Vol. XIII, p. 266. Department.

Smith, Bennierita " Acquaintance of Oswald at Vol. VIII, p. 21. Beauregard Junior High

School in New Orleans. Smith, Edgar Leon, Jr." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 565. partment.

Smith, Glenn Emmett " Service station attendant in Vol. X, p. 399. Dallas. Smith, Hilda L.'^ Employee, Louisiana Depart- Vol. XI, p. 474. ment of Labor, New Orleans. Smith, Joe Marshall" Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 531. partment.

Smith, John Allison " TV technician, Fort Worth. . . . Vol. XIII, p. 277. Smith, William Arthur " Witness in the vicinity of the Vol. VII, p. 82. Tippit crime scene. Snyder, Richard Edward ^ . Foreign Service oflicer, sta- Vol. V, p. 260. tioned in the Embassy in the Soviet Union, 1959-61. Solomon, James Maurice".. Captain, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 87. partment.

Sorrels, Forrest V." ^ Agent, U.S. Secret Service. . . . Vol. VII, pp. 332,

592. Vol. XIII, p. 55. Standifer, Roy E." Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XV, p. 614. partment.

Standridge, Ruth Jeanette " . . Head nurse of operating Vol. VI, p. 115. rooms. Parkland Hospital.

Staples, Albert F.^ Dentist at Baylor University ol. XI, p. 210. College of Dentistry.

Statman, Irving " Assistant District Director of Vol. X, p. 149. Dallas District, Texas Employment Commission.

Steele, Charles Hall, Jr." Resident of New Orleans who Vol. X, p. 62. assisted Oswald in distribution of handbills.

Steele, Charles Hall, Sr.". . . . Father of Charles Hall Steele, Vol. X, p. 71. Jr. 497
Witness Description Testimony

Steele, Don Francis ° Member. Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 353. partment.

Stevenson. M. W.° Deputy Chief. Dallas Police Vol. XII. p. 91. Department. Vol. XV, p. 133. Stombaugh, Paul Morgan '^^. Hair and fiber expert, FBI. . Vol. IV, p. 56. Vol. XV, p. 702. Stovall. Richard S.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 186. partment.

Stovall, Robert L.° President, J a g g a r s-Chiles- Vol. X. p. 167. Stovall. Dallas. Tex.

Strong, Jesse M.^ Employee. Western Union Vol. XIII. p. 284. Telegraph Co. Stuckey. William Kirk ^ Radio program director. New Vol. XI. p. 156. Orleans. Studebaker. Robert Lee °. .. . Member. Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 137. partment.

Surrey, Robert Alan ^ Publisher of handbill attack- Vol. V, p. 420. ing President Kennedy.

Tague, James Thomas^ Witness at assassination scene. Vol. VII, p. 552. Talbert, Cecil E.^ Captain, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 108. partment. Vol. XV. p. 182. Tasker, Harry T.^ Taxicab driver in Dallas Vol. XV, p. 679. Taylor, Gary E.° ^ Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. IX, p. 73. in Texas. Vol. XI, p. 470. Thompson, Llewellyn E.*^ Former U.S. Ambassador to Vol. V. p. 567. Russia. Thornley, Kerry Wendell ° .. . Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. XI, p. 82. Marines.

Tice, Wilma May ^ Resident of Dallas Vol. XV, p. 388. Tobias. Mahlon F., Sr.° Manager of apartment house Vol. X, p. 251. whjere the Oswalds resided, Dallas. Tobias, Mrs. Mahlon F.^ Wife of M. F. Tobias, Sr Vol. X, p. 231. Tomlinson, Darrell C.° Senior engineer. Parkland Vol. VI, p. 128. Hospital.

Tormey. James J.^ Executive secretary. Hall- Vol. X. p. 107. Davis Defense Commission.

Truly, Rov Sansom ^ ^ " Superintendent, TSBD Vol. Ill, p. 212. Vol. VII, pp. 380,

591. Turner. F. M.° Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII. p. 217. partment.

Turner, Jimmy ^ TV director. Fort Worth Vol. XIII, p. 130. Twiford, Horace Elroy ^ Member, Socialist Labor Vol. XL p. 179. Party, Houston, Tex. Twiford, Estelle ^ Wife of Horace Elroy Twiford Vol. XL p. 179. Underwood. James R.^ Assistant news director. Vol. VI. p. 167. TV and radio, Dallas. Vaughn, Roy Eugene^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. XII, p. 357. partment.

Vinson, Philip Eugene ^ Reporter. Fort Worth Vol. VIII, p. 75. Voebel, Edward ^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 1. Beauregard Junior High

School. Xew Orleans. Voshinin. Igor Vladimir °. . . . Member of Russian-speaking Vol. VIII, p. 448. community in Dallas. Voshinin, Mrs. Igor Vladi- Acquaintance of the Oswalds Vol. VIII, p. 425. mir.° in Texas. 498
Witnesi^ Description Testimony

AVade, Henry ^ District attorney, Dallas Vol. V, p. 213. County.

Waldman, William J." Vice President, Klein's Sport- Vol. VII, p. 360. ing Goods, Inc. Waldo, Thayer ^ Reporter, Forth Worth Vol. XV, p. 585. Walker, C.T.^ Member, Dallas Police De- Vol. VII, p. 34. partment.

Walker, Maj. Gen. Edwin Resident of Dallas and object Vol. XI, p. 404. A.° of shooting in April 1963. Walker, Ira X., Jr.° Broadcast technician. Fort Vol. XIII, p. 289. Worth.

Wall. Breck (a.k.a. Billy Ray Acquaintance of Ruby Vol. XIV, p. 599. Wilson).^

Walthers, Eddy Raymond °. . . Deputy sheriff, Dallas County. Vol. VII, p. 544. Warner, Roger C.^ Agent, U.S. Secret Service. . . . Vol. XV, p. 619. AVaterman, Bernice ^ Adjudicator, Passport Office, A^ol. V, p. 346. Department of State. AA^atherwax, Arthur AA'il- Printer, Dallas newspaper.... A^ol. XA', p. 564. liam.^ AVatson. James C.^ Member, Dallas Police De- A^ol. XII, p. 372. partment.

AVeinstock, Louis ^ General manager, the Worker. A^ol. XI, p. 207. AA^issman. Bernard ^ ^ Codraftsman and signer of A^ol. V, p. 487. November 22, 1963, full- Vol. XI, p. 428. page advertisement. Weitzman, Seymour^ Deputy constable, Dallas A^ol. A"II, p. 105. County.

West, Troy Eugene ^ Employee, TSBD A'ol. A^I, p. 356. AVestbrook, W. R.° Captain, Dallas Police De- A^ol. VII, p. 109. partment.

Wester. .Jane Carolyn ° Nurse, Parkland Hospital A'ol. A'l, p. 120. Whaley, William Wayne ^ °. . Taxicab driver in Dallas A^ol. II, pp. 253,

292. Vol. VI, p. 428. White, J. C.^ Member, Dallas Police De- A^ol. A'l, p. 253. partment.

White. Martin G.° Doctor, Parkland Hospital. . . . A'ol. VI, p. 82. Whitworth, Edith ° Manager. used furniture A'ol. XI. p. 262.

store. Irving. Tex.

Wiggins, Woodrow ° Lieutenant, Dallas Police De- A^ol. XII. p. 388. partment.

Wilcox. Laurance R.° District manager. Western A'ol. X, p. 414. Union Telegraph Co. Williams, Bonnie Ray ^ Employee, TSBD A'ol. Ill, p. 161.

AAlUis, Linda Kay ^ Daughter of Phillip L. Willis . A^ol. A^IL p. 498.

Willis. Phillip L.° Witness at assassination A'ol. A^II, p. 492. scene.

AAllson, Billy Ray (see Wall,

Breck).

AAlttmus. Ronald G.^ Fingerprint expert, FBI A^ol. A^II, p. 590. Wood, Homer ^ Patron, Sports Drome Rifla A^ol. X. p. 385. Range.

Wood, Sterling Charles ° Son of Dr. Homer AVood A^ol. X, p. 390. Wood, Theresa ° Wife of Dr. Homer AA^ood Vol. X, p. 398. Worley, Gano E.° Reserve Force. Dallas Police A^ol. XII, p. 378. Department.

AA^orrell, James Richard, Jr.^. . Witness at assassination scene. A'ol. II, p. 190. Wright, Norman Earl ^ Acquaintance of Jack Ruby A^ol. XA^, p. 244. 499
Witness Description Testimony

WiUf, William E.^ Acquaintance of Oswald in Vol. VIII, p. 15. his youth.

Yarborough, Ralph W.^ U.S. Senator from Texas Vol. VII, p. 439. Yeargan, Albert C, Jr,^ Employee, H. C. Green, Dallas. Vol. XI, p. 207. Youngblood, Rufus Wayne ^. . Agent, U.S. Secret Service Vol. II, p. 144. Zahm, James A.^ Marine Corps expert on Vol. XI, p. 306. marksmanship.

Zapruder, Abraham " Witness at assassination scene. Vol. VII, p. 569.

500
APPENDIX VI

Commission Procedures for the Taking of Testimony

RESOLUTION GOVERNING QUESTIONING OF WITNESSES

BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION STAFF

Pursuant to Executive Order No. 11130, November 29, 1963, which

authorizes this Commission "to prescribe its own procedures," it is therefore

Resolved, That the following are hereby adopted as the rules of this

Commission for the questioning of witnesses by members of the Commission staff.

I. Sworn Depositions

A. Individual members of the staff are hereby authorized to administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and re- ceive evidence in the form of sworn depositions on any matter

under investigation by the Commission.

B. Such sworn depositions may be taken only from witnesses designated in writing for questioning in this manner by the Commission, by a member of the Commission, or by the General

Counsel of the Commission.

C. A stenographic verbatim transcript shall be made of all sworn

depositions. Copies of the witness' testimony shall be available

for inspection by the witness or his counsel. When approved

by the Commission, said copies may be purchased by the wit- ness or his counsel at regularly prescribed rates from the

official reporter.

D. Process and papers of the Commission issued under Paragraph

(d) of Joint Resolution S.J. 137, 88th Congress, 1st session,

shall be returnable no less than three days from the date on which such process or papers are issued, and shall state the time,

place, and general subject matter of the deposition. In lieu of

such process and papers, the Commission may request the pres- ence of witnesses and production of evidence for the purpose of sworn depositions by written notice mailed no less than three

days from the date of the deposition.

E. The period of notice specified in Paragraph D may be waived

by a witness. F. A witness at a sworn deposition shall have the right to be ac- companied by counsel of his own choosing, who shall have

the right to advise the witness of his rights under the laws and

Constitution of the United States, and the state wherein the

deposition shall occur, and to make brief objections to questions.

501
At the conclusion of the witness' testimony, counsel shall have

the right to clarify the testimony of the witness by questioning

the witness.

G. At the opening of any deposition a member of the Commission's staff shall read into the record a statement setting forth

the nature of the Commission's inquiry and the purpose for

which the witness has been asked to testify or produce evidence.

H. Any witness who refuses to answer a question shall state the

grounds for so doing. At the conclusion of any deposition in

which the witness refuses to answer a question the transcript

shall be submitted to the General Counsel for review and con- sideration whether the witness should be called to testify before

the Commission.

II. Sworn Affidavits A. Members of the Commission staff are hereby authorized to obtain sworn affidavits from those witnesses who have been

designated in writing by the Commission, a member of the

Commission, or the general counsel of the Commission as wit- nesses whose testimony will be obtained in this manner.

B. A copy of the affidavit shall be provided the affiant or his

counsel.

RESOLUTION

Pursuant to Executive Order No. 11130, IN^ovember 29, 1963, which

authorizes this Commission "to prescribe its own procedures," it is therefore

Resolved, That the following are hereby adopted as the rules of this

Commission in connection with hearings conducted for the purpose

of the taking of testimony or the production of evidence.

1. One or more members of the Commission shall be present at all hearings. If more than one Commissioner is present, the Chairman

of the Commission shall designate the order in which the Commissioners shall preside.

2. Any member of the Commission or any agent or agency designated by the Commission for such purpose, may administer oaths and

affirmations, examine witnesses, and receive e^ddence.

3. Process and papers of the Commission issued under Paragraph

(d) of Joint Resolution S.J. 137, 88th Congress, 1st session, shall be

returnable no less than three days from the date on which such process or papers are issued, and shall state the time, place, and general subject matter of the hearing. In lieu of such process and papers, the

Commission may request the presence of witnesses and the production

of evidence by written notice mailed no less than 3 days from the date

of the hearing.

4. The period of notice specified in paragraph three (3) may be

waived by a witness.

6. At the opening of any hearing at which testimony is to be re- ceived a member of the Commission shall read into the record a state- 502
ment setting forth the nature of the Commission's inquiry and the

purpose for which the witness has been asked to testify or produce

evidence. A copy of this statement shall be given to each witness

prior to his testifying.

6. A witness shall have the right to be accompanied by counsel, of

his own choosing, who shall have the right to advise the witness of his

rights under the laws and Constitution of the United States and to make brief objections to questions. At the conclusion of the witness'

testimony, counsel shall have the right to clarify the testimony of

the witness by questioning the witness.

7. Every witness who testifies at a hearing shall have the right to make an oral statement and to file a sworn statement which shall be

made part of the transcript of such hearing, but such oral or written

statement shall be relevant to the subject of the hearing.

8. Eulings on objections or other procedural questions shall be

made by the presiding member of the Commission.

9. A stenographic verbatim transcript shall be made of all testi- mony received by the Commission. Copies of such transcript shall be

available for inspection or purchase by the witness or his counsel at regularly prescribed rates from the official reporter. A witness or his

counsel shall be permitted to purchase or inspect only the transcript

of his testimony before the Commission.

503
APPENDIX VII

A Brief History of Presidential Protection

In the course of the history of the United States four Presidents

have been assassinated, within less than 100 years, beginning with

Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Attempts were also made on the lives of

two other Presidents, one President-elect, and one ex-President. Still other Presidents were the objects of plots that were never carried out. The actual attempts occurred as follows

Andrew Jackson Jan. 30, 1835. Abraham Lincoln Apr. 14, 1865. Died Apr. 15, 1865. James A. Garfield July 2, 1881. Died Sept. 19, 1881. William McKinley Sept. 6, 1901. Died Sept. 14, 1901. Theodore Roosevelt Oct. 14, 1912. Wounded ; recovered. Franklin D. Roosevelt Feb. 15, 1933. Harry S. Truman Nov. 1, 1950. John F. Kennedy Nov. 22, 1963. Died that day.

Attempts have thus been made on the lives of one of every five American Presidents. One of every nine Presidents has been killed. Since 1865, there have been attempts on the lives of one of every four

Presidents and the successful assassination of one of every five. During the last three decades, three attacks were made.

It was only after William McKinley was shot that systematic and

continuous protection of the President was instituted. Protection

before McKinley was intermittent and spasmodic. The problem had

existed from the days of the early Presidents, but no action was taken

until three tragic events had occurred. In considering the effec- tiveness of present day protection arrangements, it is worthwhile to examine the development of Presidential protection over the years, to understand both the high degree of continuing danger and the anomalous reluctance to take the necessary precautions.

BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR

In the early days of the Republic, there was remarkably little con- cern about the safety of Presidents and few measures were taken to protect them. They were at times the objects of abuse and the recipients

of threatening letters as more recent Presidents have been, but they

did not take the threats seriously and moved about freely without protective escorts. On his inauguration day, Thomas Jeffers,on walked

from his boarding house to -the Capitol, unaccompanied by any guard,

to take the oath of office. There was no police authority in Washing604
ton itself until 1805 when the mayor appointed a high constable and 40

deputy constables.^ John Quincy Adams received many threatening letters and on one

occasion was threatened in person in the White House by a court- martialed Army sergeant. In spite of this incident, the President

asked for no protection and continued to indulge his fondness for

solitary walks and early morning swims in the Potomac.^

Among pre-Civil War Presidents, Andrew Jackson aroused particularly strong feelings. He received many threatening letters which, with a fine contempt, he would endorse and send to the Washington Globe for publication. On one occasion in May 1833, Jackson was assaulted by a former Navy lieutenant, Robert B. Randolph, but

refused to prosecute him. This is not regarded as an attempt at assassination, since Randolph apparently did not intend serious

injury.^

Less than 2 years later, on the morning of January 10, 1835, as Jackson emerged from the east portico of the Capitol, he was wc- costed by a would-be assassin, Richard Lawrence, an English-born

house painter. Lawrence fired his two pistols at the President, but

they both misfired. Lawrence was quickly overpowered and held for

trial. A jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity. He was

confined in jails and mental hospitals for the rest of his life.* The attack on Jackson did not inspire any action to provide protection for the Chief Executive. Jackson's immediate successor, Martin Van Buren, often walked to church alone and rode horseback

alone in the woods not far from the AYliite House. In August 1842,

after an intoxicated painter had thrown rocks at President John Tyler,

who was walking on the grounds to the south of the White House,

Congress passed an act to establish an auxiliary watch for the protection of public and private property in Washington. The force was to consist of a captain and 15 men. This act was apparently

aimed more at the protection of the 'Wliite House, which had been

defaced on occasion, than of the President.^

LINCOLN

Even before he took the oath of office, Abraham Lincoln was thought

to be the object of plots and conspiracies to kidnap or kill him. Extremist opponents apparently contemplated desperate measures to prevent his inauguration, and there is some evidence that they plotted

to attack him while he was passing through Baltimore on his way

to Washington.^

For the inauguration, the Army took precautions unprecedented

up to that time and perhaps more elaborate than any precautions

taken since. Soldiers occupied strategic points throughout the city,

along the procession route, and at the Capitol, while armed men in

plain clothes mingled with the crowds. Lincoln himself, in a car- riage with President Buchanan, was surrounded on all sides by such

605

730-900 0-64—34
dense masses of soldiers that he was almost completely hidden from

the view of the crowds. The precautions at the Capitol during the

ceremony were almost as thorough and equally successful/

Lincoln lived in peril during all his years in office. The volume

of threatening letters remained high throughout the war, but little attention was paid to them. The few letters that were investigated

yielded no results.^ He was reluctant to surround himself with

guards and often rejected protection or sought to slip away from it. This has been characteristic of almost all American Presidents.

They have regarded protection as a necessary affliction at best and

contrary to their normal instincts for either personal privacy or free- dom to meet the people. In Lincoln these instincts were especially

strong, and he suffered with impatience the efforts of his friends,

the police, and the military to safeguard him.®

The protection of the President during the war varied greatly,

depending on Lincoln's susceptibility to warnings. Frequently, military units were assigned to guard the T^Hiite House and to acx:ompany

the President on his travels. Lincoln's friend, "Ward H. Lamon, on becoming marshal of the District of Columbia in 1861, took personal

charge of protecting the President and provided guards for the purpose, but he became so exasperated at the President's lack of cooperation that he tendered his resignation. Lincoln did not accept it. Finally, late in the war, in November 1864, four T^^ashington policemen were detailed to the "Wliite House to act as personal bodyguards

to the President. Lincoln tolerated them reluctantly and insisted

they remain as inconspicuous as possible.^^

In the closing days of the war, rmnors of attempts on Lincoln's life persisted. The well-known actor, John TTilkes Booth, a fanatical

Confederate sympathizer, plotted with others for months to kidnap

the President. The fall of the Confederacy apparently hardened

his determination to kill Lincoln.^^ Booth's opportunity came on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, when he learned that the President

would be attending a play at Ford's Theater that night. The

President's bodyguard for the evening was Patrolman John F. Parker

of the Washington Police, a man who proved himself unfit for protective duty. He was supposed to remain on guard in the corridor

outside of the Presidential box during the entire performance of the

play, but he soon wandered off to watch the play and then even went

outside the theater to have a drink at a nearby saloon. Parkers

dereliction of duty left the President totally unprotected.^^ Shortly

after 10 o'clock on that evening, Booth found his way up to the Presidential box and shot the President in the head. The President's

wound was a mortal one ; he died the next morning, April 15.^^ A detachment of troops captured Booth on April 26 at a farm near Bowling Green, Ya. ; he received a bullet wound and died a few hours

later. At a trial in June, a military tribunal sentenced four of

Booth's associates to death and four others to terms of imprisonment.^*

Lincoln's assassination revealed the total inadequacy of Presidential

protection. A congressional conmiittee conducted an extensive in- 506
vestigation of the assassination, but with traditional reluctance, called

for no action to provide better protection for the President in the

future. Nor did requests for protective measures come from the

President or from Government departments. This lack of con- cern for the protection of the President may have derived also from

the tendency of the time to regard Lincoln's assassination as part of

a unique crisis that was not likely to happen to a future Chief

Executive.^^

THE NEED FOR PROTECTION FURTHER DEMONSTRATED

For a short time after the war, soldiers assigned by the War Department continued to protect the White House and its grounds. Metropolitan Washington policemen assisted on special occasions to maintain order and prevent the congregation of crowds. The per- manent Metropolitan Police guard was reduced to three and assigned

entirely to protection at the White House. There was no special

group of trained officers to protect the person of the President. Presidents after Lincoln continued to move about in Washington virtually

unattended, as their predecessors had done before the Civil War, and,

as before, such protection as they got at the ^Vhite House came from

the doormen, who were not especially trained for guard duty.^^

This lack of personal protection for the President came again

tragically to the attention of the country with the shooting of President James A. Garfield in 1881. The President's assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, was a self-styled "lawyer, theologian, and politician" who

had convinced himself that his unsolicited efforts to help elect Garfield in 1880 entitled him to appointment as a consul in Europe. Bitterly disappointed that the President ignored his repeated written

requests for appointment to office and obsessed with a kind of megalomania, he resolved to kill Garfield.

At that time Guiteau was 38 years old and had an unusually checkered career behind him. He had been an itinerant and generally unsuccessful lecturer and evangelist, a lawyer, and a would-be politician.

While it is true he resented Garfield's failure to appoint him consul

in Paris as a reward for his wholly illusory contribution to the Garfield campaign, and he verbally attacked Garfield for his lack of

support for the so-called Stalwart wing of the Republican Party,

these may not have supplied the total motivation for his crime. At

his trial he testified that the "Deity" had commanded him to remove

the President. There is no evidence that he confided his assassination plans to anyone or that he had any close friends or confidants.

He made his attack on the President under circumstances where escape

after the shooting was inconceivable. There were some hereditary

mental problems in his family and Guiteau apparently believed in divine inspiration.^^

Guiteau later testified that he had had three opportunities to attack

the President prior to the actual shooting. On all of these occasions,

507
within a brief period of 3 weeks, the President was unguarded. Guiteau finally realized his intent on the morning of July 2, 1881. As

Garfield was walking to a train in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, Guiteau stepped up and shot him in the

back. Garfield did not die from the effects of the wound until September 19, 1881. Although there was evidence of serious abnormality

in Guiteau, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to be hanged.

The execution took place on June 30, 1882.i«

At least one newspaper, the New York Tribune, predicted that the

assault on Garfield would lead to the President becoming "the slave

of his office, the prisoner of forms and restrictions," in sharp and

unwelcome contrast to the splendidly simple life he had been able to

live before.

The bullet of the assassin who lurked in the Washington rail- Avay station to take the life of President Garfield shattered the

simple Republican manner of life which the custom of nearly a century has prescribed for the Chief Magistrate of the United

States. Our Presidents have been the first citizens of the Republic—nothing more. With a measure of power in their hands far

greater than is wielded by the ruler of any limited monarchy in Europe, they have never surrounded themselves with the forms

and safeguards of courts. The White House has been a business

office to everybody. Its occupant has always been more accessible

than the heads of great commercial establishments. When the

passions of the war were at fever heat, Mr. Lincoln used to have

a small guard of cavalry when he rode out to his summer residence

at the Soldier's Home; but at no other time in our history has

it been thought needful for a President to have any special protection against violence when inside or outside the White House.

Presidents have driven about Washington like other people and

travelled over the country as unguarded and unconstrained as any

private citizen.^^ The prediction of the Tribune did not come to pass. Although the

Nation was shocked by this deed, its representatives took no steps to provide the President with personal protection. The President con- tinued to move about Washington, sometimes completely alone, and

to travel without special protection. There is a story that President

Chester A. Arthur, Garfield's successor, once went to a ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard on a public conveyance that he hailed in front of the Wliite House.^^

During Grover Cleveland's second administration (1893-97) the

number of threatening letters addressed to the President increased

markedly, and Mrs. Cleveland persuaded the President to increase

the number of White House policemen to 27 from the 3 who had constituted the force since the Civil War. In 1894, the Secret Service

began to provide protection, on an informal basis.^^ 508
The Secret Service was organized as a division of the Department

of the Treasury in 1865, to deal with counterfeiting.^^ Its jurisdiction was extended t,o other fiscal crimes against the United States in later appropriations acts,^^ but its early work in assisting in protecting

the President was an unofficial, stopgap response to a need for a trained organization, with investigative capabilities, to perform this

task. In 1894, while investigating a plot by a group of gamblers in

Colorado to assassinate President Cleveland, the Secret Service as- signed a small detail of operatives to the AYliite House to help protect

him. Secret Service men accompanied the President and his family

to their vacation home in Massachusetts; special details protected the

President in Washington, on trips, and at special functions.^* For a time, two agents rode in a buggy behind President Cleveland's carriage, but this practice attracted so much attention in the opposition

newspapers that it was soon discontinued at the President's insist- ence.^ These initially informal and part-time arrangements eventually led to the organization of permanent systematic protection for

the President and his family.

During the Spanish-American War the Secret Service stationed a

detail at the White House to provide continuous protection for President McKinley. The special wartime protective measures were re- laxed after the war, but Secret Service guards remained on duty at the White House at least part of the time.^^

Between 1894 and 1900, anarchists murdered the President of

France, the Premier of Spain, the Empress of Austria, and the King

of Italy. At the turn of the century the Secret Service thought that

the strong police action taken against the anarchists in Europe was

compelling them to flee and that many were coming to the United

States. Concerned about the protection of the President, the Secret

Service increased the number of guards and directed that a guard

accompany him on all of his trips.^'^

Unlike Lincoln and Garfield, President McKinley was being

guarded when he was shot by Leon F. Czolgosz, an American-born

28-year-old factory worker and farmhand. On September 6, 1901,

the President was holding a brief reception for the public in the

Temple of Music at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo.

Long lines of people passed between two rows of policemen and

soldiers to reach the President and shake his hand. In the immediate

vicinity of the President were four Buffalo detectives, four soldiers,

and three Secret Service agents. Two of the Secret Service men

were facing the President at a distance of 3 feet. One of them stated

later that it was normally his custom to stand at the side of the President on such occasions, but that he had been requested not to do so at

this time in order to permit McKinley's secretary and the president of

the exposition to stand on either side of McKinley. Czolgosz joined

the line, concealed a pistol under a handkerchief, and when he stood

in front of the President shot twice through the handkerchief.

McKinley fell critically wounded.^®

509
Czolgosz, a self-styled anarchist, did not believe in rulers of any

kind. There is evidence that the organized anarchists in the U.S.A.

did not accept or trust him. He was not admitted as a member to any of the secret anarchist societies. No co-plotters were ever dis- covered, and there is no evidence that he had confided in anyone. A

calm inquiry made by two eminent alienists about a year after

Czolgosz was executed found that Czolgosz had for some time been

suffering from delusions. One was that he was an anarchist ; another was that it was his duty to assassinate the President.^^

The assassin said he had no grudge against the President personally

but did not believe in the republican form of government or m rulers

of any kind. Tn his written confession he included the words, " 'I don't believe one man should have so much service and anotlier man

should have none.' " As he was strapped to the chair to be electro- cuted, he said : " 'I killed the President because he was the enemy of

the good people—the good working people. I am not sorry for my

crime.' "

^^ McKinley lingered on for 8 days before he died of blood poisoning

early on the morning of September 14. Czolgosz, who had been

captured immediately, was swiftly tried, convicted, and condemned

to death. Although it seemed to some contemporaries that Czolgosz was incompetent, the defense made no effort to plead insanity.

Czolgosz was executed 45 days after the President's death. Investigations by the Buffalo police and the Secret Service revealed no accomplices and no plot of any kind.^^

DEVELOPMENT OF PRESIDENTIAL PROTECTION

This third assassination of a President in a little more than a generation—it was only 36 years since Lincoln had been killed

shook the nation and aroused it to a greater awareness of the uniqueness of- the Presidency and the grim hazards that surrounded an in- cumbent of that Office. The first congressional session after the as- sassination of McKinley gave more attention to legislation concern- ing attacks on the President than had any previous Congress but did

not pass any measures for the protection of the President.^^ Nevertheless, in 1902 the Secret Service, which was then the only Federal

general investigative agency of any consequence, assumed full-time

responsibility for the safety of the President. Protection of the

President now became one of its major permanent functions, and it assigned two men to its original full-time ^Vliite House detail. Additional agents were provided when the President traveled or went on

vacation.^^

Theodore Roosevelt, who w^as the first President to experience the

extensive system of protection that has surrounded the President ever

since, voiced an opinion of Presidential protection that was probably

shared in part by most of his successors. In a letter to Senator Henry

Cabot Lodge in 1906, from his summer home, he wrote

510
The Secret Service men are a very small but very necessary

thorn in the flesh. Of course, they would not be the least use in

preventing any assault upon my life. I do not belieTe there is any danger of such an assault, and if there were, as Lincoln said,

"though it would be safer for a President to live in a cage, it would interfere with his business." But it is only the Secret

Service men who render life endurable, as you would realize if you saw the procession of carriages that pass through the place,

the procession of people on foot who try to get into the place, not

to speak of the multitude of cranks and others who are stopped

in the village.^*

Roosevelt, who had succeeded to the Presidency because of an as- sassin's bullet, himself became the object of an assassination attempt a few years after he left office and when he was no longer under Secret

Service protection. During the Presidential campaign of 1912, just

as he was about to make a political speech in Milwaukee on October 14,

he was shot and wounded in the breast by John N. Schrank, a 36-

year-old German-born ex-tavern keeper. A folded manuscript of his

long speech and the metal case for his eyeglasses in the breast pocket

of Roosevelt's coat were all that prevented the ass'assination.^^ Schrank had had a vision in 1901, induced possibly by McKinley's

assassination, which took on meaning for him after Roosevelt, 11

years later, started to campaign for the Presidency. In this vision

the ghost of McKinley appeared to him and told him not to let a murderer (i.e., Roosevelt, who according to the vision had murdered

McKinley) become President. It was then that he determined upon

the assassination. At the bidding of McKinley's ghost, he felt he

had no choice but to kill Theodore Roosevelt. After his attempt on

Roosevelt, Schrank was found to be insane and was committed to mental hospitals in Wisconsin for the rest of his life.^^ The establishment and extension of the Secret Service authority

for protection was a prolonged process. Although the Secret Service

undertook to provide full-time protection for the President beginning

in 1902, it received neither funds for the purpose nor sanction from

the Congress until 1906 when the Sundry Civil Expenses Act for

1907 included funds for protection of the President by the Secret

Service.^^ Following the election of William Howard Taft in 1908,

the Secret Service began providing protection for the Presidentelect. This practice received statutory authorization in 1913, and in

the same year. Congress authorized permanent protection of the

President.^^ It remained necessary to renew the authority annually

in the Appropriations Acts until 1951.

As in the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, the coming of war in

1917 caused increased concern for the safety of the President. Congress enacted a law, since referred to as the threat statute, making

it a crime to threaten the President by mail or in any other manner.^^

In 1917 Congress also authorized protection for the President's immediate family by the Secret Service.^^

611
As the scope of the Presidency expanded during the 20th century,

the Secret Service found the problems of protection becoming more

numerous. In 1906, for the first time in history, a President traveled

outside the United States while in office. When Theodore Roosevelt

visited Panama in that year, he was accompanied and protected by

Secret Service men.^^ In 1918-19 Woodrow Wilson broadened the

precedent of Presidential foreign travel when he traveled to Europe

with a Secret Service escort of 10 men to attend the Versailles Peace

Conference.*^

The attempt on the life of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt

in 1933 further demonstrated the broad scope and complexity of the

protection problems facing the Secret Service. Giuseppe Zangara was a bricklayer and stonemason with a professed hatred of capitalists and Presidents. He seemed to be obsessed with the desire to

kill a President. After his arrest he confessed that he had first planned to go to Washington to kill President Herbert Hoover, but as the cold climate of the North was bad for his stomach trouble, he was

loath to leave Miami, where he was staying. When he read in the

paper that President-elect Roosevelt would be in Miami, he resolved to

kill him.*3

On the night of February 15, 1933, at a political rally in Miami's

Bayfront Park, the President-elect sat on the top of the rear seat of

his automobile with a small microphone in his hand as he made a short informal talk. Fortunately for him, however, he slid down

into the seat just before Zangara could get near enough to take aim.

The assassin's arm may have been jogged just as he shot; the five rounds he directed at Roosevelt went awry. However, he mortally

wounded Mayor Anton Cermak, of Chicago, and hit four other per- sons; the President-elect, by a miracle, escaped. Zangara, of course, never had any chance of escaping.**

Zangara was electrocuted on March 20, 1933, only 33 days after his

attempt on Roosevelt. No evidence of aceomplices or conspiracy came to light, but there was some sensational newspaper speculation,

wholly midocumented, that Zangara may have been hired by Chicago

gangsters to kill Cermak.*^

The force provided since the Civil War by the Washington Metropolitan Police for the protection of the Wliite House had grown to 54 men by 1922.*^ In that year Congress enacted legislation creat- ing the "V\^iite House Police Force as a separate organization imder

the direct control of the President.*^ This force was actually supervised by the President's military aide until 1930, when Congress placed

supervision under the Chief of the Secret Service.*^ Although Congress transferred control and supervision of the force to the Secretary

of the Treasury in 1962,*^ the Secretary delegated supervision to the

Chief of the Secret Service.^^

The Wliite House detail of the Secret Service grew in size slowly

from the original 2 men assigned in 1902. In 1914 it still numbered only 5, but during World War I it was increased to 10 men.

Additional men were added when the President traveled. After the

512
war the size of the detail grew until it reached 16 agents and 2 supervisors by 1939. World War II created new and greater protection

problems, especially those arising from the President's trips abroad to the Grand Strategy Conferences in such places as Casablanca, Quebec,

Tehran, Cairo, and Yalta. To meet the increased demands, the Wliite

House detail was increased to 37 men early in the war.^^

The volume of mail received by the White House had always been

large, but it reached huge proportions under Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Presidents had always received threatening letters but never in such

quantities. To deal with this growing problem, the Secret Service

established in 1940 the Protective Research Section to analyze and

make available to those charged with protecting the President,

information from White House mail and other sources concerning

people potentially capable of violence to the President. The Protective Research Section undoubtedly permitted the Secret Service to anticipate and forestall many incidents that might have been embarrassing or harmful to the President.^^

Although there was no advance warning of the attempt on Harry S. Trmnan's life on November 1, 1950, the protective measures taken by

the Secret Service availed, and the assassins never succeeded in firing

directly at the President. The assassins—Oscar Collazo and Griselio

Torresola, Puerto Rican Nationalists living in New York—^tried to force their way into Blair House, at the time the President's resi- dence while the White House was being repaired. Blair House was

guarded by AMiite House policemen and Secret Service agents. In

the ensuing gun battle, Torresola and one A\niite House policeman were killed, and Collazo and two White House policemen were wounded. Had the assassins succeeded in entering the front door of

Blair House, they would probably have been cut down immediately

by another Secret Service agent inside who kept the doorway covered

with a submachine gun from his vantage point at the foot of the main

stairs. In all, some 27 shots were fired in less than 3 minutes.°^

Collazo was brought to trial in 1951 and sentenced to death, but

President Truman commuted the sentence to life imprisonment on

July 24, 1952. Although there was a great deal of evidence linking

Collazo and Torresola to the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico and

its leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, the Government could not establish

that the attack on the President was part of a larger Nationalist

conspiracy.^*

The attack on President Truman led to the enactment in 1951 of

legislation that permanently authorized the Secret Service to protect

the President, his immediate family, the President-elect, and the Vice

President, the last upon his request. Protection of the Vice President

by the Secret Ser^'ice had begun in January 1945 when Harry S. Truman occupied the office. ^^ In 1962 Congress further enlarged the list of Government officers to be safeguarded, authorizing protection of the Vice President (or

the officer next in order of succession to the Presidency) without re- quiring his request therefor ; of the Vice President-elect : and of a 513
former President, at his request, for a reasonable period after his

departure from office. The Secret Service considered this "reasonable

period" to be 6 months.^^

Amendments to the threat statute of 1917, passed in 1955 and 1962,

made it a crime to threaten to harm the President-elect, the Vice President, or other officers next in succession to either office. The President's

immediate family was not included in the threat statute.^^ Congressional concern regarding the uses to which the President

might put the Secret Service—first under Theodore Eoosevelt and

subsequently under Woodrow Wilson—caused Congress to place tight

restrictions on the functions of the Service and the uses of its funds.^®

The restrictions probably prevented the Secret Service from developing into a general investigative agency, leaving the field open for some other agency when the need arose. The other agency proved to be the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) , established within the

Department of Justice in 1908.^® The FBI grew rapidly in the 1920's, and especially in the 1930's

and after, establishing itself as the largest, best equipped, and best

knovm of all U.S. Government investigative agencies. In the appropriations of the FBI there recurred annually an item for the "protection of the person of the President of the United States," that had

first appeared in the appropriation of the Department of Justice in

1910 under the heading "Miscellaneous Objects." ®° But there is no

evidence that the Justice Department ever exercised any direct responsibility for the protection of the President. Although it had no pre- scribed protection functions, according to its Director, J. Edgar

Hoover, the FBI did provide protection to Vice President Charles

Curtis at his request, when he was serving under Herbert Hoover from

1929 to 1933. Over the years the FBI contribution to Presidential protection was confined chiefly to the referral to the Secret Service of the names of people who might be potentially dangerous to the President.^^

In recent years the Secret Service has remained a small and specialized bureau, restricted to very limited functions prescribed by Congress. In 1949, a task force of the Commission on Organization of

the Executive Branch of the Government (Hoover Commission),

recommended nonfiscal functions be removed from the Treasury Department.^^ The recommendation called for transfer of the White

House detail. White House Police Force, and Treasury Guard Force

from the Secret Service to the Department of Justice. The final report

of the Commission on the Treasury Department omitted this recom- mendation, leaving the protective function with the Secret Service.^"^ At a meeting of the Commission, ex-President Hoover, in a reference

to the proposed transfer, expressed the opinion that "the President

will object to having a 'private eye' looking after these fellows and

would rather continue with the service." ^* In 1963 the Secret Service was one of several investigative agencies

in the Treasury Department. Its major functions were to combat

counterfeiting and to protect the President, his family, and other

514
designated persons.^ The Chief of the Secret Service administered

its activities through four divisions: Investigation, Inspection, Administrative, and Security, and 65 field offices throughout the country,

each under a special agent in charge who reported directly to Washington, The Security Division supervised the White House detail,

the White House Police, and the Treasury Guard Force. During

fiscal year 1963 (July 1, 1962-June 30, 1963) the Secret Service had

an average strength of 513, of whom 351 were special agents. Average

strength of the White House Police during the year was 1T9.®^

515
APPENDIX VIII

Medical Reports From Doctors at

Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Tex.

** CkxBBisslon EJdiibit HO.

rivou in - V .-, C-, r,- er;^er.C)' Roor; at exucrly

I2.--»5 :;.m. in his lino-jsir.c. ::e was ir. the back seat,

Coy. Ccr.aily was in the front seat of the sar.e car.

Gey. Ccnnally v;as broui^ht out first and v;as put in roox two.

."'rasivlo-nt was hrouKht out naxt and put in roor. one. Dr. Clark pronounced the President dead at I p.r.. exactly. All of the President's bclon.'^ings except his watch were given to the Secret Service. I'is watch was given to Mr. C. P.

'..'right. !;e left the Er^ier.'jency Roor,, the President, at abcut 2 p.r.. in an O'.Veal ar.'oulance. Us was put in a bronze

colored plastic casket after beinj wrapped in a blanket and

was taken cut of the hospital. He was rcr.oved froa the hospital J. Tne Gov. was taken fror. the Emergency Rooa to

the Operating Rocni. The President's wife refused zs take off her bloa./ ij.ove.,, clothes. She did take a tov,\,. ar*i wipe her face. S'r.c took her v;eddinjj ring off ana ar^i placed it on one of the President's fingers.

Commission Exhibit No. 392

516
~ CooiBission BxMbit *». 392

Prasxcanz was i^r. uarrtas Cz.--2.ci Surgery.

cgGn^.- rasyirs-ory efforcs. Kc but -found no pulse or blcod pr:

'i\;o e;:t£rnai v;ouacIs, one in the terior neck, the othsr in jh^ c slcuii^ XiTSre noted. Through the

brc--.n vrsra extruding. Dr. C^r. andocracheal tube. IJhi.!^ doin:

could hc^--^- c- hccrujeat

•gicn cr cna

.- blood £.nd

.d a. cuffad

:ed £ rc--ad wound of the trachea xnr;.8di£teiy balow the larynx.

gaon, Zs, Charias Baxter, -.^^cnc_: Rcnalc donas, another 2ajidant in arrived. Irmadiately th-raafaar, Gxes aclca ana rlunt. txvo oa.ier ^.la^ arrived. The endotracheal tuba n, Bennett resoiraccr to assist the

?^rry, Aatandins Sur-

- Surgaon, and Z-. Canaral Surgery,

^ia, and Doctors

...an.aiologiaas, aan acnnected to a idant ' s breathing. An Anesthesia machine V7as substatutad ao"r this by Dr. Jenkins. Only 100% oxygen v7as adaiinis tared. A cutdown was perfoanaad in tha right ankle, and

a polyethylene catheter inaar^ad in aha vain. An infu- sion of lactated Ilinger's scluaion v^as begun. Blood

-./as dravjn for type and crossn^atch. but urraaached t^'pe

'O'- RI-I negative blood was iiraaed lately obtained and hz-

^v.T.. hydrocortisone 300 iugn:s was added to the intra- venous fluids.

Dr. hobert McClelland, Attending Surgeon, arrived

ao help in the President's care. Doctors Parry, haxtar, and ..aClelland began a ^iracheosacnyj as ccnaidarabla ruan-

:;itias of blood were present frcir. the Presidana's oral pnarynx. At this tiiae. Dr. Paul Peters, Attending Uro- Icgical Surgeon, and Dr. ICcrap Clark, Director of Naurolagical Surgery, arrived. Because of the lacerated

Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

617
•---c5S3KiS'"isfifrwri9r

interior cnssc z\:.C)CC 7;-ri picczo. m oocn p_2urc.

;hc:se were corxtccuad uo sacied unden-;atsr orain1 pupils to ba widaly ciic-3d end fi::ad do lighc. d-c syss

<J wa^e divar^an;;, baing davdadad oua-:j.rd: a slcav; daviadion

{ from cha doriaoniel t/aa praaana. do daep tandcn refisxes

or spOTdcar.aous laovcne-aas "are found. Thare was a larga wound in dha right cccipido-

^ardatai region, frcn •7hiah profuaa bleeding xtss occurrd;.^^. 1500 cc . of bl' aa vara asain:atad on the drapes

i _ona_aarable loss of scalp and baae ciasue. Both cere-

/; bral and cerebellar 'cissua were e:-:dr-a.din2 frcni zh^^ wound.

"; ?u"rther exaninatlon xjaa nod possible as cardiac wrraaa occurred at this poina. Closed chsst cardiac

;' r.assa^, i7as be^un by Dr. Claadc. d pulae palpable in both

[ the-, carotid and femoral arteries -..-as obtained. Dr. Perry

relieved on the cardiac sasaage vddla a cardiotaehiosccpa

'4 'aas connected. Dr. Fouad "dashour, Afcanding Physician,

•• arrived as this was being ccnnaaaad. There was elsctriI cal silence of the Preside-nt's heart.

] President Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1300

-.j hours by Dr. Clark.

a'lrector Service of Neurological Surgery

:o Daan"s Office, Soutb-zestem Medical School

;o Medical Records, Parkland >:e:i:iorial Hosnital

Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

518
PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ADMISSION NOTE

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PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ADMISSION NOTE

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Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

626
ADMISSION NOTE i

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ik-.„„TM A Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

527
PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ADMISSION NOTE

DATE AND HOUR:

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Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

528
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL SCHOOL

DALLAS

M.T.JENKINS, M.D. j^ '-^ ^ ^ Clinical Departments of Anesthesia PROFESSOR AND CHAIRMAN —.^-^J^- ""^ '.V!^" ^ "^ PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Department ot Anesthesiology S~^'~T.-^ j— f-J.'j'^J children's medical center

November 22, 1963 1630

To: Mr. C. J. Price, Administrator

Parkland Memorial Hospital

From: M. T. Jenkins, M.D., Professor and Chairman

Department of Anesthesiology

Subject: Statement concerning resuscitative efforts for President John F. Kennedy

Upon receiving a stat alarm that this distinguished patient was being brought to the emergency room at Parkland Memorial Hospital, I dispatched Doctors A. H. Giesecke and Jackie H. Hunt with an anesthesia machine and resuscitative equipment

to the major surgical emergency room area, and I ran down the stairs. On my

arrival in the emergency operating room at approximately 1230 I found that Doctors

Carrico and/or Delaney had begun resuscitative efforts by introducing an orotracheal

tube, connecting it for controlled ventilation to a Bennett intermittent positive

pressure breathing apparatus. Doctors Charles Baxter, Malcolm Perry, and Robert

McClelland arrived at the same time and began a tracheostomy and started the insertion of a right chest tube, since there was also obvious tracheal and chest

damage. Doctors Paul Peters and Kemp Clark arrived simultaneously and immediately

thereafter assisted respectively with the insertion of the right chest tube and with manual closed chest cardiac compression to assure circulation.

For better control of artificial ventilation, I exchanged the intermittent positive

pressure breathing apparatus for an anesthesia machine and continued artificial

ventilation. Doctors Gene Akin and A. H. Giesecke assisted with the respiratory

problems incident to changing from the orotracheal tube to a tracheostomy tube, and Doctors Hunt and Giesecke connected a cardioscope to determine cardiac activity.

During the progress of these activities, the emergency room cart was elevated at the

feet in order to provide a Trendelenburg position, a venous cutdown was performed on the right saphenous vein, and additional fluids were begun in a vein in the left forearm while blood was ordered from the blood bank. All of these activities were

completed by approximately 1245, at which time external cardiac massage was still

being carried out effectively by Doctor Clark as judged by a palpable peripheral

pulse. Despite these measures there was no electrocardiographic evidence of cardiac

activity.

Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

529
Mr. C. J. Price, Administrator

November 22, 1963 Page 2 - Statement concerning resuscitative

efforts for President John F» Kennedy

These described resuscitative activities were indicated as of first importance,

and after they were carried out attention was turned to all other evidences of injury. There was a great laceration on the right side of the head (temporal

and occipital), causing a great defect in the skull plate so that there was herniation and laceration of great areas of the brain, even to the extent that

the cerebellum had protruded from the wound. There were also fragmented sections

of brain on the drapes of the emergency room cart. With the institution of adequate cardiac compression, there was a great flow of blood from the cranial

cavity, indicating that there was much vascular damage as well as brain tissue

damage.

It is my personal feeling that all methods of resuscitation were instituted

expeditiously and efficiently. However, this cranial and intracranial damage

was of such magnitude as to cause the irreversible damage. President Kennedy

was pronounced dead at 1300.

Sincerely,

M. !. Jenkins, M.D.

Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

530
PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

OPERATIVE RECORD 11-22-63 Thoracic Surg

ROOM 220 STATUS: Pvt

NAME: John Connally

UNIT n 26 36 99

AGE: RACE: _W^

p RE-OPERATIVE Gimshot vound of the chest with comminuted fracture of the 5th rib

DIAGNOSIS: ! 1 POST-OPERATIVE

DIAGNOSIS: Same with laceration right middle lobe, hematoma lower lobe of Ivmg

OPERATION: ThorsAomy , removal rib fragment, de- began: I335

bridement of wound

General began: 1300

.ENDED: 1 ^PQ ANESTHETIC: AN ESTHESIOLOGIST: Giesecke

Robert Shaw, M.D

ASSISTANTS: Bra . Boland dnd Duke APPLIANCES:

NURSE: King/Eurkett

CIRC. NURSE: Johnson CASTS/ SPLINTS: SPONGE COUNTS: 1ST Correct

2N D Correct

I.V. FLUIDS AND BLOOD in-500 cc whole blood n-iqoOcc D-5-itti COMPLICATIONS: None

CONDITION OF PATIENT: Satisfactory

Clinicol Evaluation: r^^ patient was brought to the OR from the IDR. In the BOR a sucking wound

of the right chg|J was partially controlled by an occlusive dressing supported by manual

pressure. A tube been placed through the second interspace in the mid-clavicular line

connected to a waterseal bottle to evacuate the right pneumothorax and hemathorax. An IV

infiisipn of RL solution had already been started. As soon as the patient was positioned on

'ffil"OT^'81l the anesthesia was induced by Dr. Giesecke and an endotracheal tube was in place. As soon as it was possible to control respiration with positive pressure the occlusive dressing was taken from the right chest and the extent of the wound more carefully

determined. It was found that the wound of entrance was Just lateral to the right scapula

clqsQ th£ the. axilla yet had passed through the latysmus dorsi muscle shattered approxi-

^S^^'llJ" %*eS"^"'t5f the lateral and anterior portion of the right fifth rib and emerged below the right nipple. The wound of entrance was approximately three an in its longest di- ameter and the wound of exit was a ragged wound approximately five cm in its greatest diameter. The skin and subcutaneous tissue over the path of the missile moved in a paradoxical manner with respiration indicating softening of the chest. The skin of the whole area

was carefully cleansed with Phisohex and Iodine. The entire area including the wotmd of entrance and wound of exit was draped partially excluding the wound of entiBnce for the

first part of the operation. An elliptical incision was made arotmd the wound of exit re- moving the torn edges of the skin and the damaged subcutaneous tissue. The incision was then carried in a downward curve up toward the right axilla so ^ to not have the skin in- cision over the actual path o? the missile beH through the chest wall. This incision was carried down through the subcutaneous tissue to expose the Serratus anterior muscle and the

anterior border of the latisslmus dorsi muscle. The fragnented and damaged portions of the Serratus anterior muscle were excised. Small rib fragments that were adhering to periosteal tags were carefully removed preserving as much periosteum as possible. The fourth

intercostal muscle bundle and fifth Intercostal muscle bundle

were not appreciably damaged.

[:bl (continued;

Dr. Robert Shaw nv7

Commission Exhibit No. 392—Ck>ntinued

531
PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

OPERATIVE RECORD

f'ONNALLY .^OHN -^b' # 26 36 99

DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION (Continued): The ragged ends of the damaged fifth rib were cleaned

out with the rongeur. The plura had been torn open by the secondary missiles created by

the fragmented fifth rib. The vound was open widely and exposure was obtained with a self retaining retractor. The right pjfcral cavity was then carefully inspected>^proximately

200 cc of clot and liquid blood was removed from the plural cavity. The middle lobe had

a linear rent starting at its peripheral edge going down towards ityhilum separating the lobe into two segments. There was an open bronchus in the depth of this wound. Since the vascularity and the bronchial connections to the lobe were intact it was decided to re- pair the lobe rather then to remove it. The repair was accomplished with a nmning suture

of ^^00 chDomic gut on atraumatic needle closing both plural surfaces as well as two runnin. sutures approximating the tissue of the central portion of thelobe. This almost completely

sealed off the air leaks which were evident in the torn portion of the lobe.* The lower

lobe was next examined and found to be engorged with blood and at one point a laceration ef allowed the oozing of blood. This laceration had undoubtedly been caused by a rib fragment. This laceration was closed with'a single suture of #3-0 chromic gut on atraumatic needle. The right pftral cavity was now carefully examined and small ribs fragments were removed, the diaphram was found to be uninjured. There was no evidence of injury of the mediastinum

and its contents. Hemostasis had been accomplished within the pjAiral cavity with the repair of the middle lobe and the suturing of the laceration in the lower lobe. The upper lobe was fo\md to be uninjured. The drains which had previously been placed in the second interspace

in t he midclavicular line was found to be longer than necessary so approximately ten cm of it was cut away and the remaining portion evas fkef^nstrated. with two additional op^ngs.

An additional drain was placed through a stab wounji in the eighth interspace in the pos- terior axillary line. Both these drains were then connected to a waterseal bottle. The fourth and fifth intercostal muscles were then approximated with interrupted sutures of #0

chromic gut. The remaining portion of the Serratus anterior muscle was then approximated

across the closure of the intercostal m\:iscle. The laceration of the latissimus dorsi mtiscle on its intermost surface was then closed with several interrupted sutures of #0 chromic

gut. Tke-8HbeHtaHeH.s-ti88He-was-th Before closing the subcutaneous tissue one million units of Penicillin and one gram of Streptomycin in 100 cc normal saline was instilled into the

wound. The stab wound was then made in the most dependent portion of the wound coming out near the angle of the scapula. Alarge Penrose drain was drawn out through this st^b wound

to allow drainage of the wound of the chest wall. The subcutaneous tissuewas then cl^f^r^il

interrupted #0 chromic gut inverting the knots . Skin closed with interrupted verticay sut- ures of black silk. Attention was next turned to the wound of entrance. It was excised with

an elliptical incision. It was found that the latissimus dorsi muscle althou^ lacerated

was not badly damaged so. that the opening was closed with sutures of #0 chromic gut in the fascia of the muscle. Before closing this incision "«»«• palpation with the index finger the Penrose drain could be felt immediately below in the space beneath the latissimus dorsi muscle. The skin closed with interrupted vertical mattress sutures of black silk. Drainage

tubes were secured with safety pens and adhesive tape and dressings applied. As soon as the operation on the chest had been concluded Dr. Gregory and Dr. Shires started the surgery the was necessary for the wounds of the right wrist and lef^ this

RS:bl * There was also a comminuted fracture of the right radius secondary to the same missile and in addition a grrw^n flesh wound of the left thigh. The operative noteflconcernlng the management of the right aim and left thigh will "be dictated ty Dr. CharlefJaSa^T

Shires. ^

Tom

1^ Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

532
PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

OPERATIVE RECORD n-22-63 Ortho

ROOM: 220 STATUS: Pvt.

Governor John Connally ""'^* 263699

AGE: w/m RACE; oiA^osis*^^^^TM^^*®'^ fracture of the right distal radius, open secondary to gunshot wound

POST-OPERATIVE

DIAGNOSIS: OPERATiofpa'bridement of gunshot wound of right wrist, began

reduction of fracture of the radius

AMPSTHFTir^ General began>L3Q0

1600 16^0

an esthesiologist: Giesecke

SURGEON:. Dr. Charles Gregory

assistants: Bra. Og-borne and Tarker APPLIANCES: SCRUB

NURSE: Rutherford

CIRC. NURSE: SchTftder CASTS/ SPLINTS: SPONGE COUNTS: 1ST . 2ND.

I,V. FLUIDS AND. BLOOD

COMPLICATIONS: None

CONDITION OF PATIENT: Fair

v-oa. a}j^^^r ^^^<'

ion. yhiie still under general anesthesia and'^following a thoifecotomy pair of the chest injury hy Dr. Robert Shaw, the right upper extremity was thoroughly

prepped in the routine fashion after shaving. He was draped in the routine fashion using

stockinette, the only addition was the use of a debridement pai^. The woimd of entiy on the

jdoraalpaapect of the right wrist over the junction of the distal fourth of the radius and

Iharx was ^proximately two cm in length and rather oblique with the loss. of tissue with

some considerable contusion at the margins of it. There was a P"^- -. ^'^ilong the volar

surface of the wrist about two cm above the flexion crease of I the wrist and in the midline^

The wound of entrance was carefully excised and developed through the muscles and tendons

pfrom the, Kidial .side of that bone to the bone itself ^^^e th^ fracture was encountered. ^^"^'^"notl? tKat the tendon of the abductor palmari^H^^t^^as transected, only two small

fragments of bone ^J^/Temoved, one approximately one cm Ij) length and consisted of lateral

cortex which lay free in the wound and had no soft tissue connections, another much smaller

fragment perhaps 3 nm in length was subsequently removed. Small bits of metal were en- countered at various levels throu^out the wound and thnse were wherever. they were identified- and could be picked up were picked up and have been submitted to the Pathology de- partment for identification and examination. Throiighout the woiond 4t^<wqr3i:^*t^and especially

in the superficial layers and to some extent in the tendon and tendon sheaths on the radial side of the arm small fine bits of cloth consistant with fine bits of Mohair. It is our understanding that the patient was wearing a Mohair suit at it;he time of the injury and

this accounts for the deposition of such organic material within the wound. After as careful and complete a debridement as covild be carried out and with an apparent integrity of the

flexor tendons and the median nerve in the volar side, and after thorough irrigation the wound of exit on the volar BVirface of the wrist was closed primarily with wire sutures while the wound of entrance on the radial side of the forearm 5ip,s^only^ partially closed, being left open for the purpose of drainage shoxild any make ^

spontaneous appearance.

(Kkbl (continued)Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

533
PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

OPERATIVE RECORD

11-22-63 . Ortho

Governor John Connally

#26 36 99

DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION (Continued): This is *RaiS?^«^e6»^%b the presence of Mohair and

organic material deep into the wound which is prone to produce tissue reactions and to en- courage infection and this precaution of not closing the wound was taken in correspondance

with our experience in that regard. In view of the urgancy of the Governor's original /thest Injury it was impossible to definitely ascertain the status of the circulation .^^ the nerve supply to the hand and

wrist on the right side. Accordingly, it was determined as best we could at the time of operation and: the radial artery was found to be intact and pulsating normally. Hie in- tegrity of the median nerve and the ulnar nerve is not clearly established birt it is presumed to be present. Following closure of the volar wound and partial closure of the radial

wound, dry sterile dressings were applied and a long arm cast was then applied with skin

tape traction, rubber band variety, attiched to the thumb & index finger of the ri^t

hand. 5ke-3»igh An attitude of flexon was created at the right elbow, and post operatively the llmbus suspended from an overhead frame usin^tepe traction. The post operative diag- nosis for the right forearm remains the same and again I suggest that you incorporate this particular dictation together with other dictations whloh will be given to you by the

sturgeons concerned with this patient

CG:bl Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

534
PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

OPERATIVE RECORD

DATE: Nov. 22, 1963

ROOM: 220 STATUS: Pvt, NAME: Connally, John

UNIT « 263699 A #24842

RACE: W/M

^r/^M^f.c*"^'^^ Gunshot Wound, Right Chest, Right Wrist, Left Thigh POST-OPERATIVE Same

DIAGNOSIS: Exploration and Debridement of (*See below) OPERATION: Gunshot Wound of Left Thigh began; 16-00 ended: 16; 20

ANESTHETIC: General 13:00

.ANESTHESIOLOGIST: Gelsecke

Dr. Shires

ASSISTANTS: Drs. McClelland, Baxter and Patman

APPLIANCES: SCRUB

NURSE: Oliver

_,„- Deming and

Nu r'I-E: Schr6d,r CASTS/ SPLINTS: SPONGE COUNTS: 1ST Correct, PS drugs I.V. FLUIDS AND BLOOD

2ND

*This portion of the operation is involved only with the operiation on COMPLICATIONS: ^^^ ^^^^ thigh. The chest injury has been dictated by Dr. Shaw, the orthopedic injury to the arm by Dr. Gregory,

CONDITION OF PATIENT:

Clinicol Evaluation: There was a 1 cm. punctate missile wound over the juncture of the middle and lower third, medial aspect, of the left thigh. X—rays of

the thigh and leg revealed a bullet fragment which was Imbedded

in the body of the femur in the distal third. The leg was prepared

with Phisohex and I.O. Prep and was draped in the usual fashion.

Operative Findings: Following this the missile wound was excised and the bullet

tract was explored. The missile wound was seen to course through

the subcutaneous fat and into the vastus medialis. The necrotic fat and muscle were debrided down to the region of the femur. The direction of the missile wound was judged not to be in the course of

Detcription of Operation: the femoral vessel, since the wound was distal and anterior to Hunter's canal. Following complete debridement of the wound and irri- gation with saline, the wound was felt to be adequately debrided enough

so that three simple through-and- through, stainless steel Aloe #28 wire

sutures were used encompassing skin, subcutaneous tissue, and muscle

fascia on both sides. Following this a sterile dressing was applied. The dorsalls pedis and posterior tibial pulses In both legs were quite

good. The thoracic procedure had been completed at this time, the debridement of the compound fracture in the arm was still in progress

at the time this soft tissue injury repair was completed.

•^^i-^^x^V^

Tom Shires';^'

Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

n^n

535
PARKLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

OPERATIVE RECORD

DATE: 11/24/63 Surg.

ROOM: —

NAME: Oswald, Lee Harvey EOR

WNtT a 25260

AGE: 24 Yr. RACE: W/M

PRE-OPERATIVE

DIAGNOSIS: upper

GSW of/abdomen and chest with massive bleeding POST-OPERATIVE

DIAGNOSIS: Major vascular injury in abdomen and chest Exploratory laparotomy, thoracotomy, efforts OPERATION: to repair aorta 8EGA^ 1142

1'15" ENDED: 1307 ANESTHETIC: SURGEON: .

General 1142 AN ESTHESIOLOGIST:'Dr. M.T. Jenkins

Dr. Gene Akin

Dr. Curtis Spier

Dr. Tom Shires

ASSISTANTS: Dr. Perry, Dr. SCRUB

NURSE: Schrader-Lunsford

McClelland, Dr. Ron Jones

CIRC Schrader-Bell- _ NURSE: Burkett-Simpson

i,PPLIANCES: CASTS/ SPLINTS:

2 counted sponges missing when body closed. Square pack count correct. COUNTS: 1ST . 2ND. COMPLICATIONS: CONDITION OF PATIENT:

DRUGS

Ca chloride - 3 vials Cedilanid - 12 One molar lactate-6

Isuprel - 24 Adrenalin 1:1G00 - 3 Expired at 1307

l.V. FLUIDS AND BLOOD

3-1000 cc. lactated Ringer's solution

16- .500 cc. whole blood

6-1000 cc. 57o dextrose in lactated Ringer's

solution \ Measured blood loss - 8,376 cc.

Clinical Evaluation: previous inspection had revealed an entrance wound over the left lower lateral chest cage, and an exit was identified by subcutaneous palpation of the bullet

over the right lower lateral chest cage. At the time he was seen preoperatively he

was without blood pressure, heart beat was heard infrequently at 130 beats per minute,

and preoperatively had endotracheal .tube placed and was receiving oxygen by anesthesia

OpewViy e •r-Hxiio^*

at the time he was moved to the operating room.

Description of Operation: Under endotracheal oxygen anesthesia, a long mid-line abdominal incision was made. Bleeders were not apparent and none were clamped or tied. Upon

opening the peritoneal cavity, approximately 2 to 3 liters of blood, both liquid and in clots, were encountered. These were removed. The bullet pathway was then identified as having shattered the upper medial surface of the spleen, then entered

the retroperitoneal area where there was a large retroperitoneal hematoma in the area of the pancreas. Following this, -bleeding was seen to be coming from the right

side, and upon inspection there -was seen to be an exit to the right through the inferior vena cava, thence through the superior pole of the right kidney, the lower portion pf the right lobe of the liver, and into the right lateral body wall. First

the right kidney, which was bleeding, was identified, dissected free, retracted

immediately, and the inferior vena cava hole was clamped with a partial occlusion

clamp of the Satinsky type. Following this immobilization, packing controlled the bleeding 'from the right kidney. Attention was then turned to the left, as bleeding

was massive from the left side. . The inspection of the retroperitoneal area revealed :^.,,

Tom Shires, M.D, Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

636
Oswald, Lee Harvey

EOR #25260

Page 2 a huge hematoma ii\ the mid-line. The spleen was : then mobilized, as was the left

colon, and the retroperitoneal approach was made to the mid-line strictures.

The pancreas was seen: to be shattered in its mid portion, bleeding was seen to be coming '-from the. aorta. This was dissected free. Bleeding, was. controlled with

finger pressure by Dr. Malcolm 0.' Perry. Upon identification of this injury, the

superior mesenteric artery had been sheared off of the aorta, there was back bleeding from the superior mesenteric artery. This was cross-clamped with a small, curved DeBakey clamp. The aorta was then occluded with a straight DeBakey

clamp above and a- Potts, clamp below. : At this point all major bleeding was con- trolled, blood pressure was reported to be in the neighborhood of 100 systolic.

Shortly thereafter, however, the pulse rate, which had been in the 80 to 90 range, was found- to be 40 and a few seconds later found- to be zero. No pulse was felt

in the aorta at this time. Consequently the. left chest Toas opened through an intercostal incision in approximately the fourth intercostal space. A Finochietto

retractor was inserted, the heart was seen to be flabby and not beating at all. There was no hemopericardiiim. There was a hole in the diaphragm but no hemothorax. A left closed chest tube had been introduced in the Emergency Room

prior to surgery, so that there was no significant pneumothorax on the left side. The pericardium was opened, cardiac massage was started, and a pulse was obtainable with massage. The heart was flabby, consequently calcium chloride

followed by epinephrine-Xylocaine® were injected into the left ventricle without

success. However, the standstill was converted to fibrillation. Following

this, defibrillation was done, using 240, 360, 500, and 750 volts and finally

successful defibrillation was accomplished. However, no effective heart beat

could be instituted. A pacemaker was then inserted into the wall of the right ventricle and grounded on skin, and pacemaking was started, A very feeble^

small, localized muscular response was obtained with the pacemaker but still no

effective beat. At this time we were informed by Dr, Jenkins that there were

no signs of life in that the pupils were fixed and dilated, there was no -retinal blood flow, no respiratory effort, and no effective pulse could be maintained

even with cardiac massage. The patient was pronounced dead at 1:07 P.M. Anesthesia consisted entirely of oxygen. No anesthetic agents as such were

administered. The patient was never conscious from the time of his arrival in

the Emergency Room until his death at 1:07 P.M. The subcutaneous bullet -was extracted from the right side during the attempts at defibrillation, which were

rotated among the surgeons. The cardiac massage and defibrillation attempts were carried out by Dr. Robert N. McClelland, Dr. Malcolm 0. Perry, Dr. Ronald

Jones. Assistance was obtained from the cardiologist. Dr. Fouad Bashour.

(•p.iuoa) NoiivygdO do NoiidmDsaa

Commission Exhibit No. 392—Continued

730-900 0-64—36 537
APPENDIX IX

Autopsy Report and Supplemental Report

Standanl I^orTn 003

F.eTl.-.ciJ Aufa:3t lOM

PromulEQ'uxl By Bureau of t^.e Dudeet

Circular A—03 (Hey.) CLINICAL RECORD AUTOPSY P.^OTOCOL A63-272 (JJH:ec)

DATC AND HOUR DIED A. M. BATE AND HOUR AUTOfST ftri/ORMtD A. M. 22 November 1963 1300(CST) '••m. 22 IToveniber 1953 2C00(ES")m.

ASSISTAITT (^Oi-jyy^

(JDR "J" THO?jn:ON B0S17ELL,lIC,U$ri

FULL AUTOrSY imOSSCTOR (497831) cm .T. .T. FrTvr:.^. MC. nsN

CUNICAl. DIAONOSeS f/iuiu^'v fpfiitnt) LCOL PIETJS A. FIKCK,1IC,USA (04 043 322)

Kt. - 72J; inches

Ut. - 170 pounds Eyes - blue

Eair - Reddish brown

PATHCH-OGICAI. DIAGNOSIS

CAUSE OF DEATH; Gunshot wound, head.

\ < \\y c \.

.7- .T. T-TTTMr-.s, cm, vr., ttsn

M11.ITARY ORGANIZATION {When rttuirei) PRESIDENT. UOTTED STATES

AGE45 , SEX RACE Male Cauc.

IDENTIFICATION NO. AUTOPSY NO. A63-272

PATIENT'S lOENTIFICATlON (.For typad or t. middle; trade "d*tl?ho.p'i

»» give: Name—lest, tirat, al or cnedical /aeilitx) REGISTER NO. WARD NO.

NAVAL MEDICAL SCHOOL AUTOPSY PROTOCOL

Commission Exhibit No. 387

538
PArtlOLOGICAL EX/C!I^TATION REPORT A63-272 Page 2 CLINIGM SUl-lMARY: According to available inforcation the

deceased. President John ?. Kennedy,

was riding in an open car in a motorcade during an official visit to Dallas, Texas

on 22 Novcaber 1933. The President was sitting in the right rear seat with Mrs, Kennedy seated on the sair.e seat to his left. Sitting directly in front of the President was Governor John B. Connolly of Texas and directly in front of Mrs. Kennedy

sat Mrs, Connolly. The vehicle \-j3.s moving at a slo'7 rate of speed do\vTa an incline

into an underpass that leads to a freeway route to the Dallas Trade Mart vheretthe

President was to deliver an address. Three shots were heard and the President

fell forward bleeding from the head. (Governor Connolly was seriously wounded by the

same gunfire,) According to newspaper reports ("Washington Post" November 23, 1S63) Bob Jackson, a Dallas "Times Herald" Photographer, said he looked around as he heard

the shots and saw a rifle barrel disappearing into a window on an upper floor of the nearby Texas School Book Depository Building.

Shortly following the wounding of the two men the car was driven to Parkland Eospital in Dallas, In the emergency room of that

hospital the President was attended by Dr. Malcolm Perry, Telephone communication witl Dr. Perry on November 23, 1963 develops the following information relative to the ob- servations made by Dr. Perry and procedures performed there prior to death.

Dr. Perry noted the massive wound of the

head and a second much smaller wound of the low anterior neck in approximately the

midline. A tracheostomy was performed by extending the latter wound. At this point

bloody aj.r was noted bubbling from the wound and an injury to the right lateral wall

of the trachea was observed. Incisions were made in the upper anterior chest wall bilaterally to combat possible subcutaneous emphysema. Intravenous infusions of blood

and saline were begun and oxygen was administered. Despite these measures cardiac

arrest occurred and closed chest cardiac massage failed to re-establish cardiac action. The President wac pronounced dead approximately thirty to forty minutes after receiving

his wounds. The remains were transported via the

Presidential plane to Washington, D.C. and subsequently to the Naval Medical School, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland for postmortem examination.

GEITERAL DESCRIPTION OF BODY: The body is that of a muscular, welldeveloped and well nourished adult Caucasia male measuring 72% inches and weighing approximately 170 pounds. There is beginning

rigor mortis, minimal dependent livor mortis of the dorsum, and early algor mortis. Th< hair is reddish brovm and abundant, the eyes are blue, the right pupil measuring 8 mm.

in diameter, the left 4 mn^. There is edema and ecchymosis of the inner canthus region

of the left eyelid measuring approximately 1.5 cm, in greatest diameter. There is edem

and ecchymosis diffusely over the right supra-orbital ridge with abnormal mobility of the underlying bone. (The remainder of the scalp will be described \7ith the skull,)

Commission Exhibit No. 387—Continued

539
PATHOLOGICAL EXx^MI^^ATION REPORT k^3-211 Page 3 There is clotted blood on the external ears but otherwise the ears, nares, and mouth

are essentially unreniarkable. The teeth are in excellent repair and there is some

pallor of the oral mucous membrane.

Situated on the upper right posterior

thora:c just above the upper border of the scapula there is a 7 x 4 millimeter oval wound. This wound is measured to be 14 cm, from the tip of the right acromion process

and 14 cm, below the tip of the right mastoid process. Situated in the low anterior neck at ap- proximately the level of the third and fourth tracheal rings is a 6.5 cm. long trans- verse wojjnd with v/idely gaping irregular edges. (The depth and character of these wounds wil be further described below.)

Situated on the anterior chest wall in the nipple line are bilateral 2 cm, long recent transverse surgical incisions into the subcutaneous tissue. The one on the left is situated 11 cm. cephalad to the nipple

and the one on the right 8 cm. cephalad to the nipple. There is no hemorrhage or

ecchyi;iosis associated in'xth these wounds. A similar clean wound measuring 2 cm. in length is situated on the antero-lateral aspect of the ^eft mid arm, Sitioated on the antero-lateral aspect of each ankle is a recent 2 cm. transverse incision into the subcutaneous tissue.

There is an old well healed 8 cm, McBurney

abdominal incision. Over the lumbar spine in the midline is an old, well healed

15 cm, scaro Situated on the upper antero-Jateral aspect of the right thigh is an

old, well healed 8 cm, scar, MISSILE WOUNDS: 1. There is a large irregular defect of the scalp and skull on the right involving

chiefly the parietal bone but extending somewhat into the temporal and occipital

regions. In this region there is an actual absence of scalp and bone producing a defect which measures approximately 13 cm. in greatest diameter. From the irregular margins of the above

scalp defect tears extend in stellate fashion into the more or less intact scalp

as follows:

a. From the right inferior temporo-parietal margin anterior to the right ear to

a point slightly above the tragus.

b. From the anterior pari<etal margin anteriorly on the forehead to approximately

4 cm, above the right orbital ridge,

c. From the left margin of the main defect across the midline antero-laterally

for a distance of approximately 8 cm,

d. From the same starting pcsdnt as c, 10 cm, postero-laterally.

Commission Exhibit No. 387—Continued

540
PATHOLOGICAL EX/C-IINATION REPORT koZ-lll Pa^e 4

Situated in the posterior scalp approximately 2.5 eta. laterally to the right and slightly above the external occipital protuberance is a lacerated V70und measuring

15 X 6 nra. In the underlying bone is a corresponding wound through the skull which

exhibits beveling of the margins of the bone when viewed fron the inner aspect of

the skull. Clearly visible in the above described

large skull defect and exuding from it is lacerated biain tissue v;hich on close inspection proves to represent the major portion of the right cerebral hemisphere.

At this point it is noted that the falx cerebri is extensively lacerated with disruption of the superior saggital sinus. Upon reflecting the scalp multiple complete

fracture lines are seen to radiate from both the large defect at the vertex and the

smaller wound at the occiput. These vary greatly in length and direction, the longest

measuring approximately 19 cm. These result in the production of numerous fragments

which vary in size from a few millimeters to 10 cm, in greatest diameter. The complexity of these fractures and the

fragments thus produced tax satisfactory verbal description and are beCer appreciated

in photographs and roentgenograms which are prepared,

Tlie brain is removed and preserved for further study following foTn3ialin fixation.

Received as separate specimens from Dallas, Texas are three fragments of skull bone which in aggregate roughly approximate the dimensions of the large defect described above. At one angle of the largest of these

fragments is a portion of the perimeter of a roughly circular wound presumably of

exit v;hich exhibits beveling of the outer aspect of the bone and is estimated to measure approximately 2.5 to 3.0 cm. in diameter. Roentgenograms of this fragment

reveal -minute particles of metal in the bone at this margin. Roentgenograms of the

skull reveal multiple minute metallic fragments along a line corresponding with a line

joining the above described small occipital wound and the right supra-orbital ridge. From the surface of the disrupted right cerebral cortex two small irregularly shaped

fragments of metal are recovered. These measure 7x2 mm. and 3x1 mm. These are placed in the custody of Agents Francis X. O'Neill, Jr. and James W. Sibert, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who executed a receipt therefor (attached),

2. The second wound presumably of entry

is that described above in the upper right posterior thoreix. Beneath the skin there

is ecchymosis of subcutaneous tissue and musculature. The misale path through the

fascia and musculature cannot be easily probed. The wound presimiably of exit was

that described by Dr, Ifalcolm Perry of Dallas in the low anterior cervical region,

IxTien observed by Dr, Perry the wound measured "a few millimeters in diameter", however it was extended as a tracheostomy incision and thus its character is distorted

at the time of autopsy. However, there is considerable ecchymosis of the strap muscles of the right side of the neck and of the fascia about the trachea adjacent

to the line of the tracheostomy wound. The third point of reference in connecting

Commission Exhibit No. 387—Continued

541
PATHOLOGICAL EX^^ITOATION REPORT k^Z-lll Page 5 these two wounds is in the apex (cupra-ciavicular portion) of the right pleural

cavi;;y. In this region there is contusion of the parietal pleura and of the extrcr.e apical portion of the right upper lobe of the lung. In both instances the diameter

of contusion and ecchynosis at the point of maxiraal involvement measures 5 cm. Both

the visceral and parietal pleura are intact overlying these areas of traisoa. INCISIONS: The scalp wounds are extended in the coronal plane to examine the cranial content and the customary (Y) shaped incision is used to examine the body cavities. THORACIC CAVITY; The bony cage is unremarkable. The thoracic

organs are in their normal positions and relationships- and there is no increase in free pleural fluid. The above described area

of contusion in the apical portion of the right pleural cavity is noted.

LUNGS: The lungs are of essentially similar ap- pearance the right weighing 320 Gm. , the

left 290 Gm, The lungs are well aerated with smooth glistening pleural surfaces and gray-pink color. A 5 cm. diameter area of purplish red discoloration and increased

firmness to palpation is situated in the apical portion of the right upper lobe. This corresponds to the similar area described in the overlying parietal pleura.

Incision in this region reveals recent hemorrhage into pulmonary parenchyma.

HEART: The pericardial cavity is smooth walled

and contains approximately 10 cc. of straw- colored fluid. The heart is of essentially normal external contour and weighs 350 Gm. The pulmonary artery is opened in situ and no abnormalities are noted. The cardiac

chambers contain moderate amounts of postmortem clotted blood. There arc no gross abnormalities of the leaflets of any of the cardiac valves. The following are the circumferences of the cardiac valves: aortic 7.5 cm., pulmonic 7 cm., tricuspid

12 cm. , mitral 11 cm. The myocardium is firm and reddish broivTi. The left ventricular

rayocardiimi averages 1.2 cm. in thickness, the right ventricular myocardixmi 0.4 cm. The coronary arteries are dissected and are of normal distribution and smooth walled

and elastic throughout. ABDOMINAL CAVITY: The abdominal organs are in their normal

positions and relationships and there is no increase in free peritoneal fluid. The:;vermiform appendix is surgically absent

and there are a few adhesions joining the region of the cecum to the ventral ab- dominal wall at the above described old abdominal incisional scar. SKELETAL SYSTEM: Aside from the above described skull wounds

there are no significant gross skeletal abnormalit ies

PHOTOGRAPHY: Black and white and color photographs

depicting significant findings are exposed

but not developed. These photograpl3s were placed in t^e custody of Agent Roy H. Kellerman of the U. S, Secret Service, who executed a receipt therefore (attached).

Commission Exhibit No. 387—Continued

542
PATIIOLCGICAL EX/:-IIR\TION REPORT A63-272 Page 6 ROEl^GENOGRAI^S: Roentgenograms are nade of the entire body

and of the separately submitted three

fragments of skull bone. These are developed and were placed in the custody of Agent Roy H, Kcllerman of the U. S, Secret Service, who executed a receipt therefor

(attached)

SUliMARY: Based on the above observations it is our opinion that the deceased died as a result

of two perforating gunshot x^ounds inflicted by high velocity projectiles fired by a person or persons unknown. The projectiles were fired frosi a point behind and some- what above the level of the deceased. The observations and available information

do not permit a satisfactory estimate as to the sequence of the two wounds. The fatal missile entered the skull above

and to the right of the external occipital protuberance. A portion of the projectile

traversed the cranial cavity in a posterior -anterior direction (see lateral skull roentgenograms) depositing minute particles along its path, A portion of the projectile made its exit through the parietal bone on the right carrying v/ith it portions -of cerebrum, skull and scalp. The tV70 wounds of the skull combined with

the force of the missile produced extensive fragmentation of the skull, laceration of the superior saggital sinus, and of the right cerebral hemisphere.

The other missile entered the right superior

posterior thorax above the scapula and traversed the soft tissues of the supra-scapular and the supra-clavicular portions of the base of the right, side of the neck. This missile produced contusions of the right apical parietal pleura and of the apical

portion of the right "upper lobe of the lung. The missile contused the strap muscles

of the right side of the neck, damaged the trachea and made its exit through the

anterior surface of the neck. As far as can be ascertained this missile struck no

bony structures in its path through the body.

In addition, it is our opinion that the wound of the skull produced such extensive damage to the brain as to preclude the possibility of the deceased surviving this injury, A supplementary report will be submitted

following more detailed examination of the brain and of microscopic sections. However,

it is not anticipated that these examinations will materially alter the findings.

J. J. HUMES " 'VT' THORNTON BOST/ELL PIERRE A. FINCK

CDR, MC, USN (497831) /yCDR, KG, USN (489878) LT COL, MC, USA

(04-043-322)

Commission Exhibit No. 387—Continued

543
Ccamnission ExhiMt No. 391 r^"^

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT 0? AUTOPSY rSJZSZX X'^Z-lll PRESIDEITT JOHN F. IGEir.ifLDY \^\^

P/VTITOLCGIGAL EILIIINATION REPORT Ko. A63-272 Pane 1 GROSS DESCRIPTION OF BRAIN: Followins formalin fixaticn the brciii weighs 1500 gns. Trie ri^l.t cerebral hemisphere is found to be markedly disrupted. There is a longitudinal laceration

of the ri^ht her.iisphere which is para-sagittal in position approxinately 2.5 cm. to the r:^jht ol the of the cidli.ie x/hich extends frc:^ the tip of the occipital

lobe posteriorly to the tip of the frontal lobe anteriorly. The base of the laceration is situated approximately 4.5 cm. below the vertex in the white matter.

TV.^ro is considerable loss of cortical substance above the base of the laceration,

particularly in the parietal lobe. The margins of this laceration are at all points j'a:3ged and irregular, with additional lacerations extending in varying

directions and for varying distances from the main laceration. In addition, there

is a laceration of the corpus callosum extending from the genu to the tail. Ex- posed ill this latter laceration are the interiors of the right lateral and third ventricles.

V.l-ien viev-'ed from the vertex the left cerebral hemisphere is intact. Tliere is marked engorgement of meningeal blood vessels of the left temporal and frontal regions v/ith considerable associated sub-arachnoid hemorrhage. The gyri and sulci over the left hemisphere are of c£.:intially normal size and distribution. Those on the right are too fragmented

and distorted for satisfactory description.

'Jhen viewed from the basilar aspect

the disruption of the right cortex is again obvious. There is a longitudinal laceration of the mid-brain through the floor of the third ventricle just behind

the optic chiasm and the mammillary bodies. T his laceration partially communicates with an oblique 1.5 cm. tear through the left cerebral peduncle. There are irregular superficial lacerations over the basilar aspects of the left temporal

and frontal lobes. In the interest of preserving the specimen coronal sections are not made. The following sections are taken for microscopic examination:

a. From the margin of the laceration in the right parietal lobe.

b. From the margin of the laceration in the corpus callosum.

c. From the anterior portion of the laceration in the right frontal lobe.

d. From the contused left fronto-parietal cortex.

e. From the line of transection of the spinal cord.

f

From the right cerebellar cortex.

g. From the superficial laceration of the basilar aspect of the left temporal

lobe. Commission Exhibit No. 391

544
PATITOLCGICAL SXAIIINATION REPORT No. A63-272 Par^e 2 During the course of this examination

seven (7) black and white and six (6) color 4x5 inch negatives are exposed but not developed (the cassettes containing these negatives have been delivered by hand to Rear Adrairal George W. Burkley, MC, USN, l^ite House Physician).

lllCnOSCOPIC EXAMINATION:

B?.:vIN; Multiple sections from representative

areas as noted above are examined. All

sections are essentially similar and show extensive disruption of brain tissue with

associated hemorrhage. In none of the sections examined are there significant ab- normalities other than those directly related to the recent trauma.

1-15 ART; Sections shov; a moderate amount of sub- epicardial fat. The coronary arteries,

myocardial fibers, and endocardium are unremarkable.

LUTT3S; Sections through the grossly described

area of contusion in the right upper

lobe exhibit disruption of alveolar walls and recent hemorrhage into alveoli. Sections are otherwise essentially unremarkable.

LIV.\:X: Sections show the normal hepctic archi- tecture to be well preserved. The

parenchymal cells exhibit markedly granular cytoplasm indicating high glycogen

content which is characteristic of the "liver biopsy pattern" of sudden death.

SPLEIZN: Sections show no significant abnormalities,

IC[D^TEYS; Sections show no significant abnormalities

aside from dilatation and engorgement of blood vessels of all calibers. SKIN WOUMDS; Sections through the v/ounds in the occipital and upper right posterior

thoracic regions are essentially similar. In each there is loss of continuity of the epidermis with coagulation necrosis of the tissues at the wound margins. The

scalp wound exhibits several small fragments of bone at its margins in the sub- cutaneous tissue,

FIK.'Ju SUl-M/^RYt This supplementary report covers in more

detail the extensive degree of cerebral

tra-una in this case. However neither this portion of the examination nor the microscopic examinations alter the previously submitted report or add significant details

to the cause of death. AA-

^-

J, J. WMES

CDR, MC, USN, 497831

Commission Exhibit No. 391—Continued

545
6 Dccesiber 1963

Fro:n: Cc.raiianding Officer, U. S. Naval Medical School

To: T'..e 'Tnite House Physician

Via: CoHCTanding Officer, National Naval Medical Center

Subj: Supplementary report of Naval Medical School autopsy No. A63-272,

John F. Kennedy; forwarding of

1. All copies of the above subject final supplementary report are forv/ardtic1 herewitn.

Q^S

J. K. STOVER, JR. r

6 Decesaber 1963

FirvST ENBO?vSH>EOT

From:

To:

Corr/ianding Officer, National

The Ivhite House Physician

Naval Medical Center

Forwarded,

C. B. GALLOWAY. Commission Exhibit No. 391—Continued

546
APPENDIX X

Expert Testimony

FIREARMS AND FIREARMS IDENTIFICATION

Tliree experts gave testimony concerning firearms and firearms

identification : Robert A. Frazier and Cortlandt Cunningham of the

FBI, and Joseph D. Nicol, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal

Identification and Investigation of the State of Illinois. Frazier has

been in the field of firearms identification for 23 years, following a 1-year course of specialized training in the FBI Laboratory. Cunningham has been in the field for 5 years, having also completed the

FBI course. Nicol has been in the firearms identification field since

1941, having begim his training in the Chicago police crime laboratory.

Each has made many thousands of firearms identification examinations.^ Frazier testified on the rifle, the rifle cartridge cases, and the

rifle bullets ; Cunningham on the revolver, the revolver cartridge cases, the revolver bullets, and the paraffin test ; and Nicol on all the bullets

and cartridge cases and the paraffin test.^ NicoPs conclusions were

identical to those of Frazier and Cunningham, except as noted.

General Principles

A cartridge, or round of ammunition, is composed of a primer, a cartridge case, powder, and a bullet. The primer, a metal cup con- taining a detonable mixture, fits into the base of the cartridge case, which is loaded with the powder. The bullet, which usually consists

of lead or of a lead core encased in a higher strength metal jacket, fits into the neck of the cartridge case. To fire the bullet, the cartridge

is placed in the chamber of a firearm, immediately behind the fire- arm's barrel. The base of the cartridge rests against a solid support

called the breech face or, in the case of a bolt-operated weapon, the

bolt face, '\\nien the trigger is pulled, a firing pin strikes a swift,

hard blow into the primer, detonating the priming mixture. The

flames from the resulting explosion ignite the powder, causing a rapid

combustion whose force propels the bullet forward through the barrel. The barrels of modern firearms are "rifled," that is, several spiral

grooves are cut into the barrel from end to end. The purpose of the

rifling is to set the bullet spinning around its axis, giving it a stability

in flight that it would otherwise lack. The weapons of a given make

and model are alike in their rifling characteristics; that is, number of

grooves, number of lands (the raised portion of the barrel between the

grooves) and twist of the rifling. ^^Hien a bullet is fired through a

barrel, it is engraved with these rifling characteristics. For example,

all S. & W. .38/200 British Service Revolvers have five grooves and

547
five lands, which twist to the right, and bullets fired through such a revolver will have five groove and land impressions, right twist.

In addition to rifling characteristics, every weapon bears distinctive microscopic characteristics on its components, including its barrel,

firing pin, and breech face. While a weapon's rifling characteristics are common to all other weapons of its make and model ( and sometimes

even to weapons of a different make or model) , a weapon's microscopic

characteristics are distinctive, and differ from those of every other

weapon, regardless of make and model. Such markings are initially

caused during manufacture, since the action of manufacturing tools

differs microscopically from weapon to weapon, and since the tools change microscopically while being operated. As a weapon is used,

further distinctive microscopic markings are introduced by the effects of wear, fouling, and cleaning. As Frazier testified: Q. Can you explain how you are able to come to a conclusion

that a cartridge case was fired in a particular weapon to the exclusion of all other weapons ? Mr. Frazier. Yes, sir; during the manufacture of a weapon,

there are certain things done to the mechanism of it, which are by

machine or by filing, by grinding, which form the parts of the

weapon into their final shape. These machining and grinding

and filing operations will mark the metal with very fine scratches or turning marks and grinding marks in such a way that there

will be developed on the surface of the metal a characteristic

pattern. This pattern, because it is made by these accidental

machine-type operations, will be characteristic of that particular

weapon, and will not be reproduced on separate weapons. It may be a combination of marks that—the face of the bolt may be

milled, then it may be in part filed to smooth off the comers, and

then, as a final operation, it may be polished, or otherwise adjusted during the hand fitting operation, so that it does have its particular pattern of microscopic marks.

The bolt face of the 139 rifle I have photographed and enlarged

in this photograph [Commission Exhibit No. 658] to show the

types of marks I was referring to.

The marks produced during manufacture are the marks seen on

the bolt face ; filing marks, machining marks of the various types, even forging marks or casting marks if the bolt happens to be

forged or cast. And then variations which occur in these marks

during the life of the weapon are very important in identification,

because many of the machining marks can be flattened out, can

be changed, by merely a grain of sand between the face of the

cartridge case and the bolt at the time a shot is fired, which will

itself scratch and dent the bolt face. So the bolt face will pick

up a characteristic pattern of marks which are peculiar to it.

548
* * * [T]he marks which are placed on any bolt face are acci- dental in nature. That is, they are not placed there intentionally

in the first place. They are residual to some machining operation, such as a milling machine, in which each cutter of the milling

tool cuts away a portion of the metal ; then the next tooth comes

along and cuts away a little more, and so on, until the final surface

bears the combination of the various teeth of the milling cutter. In following that operation, then, the surface is additionally

scratched—until you have numerous—we call them microscopic

characteristics, a characteristic being a mark which is peculiar to a certain place on the bolt face, and of a certain shape, it is of a

certain size, it has a certain contour, it may be just a little dimple

in the metal, or a spot of rust at one time on the face of the bolt, or have occurred from some accidental means such as dropping

the bolt, or repeated use having flattened or smoothed off the

surface of the metal.

* * * [A] s the blade of a milling machine travels around a surface, it takes off actually a dust—it is not actually a piece of

metal—^it scrapes a little steel off in the form of a dust—or a very

fine powder or chip^—that tooth leaves a certain pattern of

marks—that edge. That milling cutter may have a dozen of these

edges on its surface, and each one takes a little more. Gradually

you wear the metal down, you tear it out actually until you are at the proper depth. Those little pieces of metal, as they are traveling around, can also scratch the face of the bolt—unless they are washed aw^ay. So that you may have accidental marks from that

source, just in the machining operation.

Now, there are two types of marks produced in a cutting operation. One, from the nicks along the cutting edge of the tool,

which are produced by a circular operating tool—which produce very fine scratches in a circular pattern. Each time the

tool goes around, it erases those marks that were there before.

And when the tool is finally lifted out, you have a series of

marks which go around the surface which has been machined,

and you will find that that pattern of marks, as this tool goes

around, will change. In one area, it will be one set of marks

and as you visually examine the surface of the metal, these very

fine marks will extend for a short distance, then disappear, and

a new mark of a new type will begin and extend for a short

distance. The entire surface, then, will have a—be composed

of a series of circles, but the individual marks seen in the microscope will not be circular, will not form complete circles around the

face of the bolt. Q. Have you had occasion to examine two consecutive bolt

faces from a factory ? A. Oh, yes. 549
Q. And what did you find on that examination ? A. There would be no similarity in the individual microscopic

characteristics between the two bolt faces. Q. There actually was none ? A. No, there was none.^

Q. How are you able to conclude that a given bullet was fired

in a given weapon to the exclusion of all other weapons, Mr.

Frazier ? A. That is based again upon the microscopic marks left on the

fired bullets and those marks in turn are based upon the barrel

from which the bullets are fired. The marks in the barrel originate during manufacture. They

originate through use of the gun, through accidental marks re- sulting from cleaning, excessive cleaning, of the weapon, or faulty

cleaning.

They result from corrosion in the barrel due to the hot gases

and possibly corrosive primer mixtures in the cartridges used, and

primarily again they result from wear, that is, an eroding of the

barrel through friction due to the firing of cartridges, bullets

through it. In this particular barrel the manufacturer's marks are caused

by the drill which drills out the barrel, leaving certain marks

from the drilling tool. Then portions of these marks are erased

by a rifling tool which cuts the four spiral grooves in the barrel

and, in turn, leaves marks themselves, and in connection with those

marks of course, the drilling marks, being circular in shape, there

is a tearing away of the surface of the metal, so that a microscopically rough surface is left. Then removing part of those marks with a separate tool causes that barrel to assume an individual characteristic, a character

all of its own. In other words, at that time you could identify a bullet fired

from that barrel as having been fired from the barrel to the

exclusion of all other barrels, because there is no system whatever

to the drillmg of the barrel. The only system is in the rifling or in the cutting of the grooves, and in this case of rifle barrels, even the cutters wear down as the barrels are made, eventually

of course having to be discarded or resharpened.

Q. Have you examined consecutively manufactured barrels to determine whether their microscopic characteristics are identical ? A. Yes, sir ; I have three different sets of, you might say, paired

barrels, which have been manufactured on the same machine, one

after the other, under controlled conditions to make them as nearly alike as possible, and in each case fired bullets from those

barrels could not be identified with each other ; in fact, they looked

nothing at all alike as far as individual microscopic characteristics

550
are concerned. Their rifling impressions of course would be

identical, but the individual marks there would be entirely

different.*

When a cartridge is fired, the microscopic characteristics of the

weapon's barrel are engraved into the bullet (along with its rifling

characteristics) , and the microscopic characteristics of the firing pin

and breech face are engraved into the base of the cartridge case. By

virtue of these microscopic markings, an expert can frequently match

a bullet or cartridge case to the weapon in which it was fired. To

make such an identification, the expert compares the suspect bullet or

cartridge case under a comparison microscope, side by side with a test bullet or cartridge case which has been fired in the weapon, to determine whether the pattern of the markings in the test and suspect items

are sufficiently similar to shoAv that they were fired in the same weapon.

This is exemplified by Frazier's examination of Commission Exhibit

No. 543, one of the cartridge cases found in the Texas School Book

Depository Building after the assassination

Q. Mr. Frazier, we were just beginning to discuss, before the

recess. Commission Exhibit 559, which is a picture, as you described it, of Exhibit No. 543 and a test cartridge under a microscope * * *?

Mr. Frazier. Yes, sir. Q. Could you discuss, by using that picture, some of the markings which you have seen under the microscope and on the basis

of which you made your identification ? A. Yes, sir. In the photograph I have drawn some small circles and numbered them, those circles, correspondingly on each side of

the photograph. The purpose of the circles is not to point out all the similarities, but to call attention to some of them and to help

orient in locating a mark on one with a mark on the opposite side

of the photograph. In general the area shown is immediately

outside of the firing pin in the bolt of the 139 rifle, on the left side of the photograph, and Commission Exhibit 543 on the

right side. The circles have been drawn around the dents or irregularly

shaped ridges, small bumps, and depressions on the surface of the

metal in six places on each side of the photograph. It is an ex- amination of these marks, and all of the marks on the face of

the breech, microscopically which permits a conclusion to be

reached. The photograph itself actually is a substitute to show

only the type of marks found rather than their nature, that is, their height, their width, or their relationship to each other, which

is actually a mental, visual, comparison on the two specimens

themselves.

Q. Keferring for a second to this mental, visual, comparison,

Mr. Frazier, would a person without firearms training—fire- arms-identification training—be able to look under a microscope

551
and make a determination for himself concerning whether a given cartridge case had been fired in a given weapon ? A. In that connection that person could look through the microscope. He may or may not see these individual characteristics

which are present, because he does not know what to look for

in the first place, and, secondly, they are of such a nature that

you have to mentally sort them out in your mind going back and

forth between one area and the other until you form a mental

picture of them in a comparison such as this. If it was a different type of comparison, of parallel marks or something of that nature, then he could see the marks, but in

either instance, without having compared hundreds and hundreds

of specimens, he would not be able to make any statement as to whether or not they were fired from the same rifle. Q. Would you say that this is, then, a matter of expert interpretation rather than a point-for-point comparison which a layman could make ? A. I would say so ; yes. I don't think a layman would recog- nize some of the things on these cartridge cases and some shown

in the photographs as actually being significant or not significant,

because there will be things present which have nothing whatsoever to do with the firing of the cartridge case in the gun.

There may be a depression in the primer to begin with, and

there are no marks registered at that point as a result of the

firing. Unless these things are known to occur, someone may

actually arrive at a different conclusion, because of the absence

of similar marks.

Q. Now having reference to the specific exhibit before you,

which is 559

A. Yes. Q. Are all the marks shown in both photographs identical ? A. No.

Q. And could you go into detail on a mark which is not identical to explain why you would get such a result ? A. Well, for instance, between what I have drawn here as

circle 4 and circle 5, there is a slanting line from the upper left to the lower right on C-6. This line shows as a white line in the

photograph.

On the other side there is a rough, very rough ridge which runs through there, having an entirely different appearance from the

relatively sharp line on C-6. The significant part of that mark

is the groove in between, rather than the sharp edge of the mark,

because the sharp comer could be affected by the hardness of

the metal or the irregular surface of the primer and the amount

of pressure exerted against it, pressing it back against the face

of the bolt, at the time the cartridges were fired. So that you

would never expect all the marks on one cartridge case to be

identical with all the marks on the other cartridge case. 552
In fact, you would expect many differences. But the comparison is made on the overall pattern, contour, and nature of

the marks that are present.

Q. Again there are dissimilar marks on these two pictures [of

the firing-pin depressions on the cartridge case Commission Exhibit No. 543, and a test cartridge case] , Mr. Frazier ? A. Yes; there are, for the same reason, that metal does not

flow the same in every instance, and it will not be impressed to the same depth and to the same amount, depending on the type

of metal, the blow that is struck, and the pressures involved.

Q. Is your identification made therefore on the basis of the

presence of similarities, as opposed to the absence of dissimilarities? A. No, that is not exactly right. The identification is made

on the presence of sufficient individual microscopic characteristics so that a very definite pattern is formed and visualized on the

two surfaces.

Dissimilarities may or may not be present, depending on

whether there have been changes to the firing pin through use or wear, whether the metal flows are the same, and whether the pres- sures are the same or not. So I don't think we can say that it is an absence of dissimilarities, but rather the presence of similarities.^ A bullet or cartridge case cannot always be identified with the

weapon in which it was fired. In some cases, the bullet or cartridge

case is too mutilated. In other cases, the weapon's microscopic characteristics have changed between the time the suspect item was fired and the time the test item was fired—microscopic characteristics

change drastically in a short period of time, due to wear, or over a

longer period of time, due to wear, corrosion, and cleaning. Still again, the weapon may mark bullets inconsistently—for example,

because the bullets are smaller than the barrel, and travel through it erratically.^

The Rifie

The rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository shortly after the assassination was a bolt-action, clip-fed,

military rifle, 40.2 inches long and 8 pounds in weight."^ Inscribed on the rifle were various markings, including the words "CAL. 6.5,"

"MADE ITALY," "TERNI," and "ROCCA"; the numerals "1940"

and "40"; the serial number C2766; the letters "R-E," "PG," and

"TNI" ; the figure of a crown ; and several other barely decipherable

letters and numbers.® The rifle bore a very inexpensive tlapanese

four-power sight, stamped "4 x 18 COATED," "ORDNANCE

OPTICS INC.," "HOLLYWOOD CALIFORNIA," and "MADE

IN JAPAN"® and a sling consisting of two leather straps, one of

553

730-900 0-64—37
which had a broad patch, which apparently had been inserted on the

rifle and cut to length.^° The sling was not a standard rifle sling,

but appeared to be a musical instrument strap or a sling from a carrying case or camera bag.^^ A basic purpose of a rifle sling is to enable the rifleman to steady his grip, by wrapping the arm into the

sling in a prescribed manner. The sling on the rifle was too short

to use in the normal way, but might have served to provide some additional steadiness.^2

The rifle was identified as a 6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano

Italian military rifle. Model 91/38.^^ This identification was initially

made by comparing the rifle with standard reference works and by

the markings inscribed on the rifle.^* The caliber was independently

determined by chambering a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5 millimeter car- tridge in the rifle for fit, and by making a sulfur cast of the inside of

the rifle's barrel which was measured with a micrometer.^^ (The

caliber of a weapon is the diameter of the interior of the barrel, meas- ured between opposite lands. The caliber of American weapons is expressed in inches; thus a .30-caliber weapon has a barrel which is thirty one-hundredths or three-tenths of an inch in diameter. The

caliber of continental European weapons is measured in millimeters.

A 6. 5 -millimeter caliber weapon corresponds to an American .257- caliber weapon, that is, its barrel diameter is about one-fourth inch.) ^^ The identification was later confirmed by a communication from

SIFAR, the Italian Armed Forces Intelligence Service. This communication also explained the markings on the rifle, as follows : "CAL.

6.5" refers to the rifle's caliber; "MADE ITALY" refers to its origin,

and was inscribed at the request of the American importer prior to shipment; "TERNI" means that the rifle was manufactured and

tested by the Terni Army Plant of Terni, Italy ; the number "C2766" is the serial number of the rifle, and the rifle in question is the only one

of its type bearing that serial number; the numerals "1940" and "40"

refer to the year of manufacture ; and the other figures, numbers, and

letters are principally inspector's, designer's, or manufacturer's

marks.^^

The Model 91/38 rifle was one of the 1891 series of Italian military

rifles, incorporating features designed by Ritter von Mannlicher and

M. Carcano. The series originally consisted of 6.5-millimeter caliber

rifles, but Model 38 of the series, designed shortly before World War

II, was a 7.35-millimeter caliber. Early in World War II, however,

the Italian Government, which encountered an ammunition supply

problem, began producing many of these rifles as 6. 5 -millimeter caliber

rifles, known as the 6.5-millimeter Model 91/38.^« The 91/38 has been

imported into this country as surplus military equipment, has been

advertised quite widely, and is now fairly common in this country.^^ Like most bolt-action military rifles, the 91/38 is operated by turn- ing up the bolt handle, drawing the bolt to the rear, pushing the bolt

forward, turning down the bolt handle, and pulling the trigger.

Bringing the bolt forward and turning down the bolt handle compresses the spring which drives the firing pin, and locks the bolt into

554
place. When the trigger is pulled, the cocked spring drives the firing

pin forward and the cartridge is fired. The face of the bolt bears a

lip, called the extractor, around a portion of its circumference. As

the bolt is pushed forward, this lip grasps the rim of the cartridge.

As the bolt is pulled back, the extractor brings the empty cartridge

case with it, and as the cartridge case is being brought back, it strikes a projection in the ejection port called the ejector, which throws it out

of the rifle. Meanwhile, a leaf spring beneath the clip has raised the

next cartridge into loading position. When the bolt is brought for- ward, it pushes the fresh cartridge into the chamber. The trigger

is pulled, the cartridge is fired, the bolt handle is brought up, the bolt

is brought back, and the entire cycle starts again. As long as there

is ammunition in the clip, one need only work the bolt and pull the

trigger to fire the rifle.^° The clip itself is inserted into the rifle by drawing back the bolt,

and pushing the clip in from the top. The clip holds one to six cartridges.^^ If six cartridges are inserted into the clip and an additional cartridge is inserted into the chamber, up to seven bullets can

be fired before reloading.^ Wlien the rifle was found in the Texas

School Book Depository Building it contained a clip ^^ which bore the

letters "SMI" (the manufacturer's markings) and the number "952"

(possibly a part number or the manufacturer's code number) .^ The

rifle probably was sold without a clip ; however, the clip is commonly

available.^^

Rifle Cartridge and Cartridge Cases

When the rifle was found, one cartridge was in the chamber.^^ The

cartridge was a 6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano cartridge, manufactured by the Western Cartridge Co., at East Alton, 111. This type

of cartridge is loaded with a full metal-jacketed, military type of

bullet, weighing 160-161 grains. The bullet has parallel sides and a round nose. It is just under 1.2 inches long, and just over one-fourth

inch in diameter.^^ Its velocity is approximately 2,165 feet per sec- ond.^ The cartridge is very dependable ; in tests runs by the FBI and

the Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch of the U.S. Army, the

C2766 rifle was fired with this Western Cartridge Co. ammunition over

100 times, with no misfires. (In contrast, some of the other ammunition available on the market for this rifle is undesirable or of very

poor quality) .^ The cartridge is readily available for purchase from

mail-order houses, as well as a few gunshops ; some 2 million rounds

have been placed on sale in the United States.^^ The presence of the cartridge in the chamber did not necessarily mean that the assassin considered firing another bullet, since he may

have reloaded merely by reflex.^^ Apart from the cartridge in the rifle, three expended cartridge

cases were found in the southeast portion of the sixth floor of the

Texas School Book Depository Building, lying between the south

555
Commission- Exhibit No. 558

Bolt face of the C2766 rifle.

556
wall and a high stack of boxes which ran parallel to the wall.^^ The cartridge cases were a short distance to the west of the

southeast corner window in that wall.^^ Based on a comparison with

test cartridge cases fired from the C2766 rifle, the three cartridge

cases were identified as having been fired from the C2T66 rifle.^* ( See

Commission Exhibit No. 558, p. 556.) A test was run to determine if the cartridge-case-ejection pattern of the rifle was consistent

with the assumption that the assassin had fired from the southeast

window.^^ In this test, 11 cartridges were fired from the rifle while

it was depressed 45° downward, and 8 cartridges were fired from

the rifle while it was held horizontally. The elevation of the ejected

cartridge cases above the level of the ejection port, and the points on the floor at which the ejection cartridge cases initially landed, were then plotted. The results of these tests are illustrated by the

diagrams, Conimission Exhibits Nos. 546 and 547. Briefly, Commission Exhibit No. 547 shows that with the weapon depressed at a 45° angle, the cartridge cases did not rise more than 2 inches above

the ejection port; with the weapon held horizontally, they did not

rise more than 12 inches above the ejection port.^^ Commission Exhibit No. 546 shows that if a circle was drawn around the initial landing points of the cartridge cases which were ejected in the

test while the rifle was held depressed at 45°, the center of the circle would be located 86 inches and 80° to the right of the rifle's line of

sight ; if a circle was drawn around the initial landing points of the

cartridge cases ejected while the rifle was held horizontally, the

center of the circle would be 80 inches and 90° to the right of the line

of sight. In other words, the cartridge cases were ejected to the right

of and at roughly a right angle to the rifle.^^ The cartridge cases showed considerable ricochet after their initial landing, bouncing from

8 inches to 15 feet.^^ The location of the cartridge cases was therefore consistent with the southeast window having been used by the

assassin, since if the assassin fired from that window the ejected

cartridge cases would have hit the pile of boxes at his back and

ricocheted between the boxes and the wall until they came to rest to the west of the window.^®

The Rifle Bullets

In addition to the three cartridge cases found in the Texas School

Book Depository Building, a nearly whole bullet was found on Governor Connally's stretcher and two bullet fragments were found in the

front of the President's car.*^ The stretcher bullet weighed 158.6

grains, or several grains less than the average Western Cartridge Co.

6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano bullet.^^ It was slightly flattened,

but otherwise unmutilated.*^ The two bullet fragments weighed 44.6

and 21.0 grains, respectively.*^ The heavier fragment was a portion

of a bullet's nose area, as shown by its rounded contour and the

557
character of the markings it bore.** The lighter fragment consisted

of bullet's base portion, as shown by its shape and by the presence of

a cannelure.*^ The two fragments w^ere both mutilated, and it was

not possible to determine from the fragments themselves whether

they comprised the base and nose of one bullet or of two separate

bullets.*^ However, each had sufficient unmutilated area to provide

the basis of an identification.*^ Based on a comparison with test bullets fired from the C2766 rifle, the stretcher bullet and both bullet

fragments were identified as having been fired from the C2766 rifle.*® The Revolver

The revolver taken from Osw^ald at the time of his arrest was a

.38 Special S. & W. Victory Model revolver.*^ It bore the serial

No. V510210, and is the only such revolver with that serial number,

since S. & W. does not repeat serial numbers.^^ The revolver was originally made in the United States, but was shipped to England, as shown by the English inspection or proof marks on the chambers.^^

The revolver showed definite signs of use but was in good operating

condition.^2 The revolver was originally designed to fire a .38 S. & W.

cartridge, whose bullet is approximately 12 or 13 grains lighter than

the .38 Special, and approximately .12 inches shorter, but has a some- what larger diameter.^^ In the United States, the .38 Special is con- sidered to be a better bullet than the .38 S. & W.,^* and the revolver was rechambered for a .38 Special prior to being sold in the United

States.^^ The weapon was not rebarreled, although the barrel was

shortened by cutting off approximately 224 of its original 5 inches.^®

The shortening of the barrel had no functional value, except to facili- tate concealment.^'^

The weapon is a conventional revolver, with a rotating cylinder

holding one to six cartridges. It is loaded by swinging out the cylinder

and inserting cartridges into the cylinder's chambers. If all six chambers are loaded, the weapon can be fired six consecutive times without

reloading.^* To extract empty cartridge cases, the cylinder is swung

out and an ejector rod attached to the cylinder is pushed, simultaneously ejecting all the cartridge cases (and cartridges) in the

cylinder. If both live cartridges and expended cartridge cases are

in the cylinder, before pushing the ejection rod one can tip the cylinder

and dump the live cartridges into his hand.^^ The cartridge cases will

not fall out, because they are lighter than the cartridges, and when

fired they will have expanded so as to tightly fit the chamber walls.®*^ In a crouched stance a person can fire five shots with the revolver

in 3-4 seconds wath no trouble, and would need no training to hit a human body four times in four or five shots at a range of 8 feet.^^ A

person who had any training with the weapon would not find its recoil noticeable.^^ 558
Revolver Cartridges and Cartridge Cases

When Oswald was arrested six live cartridges were found in the

revolver.®^ Three were Western .38 Specials, loaded with coppercoated lead bullets, and three were Kemington-Peters .38 Specials,

loaded with lead bullets.^* Five additional live cartridges were found

in Oswald's pocket,®^ all of which were Western .38 Specials, loaded

with copper-coated bullets.^^ The Western and Remington-Peters .38 Special cartridges are virtually identical—the copper coating on the

Western bullets is not a full jacket, but only a gilding metal, put on

principally for sales appeal.^^

Four expended cartridge cases w^ere found near the site of the Tippit

killing.^^ Tw^o of these cartridge cases were Remington-Peters .38 Specials and two w^ere Western .38 Specials.^^ Based on a comparison with test cartridge cases fired in the V510210 revolver, the four

cartridge cases were identified as having been fired in the V510210

revolver.^" Revolver Bullets

Four bullets were recovered from the body of Officer Tippit."^^ In

Nicol's opinion one of the four bullets could be positively identified

with test bullets fired from V510210 revolver, and the other three

could have been fired from that revolver.^^ In Cunningham's opinion

all four bullets could have been fired fr,om the V510210 revolver, but none could be positively identified to the revolver ^^—that is, in his

opinion the bullets bore the revolver's rifling characteristics, but no

conclusion could be drawn on the basis of microscopic characteristics."^* Cunningham did not conclude that the bullets had not been

fired from the revolver, since he found that consecutive bullets fired

in the revolver by the FBI could not even be identified with each other

under the microscope."^^ The apparent reasons for this was that while

the revolver had been rechambered for a .38 Special cartridge, it had

not been rebarreled for a .38 Special bullet. The barrel was therefore

slightly oversized for a .38 Special bullet, w^hich has a smaller diameter than a .38 S. & W. bullet. This would cause the passage of a .38 Special bullet through the barrel to be erratic, resulting in inconsistent

microscopic markings."^^

Based on the number of grooves, groove widths, groove spacing, and

knurling on the four recovered bullets, three were copper-coated lead

bullets of Western-Winchester manufacture (Western and Winchester

are divisions of the same company), and the fourth was a lead bullet

of Remington-Peters manufacture.'^''' This contrasts with the four re- covered cartridge cases, which consisted of two Remington-Peters

and two Westerns. There are several possible explanations for this

variance: (1) the killer fired five cartridges, three of which were

Western-Winchester and two of which were Remington-Peters; one Remington-Peters bullet missed Tippit; and a Western-Winchester

cartridge case and the Remington-Peters bullet that missed were

simply not found. (2) The killer fired only four cartridges, three

559
of which were Western-Winchester and one of which was RemingtonPeters ; prior to the shooting the killer had an expended RemingtonPeters cartridge case in his revolver, which was ejected with the three

Western-Winchester and one Remington-Peters cases ; and one of the

Western-Winchester cases was not found. (3) The killer was using

hand-loaded ammunition, that is, ammunition which is made with

used cartridge cases to save money; thus he might have loaded one make of bullet into another make of cartridge case/^ This third possibility is extremely unlikely, because when a cartridge is fired the

cartridge case expands, and before it can be reused it must be resized.

There was, however, no evidence that any of the four recovered car- tridge cases had been resized.^^ The Struggle for the Revolver

Officer McDonald of the Dallas police, who arrested Oswald, stated

that he had struggled with Oswald for possession of the revolver

and that in the course of the struggle, "I heard the snap of the hammer,

and the pistol crossed my left cheek * * * the primer of one round was dented on misfire at the time of the struggle. * * *" ^° However,

none of the cartridges found in the revolver bore the impression of

the revolver's firing pin.^^ In addition, the revolver is so constructed

that the firing pin cannot strike a cartridge unless the hammer (which

bears the firing pin) has first been drawn all the way back by a complete trigger pull.^^ Had the hammer gone all the way back and then

hit the cartridge, it is unlikely that the cartridge would have misfired. ^^ It would be possible for a person to interject his finger between the hammer and the cartridge, but the spring driving the ham- mer is a very strong one and the impact of the firing pin into a finger

would be clearly felt.^* However, the cylinder and the trigger are interconnected and the trigger cannot be fully pulled back if the

cylinder is grasped.^^ Therefore, if Oswald had pulled on the trigger

while McDonald was firmly grasping the cylinder, the revolver would

not have fired, and if the gun was grabbed away at the same time the

trigger would have snapped back with an audible sound.^®

The Paraffin Test

During the course of the interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald fol- lowing the assassination a paraffin test was performed by the Dallas

police on both of his hands and his right cheek. The paraffin cast of

Oswald's hands reacted positively to the test. The cast of the right

cheek showed no reaction.^'' To perform the paraffin test, layers of warm liquid paraffin, interleaved with layers of gauze for reinforcement, are brushed or poured on the suspect's skin. The warm sticky paraffin opens the

skin's pores and picks up any dirt and foreign material present at the surface. When the paraffin cools and hardens it forms a cast, which is taken off and processed with diphenylamine or diphenyl560

di
benzidine, chemicals which turn blue in the presence of nitrates.

Since gunpowder residues contain nitrates, the theory behind the test

is that if a cast reacts positively, i.e., if blue dots appear, it provides

evidence that the suspect recently fired a weapon.^^ In fact, however,

the test is completely unreliable in determining either whether a per- son has recently fired a weapon or whether he has not.^^ On the one hand, diphenylamine and diphenylbenzidine will react positively

not only with nitrates from gunpowder residues, but nitrates from

other sources and most oxidizing agents, including dichromates, per- manganates, hypochlorates, periodates, and some oxides. Thus, contact with tobacco, Clorox, urine, cosmetics, kitchen matches, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, or soils, among other things, may result in a

positive reaction to the paraffin test. Also, the mere handling of a weapon may leave nitrates on the skin.®° A positive reaction is, therefore, valueless in determining whether a suspect has recently fired a weapon. Conversely, a person who has recently fired a weapon may

not show a positive reaction to the paraffin test, particularly if the

weapon was a rifle. A revolver is so constructed that there is a space

between the cylinder, which bears the chambers, and the barrel. When

a revolver is fired, nitrate-bearing gases escape through this space

and may leave residues on the hand.^^ In a rifle, however, there is no gap between the chamber and the barrel, and one would therefore

not expect nitrates to be deposited upon a person's hands or cheeks

as a result of his firing a rifle. As Cunningham testified

Mr. Cunningham. * * * i personally wouldn't expect to find

any residues on a person's right cheek after firing a rifle due to the

fact that by the very principles and the manufacture and the action, the cartridge itself is sealed into the chamber by the bolt

being closed behind it, and upon firing the case, the cartridge case expands into the chamber filling it up and sealing it off from the

gases, so none will come back in your face, and so by its very nature, I would not expect to find residue on the right cheek of a

shooter.^2 The unreliability of the paraffin test has been demonstrated by experiments run by the FBI. In one experiment, conducted prior to the

assassination, paraffin tests were performed on 17 men who had just

fired 5 shots with a .38-caliber revolver. Eight men tested negative in

both hands, three men tested positive on the idle hand and negative on

the firing hand, two men tested positive on the firing hand and negative on the idle hand, and four men tested positive on both their firing

and idle hands.®^ In a second experiment, paraffin tests were per- formed on 29 persons, 9 of whom had just fired a revolver or an auto- matic, and 20 of whom had not fired a weapon. All 29 persons tested

positive on either or both hands.^* In a third experiment, performed

after the assassination, an agent of the FBI, using the C2766 rifle, fired

561
three rounds of Western 6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano ammunition in rapid succession. A paraffin test was then performed on both

of his hands and his right cheek. Both of his hands and his cheek

tested negative.^^

The paraffin casts of Oswald's hands and right cheek were also ex- amined by neutron-activation analyses at the Oak Ridge National

Laboratory. Barium and antimony were found to be present on both

surfaces of all the casts and also in residues from the rifle cartridge

cases and the revolver cartridge cases.^^ Since barium and antimony

were present in both the rifle and the revolver cartridge cases, their

presence on the casts were not evidence that Oswald had fired the

rifle. Moreover, the presence on the inside surface of the cheek cast of a lesser amount of barium, and only a slightly greater amount of

antimony, than was found on the outside surface of the cast rendered

it impossible to attach significance to the presence of these elements on the inside surface. Since the outside surface had not been in contact with Oswald's cheek, the barium and antimony found there had

come from a source other than Oswald. Furthermore, while there was more barium and antimony present on the casts than would nor- mally be found on the hands of a person who had not fired a weapon

or handled a fired weapon, it is also true that barium and antimony

may be present in many common items; for example, barium may

be present in grease, ceramics, glass, paint, printing ink, paper,

rubber, plastics, leather, cloth, pyrotechnics, oilcloth and linoleum,

storage batteries, matches and cosmetics; antimony is present in

matches, type metal, lead alloys, paints and lacquers, pigments

for oil and water colors, flameproof textiles, storage batteries,

pyrotechnics, rubber, pharmaceutical preparsltions and calico; and

both barium and antimony are present in printed paper and cloth,

paint, storage batteries, rubber, matches, pyrotechnics, and possibly

other items. However, the barium and antimony present in these

items are usually not present in a form which would lead to their adhering to the skin of a person who had handled such items.^^

The Walker Bullet

On April 10, 1963, a bullet was recovered from General Walker's

home, following an attempt on his life.^^ The bullet, which was

severely mutilated, weighed 148.25 grains.^^ This bullet had the

rifling characteristics of the C2766 rifle and all its remaining physical

characteristics w^ere the same as the Western 6.5 millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano bullet. However, while the bullet could have been

fired from the C2766 rifle, it was severely multilated and in Frazier's

opinion could not be identified as having been fired or not fired from

that rifle.^°° Nicol agreed that a positive identification could not be

made, but concluded there was "a fair probability" that the bullet had

been fired from the same rifle as the test bullets.^^^ 562
FINGERPRINTS AND PALMPRINTS

Two experts gave testimony concerning fingerprints and palmprints

Sebestian Latona ^^^ and Arthur Mandella.^°^ Latona is the supervisor of the Latent Fingerprint Section of the Identification Division

of the FBI. He has been with that Division over 32 years, having

begun as a student fingerprint classifier and worked up to his present

position. Mandella is a detective and fingerprint instructor with the

police department of the city of New York. He has been in the fingerprint field for 19 years. Both have made a vast number of fingerprint

examinations and have testified in Federal, State, and military

courts.^°^ Their conclusions were identical, except as noted.

General Principles ^^^ Fingerprints and palmprints are made by the ridges which cover

the surface of the fingers and palms. These ridges first appear 2 or 3

months before birth, and remain unchanged until death. Commission

Exhibit No. 634—A (p. 564) illustrates several common characteristics or "points" formed by the ridges ; a clear fingerprint impression will

contain anywhere from 85 to 125 such points. While many of the

common points appear in almost every print, no two prints have the same points in the same relationship to each other.

A print taken by a law-enforcement agency is known as an "inked

print," and is carefully taken so that all the characteristics of the

print are reproduced on the fingerprint card; a print which is left accidentally, such as a print left at the scene of a crime, is known as

a latent print. To make an identification of a latent print, the expert

compares the points in the latent print with the points in an inked

print. If a point appearing in a latent print does not appear in the

inked print, or vice versa, the expert concludes that the two prints were

not made by the same finger or palm. An identification is made only

if there are no inconsistencies between the inked and latent prints, and

the points of similarity and their relative positions are sufficiently

distinctive, and sufficient in number, to satisfy the expert that an

identity exists.^°® There is some disagreement concerning whether a minimum number

of points is necessary for an identification. Some foreign law-enforcement agencies require a minimum number of 16 points. However, in

the United States, in which there has been a great deal of experience

with fingerprints, expert opinion holds there is no minimum number

of points, and that each print must be evaluated on its own merits.^^^

Palmprints are as distinctive as fingerprints, but are not as popularly known. Possibly this is because law enforcement agencies

usually record only fhigerprints for their identification files, since

fingerprints can be much more readily classified and filed than palmprints. Also, latent fingerprint impressions are probably more com- mon than latent palmprint impressions, because persons generally

touch objects with their fingers rather than their palms. However,

563
Ridge CharJuterl&tiCb

Used by Exptrts In Co'T^parlng Fingerprints

Ending

Ridges

IrunJ

— CoanmlBBion Exhibit Ho. 63I+A

Commission Exhibit No. 634-A

564
palmprints will frequently be found on heavy objects, since the palms

as well as the fingers are employed in handling such objects.^^^

A latent print is the result of perspiration exuded by the sweat

pores in the ridges. This perspiration is composed of water, protein or fatty materials, and sodium chloride (salt). A latent print can

be developed—made visible—in several w^ays. Sometimes a latent

print can be developed merely by the use of correct lighting. A

second method is to brush the print very lightly with a powder, which

adheres to its outline. Once a print is powdered it can be photographed, lifted, or both. (In lifting, an adhesive substance, such

as scotch tape, is placed over a powdered print. When the adhesive

is lifted the powder clings to its surface. The adhesive is then

mounted.) However, powder is usually effective only on objects

which have a hard, smooth, nonabsorbent surface, such as glass, tile, and various types of highly polished metals and is usually not effec- tive on absorbent materials, such as paper or unfinished wood or metal,

which absorb perspiration so that there is nothing on the material's

surface to which the powder can adhere. Prints on absorbent materials can sometimes be developed by iodine fumes, which may react with fatty or protein materials which have been absorbed into the

object, or by a silver nitrate solution, which may react Avith sodium

chloride which has been absorbed into the object.^^^

Not every contact of a finger or palm leaves a latent print. For

example, if the surface is not susceptible to a latent print, if the

finger or palm had no perspiration, or if the perspiration was mostly wa t^T and had evaporated, no print will be found.^^°

Objects in the Texas School Book Depository Building

A number of objects found in the Texas School Book Depository

Building following the assassination were processed for latent

fingerprints by the FBI—in some cases, after they had been processed by the Dallas police. These objects included the homemade

wrapping paper bag found near the southeast corner wdndow; the

C2766 rifle ; three small cartons Avhich were stacked near that window

(which were marked "Box A," "Box B," and "B,ox 0"),"^ and a

fourth carton resting on the floor nearby (marked "Box D") ; "^ the

three 6.5-millimeter cartridge cases found near the window ; and the

cartridge found in the rifle. The results were as follows

The paper hag.—The FBI developed a palmprint and a fingerprint on the paper bag by silver nitrate. These were compared with the

fingerprints and palmprints of Lee Harvey Oswald taken by the

Dallas police, and were found to have been made by the right palm

and the left index finger of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ The C2766 rifle.—The wood and metal of the rifle was absorbent,

and not conducive to recording a good print.^^* However, the Dallas

police developed by powder some faint ridge formations on the

metal magazine housing in front of the trigger and also developed by powder and lifted a latent palmprint from the underside

565
of the barrel.^^^ The faint ridge formations were insufficient for

purposes of effecting an identification/^^ but the latent palmprint

Avas identified as the right palm of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^

The cartons.—Using the silver nitrate method, the FBI developed

nine identifiable latent fingerprints and four identifiable latent palmprints on Box A,^^^ seven identifiable fingerprints and two identifiable

palmprints on Box B,^^^ and two identifiable fingerprints and one

identifiable palmprint on Box C.^^° One of the fingerprints on Box A

was identified as the right index fingerprint of Lee Harvey Oswald,^^^

and one of the palmprints on Box A was identified as the left palmprint of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ All the remaining prints on Box A

were the palmprints of R. L. Studebaker, a Dallas police officer, and

Forest L. Lucy, an FBI clerk, who shipped the cartons from Dallas

to the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and fingerprints of Detective Studebaker. All but one of the fingerprints on Box B belonged to Studebaker and Lucy and one palmprint was that of

Studebaker. The fingerprints on Box C were those of Studebaker

and Lucy and the palmprint was Studebaker's.^^ One palmprint on Box B was unidentified.^^*

The FBI developed two fingerprints on Box D by silver nitrate,

and the Dallas police developed a palmprint on Box D by powder.^25 'pi^g fingerprints belonged to Lucy. The palmprint was identified as the right palmprint of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ Wliile the age

of a print cannot be generally determined,^^^ this palmprint must

have been relatively fresh, because the carton was constructed of cardboard, an absorbent material, and if a long period had elapsed between

the time the print was made and the time it was powdered, the perspiration would have been absorbed into the cardboard, and the print could

not have been developed by powder.^^s Xests run by the FBI show that

usually a latent impression on such cardboard cannot be developed by

powder more than 24 hours after it Is made.^^^ Latona felt that the

maximum age of the palmprint on Box D at the time of development

(which was shortly after the assassination) , would have been 3 days; ^^° Mandella felt that the maximum time would have been a day and a

half.i^i The three cartridge cases and the cartridge case found in the rifle.—

No prints were developed on the cartridge found in the rifle or on the

three expended cartridge cases.^^^ QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS

Two experts gave testimony concerning questioned documents:

Alwyn Cole ^^^ and James C. Cadigan.^^* Cole apprenticed as a ques- tioned document examiner for 6 years, from 1929 to 1935, and has been

examiner of questioned documents for the U.S. Treasury Department

since then. Cadigan has been a questioned document examiner with

the FBI for 231/2 years, following a specialized course of training and

instruction. Both have testified many times in Federal and States

courts.^^^ Their conclusions were identical, except as noted.

566
Both experts examined and testified on the following questioned

documents : (1) The mail order to Klein's Sporting Goods of Chicago,

in response to which Klein's sent the C2766 rifle ; the accompanying

money order ; and the envelope in which the mail order and the money

order were sent—all of which bore the name "A. Hidell" and the

address "P.O. Box 2915, Dallas, Texas" ;^3« (2) the mail order to Seaport Traders, Inc., of Los Angeles, bearing the same name and

address, in response to which the Seaport Traders sent the V510210

revolver; ^^^ (3) part of an application for Post Office Box 2915,

Dallas, Tex., opened October 9, 1962 and closed May 14, 1963, and two

change-of-address orders relating to that box, dated October 10, 1962

and May 12, 1963—all signed "Lee H. Oswald," and part of an application for Post Office Box 30061, New Orleans, La., naming "A. J. Hidell" as a party entitled to receive mail through the box, signed "L.

H. Oswald"; ^^® (4) a spurious selective service system notice of classi- fication and a spurious certificate of service in the U.S. Marine Corps,

found in Oswald's wallet after his arrest, both in the name "Alek James

Hidell"; ^^^ (5) a spurious smallpox /vaccination certificate, found

among Oswald's belongings at his room at 1026 North Beckley, purportedly issued to Lee Oswald by "Dr. A. J. Hideel, P.O. Box 30016,

New Orleans, La."; ^^° and (6) a card, found in Oswald's wallet after

his arrest, reading "Fair Play for Cuba Committee New Orleans

Chapter," dated "June 15, 1963," bearing the, name "L. H. Oswald"

and the signature "Lee H. Oswald," and signed "A. J. Hidell" as chapter president.^^^ Cadigan also examined (7) the unsigned note. Commission Exhibit No. 1, written almost entirely in Russian, which

Marina testified Oswald had left for her prior to his attempt on the

life of General Walker; "^ and (8) the homemade paper bag found

on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository following the

assassination.^*^

General princi'ples^'^^—The area of questioned document examination encompasses many types of inquiries, the most familiar of which

is the identification of handwriting. Handwriting identification is based upon the principle that every person's handwriting is distinctive.

As Cole testified

Q. Mr. Cole, could you explain the basis on which you were

able to make an identification of a questioned writing as being

authored by the person who wrote a standard writing?

Mr. Cole. This is based upon the principle that every handwriting is distinctive, that since the mental and physical equipment for producing handwriting is different in every individual,

each person produces his own distinctive writing habits. Of

course, everyone learns to write in the beginning by an endeavor

to repeat ideal letter forms but, practically no one is able to reproduce these forms exactly. Even though a person might have some

initial success during the active period of instruction, he soon

departs from these and develops his own habits. It ma3v be said

that habit in handwriting is that which makes handwriting pos- 567
sible. Habit is that wliich makes hanclAvriting efficient. If it were not for the development of habit, one Avould be obliged to draw or sketch.

Some habit would be included even in those efforts. But the

production of handwriting rapidly and fluently always involves

a recording of personal writing habit. This has been confirmed

by observation of a very large number of specimens over a long

period of time, and it has further been demonstrated by, on my

part, having a formal responsibility for rendering decisions about

the identification of handwriting based upon an agreement of

handwriting habit in situations where there would be a rigorous

testing of the correctness of these decision by field investigators,

for example, of the laAv-enforcement agencies, and a demonstration that these results were confirmed by other evidence.

This is the basis for identification of handwriting.^^^

The same principles are generally applicable to hand printing,^^^ and

in the balance of this section the term "handwriting'' will be used to refer to both cursive or script writing and hand printing.

Not every letter in a questioned handwriting can be used as the

basis of an identification. Most people learn to write letters in a standard or "copybook'' form : a handwriting is distinctive only insofar as it departs significantly from such forms.^^^ Correspondingh^,

not every variation indicates nonidentification ; no two acts are precisely alike and variations may be found within a single document.

Like similarities, variations are significant only if they are distinctive.^*^ Moreover, since any single distinctive characteristic may not

be unique to one person, in order to make an identification the expert

must find a sufficient number of corresponding distinctive characteristics and a general absence of distinctive differences.^*^ The possibility that one person could imitate the handwriting of

another and successfully deceive an expert document examiner is very

remote. A forger leaves two types of clue. First, he can seldom perfectly simulate the letter forms of the victim; concentrating on the

reproduction of one detail, he is likely not to see others. Thus, the

forger may successfully imitate the general form of a letter, but get

proportions or letter comiections wrong. In addition, the forger

draws rather than writes. Forged writing is therefore distinguished

by defects in the quality of its line, such as tremor, waver, patching,

retouching, noncontinuous lines, and pen lifts in awkward and unusual places.^^°

To make a handwriting identification, the handwriting in the document under examination (the questioned document) is compared

against the handwriting in documents known to have been prepared

by a suspect (the known or standard documents) . This is exemplified

by Cole's examination of Commission Exhibit No. 773, the photograph

of the mail order for the rifle and the envelope in which it was sent: Q. Now, Mr. Cole, returning to 773, the questioned document,

can you tell the Commission how you formed the conclusion

568
that it was prepared by the author of the standards, that is, what steps you followed in your examination and comparison,

what things you considered, what instruments or equipment you

used, and so forth?

Mr. Cole. I made first a careful study of the writing on Commission Exhibit 773 without reference to the standard writing,

in an effort to determine whether or not this writing contained

what I would regard as a basis for identification, contained a record of writing habit, and as that—as a result of that part of

my examination, I concluded that this is a natural handwriting.

By that I mean that it was made at a fair speed, that it doesn't

show any evidence of an unnatural movement, poor line quality,

tremor, waver, retouching, or the like. I regard it as being made

in a fluent and fairly rapid manner which would record the

normal writing habits of the person who made it. I then made a separate examination of the standards, of all of the standard writings, to determine whether that record gave

a record of writing habit which could be used for identification

purposes, and I concluded that it, too, was a natural handwriting

and gave a good record of writing habit. I then brought the standard writings together with the questioned writing for a detailed and orderly comparison, considering

details of letter forms, proportion, pen pressure, letter connections, and other details of handwriting habit * * *.^^^ The standards used by Cole and Cadigan consisted of a wide variety of

documents known to be in the handwriting of Lee Harvey Oswald,

including indorsements on his payroll checks, applications for employment, for a passport, for membership in the American Civil

Liberties Union, and for a library card, and letters to the Immigration

and Naturalization Service, the Marine Corps, the State Department,

and the American Embassy in Eussia.^^^

The Mail Order for the C2766 Rifle, the Related Envelope,

and the Money Order

The mail order and envelope for the C2766 rifle were photographed

by Klein's on microfilm, and then destroyed.^^^ To identify the handwriting an enlarged photograph was made which showed the handwriting characteristics with sufficient clarity to form the basis of an

identification.^^* Based on a comparison with the standards, the

handwriting on the purchase order and the envelope were identified as Lee Harvey Oswald's.^^^ The money order, which was retained

by the post office after having been cashed by Klein's,^^^ was also

identified as being in Oswald's handwriting.^^^ These identifications were made on the basis of numerous characteristics in which the writing in both the questioned and standard documents departed from conventional letter forms.^^^ For example, in the return address on the

envelope, the left side of the "A" in "A. Hidell" was made by a down569

730-900 0-64—38
stroke followed by an upstroke which almost exactly traced the downstroke, the "i" showed an elongation of the approach stroke and an

exaggerated slant to the right, and the second "1" was somewhat

larger than the first; the "B" in "Box" had an upper lobe smaller

than the lower lobe; the "D" in "Dallas" exhibited a distinctive

construction of the looped form at the top of a letter, and the "s" was flattened and forced over on its side; and the "x" in "Texas" was made in the form of a "u" with a cross bar. These characteristics were also present in the standards.^^^ In addition, these items, as well as other questioned documents, resembled the standards in

their use of certain erroneous combinations of capital and lowercase

letters.^^^ For example, in the mail order, "Texas" was printed with

a capital "T," "X," "A," and "S," but a lowercase "e"; a similar

mixture of capital and lowercase letters in "Texas" was found in the

standards.^^^

The writing on the purchase order and envelope showed no significant evidence of disguise (subject to the qualification that the use of

hand printing on the mail order, rather than handwriting, may have

been used for that purpose) .^^^ However, it is not unusual for a person using an alias not to disguise his writing. For example. Cole,

who is document examiner for the Treasury Department, has fre- quently examined forgeries evidencing no attempt at disguise.^^^

Mail Order for the V510210 Revolver

Based on a comparison with the standards, the handwriting on the

mail order ^^* for the y510210 revolver was also identified as Lee

Harvey Oswald's.^^^

Post Office Box Applications and Change-of-Address Card

A post office box application consists of three parts : The first contains directions for use. The second provides applicant's name, address, signature space, box nmnber, date of opening and closing. The

third part provides instruction space concerning delivery of mail and names of persons entitled to use the box.^^^ Under post office regulations ^^^ the second part was retained by the Dallas Post Office for box

2915 ; it destroyed the third part after the box was closed. Ba^ed on the

standards, the signature "Lee H. Oswald," and other handwriting on

the application, was identified as that of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ The

postal clerk appeared to have filled in the balance.^®^ The Fort Worth and Dallas post offices retained two change-ofaddress orders signed "Lee H. Oswald": One to "Postmaster, Fort

Worth, Tex.," dated October 10, 1962, to send mail to "Oswald, Lee

H" at 2703 Mercedes Av., Fort Worth, Texas" ajid forward to "Box

2915, Dallas, Texas" ; the other to "Postmaster, Dallas, Texas" dated

May 12, 1963, requested mail for post office box 2915 be forwarded to "Lee Oswald" at "4907 Magazine St., New Orleans, La." ^^^ Based on a comparison with the standards, the handwritmg on these orders was identified as that of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^
The New Orleans post office retained the third part of the application for post office box 30061, New Orleans, La., dated June 11, 1963,

and signed "L. H. Oswald." ^^^ Inserted in the space for names of

persons entitled to receive mail through the box were written the names "A. J. Hidell" and "Marina Oswald." On the basis of a comparison with the standards, the writing and the signature on the card was identified as the handwriting of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^

The Spurious Selective Service System Notice of Classification and

U.S. Marine Corps Certificate of Service

When Oswald was arrested he had in his possession a Selective

Service System notice of classification and a certificate of service in

the U.S. Marine Corps in the name of "Alek James Hidell," and a

Selective Service System notice of classification, a Selective Service

System registration certificate, and a certificate of service in the U.S.

Marine Corps in his own name.^^* ( See Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 19 and

21, p. 573.) The Hidell cards where photographic counterfeits.^^^

After Oswald's arrest a group of retouched negatives were found in

Mr. Paine's garage at 2515 West Fifth Street, Irving, Tex.,^^^ among

which were retouched negatives of the Oswald cards.^^^ A comparison of these retouched negatives with the Hidell and Oswald cards

showed that the Hidell cards had been counterfeited by photographing the Oswald cards, retouching the resulting negatives, and producing photographic prints from the retouched negatives.

The Hidell Notice of Classification

Face side.—The face of the Hidell notice of classification ^^® was

produced from the face of the Oswald notice of classification ^^^ by a two-step process. First, the counterfeiter photographed the Oswald

notice, making a basic intermediate negative.^^^ He then opaqued

out of this intermediate negative all of the information typed or handwritten onto the Oswald notice, including the name "Lee Harvey

Oswald," the selective service No., "41-114-39-532," the signature of

the official of the local board, and the mailing date. In addition, he

made another intermediate negative of the lowermost third of the

Oswald notice, which contained a printed legend setting forth various

instructions relating to draft board procedures.^^^ This negative re- produced the printed material exactly, but reduced it in size.^^^ xhe

two intermediate negatives were combined to produce a third negative,

substantially identical to the basic intermediate negative except that,

by virtue of the reduction in the size of the printed legend, a square

space had been created in the lower left-hand corner.^^^ The counterfeiter then made a photographic print of this third negative, which

contained blanks wherever typed or hand^T:*itten material had appeared on the original Oswald notice and a new space in the lower left- hand corner. Finally, new material was inserted into the blanks on

571
the Hidell notice where typed or handwritten material had appeared on the Oswald notice.^^^ Thus the name "ALEK JAMES HIDELL,"

the selective service No. "42-224-39-532," and the mailing date "Feb.

5, 1962," were typed into the appropriate blanks on the Hidell notice.

Two typewriters were used in this typing, as shown by differences in

the design of the typed figure "4," ^^^ and by differences in the strength

of the typed impression.^^^ Probably the counterfeiter switched typewriters when he discovered that the ribbon of his first typewriter was

not inked heavily enough to leave a clear impression (a problem

which would have been aggravated by the fact that the glossy photographic paper used to make the Hidell notice did not provide a good

surface for typewriting) ^-^"^ The face of the notice also bore many

uninked indentations, which could only be made out under strong

side lighting.^^® These indentations were apparently made with the

typewriter set at stencil—that is, set so that the typewriter key struck

the notice directly, rather than striking it through the inked typewriter ribbon.^^^ This may have been done as a dry-run practice, to enable the counterfeiter to determine how to properly center and aline

the inserted material.^^^ A sidelight photograph showed that the names "ALEK," "JAMES," and "HIDELL" had each been typed in stencil at least twice before being typed in with the ribbon.^^^ A capital letter "O" had been stenciled prior to one of the stenciled "ALEK's." ^^^ A serial number and a date of mailing had also been typed in stencil.^^^ In addition to the typed material, a signature, "Alek J. Hidell," was written in ink in the blank provided for the registrant's signature, and another, somewhat illegible signature, apparently reading

"Good Hoffer," was written in ink in the blank provided for the

signature of an official of the local board.^^* This name differed

from the name written in ink on the Oswald notice, which appeared

to consist of a first name beginning with an "E" or a "G" and the sur- name "Schiffen." ^^^ However, the legibility of the name on the Oswald

notice was also quite poor, and the counterfeiter might have been

attempting to duplicate it. A possible reason for deleting the original

name and substituting another is that if the name had not been deleted it would have been reproduced on the Hidell notice as a photographic reproduction, which would look less authentic than a pen-and-ink signature.^®^

Based on a comparison with the handwriting in the standards, the

signature "Alek J. Hidell" on the Hidell notice was identified as being in the handwriting of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ The signature

"Good Hoffer" could not be positively identified, being almost illegible; however, it was not inconsistent with Oswald's handwriting.^^^

To complete the face of the Hidell notice a picture of Lee Harvey

Oswald was inserted into the space in the lower left-hand corner which had been created by reducing the size of the printed legend at the bottom.199

In creating the face of the Hidell notice, the counterfeiter left traces which enabled the experts to link together the Hidell notice,

the retouched negatives, and the Oswald notice. To retouch the nega572
SEl-ECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM

NOTICE OF CnLASSiriCATION Lee Harvey O0'i«LD

Selective scrv.c No 1^1 iii^ 39 532 I

i^-» I been cUs-Mfictl in CUsi IV-i* Until hL

J

19 bv S! '-"g* Bojird^ J^, AppJW^urd.

• by vuic oi ^ ^ /^^^^mhiAmt

»{ 11! .irr,.-, '. .x'Mi . , a., n m ir., ',. it«^f

rcnJe /

>% tRNMJ-NI yvt>"j.

Selective Scryice Sywem

-tersiiT Local Bdard Uo. 1: Selective Service Syst<

300 W. Vickyry, iw. 2:^27

(Local Boa^o St ami*.; OFFICIAL BUSINESS Lee Hapspi Fort \-ort

Face and reverse sides of the Oswald Notice of Classification. Cadigan Exhibit No. 19

\

SU'tllVE StRVtrt irsiJM

Lee Harvey

SEtfCTtVE SERVICE NO

.-.-. |..«m •<!• I

OSWA LD

3irl; West 5 th 6t. ^\J| Fort «'orth 7"TM"*" 'r.ir rant' "l^x

-;| -PcX-tl*; 1 '39""' New U^WAns, fifT

WAS OULV REGISTERED ON THE ^..y'r^ept. ,,59 ii:,:.^«^.i' ':^'

»Hl LAW RiO'J

Face and reverse sides of the Oswald Selective Service System Registration

Certificate and the Oswald Certificate of Service in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Cadigan Exhibit No. 21

573
SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTTEM Approval nu< rc^^viirc.t NOTICE OF CLASSIFICATION

Selective Service No. ' J _£ ,-> ,

' lus

I been ciass.ficd in Cbss ^r.— _ LVaii^.f

I

19 )by 12 LocP Bcwi D Appcaj/soird,

J by vote of . .^^ . to p President

I ---;,-;^y-.„.. '* - ^^ •

coumortru ;r_ couworii** —

OBtmMMMm .•:-»^. „ m • f

THE L»<r mOUIRCS rOU TO HAVE THIS CCItTfflCATl m VOWI PMSOHAL POSSCSSKM

»T »U. TIMES fOU lOENTiriCATIO* AMO TO HOTIFV YOU* tOCAL MAM Of AHY 1 CHANCE or AOORESS. sro l*»-0-3tl«M

Face and reverse sides of the Hidell Selective Service System Notice of ClassificatioiL,

i^^^^C^RTIFIcrrEOFSERVICE i

11 Bnittd States Marine Corps |

wmr' ~~ "

DDfc»«2.fMf , JANS.

- - " —r- Face and reverse sides of the Hidell Certificate of Service in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 15 and 16

674
tives the counterfeiter simply painted a red opaque substance on one

side of the negative over the material he wished to delete. When the

negative was printed, the opaquing prevented light from passing

through, so that the print showed blanks wherever the negative had

been opaqued. However, the original material was still clearly visible on the negative itself. ^^^ In addition, at several points the typed or handwritten material in the Oswald notice had overlapped the printed

material. For example, the signature of the official of the local board

overlapped the letters "re" in the printed word "President," "1" and

"a" in the printed word "local," and "viola" in the printed word

"violation." When this signature was opaqued out, the portions of the

printed material which had been overlapped by the signature were

either removed or mutilated. The consequent distortions were apparent on both the retouched negative and the Hidell notice itself. Similarly, the selective service number typed on the Oswald notice

overlapped the margins of the boxes into which it was typed. Although the counterfeiter opaqued out the numerals themselves, the

margins of the boxes remained thickened at the points where they

had been overlapped by the numerals. These thickened margins were

apparent on both the retouched negative and the Hidell notice.^^^ Reverse side.—The reverse side of the Hidell notice, which was

pasted back-to-back to the face, was actually a form of the reverse

side of a Selective Service System registration certificate. Essentially, it was counterfeited the same way as the face of the notice: a photograph was made of the reverse side of the Oswald registration

certificate, the material which had been typed or stamped on the Oswald registration certificate was opaqued out of the resulting negative,

and a photographic print was made from the retouched negative.

This is shown by the negative, in which the opaqued-out information

is still visible, and by defects in the printed material on the Hidell

notice at point where typed-in material had overlapped printed

material on the Oswald registration certificate.^^^ As the final step, new information was typed on the print in the

blanks which resulted from the retouching operation.^^^ Thus "GR"

was substituted for "Blue" under color of eyes ; "BROWN" was substituted for "Brn" under color of hair; "FAIR" was substituted for

"Med." under complexion; "5" [ft.] "9" [in.] was substituted for "5"

[ft.] "11" [in.] under height ; and "155" was substituted for "150"

under weight. The name and address of the local board on the Oswald

registration certificate were opaqued out, but substantially the same name and address were typed back onto the Hidell notice.^^* As in the

signature of the local board official on the face of the notice, a possible reason for deleting the original draft board name and the address and

substituting substantially similar material in its place is that if the

original material had not been deleted it would have reproduced as a photographic reproduction, which would look much less authentic than

typed-in material.^o^

A limited number of typed uninked indentations are also present.

Thus the indented letters "CT" appear before the letters "GR" (under

575
color of eyes) and the indented letters "EY" follow "GR." An in- dented "9" appears above the visible "9" for the inch figure of height,

and an indented "i" appears before the weight, "155." Much of the

typed material on the reverse side of the Hidell notice was not very

legible under ordinary lighting, since it was typed with a typewriter

which left a very w^eakly inked impression.^^ In fact, it is difficult to

tell whether some of the material, particularly the word "Brown"

under color of hair, was put in by stencil or by ribbon.

The Hidell Certificate of Service

The face and reverse side of the Hidell certificate of service were produced from the face and reverse side of the Oswald certificate of

service ^°^ by photographing the Oswald certificate, retouching the

resulting negatives to eliminate typed and handwritten material,

and making a photographic print from the retouched negative.^^^

As in the case of the notice of classification, this is shown by

the negative itself, in which the opaqued-out information is still visible, and by defects in the printed material on the Hidell certifiicate at points where handwritten material had crossed over

printed material on the Oswald certificate. Thus, in the Oswald certificate the upper portion of the name "Lee" in Oswald's signature

crosses the letter "u" in the printed word "signature." The consequent

mutilation of the printed letter "u" can be seen on the Hidell certificate. Similarly, the ending stroke in the letter "y" in the name "Harvey" in Oswald's signature crosses the letter "n" in the printed word "certifying." This stroke was not removed at all, and can be seen as a stroke

across the "n" in the Hidell certificate. ^°^ As the final step in producing the Hidell certificate, new material was typed into the blanks on the photographic print. On the face, the words "ALEK JAMES

HIDELL" were typed into the blank where "LEE HARVEY

OSWALD 1653230" had appeared. A sidelight photograph shows

that these words had been typed in stencil at least twice before being

typed in with the ribbon apparently to determine proper centering

and alinement.^^° In producing the reverse side of the Hidell certificate,

the signature "Lee Harvey Oswald," and the dates "24 October 1956"

and "11 September 1959," showing the beginning and end of the period

of active service, had been opaqued out. No signature was inserted

into resulting blank signature space. However, just below the word

"of" in the printed line "signature of individual," there are two vertical indentations which fill about three- fourths of the height of the

signature blank, and a diagonal indentation which slants from ap- proximately the base of the left vertical to approximately the midpoint

of the right vertical—the total effect being of a printed capital letter "H." Also, just below the second and third "i"s" in the printed word

"individual" are two more vertical indentations, which could be the

vertical strokes of "d's" or "I's"—although the circular portion of the

letter "d" is not present,^^^ These indentations could have been made

by any sharp instrument, such as a ballpoint pen which was not 576
delivering ink, a stylus of the type used in preparing mimeograph

forms, or even a toothpick.^^^ The indentations are brought out rather

clearly in a sidelight photograph, but can also be seen on the card

itself if the card is held so that light strikes it at an angle.^^^

Into the space for the beginning of active service was typed the date

"OCT. 13 1958." The space for the end of active service contains

several light-impression and stencil typewriting operations. It was

apparently intended to read "OCT. 12 1961," but because of the light- ness of the impression and the many stenciled characters, the date is barely legible.^^* Interestingly, one of the stenciled impressions in

the blank for end of active service reads "24 October 1959," as determined under a microscope, while a stenciled impression in the blank

for beginning of active service reads "24 October 1957." ^^^ The counterfeiting of the Hidell cards did not require great skill,

but probably required an elementary knowledge of photography,

particularly of the photographic techniques used in a printing

plant.^^® A moderate amount of practice with the technique would

be required—perhaps half a dozen attempts. Practicing retouching on the balance of the negatives found at the Paine garage would have

been sufficient.^^^ The retouching of the negatives could have been

accomplished without any special equipment. However, the preparation of the negative, apart from retouching, would probably have

required a very accurate camera, such as would be found in a photographic laboratory or printing plant.^^®

The Vaccination Certificate

A government-printed form entitled "International Certificates of

Vaccination or Revaccination against Smallpox" ^^^ was found among

Oswald's belongings at his room at 1026 Beckley Avenue, Dallas.^^^ The form purported to certify that "LEE OSWALD" had been

vaccinated against smallpox on "JUNE 8, 1963" by "DE. A. J. HIDEEL, P.O. BOX 30016, NEW ORLEANS, LA." The card was signed "Lee H. Oswald" and "A. J. Hideel," and the name and

address "Lee H. Oswald, New Orleans, La." were hand printed on the

front of the card. All of this material, except the signatures and the

hand printing, had been stamped onto the card. The Hideel name and

address consisted of a three-line stamp—"DR. A. J. HIDEEL/P.O.

BOX 30016/NEW ORLEANS, LA." A circular, stamped, illegible

impression resembling a seal appeared under a column entitled

"Approved stamp." ^21 On the basis of a comparison with the standards. Cole identified all of the handwriting on the vaccination certificate, including the signature "A. J. Hideel," as the writing of Lee Harvey Oswald.^^ Cadigan

identified all of the writing as Oswald's except for the "A. J. Hideel"

signature, which in his opinion was too distorted to either identify or nonidentify as Oswald's handwriting.^" The stamped material on

the certificate was compared with a rubber stamping kit which be577
longed to Oswald.^^* In this kit was a rubber stamp with three lines

of print assembled : "L. H. OSWALD/4907 MAGAZINE ST/NEW

ORLEANS, LA." 225 QqIq found a perfect agreement in measure- ment and design between the letters stamped on the certificate and the

letters he examined from Oswald's rubber stamping kit. However, he was unable to determine whether the characteristics of Oswald's rubber

stamping kit were distinctive, and therefore, Avhile he concluded that

Oswald's rubber stamping kit could have made the rubber stamp

impressions on the certificate, he was unable to say that it was the

only kit which could have made the impressions.^^e q^ ^^^ |3g^g^g ^^ the comparison between the words "NEW ORLEANS, LA." set up

in the rubber stamp in Oswald's kit, and the words "NEW

ORLEANS, LA." on the certificate, Cadigan concluded that these

words had been stamped on the certificate with Oswald's rubber

stamp. However, he could draw no conclusion as to the remaining

stamped material, which was not directly comparable to the remaining lines set up on Oswald's rubber stamp.^^^

On close examination, the circular impression resembling a seal consisted of the words "BRUSH IN CAN," printed in reverse.^^® Apparently, the impression was made with the top of a container

of solvent or cleaning fluid which bore these words in raised lettering.

In the center of the impression was a mottled pattern which was

similar to the blank areas on a date stamp found in Oswald's rubber

stamping kit.^^ The Fair Play for Cuba Committee Card

The Fair Play for Cuba Committee card had two signatures : "L. H.

Oswald" and "A. J. Hidell." Based on the standards, both Cole and

Cadigan identified "L. H. Oswald" as the signature of Lee Harvey

Oswald,^^" but both were unable to identify the "A. J. Hidell" signature.^^^ Cadigan noted differences between the Hidell signature and

Oswald's handwriting, indicating the possibility that someone other

than Oswald had authored the signature.^^ Cole believed that the

signature was somewhat beyond Oswald's abilities as a penman.^^^ On the basis of a short English interlinear translation written by

Marina Oswald, Cole felt that she might have been the author of the

signature,^^^ but the translation did not present enough of her handwriting to make possible a positive identification.^^^ In subsequent

testimony before the Commission, Marina stated that she was indeed

the author of the Hidell signature on the card.^^ Cadigan confirmed

this testimony by obtaining further samples of Marina Oswald's handwriting and comparing these samples with the signature on the card.^^^ The Unsigned Russian-Language Note

Cadigan's examination confirmed Marina's testimony that the handwriting in the unsigned note. Commission Exhibit No. 1, was that of

578
Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ Since the note was written almost entirely in

the Russian language, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet (as opposed to the Latin alphabet used in the English language) , in malring his ex- amination Cadigan employed not only Oswald's English language

standards, but also letters written by Oswald in the Russian language.^^®

The Homemade Wrapping Paper Bag

In the absence of watermarks or other distinctive characteristics, it is impossible to determine whether two samples of paper came from

the same manufacturer.^*^ The homemade paper bag found on the

sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository following the assassination was made out of heavy brown paper and glue-bearing brown

paper tape, neither of which contained watermarks or other distinctive

characteristics.^*^ However, Cadigan compared the questioned paper

and tape in the paper bag with known paper and tape samples obtained

from the shipping department of the Texas School Book Depository on November 22, 1963, to see if the questioned items could have come from the shipping room.^*^ The questioned and known items w^ere ex- amined visually by normal, incidental, and transmitted natural and

electric light, and under ultraviolet light ; ^^^ examined microscopically

for surface, paper structure, color, and imperfections ; ^^* examined for

their felting pattern, which is the pattern of light and dark areas caused by the manner in which the fibers become felted at the be- ginning stages of paper manufacture ; ^*^ measured for thickness with

a micrometer sensitive to one one-thousandth of an inch,^*^ subjected

to a fiber analysis to determine the type of fibers of which they were

composed, and whether the fibers were bleached or unbleached ; ^*^ and

examined spectrographically to determine what metallic ions were

present.^*^ The questioned and known items were identical in all the

j>roperties measured by these tests.^*^ (The width of the tape on the

paper sack was 3 inches, while the width of the sample tape was 2.975, or twenty-five thousandths of an inch smaller ; however, this was not

a significant difference) .^^^ In contrast, a paper sample obtained

from the Texas School Book Depository shipping room on December 1, 1963, was readily distinguishable from the questioned paper.^^^

Examination of the tape revealed other significant factors indicating that it could have come from the Texas School Book Depository

shipping room. There were several strips of tape on the bag.^^^ All

but two of the ends of these strips were irregularly torn ; the remaining two ends had machine-cut edges. This indicated that the person

who made the bag had drawn a long strip of tape from a dispensing

machine and had torn it by hand into several smaller strips.^^^ Confirmation that the tape had been drawn from a dispensing machine was supplied by the fact that a series of small markings in the form

of half-inch lines ran down the center of the tape like ties on a railroad

track. Such lines are made by a ridged wheel in a tape dispenser which

is constructed so that when a hand lever is pulled, the wheel, which is 579
connected to the lever, pulls the tape from its roll and dispenses it. Such dispensers are usually found only in commercial establishments.

A dispenser of this type was located in the Texas School Book Depository shipping room. The length of the lines and the number of

lines per inch on the tape from the paper bag was identical to the

length of the lines and the number of lines per inch on the tape obtained from the dispenser in the Texas School Book Depository shipping room.^^*

WOUND BALLISTICS EXPERIMENTS

Purpose of the Tests During the course of the Commission's inquiry, questions arose as to whether the wounds inflicted on President Kennedy and Governor

Connally could have been caused by the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building

and Western Cartridge Co. bullets and fragments of the type found on the Governor's stretcher and in the Presidential limousine. In

analyzing the trajectory of the bullets after they struck their victims,

further questions were posed on the bullet's velocity and penetration

power after exiting from the person who was initially struck. To

answer these and related questions, the Commission requested that a

series of tests be conducted on substances resembling the wounded portions of the. bodies of President Kennedy and Governor Connally

under conditions which simulated the events of the assassmation.

The Testers and Their Qualifications

In response to the Commission's request, an extensive series of tests were conducted by the Wound Ballistics Branch of the U.S. Army

Chemical Research and Development Laboratories at Edgewood

Arsenal, Md. Scientists working at that branch are engaged in full- time efforts to investigate the wound ballistics of missiles in order to

test their effects on substances which simulate live human bodies.^^^ The tests for the Commission were performed by Dr. Alfred G. Olivier

under the general supervision of Dr. Arthur J. Dziemian with consultation from Dr. Frederick W. Light, Jr.^^^ Dr. Olivier received his

doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania

in 1953. Since 1957 he has been engaged in research on wound ballistics at Edgewood Arsenal and is now chief of the Wound Ballistics

Branch.^^'^ His supervisor. Dr. Dziemian, who is chief of the Biophysics Division at Edgewood Arsenal, holds a Ph. D. degree from

Princeton in 1939, was a national research fellow in physiology at the

University of Pennsylvania and was a fellow in anatomy at Johns

Hopkins University Medical School.^^^ Since 1947, Dr. Dziemian has

been continuously engaged in wound ballistics work at Edgewood

Arsenal.^^^ In 1930, Dr. Light was awarded an M.D. degree from

580
Johns Hopkins Medical School and in 1948 received his Ph. D. from

the same institution.^^^ After serving a residency in pathology, he

worked as a pathologist until 1940 when he returned to Johns Hopkins

University to study mathematics. Since 1951, Dr. Light has been

engaged in the study of the pathology of wounding at Edgewood

Arsenal.2^^ All three of these distinquished scientists testified before

the Commission.

General Testing Conditions

The Commission made available to the Edgewood Arsenal scientists

all the relevant facts relating to the wounds which were inflicted on

President Kennedy and Governor Connally including the autopsy

report on the President, and the reports and X-rays from Parkland

Hospital.2^2 jn addition, Drs. Olivier and Light had an opportunity

to discuss in detail the Governor's wounds with the Governor's

surgeons, Drs. Robert R. Shaw and Charles F. Gregory.^^^ The

Zapruder films of the assassination were viewed with Governor and

Mrs. Connally to give the Edgewood scientists their version.^^^ The

Commission also provided the Edgewood scientists with all known

data on the source of the shots, the rifle and bullets used, and the

distances involved. For purposes of the experiments, the Commission

turned over to the Edgewood testers the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository Building.^^-^ From information provided by the Commission, the Edgewood scientists obtained

Western bullets of the type used by the assassin.^^^

Tests on Penetration Power and Bullet Stability

Comparisons were made of the penetrating power of Western bullets fired from the assassination rifle with other bullets.^^^ From the

Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, the Western bullet was fired through two

gelatin blocks totaling 721/^ centimeters in length.^^* As evidenced

by Commission Exhibit No. 844, which is a photograph from a highspeed motion picture, the Western bullets passed through li/^ blocks

in a straight line before their trajectory curved.^^^ After coming out

of the second gelatin block, a number of the bullets buried themselves

in a mound of earth.^^^ Under similar circumstances, a bullet described as the NATO round

M-80 was fired from a M-14 rifle.^^^ The penetrating power of the

latter is depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 845 which shows that

bullet possesses much less penetrating power with a quicker tumbling

action. Those characteristics cause an early release of energy which

brings the bullet to a stop at shorter distances.^^^ A further test was made with a 257 Winchester Roberts soft-nosed hunting bullet as depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 846. That bullet became deformed almost immediately upon entering the block of gelatin and

released its energy very rapidly.^^^ From these tests, it was con- cluded that the Western bullet fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano

had "terrific penetrating ability" and would retain substantial veloc581
ity after passing through objects such as the portions of the human

body.27*

Tests Simulating President Kennedy's Neck Wound

After reviewing the autopsy report on President Kennedy, the

Edgewood scientists simulated the portion of the President's neck

through which the bullet passed. It was determined that the bullet

traveled through 131/^ to 14% centimeters of tissue in the President's

neck.2^^ That substance was simulated by constructing three blocks

one with a 20-percent gelatin composition, a second from one animal

meat and a third from another animal meat.^^^ Those substances

duplicated as closely as possible the portion of the President's neck

through which the bullet passed.^^^ At the time the tests were con- ducted, it was estimated that the President was struck at a range of ap- proximately 180 feet, and the onsite tests which were conducted later at Dallas established that the President was shot through the neck at a range of 174.9 feet to 190.8 feet.^^^ At a range of 180 feet, the

Western bullets were fired from the assassination weapon, which has

a muzzle velocity of approximately 2,160 feet per second, through

those substances which were placed beside a break-type screen for

measuring velocity.^^^ The average entrance velocity at 180 feet was

1,904 feet per second.^^" To reconstruct the assassination situation as closely as possible both

sides of the substances were covered with material and clipped animal

skin to duplicate human skin.^^^ The average exit velocity was 1,779

feet from the gelatin, 1,798 feet from the first animal meat and 1,772

feet from the second animal meat.^^^ Commission Exhibit No. 847

depicts one of the animal meats compressed to 13% to 14% centimeters to approximate the President's neck and Commission Exhibit

No. 848 shows the analogous arrangement for the gelatin.^^ The

photograph marked Commission Exhibit No. 849 shows the bullet

passing through the gelatin in a straight line evidencing very stable

characteristics.^^*

Commission Exhibit No. 850 depicts the pieces of clipped animal

skin placed on the points of entry and exit showing that the holes

of entrance are round while the holes of exit are "a little more elongated." 2^^ From these tests, it was concluded that the bullet lost little of its velocity in penetrating the President's neck so that there would

have been substantial impact on the interior of the Presidential limousine or anyone else struck by the exiting bullet. In addition, these tests indicated that the bullet had retained most of its stability in penetrating the President's neck so that the exit hole would be only

slightly different from the appearance of the entry hole.^^^

Tests Simulating Governor Connally's Chest Wounds

To most closely approximate the Governor's chest injuries, the

Edgewood scientists shot an animal with the assassination weapon

582
using the Western bullets at a distance of 210 feet.^^^ The onsite

tests later determined that the Governor was wounded at a distance

of 176.9 feet to 190.8 feet from the sixth-floor window at the southeast corner of the Depository Building.^^® The average striking

velocity of 11 shots at 210 feet was 1,929 feet per second and the aver- age exit velocity was 1,664 feet per second.^®^ One of the shots produced an injury on the animal's rib very similar

to that inflicted on Grovernor Connally.^^^ For purposes of comparison with the Governor's wound, the Edgewood scientists studied the

Parkland Hospital report and X-rays, and they also discussed these

wounds with Dr. Shaw, the Governor's chest surgeon.^^^ The similar animal injury passed along the animal's eighth left rib causing

a fracture which removed a portion of the rib in a manner very

similar to the wound sustained by the Govemor.^^^ The X-ray of

that wound on the animal is reproduced as Commission Exhibit No.

852.2^^ A comparison with the Governor's chest wound, shown in

X-ray marked as Commission Exhibit No. 681, shows the remarkable

similarity between those two wounds.^®*

The bullet which produced the wound depicted in Commission Exhibits Nos. 851 and 852 was marked as Commission Exhibit No. 853

and possessed characteristics very similar to the bullet marked as Commission Exhibit No. 399 found on Governor Connally's stretcher

and believed to have been the bullet which caused his chest wound.^®^

Those bullets, identified as Commission Exhibits Nos. 399 and 853, were flattened in similar fashion.^®^ In addition, the lead core was

extruded from the rear in the same fashion on both bullets.^^^ One

noticeable difference was that the bullet identified as Commission

Exhibit No. 853, which penetrated the animal, was somewhat more

flat than Commission Exhibit No. 399 which indicated that Commission Exhibit No. 853 was probably traveling at somewhat greater

speed than the bullet which penetrated the Governor's chest.^'^^ After

the bullet passed through the animal, it left an imprint on the velocity screen immediately behind the animal which was almost the length

of the bullet indicating that the bullet was traveling sideways or end over end.^^^ Taking into consideration the extra girth on the

Governor, the reduction in the velocity of the bullet passing through

his body was estimated at 400 feet.^°° The conclusions from the animal shots are significant when taken in conjunction with the experiments performed simulating the injuries to the Governor's wrist.

Tests Simulating Governor Connally's Wrist Wounds

Following procedures identical to those employed in simulating

the chest wound, the wound ballistics experts from Edgewood Arsenal

reproduced, as closely as possible, the Governor's wrist wound. Again

the scientists examined the reports and X-rays from Parkland Hospital and discussed the Governor's wrist wound with the attending

orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Charles F. Gregory.^'^^ Bone structures were then shot with Western bullets fired from the assassination

583
weapon at a distance of 210 feet.^^^ The most similar bone-structure

shot was analyzed in testimony before the Commission. An X-ray

designated as Commission Exhibit No. 854 and a photograph of that

X-ray which appears as Commission Exhibit No. 855 show a frac- ture at a location which is very similar to the Governor's wrist wound

depicted in X-rays marked as Commission Exhibits Nos. 690 and

691.303 The average striking velocity of the shots was 1,858 feet per sec- ond.30* The average exit velocity was 1,786 feet per second for the

7 out of 10 shots from bone structures which could be measured.^^^

These tests demonstrated that Governor Connally's wrist was not

struck by a pristine bullet, which is a missile that strikes an object

before hitting anything else.^^^ This conclusion was based on the fol- lowing factors: (1) Greater damage was inflicted on the bone struc- ture than that which was suffered by the Governor's wrist; ^^^ and (2)

the bone structure had a smaller entry wound and a larger exit wound

which is characteristic of a pristine bullet as distinguished from the

Governor's wrist which had a larger wound of entry indicating a

bullet which was tumbling with substantial reduction in velocity.^^^ In addition, if the bullet found on the Governor's stretcher (Commission Exhibit No. 399) inflicted the woimd on the Governor's wrist,

then it could not have passed through the Governor's wrist had it been a pristine bullet, for the nose would have been considerably flat- tened, as was the bullet which struck the bone structure, identified as Commission Exhibit No. 856.3«9

Conclusions From Simulating the Neck, Chest, and Wrist Wounds

Both Di^s. Olivier and Dziemian expressed the opinion that one

bullet caused all the wounds on Governor Connally.^^^ The wound to the Governor's wrist was explained by circumstances where the bullet

passed through the Governor's chest, lost substantial velocity in doing

so, tumbled through the wrist, and then slightly penetrated the Governor's left thigh.3" Thus, the results of the wound ballistics tests support the conclusions of Governor Connally's doctors that all his

wounds were caused by one buUet.^^^

In addition, the wound ballistics tests indicated that it was most

probable that the same bullet passed through the President's neck

and then proceeded to inflict all the wounds on the Governor. That

conclusion was reached by Drs. Olivier and Dziemian based on the

medical evidence on the wounds of the President and the Governor

and the tests they performed.^^^ j^ ^^g their opinion that the wound

on the Governor's wrist would have been more extensive had the bullet

which inflicted that injury merely passed through the Governor's

chest exiting at a velocity of approximately 1,500 feet per second.

584
Thus, the Governor's wrist wound indicated that the bullet passed

through the President's neck, began to yaw in the air between the

President and the Governor, and then lost substantially more velocity

than 400 feet per second in passing through the Governor's chest.^^* A bullet which was yawing on entering into the Governor's back would

lose substantially more velocity in passing through his body than a

pristine buUet.^^^ In addition, the greater flattening of the bullet

that struck the animal's rib (Commission Exhibit No. 853) than the

bullet which presumably struck the Governor's rib (Commission Exhibit No. 399) indicates that the animal bullet was traveling at a greater velocity.^^^ That suggests that the bullet which entered the

Governor's chest had already lost velocity by passing through the

President's neck.^^^ Moreover, the large wound on the Governor's

back would be explained by a bullet which was yawing although that

type of wound might also be accounted for by a tangential striking.^^^

Dr. Frederick W. Light, Jr., the third of the wound ballistics experts, testified that the anatomical findings alone were insufficient for

him to formulate a firm opinion on whether the same bullet did or did not pass through the President's neck first before inflicting all the wounds on Governor Connally.^^^ Based on the other circumstances, such as the relative positions in the automobile of the President and the Governor, Dr. Light concluded that it was probable that

the same bullet traversed the President's neck and inflicted all the

wounds on Governor Connally.^^^

Tests Simulating President Kennedy's Head Wounds

Additional tests were performed on inert skulls filled with a 20

percent gelatin substance and then coated with additional gelatin

to approximate the soft tissues overlying the skull.^^^ The skull was

then draped with simulated hair as depicted in Commission Exhibit

No. 860.^22 Using the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle and the Western

bullets, 10 shots were fired at the reconstructed skulls from a distance

of 270 feet which was the estimated distance at the time those tests were conducted.^^s j^ ^^^ later determined through the onsite tests that President Kennedy was struck in the back of the head at a dis- tance of 265.3 feet from the assassination weapon.^^^ The general results of these tests were illustrated by the findings on one skull which was struck at a point most nearly approximating

the wound of entry on President Kennedy's head.^^^ The whole skull,

depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 860, was struck 2.9 centimeters

to the right and almost horizontal to the occipital protuberance or

slightly above it, which was virtually the precise point of entry on

the President's head as described by the autopsy surgeons.^^® That

bullet blew out the right side of the reconstructed skull in a manner

very similar to the head wounds of the President.^^^ The consequences on that skull are depicted in Commission Exhibits Nos. 861 and 862,

which illustrate the testimony of Dr. Alfred G. Olivier, who supervised the experiments.^2^ Based on his review of the autopsy report,

585

730-900 0-64—39
Dr. Olivier concluded that the damage to the reconstructed skull was

very similar to the wound inflicted on the President.^^®

Two fragments from the bullet which struck the test skull closely

resembled the two fragments found in the front seat of the Presidential limousine. The fragment designated as Commission Exhibit

No. 567 is a mutilated piece of lead and copper very similar to a mutilated piece of copper recovered from the bullet which struck

the skull depicted in Commission Exhibit No. 860. The other fragment, designated as Commission Exhibit No. 569 which was found

in the front seat of the Presidential limousine, is the copper end of

the bullet.^^^ Commission Exhibit No. 569 is very similar to a copper

fragment of the end of the bullet which struck the test skull.^^ The

fragments from the test bullet are designated as Commission Exhibit

No. 857 and are depicted in a photograph identified as Commission

Exhibit No. 858.^^^ A group of small lead particles, recovered from

the test bullet, are also very similar to the particles recovered under

the left jump seat and in the President's head. The particles

from the test bullet are a part of Commission Exhibit No. 857 and are depicted in photograph designated as Commission Exhibit No. 859.^^ That skull was depicted as Commission Exhibit No. 862.^^* As a result of these tests. Dr. Olivier concluded that the Western

bullet fired from the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at a distance of 270

feet would make the same type of wound found on the President's

head.^^ Prior to the tests. Dr. Olivier had some doubt that such a

stable bullet would cause a massive head wound like that inflicted on

the President.^^^ He had thought it more likely that such a striking

bullet would make small entrance and exit holes.^^^ The tests, however, showed that the bones of the skull were sufficient to deform the

end of the bullet causing it to expend a great deal of energy and

thereby blow out the side of the skull.^^^ These tests further confirmed

the autopsy surgeons' opinions that the President's head wound was

not caused by a dumdum bullet.^^^ Because of the test results. Dr.

Olivier concluded that the fragments found on and under the front

seat of the President's car most probably came from the bullet which

struck the President's head.^*^ It was further concluded that the

damage done to Governor Connally's wrist colild not have resulted

from a fragment from the bullet which struck President Kennedy's

head.^^i

HAIRS AND FIBERS

Testimony on hairs and fibers was given by Paul M. Stombaugh ^•*- of the FBI. Stombaugh has been a specialist in hairs and fibers since

1960, when he began a 1-year period of specialized training in this field. He has made thousands of hair and fiber examinations, and has testi- fied in Federal and State courts in approximately 28 States.^^^ Stombaugh examined and gave testimony on the following objects : (1) The

green and brown blanket found in the Paine's garage, Commission Exhibit No. 140; (2) the homemade paper bag found on the sixth floor 586
DIAGRAM OF A HAIR

Root

mmimmfmms^Sssi^.

^<^k<<^-^^^^^^<>lS<^^

LOM6<TUOINAt. &CX,tlON CROSS SCCTION

Commission Exhibit No. 666

587
of the Texas School Book Depository following the assassination,

Commission Exhibit No. 142 ; (3) the shirt worn by Oswald on November 22, 1963, Commission Exhibit No. 150; and (4) the C2766 rifle, Commission Exhibit No. 139. General Principles

Hairs.—As shown in Commission Exhibit No. 666 (p. 587), a hair

consists of a central shaft of air cells, known as the medulla ; a cortex containing pigment granules (which give the hair its color) and corti- cal fusi (air spaces) ; and a cuticle and an outer layer of scales. Unlike

fingerprints, hairs are not unique. However, human hairs can be dis- tinguished from animal hairs by various characteristics, including

color, texture, length, medullary structure and shape, shape of pigment,

root size, and scale size. In addition, hairs of the Caucasian, Negroid,

and Mongoloid human races can be distinguished from each other by

color, texture, size and degree of fluctuation of diameter^ thickness of

cuticle, shape and distribution of pigment, and shape of cross-section.

Moreover, even though individual hairs are not unique, the expert

usually can distinguish the hairs of different individuals. Thus, Stombaugh, who had made approximately 1,000 comparison examinations

of Caucasian hairs and 500 comparison examinations of Negroid hairs,

had never found a case in which he was unable to differentiate the hairs

of two different Caucasian individuals, and had found only several

cases in which he could not distinguish, with absolute certainty, between the hairs of two different Negroid individuals.^**

Fibers.—Like hairs, the various types of natural and artificial fibers can be distinguished from each other under the microscope. Like hairs

too, individual fibers are not unique, but the expert usually can distinguish fibers from different fabrics. A major identifying characteristic

of most fibers is color, and imder the microscope many different shades

of each color can be differentiated—for example, 50-100 shades of

green or blue, and 25-30 shades of black. The microscopic appearance

of three types of fibers—cotton, wool, and viscose—is illustrated in

Commission Exhibit No. 665 (p. 589) . Two of these, cotton and vis- cose, were the subject of testimony by Stombaugh. Cotton is a natural

fiber. Under the microscope, it resembles a twisted soda straw, and the

degree of twist is an additional identifying characteristic of cotton. Cotton may be mercerized or (more commonly) unmercerized. Viscose is an artificial fiber. A delustering agent is usually added to vis- cose to cut down its luster, and under the microscope this agent appears

as millions of tiny spots on the outside of the fiber. The major identifying characteristics of viscose, apart from color, are diameter—hundreds of variations being possible—and size and distribution of

delustering agent, if any.^*^

The hlanket.—Stombaugh received the blanket, Commission Exhibit

No. 140, in the FBI Laboratory at 7 :30 a.m., on November 23, 1963.^*^ Examination showed that it was composed of brown and green fibers,

of which approximately 1-2 percent were woolen, 20-35 percent

588
Textile: Fiblrs

Cotton

Wool

Viscose.

Commission Exhibit No. 665

589
were cotton, and the remainder were delustered viscose.^'^^ The viscose

fibers in the blanket were of 10-15 different diameters, and also varied

slightly in shade and in the size and distribution of the delustering

agent. (The apparent cause of those variations was that the viscose in the blanket consisted of scrap viscose.) ^^ The cotton also varied

in shade, about seven to eight different shades of green cotton being

present, but was uniform in twist.^^^ When received by Stombaugh, the blanket was folded into approximately the shape of a narrow right triangle.^^^ A safety pin was in- serted in one end of the blanket, and also at this end, loosely wrapped

around the blanket, was a string.^^^ On the basis of creases in the

blanket in this area it appeared that the string had been tied around

the blanket rather tightly at one time while something was inside the

blanket.^^2 Other creases and folds were also present, as illustrated in

Commission Exhibit No. 663.^^^ Among these was a crease or hump

approximately 10 inches long.^^* This crease must have been caused

by a hard protruding object approximately 10 inches long which had

been tightly wrapped in the blanket, causing the yam to stretch so that the hump was present even when the object had been extracted.^^^ The hump was approximately the same length and shape as the tele- scopic sight on the C2766 rifle, and its position with respect to the ends

of the blanket was such (based on the manner in which the blanket

Avas folded when Stombaugh received it) that had the rifle been in the

blanket the telescopic sight could have made the hump.^^^

The string wrapped around the blanket was made of ordinary white

cotton.^^^ It had been tied into a granny knot (a very common knot

tied right over right, right over right) and the dangling ends had

been further tied into a bow knot (the knot used on shoelaces) .^^^ After receiving the blanket, Stombaugh scraped it to remove the

foreign textile fibers and hairs that were present.^^^ He found nu- merous foreign textile fibers of various types and colors, and a number

of limb, pubic, and head hairs, all of which had originated from persons

of the CaucEisian race, and had fallen out naturally, as was shown by

the shape of their roots.^^° Several of the limb and pubic hairs

matched samples of Oswald's limb and pubic hairs obtained by the

Dallas police in all observable characteristics, including certain rela- tively unusual characteristics.^^^ For example, in both Oswald's pubic

hairs and some of the blanket pubic hairs, the color was a medium

brown, which remained constant to the tip, where it changed to a very

light brown and then became transparent, due to lack of color pigments; the diameters were identical, and rather narrow for pubic

hairs ; the hairs were very smooth, lacking the knobbiness characteristic

of pubic hairs, and the upper two-thirds were extremely smooth for

pubic hairs; the tips of the hairs were sharp, which is unusual for

pubic hairs ; the cuticle was very thin for pubic hairs ; the scales dis- played only a very small protrusion ; the pigmentation was very fine,

equally dispersed, and occasionally chained together, and displayed

only very slight gapping ; cortical fusi were for the most part absent

the medulla was either fairly continuous or completely absent ; and the

590
root area was rather clear of pigment, and contained only a fair amount

of cortical fusi, which was unusual.^^^ Similarly, in both Oswald's

limb hairs and some of the limb hairs from the blanket the color was

light brown through its entire length ; the diameter was very fine and

did not noticeably fluctuate; the tips were very sharp, which is unusual; the scales were of medium size, with very slight protrusion;

there was a very slight gapping of the pigmentation near the cuticle

there was an unusual amount of cortical fusi, equally distributed

through the hair shaft ; and the medulla was discontinuous, granular,

very bulbous, and very uneven.^^^

Other limb, pubic, and head hairs on the blanket did not come from

Oswald.3«*

The paper hag.—Stombaugh received the paper bag. Commission

Exhibit No. 142, at 7 :30 a.m. on November 23, 1963.3^^ No foreign

material was found on the outside of the bag except traces of

fingerprint powder and several white cotton fibers, which were of no significance, since white cotton is the most common textile, and

at any rate the fibers may have come from Stombaugh's white cotton

gloves.^^^ Inside the bag were a tiny wood fragment which was

too minute for comparison purposes, and may have come from the

woodpulp from which the paper was made; a particle of a waxy

substance, like candle wax; and a single brown delustered viscose

fiber and several light-green cotton fibers.^®' The fibers found inside the bag were compared with brown viscose

and green cotton fibers taken from the blanket. The brown viscose fiber found in the bag matched some of the brown viscose fibers from the

blanket in all observable charactOTstics, i.e., shade, diameter, and size and distribution of delustering agent.^^^ The green cotton fibers found

in the bag were, like those from the blanket, of varying shades, but of

a uniform twist. Each green cotton fiber from the bag matched some

of the green cotton fibers from the blanket in all observable characteristics, i.e., shade and degree of twist. Like the blanket cotton fibers,

the cotton fibers found in the bag were unmercerized.^^^

The shirt.—Stombaugh received the shirt, Commission Exhibit No.

150, at 7 :30 a.m. on November 23, 1963.^^^ Examination showed that

it was composed of gray-black, dark blue, and orange-yellow cotton

fibers.^^^ The orange-yellow and gray-black cotton fibers were of a uniform shade, and the dark-blue fibers were of three different

shades.^^^ All the fibers were mercerized and of substantially uniform

degree of twist.^^^ The C2766 rifle.—The rifle. Commission Exhibit No. 139, was

received in the FBI Laboratory on the morning of November 23,

1963, and examined for foreign material at that time.^'^* Stombaugh

noticed immediately that the rifle had been dusted for fingerprints,

"and at the time I noted to myself that I doubted very much if there would be any fibers adhering to the outside of this gun—

possibly might find some in a crevice some place—^because when

the latent fingerprint man dusted this gun, apparently in Dallas,

they use a little brush to dust with they would have dusted any

591
fibers off the gun at the same time * * *." ^^^ In fact, most of the

fibers Stombaugh found were either adhering to greasy, oily deposits or were jammed down into crevices, and were so dirty, old, and

fragmented that he could not even determine what type of fibers they

were.^^^ However, Stombaugh found that a tiny tuft of fibers had

caught on a jagged edge on the rifle's metal butt plate where it met

the end of the wooden stock, and had adhered to this edge, so that when

the rifle had been dusted for fingerprints the brush had folded the tuft

into a crevice between the butt plate and the stock, where it remained.^^^

Stombaugh described these fibers as "fresh," ^^^ by which he meant

that "they were clean, they had good color to them, there was no

grease on them and they were not fragmented." ^^^ However, it was

not possible to determine how long the fibers had been on the rifle, in

the absence of information as to how frequently the rifle had been

used.^^^ Examination showed that the tuft was composed of six or seven orange-yellow, gray-black, and dark-blue cotton fibers. These

fibers were compared with fibers from the shirt. Commission Exhibit

No. 150, which was also composed of orange-yellow, gray-black, and

dark-blue cotton fibers. The orange-yellow and gray-black tuft fibers matched the comparable shirt fibers in all observable characteristics,

i.e., shade and twist. The three dark-blue fibers matched two of the

three shades of the dark-blue shirt fibers, and also matched the darkblue shirt fibers in degree of twist.^®^ Based on these facts, Stombaugh

concluded that the tuft of fibers found on the rifle "could easily" have come from the shirt, and that "there is no doubt in my mind that these

fibers could have come from this shirt. There is no way, however, to eliminate the possibility of the fibers having come from another

identical shirt." ^^^ PHOTOGRAPHS

Two photographs of Lee Harv^ey Oswald holding a rifle were found

among Oswald's possessions in Mrs. Ruth Paine's garage at 2515 West

Fifth Street, Irving, Tex.^^^ In one. Commission Exhibit No. 133-A,

Oswald is holding the rifle generally in front of his body ; in the other.

Commission Exhibit No. 133-B, he is holding the rifle to his right.

Also found at Mrs. Paine's garage were a negative of 133-B and several photographs of the rear of General Walker's house.^^* An Imperial reflex camera,^^^ which Marina Oswald testified she used to take

133-A and 133-B, was siibsequently produced by Robert Oswald,

Lee Harvey Oswald's brother.^^^ Testimony concerning the photographs, the negative, and the camera was given by Lyndal D. Shaneyfelt of the FBI.^^^ Shaneyfelt has been connected with photographic

work since 1937. He has made 100-300 photographic examinations,

and has testified frequently on the subject in court.^^^ Photographs 133-A amd 133-B.—The background and lighting in 133-A and 133-B are virtually identical ; the only apparent difference

between the two photographs is the pose. However, in 133-A the rifle 592
is held in a position showing many more of its characteristics than

are shown in 138-B.^^^ In order to bring out the details in the rifle pictured in 133-A, Shaneyfelt rephotographed 133-A and prepared

prints of varying densities from the new negative.^^^ He also took two

neAv photographs of the C2T66 rifle itself : one shows the rifle in approximately the same position as the rifle pictured in 133-A. The other

shows a man holding the rifle simulating the pose in 133-A.^^^ Shaneyfelt compared the actual rifle, the photograph 133-A, his rephotographs of 133-A, and the two new photographs to determine whether

the rifle pictured in 133-A was the C2766 rifle. He found it to be the same in all appearances, noted no differences, and found a notch in the

stock of the C2766 which also appeared very faintly in 133-A. However, he did not find enough peculiarities to positively identify the

rifle in 133-A as the C2766 rifle, as distinguished from other rifles of

the same configuration.^®^

The rifle's position in 133-B is such that less of its characteristics

w^ere visible than in 133-A ; essentially, 133-B shows only the bottom

of the rifle. However, the characteristics of the rifle visible in 133-B

are also similar to the observable characteristics of the C2766 rifle, except that while the C2766 rifle was equipped with a homemade

leather sling when it was found after the assassination, the rifle in

133-B seems to be equipped with a homemade rope sling.^®^ The portion of the sling visible in 133-A is too small to establish whether it is rope or leather, but it has the appearance of rope, and its configuration

is consistent with the rope sling pictured in 133-B.^®*

The negative.—Shaneyfelt's examination of the negative. Commission Exhibit No. 749, showed that the photograph, 133-B, had been

printed directly or indirectly from the negative. It was Shaneyfelt's

opinion that 133-B had been directly from the negative, but he could

not absolutely eliminate the possibility of an internegative, that is, the

possibility that a print had been produced from the negative 749, a photograph had been taken of that print, and 133-B had been produced from the new negative, rather than from the original negative.^®^ "I think this is highly unlikely, because if this were the result

of a copied negative, there would normally be evidence that I could

detect, such as a loss of detail and imperfections that show up due to the

added process." ^^^ In any event, any "intermediate" print would

have been virtually indistinguishable from. 133-B, so that Shaneyfelt's

testimony conclusively established that either 133-B or a virtually

indistinguishable print had been produced from the negative 749.

The camera.—The Imperial camera. Commission Exhibit No. 750, was a relatively inexpensive, fixed- focus, one-shutter-speed, box-type

camera, made in the United States.^®^ Shaneyfelt compared this camera with the negative. Commission Exhibit No. 749, to determine

whether this negative had been taken with the ca mera.^®^ To make this

determination, Shaneyfelt compared the margins of the image on Commission Exhibit No. 749 with the margins of i\\Q image on a negative

593
Commission Exhibit No. 751 Oswald's Imperial Reflex camera, with the back removed to show the camera's film- plane aperture.

694:
he himself had taken with the camera. Microscopic examination shows

that the margins of a negative's image, akhough apparently straight, are actually irregular. The irregularities usually do not sho^Y on a

finished print, because they are blocked out to give the print a neat

border.^^^ The cause of these irregularities can be best understood

by examination of Commission Exhibit No. 751 (p. 594) , a photograph

of the Imperial camera with the back removed to show the camera's

film-plane aperture. Wlien the camera's shutter is opened, light ex- poses that portion of the film which is not blocked off by this aperture.

The edges of the aperture, therefore, define the edges of the image

which will appear on the developed negative. In effect, the edge of

the image is a shadowgraph of the edge of the aperture. As Shaneyfelt testified:

* * * the basis of the examination was a close microscopic study

of the negative made in the camera to study the shadowgraph that

is made of the edge of the aperture.

As the film is placed across the aperture of the camera, and the

shutter is opened, light comes through and exposes the film only

in the opening within the edges. Where the film is out over the

edges of the aperture it is not exposed, and your result is an ex- posed negative with a clear edge, and on the negative then, the

edges of that exposure of the photograph, are actually shadowgraphs of the edges of the aperture.*^^

The basis of the identification is that the microscopic characteristics

of every film-plane aperture, like those of a rifle barrel, are distinctive,

for much the same reason ; that is, when the camera is manufactured,

certain handwork is done which differs microscopically from camera

to camera, and further differences accrue as the camera is used. As

Shaneyfelt testified

Q. Mr. Shaneyfelt, what is the basis of your statement, the theoretical basis of your statement, that every camera with this type

of back aperture arrangement is unique in the characteristics of

the shadowgraph it makes on the negative ? Mr. Shaneytelt. It is because of the minute variations that even two cameras from the same mold will have. Additional

handwork on cameras, or filing the edges where a little bit of plastic or a little bit of metal stays on, make individual characteristics

apart from those that would be general characteristics on all of

them from the same mold.

In addition, as the film moves across the camera and it is used

for a considerable length of time, dirt and debris tend to accumulate a little—or if the aperture is painted, little lumps in the paint

will make little bumps along that edge that would make that then

individually different from every other camera.

Q. Is this similar then to toolmark identification ? Mr. Shaneyfelt. Very similar ; yes.^°^

595
Based on his examination of the shadowgraph on the negative,

Commission Exhibit No. 749, ShaneyfeU determined that it had been

taken with the Imperial camera.*^^

Three edges of the shadowgraph of the film-plane aperture were

also visible on one of the photographs of General Walker's house, not having been blocked out in tlie making of the print. On the basis

of these three margins, Shaneyfelt determined that this photograph

had also been taken with Oswald's Imperial Reflex camera. Shaneyfelt could not determine whether 133-A had been photographed with

the Imperial camera, because the negative of 133-A had not been

found, and the print itself did not show a shadowgraph area.*°^ During his interrogations Oswald had been shown 133-A, and had

claimed it was a composite—that the face in the picture was his, but

the body was not.**'* Shaneyfelt examined 133-A and 133-B to determine if they were composite pictures. He concluded that they were not:

* * * it is my opinion that they are not composites. Again

with very, very minor reservation, because I cannot entirely eliminate an extremely expert composite. I have examined many composite photographs, and there is always an inconsistency, either

in lighting of the portion that is added, or the configuration indicating a different lens used for the part that was added to the

original photograph, things many times that you can't point to and say this is a characteristic, or that is a characteristic, but they

have definite variations that are not consistent throughout the

picture. I found no such characteristics in this picture.

In addition, with a composite it is always necessary to make a print that you then make a pasteup of. In this instance paste the

face in, and rephotograph it, and then retouch out the area where

the head was cut out, which would leave a characteristic that would

be retouched out on the negative and then that would be printed.

Normally, this retouching can be seen under magnification in

the resulting composite—points can be seen where the edge of

the head had been added and it hadn't been entirely retouched

out.This can nearly always be detected under magnification. I found no such characteristics in these pictures.

Q. Did you use the teclinique of magnification in your analysis ? A. Yes.*«5 Furthermore, the negative, Commission Exhibit No. 749, showed

absolutely no doctoring or composition.*"^ Since the negative was made in Oswald's Imperial camera. Commission Exhibit No. 750, a composite of 133-B could have been made only by putting two pictures

together and rephotographing them in the Imperial camera—all without leaving a discernible trace. This, to Shaneyfelt, was "in the realm

of the impossible"

596
In addition, in this instance regarding 133-B which I have

just stated, I have identified as being photographed or ex- posed in the camera which is Exhibit 750, for this to be a

composite, they would have had to make a picture of the background with an individual standing there, and then substitute

the face, and retouch it and then possibly rephotograph it and retouch that negative, and make a print, and then photograph it with this camera, which is Commission Exhibit 750, in

order to have this negative which we have identified with the

camera, and is Commission Exhibit 749.

This to me is beyond reasonable doubt, it just doesn't seem that

it would be at all possible, in this particular photograph.**^^

Q. You have the negative of this? [Eeferring to Exhibit

133B.]

A. We have the negative of 133B.

Q. You have the negative of 133B. That negative in itself shows no doctoring or composition at all? A. It shows absolutely no doctoring or composition.

Q. So that the only composition that could have been made

would have been in this process which you have described of picture on picture and negative and then photographing ? A. And then finally rephotographing with this camera. Q. Rephotographing with this camera, this very camera ? A. That is correct, and this then, to me, becomes in the realm

of the impossible.*^®

Following the assassination, photographs similar to 133-A appeared in a number of newspapers and magazines.*^ At least some

of these photographs, as reproduced, differed both from 133-A and

from each other in minor details.*^^ Shaneyfelt examined several of

these reproductions and concluded that in each case the individual

publisher had taken a reproduction of 133-A and retouched it in various ways, apparently for clarifying purposes, thus accounting for

the differences between the reproductions and 133-A, and the differ- ences between the reproductions themselves.*^^ Subsequently one of the

publishers involved submitted the original photographs which it had

retouched. Shaneyfelt's examination of this photograph confirmed

his original conclusion.*^^ The remaining publishers either confirmed

that they had retouched the photographs they had used, or failed to contradict Shaneyfelt's testimony after having been given an opportunity to do so.*^^

597
APPENDIX XI

Reports Relating to the Interrogation of Lee Harvey

Oswald at the Dallas Police Department

As discussed in chapters IV and V, Lee Harvey Oswald was interrogated for a total of approximately 12 hours between 2 :30 p.m. on

Friday, November 22, 1963, and 11 :15 a.m. on Sunday, November 24,

1963. There were no stenographic or tape recordings of these interviews. Several of the investigators present at one or more of the

interrogation sessions, prior to testifying before the Commission, had

prepared memoranda setting forth their recollections of the ques- tioning of Oswald and his responses. The following are the most

important of these repoits.

598
REPORT OF CAPT. J. W. FRITZ, DALLAS POLICE

DEPARTMENT

INTSBHOOATin-l OF LF?: t^.V«¥KY OSWALD

We conducted the Investlrstlon at the Texas School Book repository

?iiild1ng on Moveinter ?2, 1963, i'-mediately after the President was eTrat anc After ve had jTottnd the location where '^'ee "arvey Osrdold had done the

^.ootlri0 fron and left three eropty cartridge cases on the floor and the rifle bad fceon found partially hidden londer soeo hexes near the back

etaii-WBy, T^eae pieces of evidence vere protected vintll the Crime Lab

,

cov.lc5 p^dt pictures and m^ko a search for fingerprints. After i-t, Tsy,

, , of the Critso i-ab, had finished his work with the rifle, I picked it up

9n<' found that it had a cartridf^e in the c^sptber, which I ejected. About

thi f tin? so^e officer ca7:<z to r-5 and tol<? ns that JKr. "^oj/ S. Truly

wanted 'to sea tn^, as one of hl*^ Ren hsd left the building. 1 had talked

to ''r. '^ruly rrevionf^ly, and at that tiwe ^e tho\ii?ht everyone was sc

counted for w>'0 'tjorked In the htjildlnf » Hr.Tnjly then eawe with another officer and told tr.e that a ^e ^arvoy Osv?sld h»5d left the building', X

er?ked if he had «n sddrese where this wsn lived, and re told ae thst he

did, that it was in Irving at 2^< W. ^th Street.

I then left the rest of the search of the biildlng with Chief

L^XTi-Dkin and other officers who were' there and told Cets, B. i*., Sims and

II, I, Eoyd to acccsjpany me to the City Hall w' ere we could mako a quick check

for police record and any other information of valine, and we would then go

to Trsnnf, Texas, in m effort to apprehend this ©an. While I was in t^o huUdlng, 1 V03 told thnt Officer '^. ^. Tippit had been shot in Oak Cliff. JI/3^^A

599
Tare ? Ir.rad^ately aftsr "^ rench'jr* r?y efface, T a'iced the officcrr^ who had troupht

in J? '^ri?!OTor fro- tVe Tly^rit '^hoot''r.5 '*^^o the '^-in wss vho !^hot the officer.

7'-cy tolf* r" '-i? nnT:.-> vnn Lr>e '"-prvfiv <^cv.-;lf*, and T replied that that vas

otjr n^'rect in tY-^ ^res^f'ent p klll'np. I Inrtructed the off5.cer'=- to Vrlng

thl" ran <nto f• o office after t^^lkin?; t'- the offlcorn for a fov minutes

In t' c rrc?:enco r,f '-ff'ccrs i'-. ", 31cs p.r\d •. L, Poyd of the Hordcidd Bureau

• nri pot^sihly Eorc jocret Service k n, Ju'Jt as I h.->d started questioning

t>:i? rran, T received 8 call fro:.-, -orco-^. .' '-nklLn, Afent in Ch-rge of the FBI office hero in Callar, vho ^skoc r.e to let hits talk to Jin Pookhout,

one of ]ii.'; afent-j. He tcl- --r. cookhout th^t he voulc like for James F. "onty to rit in on thin interview as he knpv ah out the no people and had

tccn invoBtisjatin^ thnr hofore, I invited V-t, Pookhout and f^r, Hosty in

to help with the interview/. »ftcr roKn rv.estion^ nhout this ran's frll nane I asked hir. if he

vorVe^^ for "the "^Brm School PooV i.-oror4tory, nn<' he tol<? re he ^.\d, I

.•>«Vf!ri h1r!i vMch floor y.v worVc'd on, s^^d >o i?aid usufllly on the second

fl-^or hut -o-ctiT^op v-ir vork t'-<ok Y\r. to all the different floors, I adf^- ed hir. v^-ui ^'rt n'" the buildl-if 'e vnn 1^ at f-e time the '^resident vaf

-hot, nnc* >o roM th.-^t hn v?>n havl",? his lunch .3hout thflt tins'^ on the first

floor, ''r. Trjly had told n<? thst one of t'-e police officers had stopxed

thi ^5 r^Tln i-:TCci.-'toly sftor the ;:hootlnp ponevhere near the back stairway,

c>Q I nskcG C:-\al(; w'cre he vas vl sin th-j police officer stopped hin. Ho

caid he ' a:- on the :^econd floor drinking a coca cola fehen the officer catae in. I ackcd hi- V'v he left thf. tuilci;^g, and he aaid tijere vas so Kuch

exciter.ent he didn't think there vould be any Rore vork done that day, and Z /M ^

600
Fare 3 that as this coipp^ny \.R??n't particular a'out their hcmrs, that thoy did net

pvinch n clock, anc thst be tl-ou^ht it vo-jld to just as veil that be left for

the rest of the sftornoon. I asked hir. if he owned a rlflo, and he eaid thrt he did net, Ke said thflt he had seen one at the btiilding a few days

ap;o, and th.it T'r. Truly and core of the err^loyeos vere looking at it. I hln vhere he vent to vhen he left vork, and he told ise that he had \ a roon on 10?6 "crth Pcckley, t^at he we'-t over there and changed his trousers

i and pot hi;^ pi<!tol f>nd went to the ricturo shov. I asked hin vhy he carried

i his pistol, and he remarked, "Tou kPo« hoK boys do vfhen they ^ave a gun, they .

;• .^u-'t cnrry it."

>'r. Hor-ty eskod Oswald if he had been In "u5sia. Re told hiw, "Yes, he hnd been in ^ti^sis three years," He esked hlw if he had vritten to the I^ussian rphas^, and he sa-ld he had, Thi? rcan became very upset and

"; arropant vith Apent ^^octy when he questioned him and accused hir. of accosts. n<f his wife tvo cifforent tlnies. V-Tien Agent Ilosty attenpted to talk to

t\.\s nnn, he vould hit his fist on the de.':k. I asked Oswald what he meant

by '"ccostinf his wife when he was talkirjg to Hr. Hosty. Ke said Mr, Hosty ^ jni?;treatcc his wife two different times when he talked with her, practically

u accosted her. Kr. Hosty also asked Oswald if Ve hnd been to Mexico City,

-' -vhich h denied. Furinp this interview ha told me that he had gone to school in >Tev York and in '^ort V'crth, Texas, that after foing into the Knrinea, finished his hi<;h school education, I asked hln if ho von ar^

medals for rifle shoot^np in the ^\nrines. He raid ho vm the usual medals,

X asked hiw what his political beliefs vere, and he ^Id he had none

bi3t thi*: he belon(?ed to the Fair Play for Cuba Cotradlttee and told me that X /3^'^

601

730-900 0-64—40
they bnr^ h'^ftdauortars in *'^ev ^orV and thet he had bean '.ecretary for tMs

orjranlration In ?*6W "rleans vhen ha lived there. Ha also said that hrt ou;-- ports tho CoEtro "evolution. One of the officers had told oe that he had ranted the roort: on i^eckley under the noise of i^. r, ^eo. I t-oked hia vky

he did tj-iio. He said the landlady did it. i'he didn't understand his

nane correctly. ^

Oswald asked if ho vas allowed an attorney and I told hAn he could have nny attorney he liked, and that the telephone vould be available to taiji up in the jail and ho could call anyone ha vished. I believe it van dupinp; this interview that ^e Vvt exi-resscd a desire to talk to Vr. Afct, an attorney in ^ov "''orV. ^-^ntorviev on thin r^ny vere interrupted by shovups v^ere wltnesscr - dont-? ^'i c-d "^svald positively as the wan who killed Office|r Ti-^it. and the tlr/? t'^-^t I v-'jld have to talk to »5nothcr witness or to

?o-^o '^f tVf? cfncers. One of these •shoKuus v^5» held at )i:3^ ra and the next one st 6:3^ •pr.. and at 7:t'> rm, •'»t ^.q^ rn I cipned a complaint before Fill /'Isxc-inder of the Ti-trict attorney'? office, charging Oswald with

the .Tippit isurder. At 7tlC pro Tinpit vas arraigned before Judge *'obnston. ^ Biirlnr- t) second cay interviev.'s I askcc Oswald about a card tyat he had in

hi^• pv.r0e shoving that he- tclcnccd to the Kair flay for Cuba t;oiRa!ittee, which

ho adrd-tted was hio. I scked hin about another identification card in hJLs pocket tearing tho nar-.^ oi Alex lildell, Kc s?aid he picked up that najao in >lev OrlGftna v.hilc working in the Fair i^ay for Cuba organization. Ke

said he npoke Fussian, thot he corresponded with people in Russia, and that he received newspapers frota P.uFSia,

^K ^/^^X^

602
T'ago ^

I showed the Hfla to *''arina Oswald, and sbe could not positively

Identify it, t\it said that it looked like the rifl© that her husband bad

and that he hsd teen keepinf- it in the garage at Vs. ?oins'8 bono in

Irving. Aftef""this, I q-uestioned Oswald further about tiie rifle, but he denied owning a rifle at all, and said that he did have a small rifle

scmo years past. I asked hlr. If he o'*Ticd a rifle in i^ussia, and he said,

"^ou knoK you can't buy a rifle in Kussia, you can only buy ^otguns."

"I had a sbotfvin in Hunsia and hunted sor.e vhile there." Harina Ocwlad

had told uis that she thoupht Yer hustard rd^'^t have hroupht the rifle , from Nev Orleans, whicv he denied. He told rzo that he hrtd soroe things

fttored In a rarap^ st ^rs. Psine's ho?r« in ^rvini^ And that he had a few personal effects at his roox on Peckley, I instructed the officers to waVe a thorough search of hotl- of these places.

/*fter revJewing all of the evidence rertaining to the killing

of President i^enncdy before ^'l strict Attorney Kenry V^ade and his assistant. Bill Alexander, snd »^im Allen, forroer First Assistant District

Attorney of Dallas bounty, I signed a coreplaint before the District

Attorney charging Oswald with the murder of •'resident ^nnedy. This was

at 11:26 pm. He was arraigned before Judge Uavid Johnston at It 3$ am, NovoEber 23, 1963. Oswald was placed in ^ail about 12iO0 aiidnight and brought from the

jail for arraipnr.ent, before Judge Bavid Johnston at 1:36 am*

_^/37/^

603
^ / 37^

Cn ^^ovenbcr 23 at 1C:25 AM Ccu-ald wbs brought fRm th« Jail for | en interview. Prooont i-t this tirxj wcs FBI ftgcnt Jin DooWicfut, Forroot |

j:orreXlo, special c£;cnt a'i'i in ch.^-e or Secret Service^ United tt^tca | Karsh&Xl Eobert :^^sh« &nd Hcaicidc oijiicero* During this Interview X |

tallied to Oofe-ald abcut his Icavir-j: the buildir.^;, end ho told oo he

loft by bua and rode to & otop nccr hc:;o £r*d walked on to hie hcuae* At the tiae of Oswald's arrest he iiod a bus transfer in his pocket

Ko edrdtted this wao given to hlc by the bus driver vihon he rode the buo aXter Icsvinc; the buildix^s. One of tho cnicero ht:(i told xc thfit a cab driver, William V.'oyne ',e:sley, thcws-ht ho had recognized Cstmld's picture as the nan ^o had

gotten in his cab near tho bus station and rode to Beckley Avenue. I aekod Co%»sdd IT he had ridden a cab on that day« exd he said, "Tes^ I did rido in the cab. The bus I got on near vhere I work got into

hcaiO' traific end was traveling too slov/, and I got off and cau^^.t a

cab." I asked hia about hia convereaticn with the cab driver, and he

said he r«i:nr^;.bcrcd t2mt ifviien he got in the cab a lad^' case up \iCiQ also

trantcd a ccb, and he told Couald to tell the lady to "take another cab".

V.'e found Iron the investisaticn the day before that when Oswald

leit ham©, he \<as carrying a long paclcase. He usually went to see his

*v,df6 of %reck ends, bat this tire he had g<»ie on Thursday rd^t. Z ^^k&A hin if he had told ISiell bcoley Frasier why he had gone hoae a

dirforciit rd;jii, und if he had told hia an., thing about bringing back

coco curtain rods. He denied it.

During this coinrersation he told ae he roc.chcd hie hooje bsy cab and ciianged tot.h his shirt and trcascrs before going to the show. Ro

604
Page 7

said his cat fare hone «as 85 cents. When asked what he did with his

clothing., ho took off vhoa he got homo, he said he put thea in the dirty

clothes. In talking vith hin further about his locatim at the tizao the

President war? killed, ^e paid he ate lunch vd.th eoree of the colored boys who

worked vlt'- bin. One of then was called "^unior" and the other one was

a little nholrt ican whose nawa he did not know. He said he had a cheese

srmdvdch and ^oro fruit and that wr? the only package he had brought with .. him to work $in6 denied that h<» hnd hrcufht the lonjr peckape deccrifced by

>'r. ^razler nn^ hi? sister.

T asked hir why >^e lived in a rooia, while hi a wife lived in Irving,

i'o said ^t;?, Paine, the lady hlo wife lived wi'W-, was learning Buasian,

th.-'t his vife needed help vith t>e yotms baby, and that it nade a nico

arranpcinent for hot! of them. Ke said he didn't know Kr, ^'aine vory

well, but Mr, ''aine and his vife, he thought, were separated a great deal

of tlie tice, Ke raid he owned no car, but that the Paines have two card,

anr told that In the parage at the "^"aine's hojtc he had soro sea bags that

had a lot of > in rer'^Tinl belongings, th-.t he had left them there after

cominfr hack from ^Tcw *^rleans in epteinber. Fe said he had a brother, Pobert, wh,o lived in -'crt ''•ortb, V©

later found t^at thin brother lived in '^enton. Re seld the ^aines were

clor^e friend" of his, T asked h-'r if he hclon;?ed to the Coimnnist ''arty, but he said thrt ^e had never had a card, but repeated that he belonged to the Fair

Play for Cuba orpanizotion, and he said that he belonged to the American

^y^37C

605
Civil liberties Union s:^ paid $5«C0 dues* I aaked hia Again vtiy he c&rriod the pi&tol to the chcv. He rernsed to answsr questions about

the pistol. He did toll rao, however, that ho had bou^^t it soveral

rscnths before in Fort V/orth, Texas.

I nctod th/^t ir. queotioning iiiis thct he did ens'iror very quickly,

and I oslccd hia if he hcd over boon questioned beforo, and he told oe

that he had. He ;vaa questioned one tiso for a long titae by the FBI eftcr 1:0 hcd returnod frca Russia. Ho said thoy used different nsthods,

t!ac7 tried the }.ard end soft, tnd the buddy ccthod, «r^ seld he vas very

ra:.dliav with interrorsticn. He rccdnded no thct he did not havo^to^^-

asiaViXr en/ cue jtions at fiH ruitil he tal/.ed to his tttomey, and ! ^

told hin ec^ii: thct ho cou'd have an attorney any tix» h« viohed.

He saia he dicn*t have coney to pay for a phone cal^ to I-i*. Abt. I told hit: to cell "collect", if he liked, to ugo the Jail phone or that

ho coiild hivo another cttorracy if ho wiohtd. He paid he didn't want

anoiher attorney, he tJontcd to talk to this attorr^y first. I believe he ri;de tliis cell later aa he tharJxd nc later during one of our intervi£\;3 for allcvdng hia the use of the telephone. I escplained vo h^xi that cJl priconcrs wero allowed to us© the telephone. I asked hin \itiy he t.x:ntod Ilr. Abt, instead of acrx available attorney. He told sac he

dltin't know Kj. Abt personally, tut that he vaa faniliar vith a case

v.i. ix ; :'. Abt defesfcci sosa people for a violation of the Staith Act,

die. ihet if he didi\»t ^et x:r. Abt, that he felt siiro the Acerican Civil Liberties Union waild furnish hia a lawyer. Ho explained to ae that

tliia ori^aniaation helped people \iho reeded attonicya and weren't able to ijct thea. ,^ >7/.

606
Tare 9VMlo in "cw rlfisns, he lived at l'907 Vapasin© Street and at one

tir<» ••ori'<j<f for t^t ' llllatn ^5.1ey Cotcpany near that address. Vhen asked

About ony rrevlou'i arreato, he told nr- that he had had a little trouble, vh5lQ vorVlnp w1 1^ the ^j?;r '^lay for Cuba ^oraaittee and had a fight with

soT-o nnti-Onstro people. To also told rso of a debate on sorne radio

station in '«cw ^'rleana where '- e debated vith sa^ anti-Castro peopl«.

I asked him vhat * e thought of '^ resident ^nnedy and his family,

and he said be didn^t hove any vievs on the President, He said, "I like

the President s family very veil. I have ny own vievs about national

policies." I asked him about a polypraph tact. Be told sas he had r«-

fi3sed a rolyfrapy test with the FBI, and he certainly wouldn't take one

at this time, i^oth Hr. Bookhout, of the ^^m, and Mr. Kelley, and the Marshall a?ked Oswald boro questions during this interview, Osvald voB plccod back In jf?il et llt33 «^. At 12:3^ pn Oswald WT5 hroupht to the office for another interview vith Inspector Kelley and

eo'^.e of the other officer? s'>r rr/'elf. T talked to Oswald about the different pl«ce? he b^H livsc? in nollao in an effort to find where he was

livir.]Pr vhen th<s ricturc v;an nsde of hi;- holding a rifle which looked to ho the •;aTre rifle we hnd recovered, '-^his picture i^owed to be taken

near a stairway v^ith many identifying things in the back yard. ^^e told

tne about one of the places where he had lived,

Kr. lairio hsd told me about where Gsiwalc lived on Nealy -treet,

Oswald -wss very evasive about this location. v«o found later that this V53 th« place where the picture was made, I again asked hl« about his property

^ y3^

607
BS3d v^.ere his things ci^ht be kept, and h» tcld t» ftboot Um thii^gs ftt }-^&» Pcir^*s residence &Dd a Tev thirds od 5««kli7. B« mm placed

At. 6tOC ?:: I Ir.Eur.c-.cx: the ciricers t« brlfig Oswald btck ixxt«

t.hc office, : : irz Dcckiwut, Hmic^rte cTflcers, ar^ Iccpeclc. ,, ,. ..., ., cr-.-ict, I ehcwed Oswald fin •»- "»"—r-* -•«'jLc^.'ztc cr rJL= hddiz- a riTlc and vearij« a pistol. Thi»

the gaxs^e &t ILtj, Pclr.c

t: r:-.:.c Tcce viis hix Tec

to h;

ccr Crir-e Lit fwn a picture Itound in

~c. Ho said vh« plcttir* ia« z)ct hia^"^

t t -t this picture h&d been ssade by

:-, ',. : cvhcr part cT the picture vaa

- c^en the picture before. When

, -vcred frca Mre. Pair'e's garage,

cr botr, in his poseesaionf aad I ftxplalnoi

-', of the GQ&U pietore obtaiaed in

:i hlr. the «nBller picture. He

. -.ic:-r£ irx: c£j.d vhct be )ccw all about

..w ::zd clcr.c a lot cf vork in photosraphy himself,

e «as a reduced picture of the larje picture i c^i ;•.-:. i cccr. zsl^ t; ;c:c ps.^^. •--.l-cir-a to his. He furt&er stated

tr^t cir.cs he '-^d been j^tcgpaphod here at the City Kail and that people hsd bz^:: -.~;.i: : /.-, -J.t.-^c vhilc being transferred free ay

c- r -w:%-.-. scuccr.e i^z been &.ble to get a picture

01 :.^s ^^K ^^ ..-i. wltr* u"%^(., t^iey hui aade thia picture. He told 1^ thaihe understood pJ^togrcphj real veil, and that in tiae, he wcRild

/' ^ d /J

608
w^;..>;;;jf.,.^

^npe 11

1-e ^Mq to "Vov f>?t -^ t v-5 -^Qi b!?. x^cturo, and th'^t it had ^cen ir^de W rorocne else. ^t f^ls t1r<5 he said that »"e c-'d riot vant to ansvfer any riore ci^iestions p.nd ^e was rettjmed to t*-e .1^11 aho^t 7:15 pw.

At 9O0 on the r-ornlTf; of November 2L, I ssked that Csv;ald te

fcrou^-ht to the office. At that ttrns i shcs^'ed him a rzaj-- of the City of

}8 which hrd teen recovered in the search of his room o\i North Peckley,

hsd tore markings on it, onft of which vns atout vhere the ^'resident S ?hot. He said that the msp hnd nothing to do with the ^resident's

rhootinj nnd npain, as ho had one in tho previous interviews, denied knowin?' anything of the shcotinp of tha * resident, or of the shooting of

Officer Tippit, He said the mp had heen xxaed to locate btiildings where

'C- ^"d pone to talk to people ahont employment.

Thirins» thi=- interview Inrrector Xelley asked Osi^ald sho>;t hi? relipii011? views, and he replied that he didn't s^r^e with all the philosophies on rclirion. Vb ?cerried evasive t^lth Injector ^©lley ahotrt hovi he felt ahcut

religion, ^nd T nsked him if he "believed in a ^iety. !Ie vas evasive and didn't answer this question. Soneono of the Feder?il officers bbUbA Os^-rald if he tho'aght Cuba

vjould he tetter off fince the ^ref5ident ves asj^ansinated. ^o this? he replied

that he felt that since the President vas killed that someone else vould

take.hiF place, perhaps Vice-President Johnson, and that his views would

probahly be largely the sawR as those cf President Kennedy.

I a<?ain t^^Vaa hin about the gun and about the picture of him

holding a . similar rifle, and at that time he apain positively

-/- wt

609
Page 12

denied having any Icnoviledse of the picture or the rifle and

denied that he had ever lived on Keely Street, and when I told

him that friends vdio had visited hla there said that he had

lived there, he said that they irere mistaken about visiting

him there, because he had never lived there* During this Interview, Osirald said he was a Marxist. He repeated two or three tiiaes, "I an a Jlarxlst, but not a LeninlatKarxist. He told me that the station that he had debated on In Hew Orleans was the one viho carried Bill Stakey's prograia. He denied again knoviir^ Alex Hldeil in He;/ Orleans, and again reiterated his belief in Fair Play for Cuba and what the committee

stood for. After some questioning. Chief Jesse E, Curry came to the office and aslced no if I xms ready for the man to be transferred*

X told hin we were ready as soon as the security was coE^leted in

the basement, where we were to place Oswald in a car to transfer

hiia to the County Jail. I had ob;Jected to the cameras obstructing

the Jail door, and the Chief explained to me that these have been

laoved, and the people v;ere moved back, and the caineramen were well

back in the garage. I told the Chief then that we were ready to

go* Ee told us to go ahead with the prisioner, and that he and

Chief Stevenson, who was with hia, would meet \is at the County Jail,

Oswald's shirt, t^^ich he was i^earing at the tim© of arrest,

had been removed and sent to the crime lab in Washington with all

the other evidence for a comparison test. Osvmld said he would

like to have a shirt from his clothing that had been brought to the

j: jj^jy

610
Page 13 • office to wear over the T-shirt that he was wearing at the time* We

selected the best-looking shirt frcsn his things^ but he said he would

^prefer wearing a black Ivy League type shirt, indicating that it might

be a little warcier. We made this change and I asked him if he wouldn't

like to wear a hat to more or less camouflage his looks in the car while being transferred as all of the people who had been viewing ^

Ij-. him had seen him bareheaded. He didn't want to do this. Then

I Officer J. R. Leavelle handcuffed his left hand to Oswald's ri^t

haiKl, then we left the office for the transfer,

Inasnaich as this report was made from rough notes and memory,

it is entirely possil^e that one of these questions covJ.d be in a

separate interview frcsn the one indicated in this report. He was

interviewed under the most adverse conditions in ay office vdiich is

9 feet 6 inches by 14 feet, and has only one frcait door, which forced

us to move this prisoner through hundreds of people each time he was

carried from my office to the jail door, some 20 feet, during each of these transfers. 2he crowd would attespt to jam around him,

shouting questions and many containing slurs. This office is alsw

BiaiTOunded by large glass windows, and there were many officers working next to these windows. I have no recordg* in this office

and was unable to record the interview. I was interrupted many

times during these interviews to step from the office to talk to

another witness or secure additional informatioa from officers needed for the interrogation.

y^fS

611
REPORTS OF AGENTS OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF

INVESTIGATION

FD.302 (Rov. 3-3-59) FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION 11/23/63

Date

LE3 HARVEY 0S7/ALD, 1026 North Beckley, Dallas,

Texas, was interviewed by Captain V/ILL FRITZ of the

Eomicide Bureau, Dallas Police Department. Soecial

Agents JA13S P. KOSTY,..JP.. and JALiZS XI, BOCSHOUT were present during this interview. Vfhen the Agents entered

the interview room at 3:15 p.m., Captain FRITZ had been

previously interviewing L3I3 PL*EVinf OST/ALD for an undetermined

period of time. Both Agents identified themselves to OSWALD and advised him they v/ere law enforcement officers

and anything he said could be used against him. OSY/ALD at this time adopted a violent attitude toward the FBI and both Agents and made many uncomplimentary remarks

about the FBI. OSY/ALD requested that Captain FRITZ remove

the cuffs from him, it being noted that OSV/ALD was handcuffed with his hands behind him. Captain FRITZ had one

of his detectives remove the handcuffs and handcuff

OSY/ALD with his hands in front of him.

Captain FRITZ asked OSV/ALD if he evei^ owped a rifle

and OSV/ALD stated that he had observed a MR. -THUSS5? (phonetic) , a supervisor at the Texas Schoolbook Depository on November

20, 1963,' display a rifle to some individuals in his office

on the first floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository, but

denied ever ov/ning a rifle himself. OSWALD stated that he

had never been in Mexico except to Tijuana on one occasion.

Hov/ever, he admitted to Captain FRITZ to having resided in

the Soviet Union for three years where he has many friends

and relatives of his wife.

OSV/ALD also admitted that he v?as the secretary

for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans,

Louisiana a few months ago. OSV/ALD stated that the Fair

Play for Cuba Committee has its headquarters in New York

City. OSY/ALD admitted to having received an awarg for

marksmanship v/hile a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. He further admitted that he was living at 1026 N. Beckley in

Dallas, Texas, under the name of 0. H. LEE. OSWALD admitted

that he was present in the Texas Schoolbook Depository on November 22, 1963 , where he has been employed since October 15,

1963. OSY/ALD stated that as a laborer, he has access to the entire building which has offices on the first and second

11/22/63 . Dallas, Texas ^ DL 89-43

at File # - JA!.!i;S P. HOSTY. JR. and

-y SpocicI Agent s JAIJ^S W. EOOKHOUT /wvm Data dictated 11/23/63

This docucient contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It la the property of the FBI and Is loaned to your agency; It end Its contents are not to be distributed outside your aqency. / .'" J^ ^i

612
2LL 89-43

floors and storage on the third and fourth, as well as the

fifth and sixth floors. OSV/AID st£.ted that he v;ent to lunch at approximately noon and he claimed he ate his lunch

o,p, the first floor in the lunchrooni; however he went to the

second floor v/here the Coca-Cola machine was located and

obtained a bottle of Coca-Cola for his lunch. OSV/ALD claimed

to" be on the first floor when President JOHN F. KENl^EDY passed this building.

After hearing v/hat had happened, he said that

because of all the confusion tUs^o would be no work performed that afternoon so he decided to go home. OSWALD

stated he then went home by bus and changed his clothes

and went to a movie. OSV/ALD admitted to carrying a pistol

v/ith him to this movie stating he did this because he

felt like it, giving no other reason. OSV/ALD further

admitted attempting to fight the Dallas police officers

who arrested him in this movie theater when he received a cut and a bump.

^, OSWALD frantically denied shooting Dallas police

officer C:iPPZTT or shooting President JOHN F. KENNEDY. The

interview was concluded at 4:05 p.m. when OSWALD was removed

for a lineup.

613
FD.302 (Rev. 3-3-59) FEDERAL BUREAU pF INVESTIGA . JN

Date 11/23/63

LEE KARVEY OSV/ALD, interviewed in offices of the

Dallas Police Department, v;as advised that he did not have to nake any statement , aay statement he made could be used against

him in court and cf his right to an attorney. He v/as requested

to furnish descriptive and biographical data concerning himself.-

The follov/ing was obtained from his responses and

e::s,mination of contents of his v/allet:

OSWALD declined to explain his possession of a photograph of a Selective Service card in the name of "ALEK JAMES

HIDELL".

V/hen interview had been substantially completed and

OSY/ALD was asked as to his present employment , he stated he

thought perhaps interview to obtain descriptive information was

too prolonged, that he had declined to be interviewed by any

other officers previously, and did not desire to be interviewed

by this agent. He remarked "I know your tactics - there is a similar agency in Russia. You are using the soft touch and, of

course,. the procedure in Russia would be quite different."

OSWALD v/as advised questions were intended to obtain

his complete physical description and background. Upon repetition of the question as to his present emplojnaent , he furnished

same without further discussion. Race Y/hite

• Sex ' Llale Date of Birth October 18, 1939

Place of BirthNew Orleans, Louisiana

Height - 5' 9"

•V/eight 140

Hair Medium brown, iworn medium length,

needs haircut -

• Eyes Blue-gray

Scars No tattoos or permanent scars Relatives Mother - LIARGUERITE OSWALD, unkoip^

address, Arlington, Texas, practical

nurse (has not seen for about one

year )

11/22/63 , Dallas, Texas ^., ^ 89-43

on at L Filo ff

by Spocia! Agent MANNING C. CLEMENTS / mac

^^^^ dictated 11/23/63

:r.or.: cor.tains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It Is the property of the FBI and la loaned to

:•/; it and Ite contents are not to be distributed outside your aqency. ^,2'

614
DL 89-43

Relatives (cont'd)

Dress at Time of

Interview

Contents of V/allet

Father - ROBERT LEE OSWALD. dseeased, August 31, 1939, New Orleans, Louisiana

Wife - MARINA; two iafsnt, children

Brothers - JOim OSV/ALD, address

unknown, lasi: knovm at Fort V/orth,

Tejxas, five er six years ago, age

ab'.'jut 30, works with pharmaceuticals, bjut not graduate

pharmacist; ^ ROBERT OSWAli), 7313 Davenport,

Fdrt Y/orth, Texas (wife - VADA,

tv/p small children) , works for

br'ick company (believed Acme)

Black trousers, brown "salt and

pepper", long sleeved shirt, bareheaded

Had card in possession, LEE HARVEY

OSWALD, Social Security No. 433-54-3937

Phot-e of Selective Service System

card v/ith photo of OSWALD, "Notice of

Classification" and name "ALEK JAMES

HIDSLLj SSN 42-224-39-5321". Card

shows classification IV (?). Bears date February 5, 1962, reverse side

shows card from Texas Local Board,

400 West Vickery, Fort Worth, Texas. Card shows erasures and retyping of

the information indicated and bears

longhand signature "ALEK J, HIDELL". Signature of member or clerk of local

board (indistinct, may be GOOD . Local Board 114, Fort Worth, LEE HARVEY

OSWALD^ SSN 41-114-39-532, address

i^ 3124 West 5th Street, Fort Worth, Texas,

registered September 14, 1959. Date

of birth October 18, 1939, New Orleans,

5' 11", 150 lbs., blue eyes, brown

hair. Mrs. ZOLA Z. BURGER, Clerk.

615
3DL 89-43

Snapshot photo of woman, apparently

wife

Snapshot photo of infant

V-Tiite card with longhand, "Embassy

USSR, 1609 Decitur, N?/, Washington,

D. e^ , Coiisular ^SEZHUYEHKO" (indistinct)

Department of Defense Identification

No. N4, 271, 617, issued to LEE H. OSWALIi

expiration date December 7, 1962,

Private First Class, E-2, MCR/INAC,

Service No. 1653230. Card shows date

of birth October 18, 1939, 5' 11", 145

Ibs.p brown hair, gray eyes. Dallas Public Library card, undated,

expiration date December 7, 1965,

issued to LEE HARVEY OSWALD, 602 Elsbethj Dallas, school or business - Jaggers - Chiles - Stovall, followed

by the name JACK L. B0^.7EN, 1916 Stevens Forest Drive, V/H 8-8997.

U. S. Forces, Japan Identification card

issued to LEE H. OSWALD, Private,

Servic-a No. 1653230, organization - L:ACS-1 IIAG-ll 1st MAW. Identification

cird ;^'00S46, issued, May 8, 1958. Date

of birth October 18, 1939, American.

Card, "Conpliments GA - JO Enkanko

Hotel, telephone number ED 5-0755 of reverse side.

Certificate of Service in Armed Forces

of Ur-ited States, issued to LEE HARVEY

OSWALD, 1653230, reflected honorably

served oz: active duty, U. S, Marine

Corps, October 24, 1956 - September 11,

1959.

616
DL 89-43

Card cf "Fair Play for Cuba Conmittea,

799 Broadway, New York 3, New York,

telephone ORegon 4-8295", issued to LEE K, OSV/ALD, May 28, 1963, filed by

V. T. LEE as Executive Secretary

Card of "Fair Play for Cuba, New

Orle5.ns Chapter", issued to L. H.

OST/ALD, June 15, 1963, filed by A, T. (?)

HIDELL, Chapter President (note name HIDELL ozi fictitious Selective Service

card)

Selei;tive Service notice of classification card to LEE HARVEY OSWALD,

Selective Service No. 41-114-39-532-,

IV-Aj dated February 2, 1960, from

Local Beard ll4. Fort Worth, Texas $13,00 in currency, consisting of one $5.00 bill and eight $1.00 bills

Residence 2515 West 5th Street, Irving, Texas,

phone BL 3-1628 (residence of wife for

past five weeks)

Rco!n in rooming house, 1026 North

Backley, for about five weeks. Phone

number unknown.

Previous Residences 4706 Magazine Street, New Orleans,

Louisiana 5 no phone (about three r^onths)

602 Elsbeth- no phone (about seven

months), Dallas, Texas Unrecalled street in Fort Worth, Texas,

(a few months)^ with brother in. Fort

Y/orth, Texas, ^or a few months.

Previously in Soviet Union, until July,

1962;

730-900 0-64—41 617
5DL 89-43

Occupations Photcgrapliy - Jagg^ors - Chiles - Stovall, 522 Browder , Dallas, Texas Factory worker, William B. Riley

Comps.ny ^Coffee and Coffee Canisters)

644 Ilagaziae Street, New Orleans,

Louisiana

Unemployed for several months

Employed with Texas State Book

Depository, Dallas, Texas, September,

1963, stGck work, filing orders, etc.

618
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

n.t, 11/25/63

LEE HARVEY OSV/ALD was interviewed at the Homicife

and Robbery Bureau, Dallas Police Department', by Captain

J. v;. FRITZ in the presence of Special Agent JAMES''w. BOOKHOUT,

Federal Bureau of Investigation. OSWALD was advised of the

identity and official capacity of said agent and the fact

that he did not have to make any statement, that any stater.ent he did make could bo used in a court of law against

hin, and that any statement made must be free and voluntary

and that he had the right ta consult with an attorney,

OSWALD stated' that he did not own any rifle. Ke advised

that he saw a rifle day before yesterday at the Texas School

Book Depository which MR. TRULY and two other gentlemen had

in their possession and were looking at.

OSV/ALD stated that on November 22, 1963, at the

time of the search of the Texas School Book Depository

building by Dallas police officers, he was on the second

floor of said building, having just purchased a Coca-cola

from the soft-drink machine, at which time a police

officer came into the room with pistol drawn and asked him

if he worked there. IIR. TRULY was present and verified that

he was an employee and the police officer thereafter left

the room and continued through the building. OSWALD

stated that he took this Coke down to the first floor and

stood around and had luncj^^ in the employees lunch room. Ke -cherecfter went outside and^jStood around for five or

"cen Liinutes with foreman BILL 'illjiov, and thereafter went

home. Ke stated that he left-V/or^ because, in his opinion, . based upon remarks of BILL fillZLL?, he did not believe that

there was going to be any more v/ork that day due to the

confusion in the building. He stated after arriving at his

residence, then he went to a movie, where he was subsequently

apprehended by the Dallas Police Department.

OSWALD stated that his hours of work at the Texas School Book Depository are from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. , but

that he is not required to punch a time clock. His usual

place of work in the building is on the first floor; however,

he frequently is required to go to the fourth, fifth, sixth,

and seventh floors of the ]^iiilding in order to get books and

on 11/22/63 „t Dallas, Texas Pi,^ ^ PL 89-43

by Spcciol Agent JAl^S W. BOOKKOU-> Awm p^,, j.^,^,,j 11/24/63

f 7 This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It Is th« property of the F*8I and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency. .

•

619
2DL 8S-43

this v/as true on November 22, 1963, and he had been on

all of the floors in the performance of his duties on November 22, 1963.

620
•EDERAL BUREAU Or INVESTIGATION

Dote _11Z25Z62_

UEZ HAE\1cY OSV/ALD '<vs:s interviewed by Captain

Jo W„ FHITZs rlor.icide ^nd Eobbery Eiireau, Dall*:s Police

Drp^i'^tj-rnt „ OSV/AIB ^^^LS s.dvised of the identity of SA

Zs.\.::3 Uo rlOCX^CUTs ind his e5.p2.city xs a. Special Agent

CI rhe Ff-d-riral £.iir(&2.u cf Investigation. !:<-> W5;S informed

ci his right to s.n attorney, that ,'s.ny statenient he might

.•i::ii© could b-^ usfr^d agj.ir:st him in a court of l^w, and

that -^ny stateniGnt -which be might cake ciiisct. be free and

veluntary. E^ furnish-rd. .the following information in

the oresence of T. J. -L-i^Iri , U.S. Secret Service; DAVID

B. GHANTj Secret S^srvice-^ RQ32RT I.NASH, United States

ri^rshall? 5.rxd Detectives BILLY L. SS>llfXL and FAY M. TUEr^R of ths Hcnicidc' s^nd Robbery BiireSiUs Dall&s

Police Depa.rtr;ent

„

Foi lowing his departure from the Texas School

Book' Depository 5 he boarded £. city bus to his residence

and obtained transfer uccis depijrtur© from the bus. He stated th5.t officers j.t the time of arresting him took

his tr£.nsf«r out of his jockfct,

CSV/AIH* i^dvised that he had only one post office

box which v;i.s s^z Dc^ll^is , T-xas. He denied bringing any packuge to v'ork on the morning of November 22-j 1963. He stated thi,t he- w£.s not in the process of fixing up his

apartment ^nd he denied telling V/SSLST FRAZISa that the

purpose of his visit to Irving, Texas, on the night of

Ilovembar 21; 1963, wa.s to obts.in some curtain rods from

MESo RUTH PAIitSo CST/aLD stated that it vvi.s not exactly true

as recently st„tc-d by* hin th£.t he rode ii bus from his

place of ervl'/i-.'-nt to his residence on November 22 j 1963.

Hi?" stited iiCt J1II3/ hi- did board a city bus ^t his place

of «^-mploym<int but th£.t after s^bout a block or two, due to traffic congestion, he left the bus i,nd rode a city cab to his aps.rtnent on !Torth B<?(Ckl'&y<, E^ reciilied th5.t at the time

of ,-e-tir.g into the Cs-b, soris- lady lotksd in and asked the

driver to call her a cab. He stated that' ho might have

n;.ade sor-e remarks to the cab driver merely for the purpose

oi passing ih£. tinie of day at that tiKS. .He recalled that

on n/23/63 nt Ti-Mzs. Texas File # DL 89-43

zy Special Agent I^^:iS_Ji,_£Ca?JKa^i^i^ ^^:s Dato dictoted 11/24/63

Ti-^l.^ d2Cur=ont cohtclil3 cslthor recomceDdQtlons doc conclualona of tba FBI.' It.'ta (h* property Of th« FBI Oad 1* lean»4 to

:.'.\ .;; CCe^cv: It aad l^a co:;:«nta cie not to b* diatrlbutad outeld« your OQsaeyt' ! >.'' . .. f'

621
ljL &9-4S

Li-s xiire was 2ipprcxima.t6ly 85 csnts. He stated that

kfter arriving £.t his ap^^rtnent, he changed his shirt £nd trousers beckuss they were dirty. He described his dirty

ci.othes as b-:-ing a reddish colored; long slei^ved, shirt

with a button-down collar and gray colored trousers. He

l2.dicated that he had placed these articles of clothing

m the lower drawer of his dresser.

0S>7ALD stated that on November 22, 1963, he had eaten

J inch in the lunch room at the Texas School Book Depository,

alOHG J but recalled possibly two Negro employees walking

through the room during this pc-riod. He stated possibly

one of these employees was called "Junior" and the other

was a short individual whose name he could not recall but when he v/ould be able to recognize. He stated that his

lunch had consisted of a cheese sandwich and an apple which

he had obtained at URS. RUTH PAINE's residence in Irving,

Texas, upon his leaving for work that morning.

OSV/ALD stated that IIRS. PAINE receives no pay

for keeping his wife and children at her residence. He stated thar their presence in MRS. FAINE's residence is a gocd arrangement for her because of her language

interest, indicating that his wife speaks Russian and

MFiS. PAINE is interested in the Russian language.

OSV/ALD denied having kept a rifle in MRS. PAINE 's garage at Irving., Texas, but stated that he did have certain

articles stored in her garage, consisting of two sea bags,

a couple of suitcases, and several boxes of kitchen articles

and also kept his clothes at M?.S. PAIJJS's residence. He stated

:hat all cf the articles in LSS. PAINE 's garage had been

brought there about September, 1963, from New Orleans,

Louisiana.

0SV/AI3 stated that he has had no visitors at his

apartment en North Beckley

OSV/AI4D stated that he has no receipts for purchase

of any guns and has never ordered any guns and does not own

a rifle nor has h© ever possessed a rifle.

OSV/ALD denied that he is a member of the Communist

Party

OSWALD stated that he purchased a pistol, which

was taken off him by police officers November 22, 1963, about

622
3DL 8S-43

six months ago. He declined to state where he had purchased

it. 0SY;ALD stated that he arrived about July, 1962,

from USSR and was interviewed by the FBI at Fort Worth,

Texas. He stated that he felt they overstepped their

bounds and had used various tactics in interviewing him.

He further complained that on interview of RUTH

I'AiNE by the FBI regarding his wife, that he felt that his

v/ife was intimidated.

OSV^AIJ) stated that he d&sired to contact Attorney

AST, New York City, indicating that ABT was the attorney

who had defended the Sr.iith Act Ca.se about 1949 - 1950. He stated that he does not know Attorney ABT personally.

C:iptain FRITZ advised OSV/ALD that arrangements would be

immediately made whereby he could call Attorney ABT.

OSV/ALD stated that prior to coming to Dallas

from New Orleans he had resided at a furnished apartment

at 4706 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. While

in New Orleans , he had been employed by WILLIAM B. RILEY

Company, 640 Magazine Street, New Orleans.

OSWALD stated that he has nothing against

President JOHN F. KENITEDY personally; however in view

of the present charges against him, he did not desire to discuss this phase further.

OSV/ALD stated that he <^-^ld not agree to take

a polygraph examination without the advice of counsel.

He added that in the past he has refused to take polygraph

examinations.

OSV/ALD stated that he is a member of the American

Civil Liberties Union and added that MRS. RUTH PAINE was also a member of same. With regard to Selective Service card in the

possession of OSWALD bearing photograph of OSWALD and

the name of ALEK JAMES HIDSLL, OSWALD admitted that he

carried this Selective Service card but declTifled to state

that he wrote the signature of ALEK J, HIDELL'*' appearing

on same. He further declined to state the purpose of

carrying same or any use he has made of same.
DL 8S-43

OSV/ALD stated that an address book in his possession

contains the haraes of various Russian immigrants residing in

Dallas, Texas, whom he has visited with.

OSWALD denied shooting President JOHN F. KENNEDY

on November 22, 1963, and added that he did not know that

Governor JOHN CONNALLY had be^n shot and denied any knowledge concerning this incident.

624
FD-302 (Rev. 3-3-S9) FEDERAL BUREAU 0(= INVESTIGATION

n„t, 11/2 5/63

LEE HARVEY OSWALD was interviewed at the Homicide

and Robbery Bureau, DSilias Police Department, at 6:35 p.m.,

by Captain J. W. FRITZ in the presence of Special Agent

JAMES W. EOCKHOUT, Federal Bureau of Investigation. OSWALD

was advised of the identity and official capacity of said

Agent and the fact that he did not have to make any statement, that any statement he did make could be used in a court of law against him, and that any statement made must

be free and voluntary and that he had the right to consult

with an attorney.

Captain J. W. FRITZ exhibited to LEE HARVEY

OSV/ALD a photograph which had be-n obtained by the Dallas

Police Department in a search, by search warrant, of the

garage at the residence of MRS. RUTH PAINE, located at Irving, Texas, which photograph reflects OSWALD holding a rifle and v/earing a holstered pistol. OSWALD was asked

if this was a photograph of himself. OSWALD stated that

he \7culd not discuss the photograph without advice of

an attorney. He stated that the head of the individual

in the photograph could b^ his but that it was entirely

possible that the Police Department had superimposed , this part of the photograph over the body of someone

else. He pointed out that numerous news media had

snapped his photograph during the day and the possibility

existed that the police had doctored up this photograph,

OSWALD denied that he had purchased any rifle

from Kleins Store in Chicago, Illinois.

OSY/ALD complained of a lineup wherein he had not been granted a request to put on a jacket similar to those worn by some of the other individuals in the lineup.

on 11/23/63 „, Dallas, Texas P;,^ ^ PL 89-43

by Special Agont JAI^ES W, BOOKHOUT /wvm jjat. dictated 11/24/63

This document contains neither / 03 recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It Is the property of ths FBI and Is loaned to your agency; It and Its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.

625
REPORTS OF INSPECTOR THOMAS J. KELLEY,

U.S. SECRET SERVICE

FIRST i:.ZZRVIZ.; OF LE3 E'C/JTf OS'-.'/uD

At asout 10:30 A.M., Noveriber 23, 1^:53, I attended cry first iaterview

viith Qc-'Cild. Proscat during the in-^e-.-viGW at tho Eor;iicide Division, Dallas Police rop:irtin3nt, wora Special i'c^-'J^ J^^- Boolchout, FBI; C-ptain V.'ill Fritz,

Iici:icid3 Division, D^JJ^s Police Is^artnieritj U. S. r^iirshcl I.o"b3rt Hash;

GA David Gi'ant and SAIC Sorrels; and Officers Boyd and Eall of Captain Fritz's detail. The intei-^/iew v:aG not recorded. Mr. Sorrels end uy presence was as observers, since Osvald vas being iield for murder anct his custody and

iir-erroratioa at that tine was the responsibility of the Dallas Police De- partnient . In response to questions put hy Captain Fritz, Oswald Laid that in:- iii'diatalj'' af-Dor havin3 left the building where he worked, he; went by bus to the cheater where he was arrested; that when he ^ot on the bus he secured a transfer and thereafter transferred to ot.'rer buses to get to his destirjition.

1:2 denied that he brought a package tc worh on that day and he denied that

ho had ever had any conversation about cu_-::r-in rods with the boy named '..'esley who drove hin to his eLrplor-nent. Frioz acliod hia if he had ridden a taj<i that day and Osn-fald then changed his story and said that when he got on the bus he found it was going too slow and af cer tv:o blochs he got off the bus

and took a cab to his hone; that he passed the tine vith ".„e cab driver and

that the cab driver had told him thac the 1" resident was choc. Ee paid a cab fare of C3^. In response to questions, he stated that this was the first time he had ever ridden in a cab since a bus was always available. He said he went houie, changed his trousers and shirt, put his shirt in a drawer. This was a red

shirt, and he put it with his dirty clothes. He described the shirt as having a button down collar and of readish color. The trousers were grey

colored.

He said ho ate his lunch with the colored boys who worked with him.

lie described one of them as "Junior", a colored boy, and the other was a

little short negro boy. Ee said his lunch consisted of cheese, bread, fruit, and apples, and was the only package he had v/ith him when he went to work.

Ee stated that Mrs. Faine practico|^ Russian by iiaving his wife live with

h::r. He de:iied that he had ever c-rned/ rifle. He said he does not know Vjr. Paine \'STy well but tiiat Paine usually coir.es by the place where his wife was

living with Mrs. Paine on Friday or Uedncsdaj'-. He stated that Ilr. Paine has

a car and Mrs. Paine has had t\vO cars. He said in resporiSe to ruestions by

Cax;tain Frits that his effects were in Mrs. Paine' s garage and ohat they con- sisted of tv.o sea bags with so".e other packages contai-ing his personal be- longings and that he had brought those back frora Hew Orleans with hira sonietime in Septerober. He stated that his brother, Robert, lived at 7313 Davenport

Gtrcet, Fort yorth, and that the Paines were his closest friends in town. He denied that he had ever joined the Corrjiunist party; that he never h^ad a

Coriiunist card. Ee did belong to the .^jnerican Civil Liberties Union and had

33&

626
Co-2-34030

Page 2.

p;iid '^.3 a year dues. Ko stated that he had bourht the pistol that was

fouiid in his poscessioa vhen he v;as arx-ested about seven months ago.

He reduced to ans^.-'sr any q.uestion3 concerni.is the pistol or a gun until

he- tal>:cd to a lavyer.

O'^uald stated that at various other tir:as he had been thoroughly

i-i\; orroc-ted by the FBI; that they had used all the usual interrogation

prtctiGQS and all their standard operating oi-ocedure; that he was very

r;jr:iliar with interrogatioa, and ho had no intention of answering any

cuc-stionc concerning any shooting; that ho knev: he did not have to answer

th.:;:i and that he would not aa::-.'or any questions until he had been given

councel. lie stated that the i'l;! i.ad used their hard and soft approach to

hr:?i, they used the buddy systera; that ho \7as familiar vith-all types of questioning and had no intention of ciaking any statouieats. He said that

in the past three vooks \/hon the FTI had tall:ed to his wife, they were

a'uucivo and inpolite; that thoy had frighvonod his wife and he considered , their activi^ie3 obnoxious. Ho nt-tod th'-,t ho vanted to contact a Mr.' Abt,

a I'o'.r York lawyor vmo-i he did :iot l—.y^i but \;liG had defended the Smith Act

"victir.;o" in 1S^9 cr 1950 in connection with a conspiracy against the

Govern-.'ont; that Abt would understand what this case was all about and that

he v.'ould give hia an excolleat defence. lie stated in returning a question

about his fomior addresses that he lived at 490? Magazine Street in New Orleans at one tir.e and v.-orkcd for the Willian Rilay Coapanyj that he was

arrested in Now Orleans for disturbing the peace and paid a $10 fine while

he was demonstrating for the Fair Play for Cuba Cor-r.ittee; that he had a

f iglit with scne anti-Castro refugoos and that they v/ore released while he

X7as fined. Upon questioning by Captain Fritz, he said, "I have no views on the President." "i'y wife and I like the Pi^esident's family. They are in- teresting people. I have cry ov;n views on the President's national policy.

I }iave a right to express my viev/s but because of the charges I do not

thir^k I should cor.vT.oat further." Os'.'ald said "I am not a malcontent; nothing irritated n:e about the President." Ee said that during I962 he was

interviewca by the FBI and that hs at that time refused to talce a polygraph

and that he did not intend to taice a polygraph test for the Dallas police. At this tiine Ccptain Fritz shewed a Selective Service Card that was taken out

of his wallet which bore the none of illex Hidell. Oswald refused to ^..scuss this after being asked for an oqplanation of it, both by Fritz and by James

^ookhout, the FBI Agent. I asked hin if he viewed the parade and he said he had not. I then asked him if he had shot the President and he said he had not.

I asked him if he had shot C-overnor Connally and he said he had not. He did

not intend to answer further questions without counsel and that if he could not get Abt, then 'he would hope that the Civil Liberties Uriion vrould give him an

attorney to represent him. At thjit point Captain Fritz terminated the inter- view at about 11:30 A.M., II-23-63.

338

627
iirrsRviEivs WITH IJI2 iiARviTir os;:ald

oil KO\i:-!ZS^ 23, lSf63

At atout 12:35 P.M., Koveiriber 23, I963, Lee OGv-ald v;as iater\aeved in

tho ofl'ico of C-r:5"aia Will Fritz of tho i:o.:iicido Division, Dallas Police De-

•:jart:r.-jat. Aro.:'.; thucG prcf;eat at this intei^viev/ ucre incp2ctor Kslley,

C-.pt:ii;i yritz, i^ctoctives Seal-.cl and Tiorncn of the Herbicide Division ciad C/ J;u.;cs Lao':out, F3I. Captain Fritz cond'actcd th2 intcri/icv.- v/hich v/as

ccr.ca--;ij;d r.oatly '.vith Osi'ald's plc.cr^s of rcsidar.ce in Dallas and was an

aU\.e:.nt to ascertain \.'hGre the bullc of Cc'./ald' s "bclo.i^inrs \;ere located In

Dallas. As a result of the interviev, 05v:ald fiu-nished inforniation to Ccptaia Friti: that cost of his porsonal effects, includins a sea ba^, were

in the- rai-are at the address of I-irs. Paine, 2515 V.'est pth Street, Irving,

T2:a Intervic-v v/as concluded about 1:10 /?. M. and ironed lately

thex'cafter rr.G:iioars of the Ilorrdcidc Division sacured a search uarrant and recovered Oswald's effects frou tha ho:,:3 of Mrs.

Pclrie. Fcur-d ainon^ tha effects vcre t'.-o different posas in snapshot tyi.3 photo;:;raphs ta^ien of Os-;.'ald holding a rifle in

one hand and holding up a copy of a paper called the Militant

and "T'hc V^orher" in the other hand. Os'.rald \;as vrearin^ a revolver in a holster on his ri^^ht side. This photograph was

enlar:;;;rd by the Dallas Police Laboratories and was used as a basis cf additional questioning of Osvald at arjproxii-ately

6: CO P.M. that san:o evening. On rrover-ber 23, l^o^, at 6:00 ?.:'., in "che office of Captain Fritz,

Mc.'.icide Division. Dallas Police D.^'part::;ent, I vr-s present at an interview

.:ith C.::/ald. Also prcsant vcre Captain Frit"; I'ZZ /^ant Jiia Boohhoutt, and

four officers frcra tho i;j:;:icida Division. ''2l:.iz 1 .corviow v;as conducted with

C:../ald for tho purpose cf dicplayinjv zo hi:.: v.:^ bl...--ups of photoc^raphs showi.:;- hi:n holdin;^ a rifle an_ a piscv^l vAich v/are ^-_:aa as a result of the

sa^-rch ^/arrant for the c;-:.ra-a of Al-'s. rainc at 2^1 j ^.c^t 5oh Scrcet, Irving,

L.::;a:;- A.ien the phwto;;-aphs vere proiontcd to G;-v^la, he saaered at them

sayii:;: tha!^ th::y vo-'C f::.':a pAoto^rapAs; that ha i.aA 'z::Z::i phcco^raphed a

::..':: 2 V of tin.as tha day '^z-oro by ^Ac palice „a_ avp:,rently after they

pAo^c^raphad hiu tAay supari:.-po3o.. on tAe pA-acjivpha a rifle and put a gun

in : is pGcAet. Aa :^:.t into a lo:rj ar^v-^ja-^ vi'^A C-ptain rrii:s about his

Aixn'led^,; of photography and acAc^ Arl'^:: a a;:.Aor cf uiiies ;;i:other the

c;.:-\llor pAotc::raph vas i:-de fro:.i the lar^ar v>r ;A.ctAcr the larger photoc^'aph

w,..a ;,.ado fro:- ohe a;;a\ller. he said at the proper ti;..a he \;ould show that the

pAato.jrapAs vere faAos. Frits told hi:u that the 5.;. aider photO':;i-aph was taken

frc:a his effects at the ,^?ra^a, Osvald b3c:^:-e arrcjaa"c and refused to answer

cz:^ further questions conaoraia^ the phooo^raphs a;.d vould not identify the

pAato;p-aphs as bain^ a photoc;raph cf hi::.self . Captain Fritz displayed great

patience and tenacity in attcaptinv; to secure froa Os-:ald the location of what

^.pparcntly is th.e bacA.yard of an address at which Os'.:ald fora^.erly lived, but

Av vas apparent tl:at Oa-.:ald, though slightly shaken by the evidence, had no intension of furnishing any infor^.xi'cicn. The interview was teru.inated at about 7:15 P.M. {^ r „ ^38

Thoizjis J. Kplley

Inspector ^

628
CO-2-3U,030

U. S. Sscrot Service

Cj^iel- Kovecibar 29, 1963

Inspector Kelley \^ /

PralL-ninary Special Dallas P.3por1i # 5

Covers third interview with Cs'.jald ani

circiLir-stancss irjnodiataly following his rrurder

This interview; started at approxir-atolv 9:30 /J-l on Sunday, NoveEber 2k, 1963.

The interview was conducted in the office cf Captain Vjill Fritz of the Homicide

DTjireau, Dallas Police. Present at the intorvievj in addition to Csx;ald were

Captain Frits, Postal Inspector KoLies, SAIC Sorrels, Inspector Kelley and foxir

r-Gi-hers of the Kornicide Squad. The interview had just begun when I arrived and

Captain Fritz was a^ain requesting Gs^/ald to identify the place where the photograph of hiiu hcldir.g the [^an was taken. Captain Fritz indicated that it would

save the Police a jreat deal of time if he v.-ould tell then uhore the place was

located. Csi-'ald refused to discuss the chatter. Captain Fritz asked, "Are you

a Cor^nunist?" Cr-'ald ar.3T;ered, "I-Io, I ara a I'arxist but I am not a >!arxist Leninist". Captain Frits asked hiia that the difference v;as and Oswald said it vxuld take too long to explain it to him. Cs'-.-ald said that he becane interested

in the Fair Play for Cuba Corjnittee x.hile he was in Iwew Orleans; that he wrote

to the Ccr.mttee's Headquarters in ITe-.j York and received scvr.e Conzittee literature and a letter signed by Alex Hideli. Ee stated, that he began to distribute

that literature in ITew Orleans and it vas at that tir:e that he got into an

altercation xiith a group and he ijas arrested. He said his opinions concerning Fair Play for Cuba are uell knccn; that he appeared on Bill Stukey»s television program in IIgt-j Orleans en a nurber of occasions and was interviewed by the local

press often. He denies knowing or ever seeing Hideli in I«ew Orleans, said he

believed in all of the tenets of the Fair Play for Cuba and the things which the Fair Play for Cuba Ccirinittee stood for, which was free intercotirse with Cuba and freedcn for tourists of the both countries to travel within each other's borders. fcong other things, Os^-.-ald said that Cuba should have feieed diplosiatic relationship ijith the United States. I asked him if he thought that the President's - assassination vculd have any effect on the Fair Play for Cuba Coitnittee. He said there tjould be no change in the attitude of the American people toward Cuba with

President Johnson beccriing President because they both belonged to the saas political party and the one would follow pretty generally the policies of the

ether. He stated that he is an avid reader of Russian literature whether it is

cci'-ranistic or not; that he subscribes to "The Kilitant", which, he says, is the

T:ee;:ly of the Socialist party in tha United States (it is a copy of "The Fdlitant"

thvt Cc:.'ald is chov:n holding in the photograph taken fron his effects at Irving

Sl:,r'eet). At that tix:e he asked s:e whether I ii?as an FBI Agent and I said that I

;.as not that I was a r.e2ber of the Secret- Service, He said when he was standing

in front of the Textbook Building and about' to leave it, a young crew-cnt nan

ruched up to hin and said he was frcn the Secret Service, showed a book of identification, and asked hi2c where tha phone. was, Oswald said he pointed toward

the pay phone in the building and that he saw the man actually go to the phone

before he left. J^yy

629
2. CO-2-3ii,030

I asked CE:-;ald whsther cs a I'arxist ha beli2v:.r: that religion was an opiate

of tha people end hs said very dsfinitoly so -^hat all organized religions tend

to bGcoir.3 i.:oncpoliGtic and are the cc."a::os of a ^r-^t deal of class varfare. I asked hirn -whether he considered the Catholic Chiirch to be an enery of the

Corr.unist philosophy and he said \;cll, there -:cs no Catholicism in Russiaj that the closest to it is the Crthcdc:: Ghurchi^s but he said he vould not further

discuss his opinions of religion since this -..as an atter.pt to have hiia say some- thing ^;hich could be construed as bcir.g anti-roligious or anti Catholic.

Cap-ji. Fritz displayed an 3nco street :.-.:-p of Dallas vrhich had been found among

Csijald^s effect at the rco^rdng houce. Csviald i-s asked v.'hether the map vas his

and t.'hether he had put sor.e r-arks on it. Ke s-^id it uas his and rer^arked ">5y God don't tell me there's a ir.3^k near T.-here this thing happened". The ciark was pointed out to hin and he said "".rnat aceut the other r.arks on the map?- I put a

nui.ber of r-arks on it. I '..'as looking for x:crk and Karked the places where I went

for jobs or where I heard there were jobs". Since it '.jas obvious to Captain Priti: that C:.;;ald w.is not going to be coopcrativa,

he terid-nated the interview at that tir-2. I approached Osv:ald thsn and, out of the hearing of the others except perhaps one

of Captain Fritz's r.en, said that as a Secret Service agent, we are anxious to talk v;ith hin as soon as he had secured couneolj that we were responsible for the safety of the President; that the Dallas Police had charged him with the assassi- nation of the President but that he had denied it; we were therefore very anxious

to talk with hin to r.ake certain that the correct story was developing as xt related to the assas:.ination. He said that he v.'ould be glad to discuss this proposition with his attorney and that after he talked to one, we could either

discuss it with him or discuss it with his attorney, if the attorney thought it was the wise thing to do, but that at the present tine he had nothing more to say

to r.e, CjTjald ;.'as then handed sor.e different clothing to put on. The clothing

included a £-.;eatcr. Captain Fritz r.ade a nujuber of telephone calls to ascertain whether the preparations he had placed into effect for transferring the prisoner

to the County Jail v;ere ready and upon being so advised. Captain Fritz and nambers

of the D't active Bureau escorted Oswald from the Hordcide Office on the third floor to the baser-ent where Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby. On che cor.pletion of the interview, Si\IC Sorrels and I proceeded to the office of the Chief of Police on the third flcor and were discussing the interview when we

heard that Oswald had been shot, -..'e both ran down the steps to the basement. I arrived in the ante-rooni where they had dragged Oswald. SAIC Sorrels located and interviewed Ruby. Scr.eone was bending over Oswald with a stethoscope and he appeared to be unconscious in very serious condition at that time. I asked Captain Frits ;.'hat h^ad happened and he ^aid Oswald had been shot by one Jack "Rubio" whom

thj police laiew as a tavern operator. Shortly thereafter a stretcher arrived and

I acccr.panied the stretcher to the ar,:balar.ce i.-hich had been hastily backed into the

r;ara2-- I observed that during the transfer that Oswald was unccuscious; v/hen the

r....';ulaace drove a-jay frcin the building, I attempted to board a cruiser that 177

a:\;-..-ntly was going to follow the ai'.bulance but I was unable to get into the car-'-' ' c:.2c^-:^ it pulled away. Special Agents learner and Patterson had heard of the shoct-

±'.Z o.i their radio, proceeded to Parkland Hospital where Oswald was being taken and

arriv::d very shortly after Oswald had arrived at the emergency entrance and was

630
3. CO-2-3U,030 b3ins taken into the energency traatitient room. One or ths other of th-asa agents Kaa in close proximity to Cs^jald vhile he was being treated, "./hen I arrived at

iho hospital, I rode vp on the elevator with Dr. Sha^ vho had looked at Osnvald aE h3 had cor.e in and -was being recalled to the operating room vjhere Csvjald had

b:;en taken. V.^ile Os^;ald -was in the operating room, no one other than Biedical porscnnel vjas present but a Dallas policer-^n i-.-ho had acccrnpanied Osvjald in th9

ar.bulance ijas standing in the door\j^y of the operating room in operating roon

Ecr'ub clothes. IIo other investigating perscr.n3l vere in the vicinity. In the

irr.ediate vicinity of the detective v.-ac Special Agent IJamer. Oswald cade no

stater.onts from the tirr.e he vas shot until the tir.:e of his death. He was vnconscions during the arbulance run to the hospital v.-hich I verified through

Detective Daugherty, t-.-ho acccr.panied him. He di'^ not regain consciousness at any tir.e during the treatir.ent until he died. At the tir:e of hie death, iryself, Eetective Da-jgh?rty and Colonel C-:irrison of the Texas State Police were on the fifth floor of the hospital arrangir.g a security rcoia in wliich to take Os:-:ajd, in the event he survived the operating room treatr.ent. It was never necessary'- to use this roon and upon learning of his death, I proceeded to the norgue to

arrange for his faioily to viei^ the body, V.'':^3n the fanily heard of the death

they '.v-ere in the process of being inte-'vie;;:-d by Special Agents Ktmkel and Howard,

and requested to be brought to the hospital. Cr.va"'d«s .brother, Robert, who had also ccr.e to the hospital, was being ±ii%0Tv±'-r.:z5. by Special Agent Hewlett. Before

the post mcrter, was performed, Cs^iald's farily, with the exception of Robert, viewed the body, Robert arrived too late to view the body before the autopsy

had started and was not permitted by hospital authorities to view the body. The

fairdly was acccr.panied during the vie-.:ing by the hospital chaplain. Alter r-iking arrangements through the chaplain and another clergyman for the burial of the body, the fardly was returned to a secluded spot under the protection of Special .'.gents Xunkel and Ec-.;a-d, ani the Ir/ing Texas police. Precaution

was taken to ir.Cui-e their safety in vie:; of the excit-r:nt caused by the killing

of Osv:ald» Sp:v-.ial Agents Howard and Kunkel did an excellent job in handling the

aeciu-ity of t,".-ir Jcj-dly detail and inruring their safety. Thereafter, I was

called by SAI3 __uck x;ho advised Ke that the President and the /attorney General

x:ere concer.'.-d about the safety of this fardly and instructed that all precautions

should be tc.h'ju to insure that no ham befell then. SAIG Bouck was advised that

the fcz.dly was presently under otir protection; we would continue providing

protecbicn ua«il further notice. Later that sane day, I was contacted by SA P.cbertson of the FBI who asked whether

mo riad scrr.ecne with the fardly. He \:zz assured that we had. Ha requested to be

ad'/ised :;hcrc the fardly had been tak-.i. Since their ultirate destination was

unh-nc-..Ti ^0 :;.e at the tine, I assured hi:-: that when I learned of their whereabouts

I ;;c\J.d relay it to him. He said that they received instructions from the Attorney

Cenei'al and President Johnson that precaution should be taken to insTire the fardly

2a-et.y.

.\j :•: ;;., Sui-.day, Noverber 2lth, I was advised of the location of the family and

•_-. : .iv.tely notified Robertson and inquired -k.'hether they now wished to take over

c. :__ prG:-ietion. He said no they had no such instructions, they nersly wished to

be :-.;-urcd that soEeone was looking out for their safety, I asstsred them that 177

631
CO-2-3U,030

acccuata protection i:as being provided and that they vera available for intervic-.-s by the FBI, Ho stated that they did not wish to interview the family

at this tiK3j that they Eierely wanted to cake svire they were in safe hands.

TJI:V3

177

li

632

I
REPORT OF U.S. POSTAL INSPECTOR H. D. HOLMES

DallXLG, Texas Deceriber 1?, 1963

LE-PRAIiPU:'! OF BTTERVIEW.

Inforcial Kcaorandum l\uTiiBbcd "by Postal Inspector H. D. UolneG, Dallas, Tcroi?, of on intervicvr he took port In with Lee 11. Ocvald on Sunday doming, Novenber

2i^, 1963, between the approxiinate hours of 9:25 a.m. to 11:10 a. a. Those

present, in addition to Incpcctor Holmes, were Captain Will Frits, Dallas

Police, Forrest V. Sorrels, Local A^cnt in Charge, Secret Service, and Tho:jae

J. Kelly, Inspector, Secret Service. In addition, thero were three Detective^ who were apparently aosicned to guarding Oswald aa none of them took port in the interrocation. Oswald at no timo appeared confused or in doubt aa to whether or not he should

answer a question. On the contrary, he was quite alert and ohovred no hcsitcmcy

in anCTiTcring those questions which he wanted to answer, and was quite el^illTul in porryins those questions which he did not wont to answer. I cot the icnression

tliat he hsd. disciplined his irind and reflexes to a state where I personally

doubted if he would ever Imve confessed. Ho denied, eai^hatically, havincj taken

pax-t in or liavlng had any knowledge of the shooting of the policeran Tlppitt or of the President, stating that so far as he is concerned the reason ho was in

cxistody was because ho "popped a policeman in the nooe in a theater on Jeffereoa

Avenue."

P. 0. BOXES—He \tg.s questioned separately about the tlicca boxes he hcd

rented, and In each instance Mo answers wore quick, direct ond accurate a3 reflected on the box rental applications. He stated without pronpting that

he liad rented Box 2915 at the llain Post Office for several months prior to

his going to Hew Orleans, that this box was rented in his ov/n nane, Lee E. Oswald, and that he had taJcen out two keys to the box, and that vhcn ho haxi closed the box, he directed that hio mail ba fonrarded to Mm at his etreet

address in Now Orleans. Ho stated that no one received mail in this box other than hi^icelf, nor did

ho receive any mail under any other nojae than hia oi-m true ne.m; that no one had access to the box other then himself nor did he pernut anyone else to use

this box. He stated it was possible that on raro occasions he may have handed

one of the Iceys to his wife to go get hie mail but certainly nobody else. Ho

denied enrphatically that he ever ordered a rifle under his natne or any other

nen:e, nor permitted anyone else to order a rifle to bo received in this box. Further, he denied that he had ever ordered any i^la by mall order or bought any money order for the purpose of paying for such a rifle. In fact, he claimed he

owned no rifle and had not practiced or shot a rifle other than possibly a .22, small bore rifle, sinco hie days with the Marino Corp. He stated that "How

coxad I afford to order a rifle on uy salary of $1.25 «» hour when I can't hardly feed nyself on what Z malca."

633

730-900 0-64—42
Dallac, Texas -2- I2-I7-63

\-n.icn a5l:cd if ho hai a poet ofTice box la I'ev Orleona ha ctatod thr.t he did, fov tlio reason "that he cvCoccrlhed to cevcrol publicatlonc, ct Icrn'o tvo of

\/hich verc publlohcd in Rucoia, one hcln^ the hanetova pc.?er publlcr.c^d In

Ilinnk where ho rvst and inarrlcd hio wife, and that he iiX)vod around co much

thnt It \raa core practical to olinply rent post ofTlco bor.co end have his

r.rdl for-.rcrdctt fron one box to the ne:A ratl:cr than colnc throuch ti.o procccs

or furnishing chancres of oddrocc to the publichcro. When aalccd if he pcrra.tted

a:^^'ono other then hiincelf to cct r.rJ.1 in box 3006I at IIcw Orleans, ho ctatcd

tiiat he did not. It vill be recalled that on thia box rent application ho

chovod tioat both Marina OOTrald end A. J. Ilidell vcre listed under the caption

"Persons entitled to receive nail throvich box" . After denying that anyone elce vas pcmitted to got nail in the box, ho vaa reminded that thia application

shoved the na-'ne Marina Oswald as bcinc entitled to roccivc nail in tlie box

end he replied "veil co what, clie wna L^y wife end I see nothinc: vrron^ with

that, end it could very well bo that I did place her name on the application". no v.'as tlicn rcnindcd that the application alno showed the na^io A, J. Hidoll was also entitled to receive nail in the box, at which he cicply ohrucccd hio shoulders and stated "I don't recall cnytliln^ about that". no stated that when ho camo back to Dalloa and after ho had gono to vorl: for the Texas School Book Depository, he hod rented a box at the nearby Terrlnol

Aanc:c postal station, this beln^ Lox 6225, and that this box was also rented

in hio name, Lee H. Oswald. He stated ho had only checked out one key for

tills box, which infomatlon was found to bo accurate, and thla key vaa found

en his person at the time of his arrest. He professed not to recall the fact

that he cliowed on tho box rental application under nar^ of cojrporatlon "Fair Play For Cuba Cocinilttce" and "Ar;ericaa Civil Liberties Union". When asked as to why he showed these orccnisatlons on tho application, he simply shru^GO'l and sold that he didn't recall shcdJiC them. When asked If ho paid the box

rental fee or did the orcanizationa pay it, he stated that he paid it. In

cns-,.'er to another question, he also stated that no one had any knowlcdeo that

he had this box other tlaan hiissolf

ORGAIJIZ/^IOIIS- i-ESERSIUP IN — With respect to American Civil Liberties Union

he ^;as c little evorjive statins comethins to the effect that he bad made eone effort to Join but it was never made clear whether ho had or had net been

accepted. He stated tliat he first beca.-ne interested in the Puir Play for Cuba

Cc-miittce, after he \^cnt to New Orleans, that It started out as belna a croup of Individuals who, like him, who thou^jht and had like political opinions.

They did decide to orcanlzo, and did orcanlze after a fashion, but denied that they had' any president or any elected officers. Ha stated that he, liimself, could probably be considered tho occrctary oince ho wroto ooiaa lottcrs on their behalf eiid attempted to collect dues which, if I recall, wore $1.00 per month. He also stated that there vca a "Fair Ploy for Cuba Comnilttco" la llav York which

was better organized. He denied that ho vafi seat to Dallas tor tbo purpose of

OTQQulzlxif^ such a cell In Dallas*

634
DcLllac, Texajj -3- 12-17-^3

v:hcn aciiod if he vao a corniamiot, he ctatcxi emphatically not, that ho vcu3 a

Il-urrd-ct. Soncono ciclccd tho difTercnce end he ctated that a corxTunlct Ic a

Lcnin-Il::r:d.Dt, that ho himnclT vao a pure Marxist, end when Dos:eono asked the dirrci-euce, he otated that it vaa a lone story tsnd If they didn't know, it vould toJcG too lo;:is to toll thca. Ho otated further that be had rood a"bout

evci'yth.lns written by or about Karl Marx.

\Jhcn Qcked as to his rcliGlon, ho stated that Karl Marx vim hio relisioa, ond

in rcopoase to rurthcr qucotionins he stated that oomo people nicy find the

Eihle interesting reading, hut it vao not for him, statins further that cv'^a as a philosophy there vaa not much to the Biblo.

M'jrniS CCR? SERVICE—Captain Fritz made some mention of his dishonorable

diccharco from the Mcrine Corp at which point he "bristled noticcahly, stating

tliat ho had been discharecd with an "honorable" discharco nnd that tliis v/as later changed duo to his having; ettcr^ted to denounce his Aracricaa Citizenship

\:lille he \rcj3 living in Russia. He stated further that since hio change of

citizenship did not cone to peso, he had vritten a letter to Vs:, Connally, then Secretary of tho ITavy, end after ccnslderablo deloy, rocolvcd a very

rcopcctful reply wherein Connally stated he had rcslg^icd to run for Governor

cf Texas, and that his letter vao bolns referred to the new Secretary, a Mr. Cork, Kurth, or soiiiethins li::e that. Ee showed no particular ealmooity toward

Mr. Connally vhilo discussing this feature.

i,-/j> —Ccptain Fritz cdviscd hin that among his effects In hie roon, there was round a r.ap of tho City of Dallas that liad so.tic mariua on it and t-clccd hin to

o:r:.la-In tMc nap. Oswald said he prcsujsod he had reference to on old City nap vhlch he had on which ha had cade sorio X's deaotlnx location of firms that had

advcr-ciccl Job vacancico. no stated that he h-ad no trcncportation and cither

\:rai:cd or rode a bus and that as he w^ao constantly looking for vADric, in fact

hcrui^ rccistei-ed for ernloyment at the Texas Employment Bureau, and that as he vculd receive leads either from ncvopcper ads or from the Bureau or from

neichbors, he would eh-rt tbeoe places on tho map to save tino in hio travelins.

Ho said to the bcut of his recollection, most of them were out Industrial,

presumably KGonin^ Industrial Blvd. Uhca asked es to why the X at the location of tho Tc::a3 School Look Depository at ZLm end Ebujston, he stated that "Well, I intcrvievrcd thore for a job, in fact, got -the ^ot, thcxeforo the X".

\-nr—, cr.kca as to hov he learned ebout this vc^cncy, he stated that "Oh, It was ccnoral ^nforniation in tho neishborhood, I don't recaU Just who told me about r^, out J. leoTOcd it from people in Mrs. Paynes' neighborhood" ond that all the people Ground there were looking cut for possible enploy^nent for liim. ACTr/zri JUST prior to aijd bt-ediatei:: TOUJS^m^ ASSASSHIATIOH Ami3:?T-*-To aa ir.quiry p to why he went to visit his wife on Thursday night, November 21.

-.rncrccs ho normally visited her over the weekend, ho stated tliat on this pc:r-.xculor weekend he had learned that his vlfe and Mrs. Payne were giving a por^' lor l^e children and that they were hoyring 1» a "houseful- of neighborhood c.iixarcn caid that he Just didn't want to be around at fcuch a time. Therefcie

no maae his weekly visit on Thurcdsy night.

«-«Awe,

635
Dallas, Toiao -'^- 12-17-o3

vr.-.on c:j'::od If he didn't "brine c cccl; with hln the next nomin^ to vork, he

ctctcd that he did, c^d vhen cc^.cd txa to the contcuto of the oaci;, he otritcd

thrit it contcdLTiCd hlD Ivmch. Tacn, when asl:ci ca to tho cl2e or ciicpe of tho

c::d:, he ccdd "Oh, I don't recall, it r;^ have a cnall each or a lorco cac'.:, you don't alucys find ono that Juot fito your ccndwichco." ^Hicn cckcd as to

"./here ho placed the cack vhcn he cot in tho cor, he said In hio lap, or pocsiLly

the front ccat "beside hin, ao ho alvcyo did beccuflo he didn't vant to cet it cruchcd. He denied that ho placed aiy pachci:o in the "btjck ocat. vn^cn ndviced

that the driver ctated that he h.cd urouclit out a long porcol cuad pieced it in

t:iG had: ccat, ho ctated "Oh, ho cniot he ulctaken or elee thiiilcinG about coca other tiric %rhcn ha pichod na up."

'facn as-tod as to Mn vhei'eaboutc at the tine of the ohootin^, he stated th*at

'./hen lunch tlrce caa:c, end he didn't Goy v/liLch floor he vcc on, he caid one of

th-G Ilccpro CLiployceo invited him to cat lunch \d.th him end he ctated "You so

o:a do-v.-n end send tho elevator hack up ond I vill Join you in a few minutec."

I^cforo he could finish vliatevor ho won doinc, he ctated, tho conraotion

c-.ii'Toundinr; the acsaccinatlon took place and vhcn ho vent down stairo, a policor.:n oucctloucd hin ao to hio identification and liio hooo otated tliat "he io one

of ovir cnrploycec" whereupon the pollce:nan liad hin ctep osldo noncntarily.

rollcnrLns thic, ho cinply vall:cd out the front door of the building* I don't

recall that anyone acl:cd why he left or where or how he went. I Juot prccuzed that this had "been covered in an earlier questioning.

A. J. mDHiL IDrrm?ICL'>TIO:T CATJD—Captain Frits ccl:cd him if he laacw ooycne

"by the nc::u<:i of A. J. Hidell end he deiiicd tlint ho did. \N'hen C5l:cd if ho had

ever used this nc::xj aa en alias, he alco rnodo a denial. In fact,' he ctated

tl-'r.t he had never used tho naae, didn't luiow anyone by thlc iULt:o, end nover

l:a;l hecrd of the na:.:c before. Captain Frits then asiced hin about tho I.D. cord l-io had in his poclcct bearing such a nwne end ho flared up end ctated

"I've told you all I'm eoins to about that card. You took notes, Just read

t:-.o;a for youi'cclf, if you vant to refresh ^four rcr-oory." Ho told Coptcin Frita

tV.at "You have tho card. IJow you hoicr,/- as nuch about it as I do."

^:;-::-::-^:s;-:^^^-:s^-x-;^-x-x-H)<^x-rf-:^xsr^^-?HH^x->^/»»:HKHH:^^ )i **}t wu m kx h )Kr>jHM<-)HHHKH».fa-»K-K

-it m a ^ h x

-^H^x-iW^)(•aH<^)H^

^'Jbout 11:00 a.n. or a few rdnutes thcrccfter, comcone handed through tho door

cevcrel haac;crc on which there were so'^:o trousers, shirts, end a couple of

iv-catcrs. V/hcn asked if ho wanted to chanse any of hie clothes before bein^

cransfei'red to tho County Jail, he caid "Just give me one of those sweaters."

Ho didn't like the one they handed him and insisted on putting on a black

slip-over greater that had coc:a JcGCcd holes in it near tho flront of the richt

ciiouldcr. One cuff was released wliile he slipped tMo over tho head, follovina

vliich he was c^aln cuffed. During this change of clotliinc, Cliiof of Police

CiJu.'ry car-e into the rv>on end diocucccd oooothinG in on inaudible undertone with

Ccptain ?ritz, apparently for tho purpose of not letting Oswald hear what was

hciivj said. I have no idea what this conversation vao, but Just ]resu2» they

Wviro discussing; tho transfer of the prisoner. Z did not ^o downstairs to

wrt:neS3 the further transfer of tho prisoner.

Ot^XoJ&M^

H. D. HOLMES

Postal Inspector DalUs 22. Texas

636
APPENDIX XII

Speculations and Rumors

Myths have traditionally surrounded the dramatic assassinations

of history. The rumors and theories about the assassination of

Abraliam Lincoln that are still being publicized were for the most

part first bruited Avithm months of his death. A^^ierever there is any

element of mystery in such dramatic events misconceptions often result

from sensational speculations.

Lacking the testimony of Lee Harvey Oswald, it has been necessary

to reconstruct painstakingly all of the facts that led the Commission

to the conclusion that Oswald assassinated President Kennedy, acting

alone and without advice or assistance. The Commission has found no credible evidence that he was a member of a foreign or domestic

conspiracy of any kind. Nor was there any evidence that he was

involved with any criminal or underworld elements or that he had

any association with his slayer. Jack Euby, except as his victim. The

evidence on these issues has been set forth in great detail in this report.

In addition the Commission has inquired mto the various hypotheses, rumors, and speculations that have arisen from the tragic

developments of November 22-24, 1963. It is recognized that the

public judgment of these events has been influenced, at least to some

extent, by these conjectures.

]Many questions have been raised about the facts out of genuine

puzzlement or because of misinformation which attended some of

the early reporting of the fast-crowding events of these 3 days. Most

of the speculation and attempted reconstruction of these events by the

public centered on these basic questions: Was Lee Harvey Oswald

really the assassin of the President ; why did he do it ; did he have any

accomplices ; and why did Ruby shoot Oswald ? Many of the theories

and hypotheses advanced have rested on premises which the Commission feels deserve critical examination.

Many people who witnessed the assassination and the killing of

Oswald or were present in the area were a major source of diverse and

often contradictory information. As is easily understood under such

circumstances, all of the witnesses did not see and hear the same thing

or interpret what they saw and heard the same way and many changed

their stories as they repeated them. IMoreover, they were interviewed

at different times after the event by different people and often under

circmnstances which made accurate reporting extremely difficult. Even the occupants of the cars in the Presidential motorcade were

not entirely in agreement in their accounts because they, too, saw

and heard what happened from different positions. Moreover, those

closest to the assassination were subjected to a physical and emotional

637
strain that tended to affect their recollections of what they thought

they saw or heard. Consequently, the presentation of tlie news from

Dallas included much misinformation. This, to some extent, was

unavoidable, but the widespread and repetitive dissemination of every

scrap of information about the President's assassination and its after- math has helped to build up a large number of erroneous conclusions.

The manner in which local authorities released information about the

investigation, sometimes before it could be verified in all detail, has

further contributed to the fund of ill-founded theories. Typographical mistakes in the press and failure to transcribe sound accurately

from tapes resulted in errors, some of Avltich have remained uncorrected in print at the time of the publication of this report.

Much of the speculation that has persisted in one form or another

since November 22-24 came from people who usually spoke in good

faith. Some of the errors have resulted simply from a lack of complete

knowledge at the time of the event. In this category are the state- ments attributed to doctors at Parkland INIemorial Hospital who at- tended the dying President and described his Avounds to the press

afterAvard. It remained for the autopsy in Washington, completed

early the next morning-, to ascertain the full facts concerning the

wounds. The correction of earlier assertions, of fact on the basis

of later and fuller analysis or investigation is a normal part of the

process of accumulation of evidence. But it is not often that the

process is conducted in such an intense glare of workbvide publicity,

and later corrections have difficulty overtaking the original sensational

reports.

There is still another category of speculation and rumor that complicated and broadened the Avork of the Commission. Numerous

people claimed to have seen OsAvald or Ruby at various times and

places in the United States or abroad. Others insisted that during

the days following the assassination, they had detected significant

actions on television that Avere Avitnessed by no one else. Still others

assumed from a Avidely published picture that OsAvald Avas standing on the steps of the entrance to the Texas School Book Depository at the time the President Avas shot. Throughout the country people re- ported overheard remarks, conversations, threats, prophesies, and

opinions that seemed to them to haA^e a possible bearing on the assas- sination. More than a feAv informants initially told their speculations or professed firsthand information to ncAA'spaper and television

reporters. Later, many of them changed or retracted their stories in

telling them to official investigators.

The U.S. iuA^estigative agencies expended much valuable time and

effort inquiring into these leads. luA^estigations of a vast number of rumors and speculations reached into almost every part of the United

States and to most of the other continents of the Avorld. The Commission's Avork AA-as also handicapped by those AA'itnesses and other persons connected Avith the investigation Avho sold for publication evidence pertinent to the investigation. These persons sold

pictures and documents and eA'^en recollections, sometimes before the

638
Commission had an opportunity to receive their evidence. Some of

the evidence thus published was changed from its original form and

gave misleading impressions to the public. The piecemeal release of

this evidence, sometimes in distorted or exaggerated form, and often

out of context, provided the basis for new speculations and rumors

or served to reinforce already current ones. The practice was fre- quently harmful to the work of the Commission and a disservice to the public.

This appendix is intended to clarify the most widespread factual

misunderstandings. False or inaccurate speculations concerning the

assassination and related events are set forth below together with

brief summary statements of what the Commission has found to be

the true facts. The citation following each Commission finding is either to that portion of the report in which the subject is discussed more fully, to the evidence in the record supporting the finding, or

to both. For complete answers to these speculations, the sources cited

in the footnotes should be consulted. The speculations are considered

under the following headings

1. The source of the shots.

2. The identity of the assassin.

3. Oswald's movements between 12 :33 and 1 :15 p.m. on November 22, 1963.

4. The murder of Patrolman Tippit.

5. Oswald after his arrest.

6. Oswald in the Soviet Union.

7. Oswald's ^p to Mexico City.

8. Oswald and U.S. Government agencies.

9. Conspiratorial relationships.

10. Miscellaneous charges.

THE SOURCE OF THE SHOTS

There have been speculations that some or all of the shots aimed

at President Kennedy and Governor Connally came from the railroad

overpass as the Presidential automobile approached it, or from some- where other than the Texas School Book Depository Building. Related speculations maintain that the shots came from both the rail- road overpass and the Texas School Book Depository Building.

These are supported by a number of assertions that have been carefully

examined by the Commission in the course of its investigation and

rejected as being without foundation. They are set forth below, to- gether with the results of the Commission's investigation.

Specidation.—The shots that killed the President came from the

railroad overpass above the triple underpass.

Com/mission finding.—The shots that entered the neck and head of

the President and wounded Governor Connally came fr,om behind and

above. There is no evidence that any shots were fired at the Presi639
dent from anywhere other than the Texas School Book Depository

Building.^

Speculation.—The raih'oad overpass was left unguarded on November 22. Coimnission finding.—On November 22 the railroad ovei*pass was

guarded by two Dallas policemen, Patrolmen J. W. Foster and J. C.

T^Hiite. who have testified that they permitted only railroad personnel on the overpass.^

Speculation.—There are witnesses who alleged that the shots came from the overpass.

ComoThlssion finding.—The Conmiission does not have knowledge

of any witnesses who saw shots fired fi^om the overpass. Statements

or depositions from the 2 policemen and 13 railroad employees who

were on the overpass all affirm that no shots were fired from the overpass. ]\rost of these witnesses who discussed the source of the shots

stated that they came from the direction of Elm and Houston Streets.^ Speculation.—A rifle cartridge was recovered on the overpass.

Commission finding.—No cartridge of any kind was found on the

overpass nor has any witness come forward to claim having found

one.* Speculation.—A witness to the assassination said that she saw a man run behind the concrete wall of the overpass and disappear.

Commission finding.—Mrs. Jean L. Hill stated that after the firing

stopped she saw a white man wearing a brown overcoat and a hat

rimning west away from the Depository Building in the direction of

the railroad tracks. There are no other witnesses who claim to have

seen a man running toward the railroad tracks. Examination of all available films of the area following the shooting, reexamination of

interviews with individuals in the vicinity of the shooting, and interviews with members of the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas

County sheriff's office failed to corroborate ^Irs. HiU's recollection or to reveal the identity of the man described by Mrs. Hill.^ Speculation.—Immediately after the shooting a motorcycle policeman was seen racing up the grassy embankment to the right of the

shooting scene pursuing a couple seeking to flee from the overpass. Commission finding.—There are no witnesses who have ever stated

this and there is no evidence to support the claim. A motorcycle

policeman, Clyde A. Haygood, dismounted in the street and ran up

the incline. He stated that he saw no one running fi'om the railroad

yards adjacent to the overpass. Subsequently, at 12 :37 p.m., Haygood

reported that the shots had come from the Texas School Book Depository Building.^

Speculation.—More than three shots, perhaps as many as five or

six, were fired at the President and Governor Connally.

Commission finding.—The weight of the evidence indicates that

three shots were fired, of which two struck President Kennedy. There

is persuasive evidence from the experts that one of these two bullets

also struck Governor Connalh^ Some witnesses claimed that they

640
heard more than three shots but, as fully described in chapter III, the

great majority heard only three shots."^ Speculation.—At least four or five bullets have been found.

Commission finding.—After the assassination, metal remains of bullets were recovered. These included an almost whole bullet of 158.6

grains, fragments weighing 44.6 grains and 21.0 grains, and other

fragments too small to be identified. These metal remains indicate that

at least two shots were fired. The Commission believes that three shots were fired.^ Speculation.—A bullet was found on the stretcher used for President Kennedy at Parkland Hospital.

Commission finding.—No bullet was found on the stretcher used by

President Kennedy. An almost whole bullet was found when it rolled off the stretcher used by Governor Connally.®

Speculation.—A bullet was found in the grass near the scene of the

assassination shortly afterward by a deputy sheriff of Dallas County,

E. R. Walthers.

Commiission finding.—Walthers has denied that he found a bullet

at any time or that he told anyone that he had found one. With

another deputy sheriff he made a diligent search for such a bullet 2 or

3 days after the assassination.^^

Speculation.—The Presidential, car stopped momentarily or almost came to a complete halt after the first shot. This is evidence that

the driver had the impression that the first shot came from the front

and therefore hesitated to drive closer to the overpass.

Commission finding.—The Presidential car did not stop or almost come to a complete halt after the firing of the first shot or any other

shots. The driver. Special Agent William R. Greer, has testified that

he accelerated the car after what was pr,obably the second shot. Motion pictures of the scene show that the car slowed down momentarily after the shot that struck the President in the head and then speeded

up rapidly.^^ Speculation.—The Presidential car had a small round bullet hole

in the front windshield. This is evidence that a shot or shots were

fired at the President from the front of the car. Commission finding.—The windshield was not penetrated by any

bullet. A small residue of lead was found on the inside surface of

the windshield; on the outside of the windshield was a very smali

pattern of cracks immediately in front of the lead residue on the inside.

The bullet from which this lead residue came was probably one of those

that struck the President and therefore came from overhead and to the rear. Experts established that the abrasion in the windshield came from impact on the inside of the glass.^^

Speculation.—The throat wound sustained by the President was the

result of a shot fired from the front according to doctors at Parkland Hospital.

Commission finding.—Doctors at Parkland Hospital originally

believed that the throat wound could have been either an entry or exit

wound, but they made no examination to determine entry and exit

. 641
wounds. Subsequently, when the evidence of the autopsy became

available, the doctors at Parkland agreed that it was an exit wound/

Speculation.—It is inconceivable that the doctors at Parkland Hospital did not turn the President over on his face and notice the bullet

hole in the back of his neck.

Commission finding.—Doctors at Parkland Hospital have testified that the President remained on his back while he was at Parkland

Hospital for treatment and that they did not turn him over at any

time; they were busy trying to save his life. Consequently, they were

never aware of the hole in the back of his neck until they were notified

of it later."

Speculation.—The first shot struck the President in the throat as the car was proceeding along Houston Street toward the Texas School

Book Depository. The car then made a left turn on to Elm Street and proceeded for some distance before additional shots were fired at the President.

ComTYiission finding.—Before the autopsy findings made it clear that

the shots were fired from the rear, there was speculation that the first shot may have been fired before the Presidential car turned on to Elm

Street. As this report demonstrates, all of the shots that struck the

President were fired from the rear and in a time period inconsistent

with the theory that the first shot struck him while his car was coming

down Houston Street. Motion pictures taken at the time show that

the first shot struck the President after the car had turned onto Elm

Street and was proceeding away from the Depository.^^

THE ASSASSIN

Speculations tending to support the theory that Oswald could not

have assassinated President Kennedy are based on a wide variety of

assertions. Among these are statements that Oswald could not have

been acquainted with the motorcade route before he came to work on November 22, that he may well have carried curtain rods rather than

a rifie in a broAvn paper package he brought with him, that there may

have been other people in the building who could have fired the rifle, that Oswald could not have fired the shots in the time available to him,

that he was not a good enough marksman to have scored the hits with

the rifle, that there were other people in the lunchroom of the Depository Building when he was confronted by Patrolman M. L. Baker,

and that there are no eyeAvitn esses who could identify Oswald as having been in the window. Each of these speculations is dealt with

below in the light of the testimony and evidence considered by the

Commission.

Speculation.—Oswald could not have known the motorcade route before he arrived at work on November 22. Commission finding.—The motorcade route was published in both

Dallas papers on November 19 and was therefore available at least 72 hours before Oswald reported for work on November 22.^® 642 -
Speculation.—The route as shown in the newspaper took the motorcade through the Triple Underpass via Main Street, a block away from

the Depository. Therefore, Oswald could not have known that the

motorcade would pass directly by the Texas School Book Depository

Building.

Commission finding.—The motorcade route as published showed

the motorcade turning right off Main Street onto Houston for one

block and then left on Elm to the access road to the Stemmons Freeway. This route was clearly indicated in published descriptions and

maps of the motorcade route. There was no mention of continuing on Main Street through the Triple Underpass.^^

Speculation.—The motorcade route was changed on November 22

after the map had been printed. The motorcade was shifted from

Main Street over to Elm Street to bring it by the Texas School Book

Depository Building.

Commission finding.—The motorcade route was decided upon on November 18 and published in the Dallas newspapers on November

19. It w^as not changed in any way thereafter. The route called for

the motorcade to turn off Main Street at Houston, go up to Elm, and

then turn left on Elm Street.^^ Speculation.—The normal and logical route would have been

straight down Main Street through the Triple Underpass to the Stem- mons Freeway. It is possible to drive from Main onto the access road to the Stemmons Freeway from a point beyond the underpass.

Conwnission finding.—The normal, direct, and only permissible route to the Stemmons Freeway from Main Street is via Houston and

Elm Streets. Any attempt to turn onto the access road to the Stem- mons Freeway from Main Street beyond the Triple Underpass would

have been extremely difficult because of a concrete strip dividing Elm

and Main Streets. Such an attempt would have required making an

S-turn beyond the strip at a very tight angle, thereby slowing the

Presidential car almost to a stop.^^

Speculation.—Oswald may well have carried curtain rods to work

on November 22 in the brown paper package he was observed to bring

into the building because he lived in a room where he needed them.

Commission finding.—According to Oswald's landlady at 1026

North Beckley Avenue, Mrs. A. C. Johnson, the room had Venetian

blinds, curtain rods, and curtains while Oswald was living there. The

curtain rods in the Paine garage that belonged to Mrs. Paine were

still there after Osw^ald went to work on November 22. Mrs. Paine

and Marina Oswald testified that Oswald had not spoken to them

about curtain rods. After the assassination the empty package was

found near the window from which the shots were fired, but no cur- tain rods Avere found.^^

Speculation.—Oswald spent the morning of November 22 in the

company of other workers in the building and remained with them

until they went downstairs to watch the President go by, no later

probably than 12 :15. 643
Commission finding.—Oswald did not spend the morning in tlie company of other workers in the building, and before the assassination he was last seen in the building on the sixth floor at about 11 :55 a.m. by Charles Givens, another employee.^^

Sjyeculation.—It is probable that the chicken lunch, remains of which

were found on the sixth floor, was eaten by an accomplice of Oswald

who had hidden on the sixth floor overnight.

CoQiimission -finding.—The chicken lunch had been eaten shortly

after noon on November 22 by Bonnie Ray Williams, an employee of

the Texas School Book Depository, who after eating his lunch went

to the fifth floor where he was when the shots were fired. Oswald did

not eat the chicken lunch, nor did he drink from the soft drink bottle

found near the chicken lunch.^^ ^speculation.—Laboratory tests showed remains of the chicken lunch

fomid on the sixth floor were 2 days old. Convtnission finding.—The chicken lunch remains had been left there shortly after noon on XoA'ember 22 by Bonnie Ray Williams.^^

Speculation.—An amateur 8-millimeter photograph taken at 12 :20 p.m., 10 minutes before the assassination of President Kennedy,

showed two silhouettes at the sixth-floor window of the Depositor^-.

Commission finding.—A film taken by an amateur photographer.

Robert J. E. Hughes, just before the assassination, shows a shadow in

the southeast comer window of the sixth floor. This has been determined after examination by the FBI and the U.S. Xa^y Photographic

Interpretation Center to be the shadow from the cartons near the

window.^*

Speculation.—A picture published widely in newspapers and magazines after the assassination showed Lee Harvey Oswald standing on

the front steps of the Texas School Book Depository Building shortly

before the President's motorcade passed by.

Com/mission finding.—The man on the front steps of the building,

thought or alleged by some to be Lee Harvey Oswald, is actually Billy

Lovelady, an employee of the Texas School Book Depository, who

somewhat resembles Oswald. Lovelady has identified himself in the

picture, and other employees of the Depositor}^ standnig with him, as shown in the picture, have verified that he was the man m the picture

and that Oswald was not there.-^ Speculatian.—The post office box in Dallas to which Oswald had

the rifle mailed was kept mider both his name and that of A. Hidell.

Commission finding.—It is not known whether Oswald's application listed the name A. Hidell as one entitled to receive mail at the

box. In accordance with U.S. Post Office regulations, the portion of

the application listing the names of persons other than the applicant

entitled to receive mail was discarded after the box was closed on May 14, 1963. During the summer of 1963, Oswald rented a post

office box in New Orleans, listing the name "Hidell'' in addition to his

own name and that of his wife. Hidell was a favorite alias used by

Oswald on a number of occasions. Diligent search has failed to re- 644
veal any person in Dallas or New Orleans fey that name. It was

merely a creation for his own purposes.^^

Speculation.—The President's car was going at a speed estimated

at from 12 to 20 miles per hour, thus presenting a target comparable

to the most difficult that a soldier would encounter under battlefield

conditions.

Commission finding.—During the period between the time that the

first and second shots struck the President, the Presidential car was

traveling at an average speed of approximately 11.2 miles per hour.

Expert witnesses testified that the target is regarded as a favorable one because the car was going away from the marksman in a straight

]ine.27 Speculation.—Oswald could not have fired three shots from the

Mannlicher-Carcano rifle in 51^ seconds.

Commission finding.—^According to expert witnesses, exacting tests conducted for the Commission demonstrated that it was possible to fire three shots from the rifle within 5% seconds. It should be noted that

the first loaded shell was already in the chamber ready for firing ; Oswald had only to pull the trigger to fire the first shot and to work the

bolt twice in order to fire the second and third shots. They testified that if the second shot missed, Oswald had between 4.8 and 5.6 seconds

to fire the three shots. If either the first or third shot missed, Oswald

had in excess of 7 seconds to fire the three shots.^^ Speculation.—Oswald did not have the marksmanship ability demonstrated by the rifleman who fired the shots. Commission finding.—Oswald qualified as a sharpshooter and a marksman with the M-1 rifle in the Marine Corps. Marina Oswald

testified that in New Orleans her husband practiced operating the

bolt of the rifle. Moreover, experts stated that the scope was a substantial aid for rapid, accurate firing. The Commission con- cluded that Oswald had the capability with a rifle to commit

assassination.29

Speculation.—The name of the rifle used in the assassination appeared on the rifle. Therefore, the searchers who found the rifle on

the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository should have been

able to identify it correctly by name.

Com/mission finding.—An examination of the rifle does not reveal

any manufacturer's name. An inscription on the rifle shows that it was made in Italy. The rifle was identified by Captain Fritz and

Lieutenant Day, who were the first to actually handle it.^° Speculation.—The rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School

Book Depository was identified as a 7.65 Mauser by the maA who found

it. Deputy Constable Seymour Weitzman.

Commission finding.—^AYeitzman, the original source of the speculation that the rifle was a Mauser, and Deputy Sheriff Eugene Boone

found the weapon. Weitzman did not handle the rifle and did not

examine it at close range. He had little more than a glimpse

of it and thought it was a Mauser, a German bolt-type rifle similar in

appearance to the Mannlicher-Carcano. Police laboratory technicians

645
subsequently arrived and correctly identified the weapon as a 6.5 Italian rifle.^^ Speculation.—There is evidence that a second rifle was discovered on the roof of the Texas School Book Depository or on the overpass.

CommisiHwn firtdmg.—No second rifle Avas found in either of these

places or in any other place. The shots that struck President Kennedy

and Governor Connally came from the rifle found on the sixth floor of

the Texas School Book Depository.^^ S])eci(lat'ion.—It is possible that there was a second MannlicherCarcano rifle involved in the assassination. The Irving Sports Shop

mounted a scope on a rifle 3 Aveeks before the assassination.

Commls^'wn fndmg.—Dial D. Ryder, an employee of the Irving

Sports Shop, has stated that he found on his workbench on November 23 an undated work tag with the name "Oswald" on it, indicating

that sometime during the first 2 weeks of November three holes had

been bored in a rifle and a telescopic sight mounted on it and boresighted. However, Ryder and his employer, Charles W. Greener,

had no recollection of Oswald, of his Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, of the

transaction allegedly represented by the repair tag, or of any person

for whom such a repair was supposedly made. The rifle found on

the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository had two holes

in it bored for the installation of a scope prior to shipment to Oswald

in March 1963. The Commission concluded that it is doubtful whether

the tag produced by Ryder was authentic. All of the evidence developed proves that Oswald owned only the one rifle—the MannlicherCarcano—and that he did not bring it or a second rifle to the Irving

Sports Shop.^''

Speculation.—Ammunition for the rifle found on the sixth floor of

the Texas School Book Depository had not been manufactured since

the end of World War II. The ammunition used by OsAvald must,-

therefore, have been at least 20 years old, making it extremely unreliable. Commission -finding.—The ammunition used in the rifle Avas American ammunition recently made by the Western Cartridge Co., Avhich

manufactures such ammunition currently. In tests with the same

kind of ammunition, experts fired OsAvalcl's Mannlicher-Carcano rifle more than 100 times Avithout any misfires.^* Speculation.—The assertion that OsAvald's palmprint appeared on

the rifle is false. The FBI told neAvsmen in an off-the-record briefingsession that there Avas no palmprint on the rifle. Comonission finding.—The FBI confirmed that the palmprint lifted

by the Dallas police from the rifle found on the sixth floor of the

Texas School Book Depository Building Avas OsAvald's palmprint.

The FBI informed the Commission that no FBI agent made state- ments of any type to the press concerning the existence or nonexistence

of this print.^^

Speculation.—If Oswald had been gloveless, he would have left fingerprints on the rifle because he Avould not have had time to wipe

the prints off the rifle after he had fired it. 646
Commission finding.—An FBI fingerprint expert testified that the

poor quality of the metal and wooden parts would cause them to absorb moisture from the skin, thereby making a clear print unlikely.

There is no evidence that Oswald wore gloves or that he wiped prints

off the rifle. Latent fingerprints were found on the rifle but they were too incomplete to be identified.^® Speculation.—Gordon Shanklin, the special agent in charge of the

Dallas office of the FBI, stated that the paraffin test of Oswald's face

and hands was positive and proved that he had fired a rifle. Commission finding.—The paraffin tests were conducted by members of the Dallas Police Department and the technical examinations

by members of the Dallas City-County Criminal Investigation Laboratory. The FBI has notified the Commission that neither Shanklin

nor any other representative of the FBI ever made such a statement. The Commission has found no evidence that Special Agent Shanklin

ever made this statement publicly.^^

Speculation.—Marina Oswald stated that she did not know that her

husband owned a rifle nor did she know that he owned a pistol.

Commission finding.—There is no evidence that Marina Oswald

ever told this to any authorities. On the afternoon of November 22,

she told the police that her husband owned a rifle and that he kept

it in the garage of the Paine house in Irving. Later, at Dallas police

headquarters, she said that she could not identify as her husband's

the rifle shown her by policemen. When Marina Oswald appeared

before the Commission she was shown the Mannlicher-Caroano 6.5

rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository and identified it as the

"fateful rifle of Lee Oswald." ^® Speculation.—The picture of Oswald taken by his wife in M^rch

or April 1963 and showing him with a rifle and a pistol was "doctored" when it appeared in magazines and newspapers in February

1964. The rifle held by Oswald in these pictures is not the same rifle that was found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building.

Commission finding.—Life magazine, Newsweek, and the New York

Times notified the Commission that they had retouched this picture.

In doing so, they inadvertently altered details of the configuration of

the rifle. The original prints of this picture have been examined

by the Commission and by photographic experts who have identified

the rifle as a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5, the same kind as the one found

on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. FBI experts

testified that the picture was taken with Oswald's camera.^^

Speculation.—The rifle picture of Oswald was a composite one with

Oswald's face pasted on somebody else's body.

Co'inmission finding.—Marina Oswald has testified that she took

this picture w^ith a camera owned by her husband and subsequently

identified as Oswald's Imperial Reflex camera. She identified the man

in the picture as her husband. Experts also state the picture was

not a composite.*^

647
Speculation.—After firing the shots, Oswald could not have disposed

of the rifle and descended the stairs to the limchroom in time to get a drink from a soft drink machine and be there when Patrolman

Baker came in. ComTThission finding.—A series of time tests made by investigators

and by Roy S. Truly and Patrolman M. L. Baker at the request of

the Commission, show that it was possible for Oswald to have placed

the rifle behind a box and descended to the lunchroom on the second

floor before Patrolman Baker and Truly got up there. Oswald did

not have a soft drink bottle in his hand at the time he was confronted

by Baker and he was not standing by the soft drink machine. He

was just entering the lunchroom; Baker caught a glimpse of him

through the glass panel in the door leading to the lunchroom

vestibule.*^ Speculation.—There were other people present in the lunchroom at the time that Baker and Truly saw Oswald there. Commission finding.—Baker and Truly have both stated that there was no one in the lunchroom other than Oswald at the time that they

entered. No other witness to this incident has been foimd.*^

Speculation.—Police were sealing off all exits from the building by

the time Oswald got to the second floor. Cow/mission finding.—Police may have begun to take up positions

at the exits to the building as early as 12:33, but it is unlikely

that they had blocked them off completely until 12:37 p.m. at the

earliest. Oswald was seen in an office, walking toward an exit leading to the front stairway, at about 12 :33 p.m. Oswald probably had

at least 7 minutes in which to get out of the building without being

stopped.*^

OSWALD'S MOVEMENTS BETWEEN 12:33 AND 1:15 P.M.

One of the major theses urged in support of the theory that Oswald

did not murder Patrolman Tippit was that his known movements after

he left the Texas School Book Depository would not have permitted

him to have arrived at 10th Street and Patton Avenue in time to en- counter Tippit by 1 :16 p.m. Careful reenactments by investigative

agencies and by members of the Commission staff of Oswald's movements from the time he left the Texas School Book Depository until

he encountered Tippit verified that Oswald could reach his roominghouse at 1026 North Beckley Avenue at approximately 1 p.m. or

earlier. The housekeeper at the roominghouse testified that Oswald

spent only a few minutes at the house, leaving as hurriedly as he

had arrived. During police interrogation after his arrest, Oswald

admitted to riding both bus and taxi in returning to his roominghouse

after the assassination of the President. From 1026 North Beckley

Avenue, Oswald could easily have walked the nine tenths of a mile

to 10th Street and Patton Avenue where he encoimtered Tippit.

648
Speculation.—A detailed and remarkably clear description of

Oswald was sent over the police radio in Dallas at 12 :36 p.m., November 22, 1963.

Commission finding.—The radio logs of the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas County Sheriff's Office show that no description of

a suspect in the assassination of the President was broadcast before

12 :45 p.m. on that day. No reference to Oswald by name was broadcast before he was arrested. The description of the suspect that was

broadcast was similar to that of Oswald, but it lacked some important

specific details such as color of hair and eyes. The information for

the initial broadcasts most probably came from Howard Brennan, who

saw Oswald in the window when he was firing the rifle.^* Speculation.—Oswald did not have time for all of the movements

imputed to him between his departure from the Texas School Book

Depository and his encounter with Tippit.

Commission finding.—Time tests of all of Oswald's movements

establish that these movements could have been accomplished in the

time available to him.*^

Speculation.—Oswald was stopped by police as he left the building

and was permitted to pass after he told them he worked in the building.

Commission finding.—The Commission has found no witness who

saw Oswald leave the building. This speculation is probably a misinterpretation of the fact that he was stopped in the lunchroom by

Patrolman Baker before he left the building and was allowed to proceed after Truly, the Depository superintendent, identified him as an

employee there. Police did not seal off the building until at least several minutes after Oswald could have left.*^ Speculation.—The log of the cabdriver who took Oswald to North

Beckley Avenue, William W. Whaley, shows that Oswald entered his

cab at 12 :30 p.m. Since this occurred at some distance from the point

of the President's assassination, Oswald could not have shot the

President.

GommAssion finding.—^Whaley's log does show 12 :30 p.m., but he has

testified that he was not accurate in logging the time that passengers

entered his cab, that he usually logged them at 15-minute intervals,

and that it was undoubtedly some time later than 12 :30 when Oswald

entered his cab. Sometimes he did not make entries in his logbook

until three or four trips later. The bus transfer in Oswald's posses- sion was issued after 12 :36 p.m. The Commission has determined that

Oswald probably entered Whaley's cab at about 12 :47 or 12 :48 p.m.^^

Speculation.—The distance from the Greyhound terminal in Dallas,

where Oswald entered the cab, to North Beckley Avenue, where he

probably left the cab, is something over 3 miles—normally a 10- minute cab drive. Given the traffic jam that existed at the time, it is doubtful that Whaley could have made the trip in less than 15

minutes. One estimate has placed the time at 24 minutes from the

Greyhound terminal to Oswald's roominghouse.

Commission finding.—The distance from the Greyhound bus terminal at Jackson and Lamar Streets to the 500 block of North Beckley

649

730-900 0-64—43
is 2.5 miles. Oswald actually got out in the 700 block of North Beckley. The distance was, therefore, less than 2.5 miles. WTialey has

testified to the Commission that the trip took 6 minutes. Test runs made by members of the Commission staff under traffic conditions

somewhat similar to those that existed on November 22, took approximately 5 minutes and 30 seconds. To walk from Beckley and Neely,

which is the 700 block of Beckley, where Oswald probably left the cab, to 1026 North Beckley, took Commission staff members 5 minutes and

45 seconds.*®

Speculation.—Oswald was on his way to Jack Ruby's apartment

when he was stopped by Patrolman Tippit.

Commission finding.—There is no evidence that Oswald and Ruby

knew each other or had any relationship through a third party or

parties. There is no evidence that Oswald knew where Ruby lived.

Accordingly, there is neither evidence nor reason to believe that

Oswald was on his way to Ruby's apartment when he was stopped by

Tippit.*^

MURDER OF TIPPIT

Speculations on the murder of Tippit centered about assertions that

he was elsewhere than he was supposed to be when he was shot, that

he knew the man who shot him, and that the description of the

murderer given by one of the eyewitr^sses did not fit Oswald's de- scription.

The Commission foimd that Tippit was unquestionably patrolling

in an area to which he had been directed by police headquarters.

There was no evidence to support the speculation that Tippit and

Oswald knew each other or had ever seen each other before. The

description of the murderer imputed to one of the witnesses was denied

by her and had no support from any other eyewitness.

Speculation.—^Tippit was driving alone in his police car even though standing orders for police in Dallas were that radio cars of

the type Tippit was driving must have two policemen in them.

Cormnission -finding.—Dallas police officials stated that department

policy required about 80 percent of the patrolmen on the day shift,

7 a.m. to 3 p.m., to work alone. Tippit was one of the patrolmen as- signed to work alone that day.^°

Speculation.—Tippit was violating an order he had received the day

before not to leave the sector to which he had been assigned. This

sector was supposed to be in downtown Dallas at the time he stopped

Oswald.

Commission finding.—A re^aew of Tippit's file in the Dallas Police

Department and the department's radio log revealed that following

the shooting of the President, Tippit was directed to move into and

remain in the central Oak Cliff area available for any emergency.^^

Speculation.—The police had been withdrawn from the area in

which Tippit found Oswald.

650
C&rmnission finding.—Other police cars were operating in the Oak

Cliff area at the same time as Tippit. They participated in the subsequent search for and apprehension of Tippit's slayer.^^

Speculation.—Tippit violated a procedure governing radio cars when he failed to notify headquarters that he was stopping to question a suspect.

GoTrmiission finding.—The Dallas Police Department had no re- quirement or regulation for police officers to notify headquarters

when stopping to question a suspect. Therefore, Tippit did not violate any police radio procedure in failing to notify the radio dis- patcher that he was stopping Oswald.^^

Speculation.—Tippit could not have recognized Oswald from the

description sent out over the police radio.

Commission finding.—There is no certain way of knowing whether

Tippit recognized Oswald from the description put out by the police

radio. The Dallas Police Department radio log shows that the

police radio dispatcher at 1 :29 p.m. noted a similarity between the

broadcast descriptions of the President's assassin and Tippit's slayer. It is conceivable, even probable, that Tippit stopped Oswald because

of the description broadcast by the police radio.^*

Speculation.—^Tippit and his killer knew each other.

Commission finding.—Investigation has revealed no evidence that

Oswald and Tippit were acquainted, had ever seen each other, or had any mutual acquaintances. Witnesses to the shooting observed no signs of recognition' between the two men.^^

Speculation.—Mrs. Helen Markham, a witness to the slaying of

Tippit, put the time at just after 1 :06 p.m. This would have made

it impossible for Oswald to have committed the killing since he would

not have had time to arrive at the shooting scene by that time.

Commission finding.—The shooting of Tippit has been established

at approximately 1 :15 or 1 :16 p.m. on the basis of a call to police headquarters on Tippit's car radio by another witness to the assassination, Domingo Benavides. In her various statements and in her

testimony, Mrs. Markham was uncertain and inconsistent in her recol- lection of the exact time of the slaying.^^

Speculation.—Mrs. Helen Markham is the only witness to the kill- ing of Tippit.

Com/mission finding.—Other witnesses to the killing of Tippit in- clude Domingo Benavides, who used Tippit's car radio to notify the

police dispatcher of the killing at 1 :16 p.m., and William Scoggins,

a cabdriver parked at the corner of 10th Street and Patton Avenue.

Barbara Jeanette Davis and Virginia Davis saw a man with a pistol

in his hand walk across their lawn immediately after they heard the

sound of the shots that killed Tippit. The man emptied the shells from

his pistol and turned the corner from 10th Street onto Patton Avenue.

All of these witnesses, except Benavides, subsequently picked Oswald

out of a lineup as the slayer. Benavides did not feel that he could

make a positive identification and never attended a lineup for the

purpose.^'^

651
Speculation.—^Mrs. Markham said that the man she saw shooting

Tippit was about 30, short, with bushy hair, and wearing a white coat. Since Oswald does not fit this description he could not be the killer. Com/mission finding.—In evaluating Helen Markham's testimony

the Commission is aware of allegations that she described the killer

of Patrolman Tippit as short, stocky, and with bushy hair, which

would not be a correct description of Oswald. It has also been

alleged that Mrs. Markham identified Oswald in the lineup because

of his clothing rather than his appearance. When Oswald appeared

in the lineup at which Mrs. Markliam was present, he was not wearing

the jacket which he wore at the time of the shooting, and IMrs. Markham has testified that her identification was based "mostly from his

face." ^^ Moreover, Mrs. Markham has denied that she ever described

the man who killed Tippit as short, stocky, and with bushy hair. The

Commission reviewed the transcript of a telephone conversation in

which Mrs. Markham was alleged to have made such a description.

In the transcription Mrs. Markham reaffirmed her positive identifica- tion of Oswald and denied having described the killer as short, stocky,

and bushy haired.^^

Speculation.—Another witness to the slaying of Patrolman Tippit, an unidentified woman, was interviewed by the FBI but was never

called as a witness by the President's Commission on the Assassination

of President Kennedy. This witness is alleged to have stated that

she saw two men involved in the shooting and that they ran off in

opposite directions afterward.

Connnhission finding.—The only woman among the witnesses to the

slaying of Tippit known to the Commission is Helen Markham. The

FBI never interviewed any other woman who claimed to haive seen the shooting and never received any information concerning the exist- ence of such a witness. Two women, Barbara Jeanette Davis and

Virginia Davis, saw the killer immediately after th.Q^ shooting as he crossed the lawn at the corner of Patton Avenue and 10th Street,

but they did not witness the shooting itself. They were both interviewed by the FBI and appeared before the Commission. The Commission has no evidence that there was any witness to the slaying

other than those identified in chapter IY.^°

Speculation.—No witness saw Oswald between the time he was

supposed to have reloaded his gun near the scene of the slaying and

his appearance at the shoestore on Jefferson Boulevard.

Cormrdssion finding.-^Six witnesses identified Oswald as the man

they saw in flight after the murder of Tippit. Tlie killer was

seen, gun in hand, by Ted Callaway and Sam Guinyard in the block

of Patton Avenue between 10th Street and Jefferson Boulevard after

the shooting of Tippit. They saw him run to Jefferson and turn right.

On the evening of November 22, Callaway and Guinyard picked

Oswald out of a police lineup as the man they saw with the gun.

Two other men, Warren Reynolds and Pat Patterson, saw a man

with a pistol in his hand running south on Patton Avenue. They

followed him for a block on Jefferson Boulevard and then lost sight

652
of him. Both men subsequently identified pictures of Oswald as the

man they saw with the gun. Harold Russell also saw a man with a gun running south on Patton Avenue and later identified him from

pictures as Oswald. Mrs. Mary Brock saw a man she later identified as Oswald walk at a fast pace into the parking lot behind the service

station at the corner of Jefferson and Crawford, where Oswald's

jacket was found shortly after.^^ Speculation.—When Oswald left his roominghouse at about 1 p.m. on November 22 he had on a zipper-type tan plaid jacket.

Commission finding.—The jacket that Oswald was wearing at the

time of the slaying of Tippit was a light-gray jacket. According to Marina Oswald, her husband owned only two jackets—one blue and

the other light gray. The housekeeper at 1026 North Beckley Avenue,

Mrs. Earlene Roberts, was not certain about the color of the jacket

that Oswald was wearing when he left the house.^^

Speculation.—Oswald wore an olive-brjOwn plain jacket which is visible in all the pictures of him after his arrest. Com/mission finding.—At the time of his arrest, Oswald was not

wearing a jacket. The jacket that was subsequently recovered in a parking lot and identified as Oswald's was a light-gray one. There

are no witnesses who have stated that Oswald was wearing an olivebrown jacket immediately before or after his arrest. The Commission has seen no pictures of Oswald taken subsequent to his arrest that show him in such a jacket. Pictures taken shortly after his

arrest show him in the shirt that Mrs. Bledsoe described him as wearing when she saw him on the bus at approximately 1 :40 p.m.*^

Speculation.—Oswald's landlady, Mrs. A. C. Johnson, said that

Oswald never had a gun in the room. CoTnmiMion finding.—In her testimony before the Commission, Mrs.

Johnson said that he "never brought that rifle in my house. * * * He

could have had this pistol, I don't know, because they found the

scabbard." ^* As shown in chapter IV, Oswald kept his rifle in the

Paine garage in Irving while he was living in Dallas during October

and November. The pistol was small and easily concealed.^^

Speculation.—^There was absolutely no place to hide a gun in

Oswald's room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue.

Corrwnission finding.—In the search of Oswald's room after his

apprehension police found a pistol holster. Oswald's landlady, Mrs.

A. C. Johnson, stated that she had not seen the holster before.

There is no reason to believe that Oswald could not have had both a

pistol and the holster hidden in the room. Oswald's pistol was a

small one with the barrel cut down to 2% inches. It could have been

concealed in a pocket of his clothes.*® Speculation.—Oswald did not pick up the revolver from his ropm

at 1 p.m.

Convmission finding.—There is reason to believe that Oswald did

pick up the revolver from his room, probably concealing it beneath

his jacket. This likelil^ood is reinforced by the finding of the pistol

holster in the room after the assassination, since this indicates that

653
Oswald did not store the pistol at the home of Mrs. Paine where he

spent the night before the assassination.^^

Speculation.—No one saw Oswald enter the Texas Theatre.

Convmission finding.—A nearby shoe store manager, Johnny C.

Brewer, and the theatre cashier, Julia Postal, saw Oswald enter the

lobby of the theatre from where he went on into the theatre proper.^^

Speculation.—Not a single one of the people in the Texas Theatre at the time of Oswald's arrest has come forward or been brought for- ward to give an eyewitness account of the arrest. Commission finding.—Johnny C. Brewer, the shoe store manager,

and two patrons of the theatre—John Gibson and George Jefferson

Applin, Jr.—were present in the theatre and testified before the Commission on the circumstances of Oswald's arrest at the Texas Theatre.

Only 6 or 7 people were seated on the main floor of the theatre.^^ Speculation.—There is no independent witness aside from the police

who testified that Oswald was carrying a gun when arrested by the

police.

CoTwrnission finding.—Johnny Brewer testified before the Commission that he saw Oswald pull a gun and that he saw it taken away

from him by a policeman/^

OSWALD AFTER HIS ARREST

The Commission found that assertions that the Dallas police treated

Oswald brutally and denied him his constitutional rights to legal

counsel had no foundation in fact. Insinuations that Dallas police

officials and District Attorney Henry M. Wade fabricated or altered

evidence to establish the guilt of Oswald were baseless. It is true that police officials and the district attorney made errors in giving

evidential information to the press, but these were clearly the result

of misapprehensions or ignorance rather than intent, and at the worst

represent bad judgment. At least one imputed fabrication of fact,

further embellished by repetition, never really occurred. Sinister

connotations were evoked by the attribution to the district attorney of

the statement that a taxicab driver named Darryl Click drove Oswald

from downtown Dallas to the area of his roominghouse in Oak Cliff. It has been correctly ascertained that no such taxicab driver existed in

Dallas. On the other hand, the district attorney, who was quoted in a newspaper transcript as making the statement, never made the state- ment nor did any one else. Audio tapes of the district attorney's

press conference make clear that the person who transcribed the con- ference rendered a reference to the "Oak Cliff" area of Dallas as a person, "Darryl Click". This error in transcription is the sole source

for the existence of a "Darryl Click" as a taxicab driver.

Speculation.—Oswald was the victim of police brutality

Commission finding.—Oswald resisted arrest in the Texas Theatre

and drew a gun. He received a slight cut over his right eye and a 654
bruise under his left eye in the course of his struggles. During the

time he was in police custody, he was neither ill-treated nor abused.^^

Specvlation.—Oswald was never formally charged with the assas- sination of the President; he was charged only with the shooting of

Patrolman J. D. Tippit.

Commission finding.—Oswald was arraigned for the murder of

President Kennedy before Justice of the Peace David Johnston on

the fourth floor of the Police Department building at 1 :35 a.m., November 23. Previously, he had been arraigned before Johnston for

the murder of Tippit at 7 :10 p. m., November 22.^^ Speculation.—The police questioned Oswald extensively about the

Tippit murder on the first day of his detention. They did not question

him about the assassination of President Kennedy.

Commission finding.—Dallas police officials stated that they ques- tioned Oswald repeatedly on November 22 about the assassination of

President Kennedy and his relationship to it. At the first interrogation, Captain Fritz asked Oswald to account for himself at the time

the President was shot. FBI agents who were present also stated that

he was questioned about the assassination of the President.^^

Speculation.—Oswald's attempts to get legal counsel were deliberately thwarted by the police and he was cut off from outside calls that would have permitted him to obtain a lawyer.

Commission findim^g.—On November 23, Oswald was visited by the

president of the Dallas Bar Association, H. LfOuis Nichols, who offered

him help in getting a lawyer; Oswald refused the offer. Oswald was

told by the police that he could use the telephone when he wished, and

he did make telephone calls. He attempted to call attorney John

Abt in New York but was unsuccessful in reaching him. Mrs.

Paine testified that at Osw^ald's request she tried without success to reach Abt. Oswald was also visited by his wife, mother, and brother,

to any of whom he could have turned for help in getting counsel."^* OSWALD IN THE SOVIET UNION

Oswald's residence in the Soviet Union for more than 2% years

aroused speculation after his arrest that he was an agent of the Soviet

Union or in some way affiliated with it. This speculation was supported by assertions that he had received exceptionally favored treat- ment from the Soviet Government in securing permission to enter and

leave the country, especially the latter, because his Russian wife and

child were permitted to leave with him. The careful analysis of these

speculations in chapter VI of this report led to the Commission's conclusion that there is no credible evidence that Oswald was an agent of

the Soviet Government and that he did not receive unusually favorable

treatment in entering or leaving the Soviet Union or in returning to the

United States. 665
Speculation.—A young private in the Marine Corps in the 1950's

could not study Marxism, learn Russian, and read Soviet newspapers

without any adverse repercussions in his unit.

Commission finding.—Although Oswald's interest in the Soviet

Union was well known, his interest in Marxism was apparently known

to only a few of his fellow marines. Wliile stationed in California,

he studied Russian. In February 1959, while still in the Marines, he

took an official test on his proficiency in Russian and was rated "Poor.'' In California at about this time he probably read a Russian-language

newspaper. The reactions of his fellow Marines who were aware of

his interests in Marxism and the Soviet Union were apparently not

antagonistic and did not deter him from pursuing these interests.'^^ Speculation.—Oswald learned Russian during his service in the Marines as part of his military training.

Cormrrdssion finding.—Oswald never received any training from the

Marine Corps in the Russian language. His studies of Russian were

entirely on his own time and at his own initiative. ^^ Speculation.—Oswald could not have saved $1,600 from his Marine

pay for his trip to Russia in 1959.

Commission finding.—In November 1959, Oswald told an American

reporter in Moscow, Aline Mosby, that he had saved $1,500 (not $1,-

600) while in the Marines. It is entirely consistent with Oswald's

known frugality that he could have saved the money from the $3,452.20

in pay he received while he was in the Marines. Moreover, despite

his statement to Aline Mosby, he may not actually have saved $1,500,

for it was possible for him to have made the trip to Russia in 1959

for considerably less than that amount.^^

Speculation.—It is probable that Oswald had prior contacts with

Soviet agents before he entered Russia in 1959 because his application

for a visa was processed and approved immediately on receipt.

Com^mhsion finding.—There is no evidence that Oswald was in touch

with Soviet agents before his visit to Russia. The time that it took

for him to receive his visa in Helsinki for entrance to the So\aet Union

was shorter than the average but not beyond the normal range for the

granting of such visas. Had Oswald been recruited as a Russian agent

while he was still in the Marines, it is most improbable that he would

have been encouraged to defect. He would have been of greater value

to Russian intelligence as a Marine radar operator than as a defector."^® Speculation.—Soviet suspicion of Oswald is indicated by the fact

that he was sent off to work in a radio plant in Minsk as an unskilled

hand at the lowest rate of pay although he qualified as a trained radar

and electronics technician.

Commhsion finding.—The Soviet Government probably was suspicious of Oswald, as it would be of any American who appeared in Mos- cow and said he wanted to live in the Soviet Union. Under the cir- cumstances it is to be expected that he would be placed in a position

that would not involve national security. Moreover, Oswald had

been a radar operator, not a technician, in the Marines. His total income in Russia was higher than normal because his pay was sup-
plemented for about a year by payments from the Soviet "Eed Cross," an official agency of the Soviet Government. Oswald believed that

these payments really came from the MVD. It is a policy of the

Soviet Government to subsidize defectors from Western nations who

settle in the Soviet Union, in order that their standard of living may

not be too much lower than their previous standard in their own

country."^®

Speculation.—Oswald was trained by the Russians in a special

school for assassins at Minsk.

Commission finding.—Commission investigations revealed no evi- dence to support this claim or the existence of such a school in Minsk

during the time Oswald was there. Oswald belonged to a hunting

club near Minsk, but there is no evidence that this was other than an

ordinary hunting club.^° Specvlation.—Marina Oswald's father was an important part of

the Soviet intelligence apparatus.

Com/mission finding.—Marina Oswald's father died while she was

still an infant. This reference is presumably to her uncle, Ilya Prusakov, who was an executive in the lumber industry, which position

carried with it the rank of lieutenant colonel or colonel in the Ministry

of Internal Affairs (MVD). Since 1953 the MVD has not been con- cerned with internal security or other police functions.^^

Speculation.—It was most exceptional that Oswald was able to bring his wife and child out of the Soviet Union with him.

Commission finding.—There is no reason to believe that the Oswalds

received unusually favorable treatment in being permitted or assisted to leave the Soviet Union together. Other American citizens have

brought their Eussian wives out of the Soviet Union, both before and

after Oswald.^^

Speculation.—Oswald never would have been permitted to return

to the United States if Soviet intelligence had not planned to use him in some way against the United States. Commission finding.—There is no evidence that Oswald had any

working relationship with the Soviet Government or Soviet intelli- gence. The Russians have permitted other American defectors to return to the United States.^^ Speculation.—Since the exit visa for Marina Oswald was granted

so promptly the Soviet authorities must have wanted Marina to ac- company her husband.

Commission finding.—Marina Oswald's exit visa application was

not acted upon with unusual rapidity. It took at least 5% months

from the time the Oswalds applied until they were notified of per- mission in December 1961. There have been many instances where

visas were granted more quickly to other Soviet wives of American

citizens.^* Speculation.—Soviet authorities gave Oswald notice a month and

a half in advance that they had granted him an exit visa, an un- precedented act for the Soviet Government.

657
Commission finding.—The Oswalds were notified on December 25,

1961, that their requests for exit visas had been granted by Soviet

authorities. Marina Oswald picked up her visa, valid until December 1, 1962, on January 11, 1962, 17 days after receiving notice that

it was available. Oswald did not pick up his visa until May 22. The

Soviets did not give the Oswalds any advance notice ; the visas could

have been picked up immediately had the Oswalds so desired. Because his exit visa had a 45-day expiration time after date of issuance,

Lee Oswald delayed picking it up until he knew when he was leaving.

He could not arrange a departure date until he received permission

from the Department of State in May to return to the United States.®^ OSWALD'S TRIP TO MEXICO CITY

Oswald's trip to Mexico City in late September and early October

1963, less than 2 months before he assassinated President Kennedy,

has provoked speculation that it was related in some way to a con- spiracy to murder the President. Rumors include assertions that

he made a clandestine flight from Mexico to Cuba and back and

that he received a large sum of money—usually estimated at $5,000

which he brought back to Dallas with him. The Commission has no

credible evidence that Oswald went to Mexico pursuant to a plan to assassinate President Kennedy, that he received any instructions re- lated to such an action while there, or that he received large sums of

money from any source in Mexico.

Speculation.—Oswald could not have received an American pass- port in June 1963 within 24 hours without special intervention on his

behalf.

CommAssion -finding.—Oswald's passport application was processed

routinely by the Department of State. No person or agency intervened specially on his behalf to speed the issuance of the passport.

The passports of 24 other persons, on the same list sent to ^Yashington

from New Orleans, were authorized at the same time. The Passport

Office of the Department of State had no instructions to delay issu- ance of or to deny a passport to Oswald.^^

Speculation.—The Walter-McCarran Act specifically requires any- one who has attempted to renoimce his U.S. citizenship to file an

affidavit stating why he should receive a U.S. passport. Therefore,

Oswald should have been required to file such an affidavit before re- ceiving his passport in June 1963.

Commission finding.—The Internal Security Act of 1950 (WalterMcCarran Act) contains no reference to an affidavit being required

of a U.S. citizen who has attempted to expatriate himself.^^ Speculation.—Oswald did not have money for his trip to Mexico in

September 1963.

Commission finding.—An analysis of Oswald's finances by the

Commission indicates that he had sufficient money to make the trip to and from Mexico City. There is no evidence that he received any

658
assistance in financing his trip to Mexico. The total cost of his 7-day

trip has been reliably estimated at less than $85.®®

Speculation.—Oswald was accompanied on his trip to Mexico City

by a man and two women.

Commission finding.—Investigation has revealed that Oswald

traveled alone on the bus. Fellow passengers on the bus between

Houston and Mexico City have stated that he appeared to be traveling alone and that they had not previously known him.®^

/Speculation.—While in Mexico, Oswald made a clandestine flight to Havana and back.

Com/mission fiTiding.—The Commission has found no evidence that

Oswald made any flight to Cuba while he was in Mexico. He never

received permission from the Cuban Government to enter Cuba nor from the Mexican Government to leave Mexico bound for Cuba. A

confidential check of the Cuban airline in Mexico City indicates that

Oswald never appeared at its office there.^° Speculation.—Oswald came back from Mexico City with $5,000.

Commiission finding.—No evidence has ever been supplied or obtained to support this allegation. Oswald's actions in Mexico City

and after his return to Dallas lend no support to this speculation.®^

Speculation.—On November 27, 1963, in a speech at the University

of Havana, Fidel Castro, under the influence of liquor, said "The first time that Oswald was in Cuba * * *." Castro therefore had knowledge that Oswald had made surreptitious visits to Cuba.

Commission finding.—Castro's speeches are monitored directly by

the U.S. Information Agency as he delivers them. A tape of this

speech reveals that it did not contain the alleged slip of the tongue.

Castro did refer to Oswald's visit to the "Cuban Embassy" in Mexico

which he immediately corrected to "Cuban consulate." The Commission has found no evidence that Oswald had made surreptitious visits to CTiba.®2

OSWALD AND U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Rumors and speculations that Oswald was in some way associated

with or used by agencies of the U.S. Government grew out of his

Russian period and his investigation by the FBI after his return to the United States. Insinuations were made that Oswald had been

a CIA agent or had some relationship with the CIA. and that this

explained the supposed ease with which he received passports and

visas. Speculation that he had some working relationship with the

FBI was based on an entry in Oswald's notebook giving the name

and telephone number of an agent from the FBI office in Dallas. The

Directors of the CIA and the FBI have testified before the Commission that Oswald was never in the employ of their agencies in any

capacity. The Commission has concluded on the basis of its own in- vestigations of the files of Federal agencies that Oswald was not and

had never been an agent of any agency of the U.S. Government (aside

659
from his service in the Marines) and was not and had never been used

by any U.S. Government agency for any purpose. The FBI was

interested in him as a former defector and it maintained a file on him.

Speculation.—Oswald was an informant of either the FBI or the

CIA. He was recruited by an agency of the U.S. Government and

sent to Russia in 1959.

Commission finding.—Mrs. Marguerite Oswald frequently ex- pressed the opinion that her son was such an agent, but she stated

before the Commission that "I cannot prove Lee is an agent." ®^ The

Directors of the CIA and of the FBI te^ified before the Commission

that Oswald was never employed by either agency or used by either

agency in any capacity. Investigation by the Commission has revealed no evidence that Oswald was ever employed by either the FBI or CIA

in any capacity.**

Speculation.—Oswald told Pauline Bates, a public stenographer in

Fort Worth, Tex., in June 1962, that he had become a "secret agent"

of the U.S. Government and that he was soon going back to Russia

"for Washington."

Commission finding.—Miss Bates denied a newspaper story reporting that Oswald had told her that he was working for the U.S. Department of State. She stated that she had assumed incorrectly that

he was working with the Department of State when he told her that

the State Department had told him in 1959 that he would be on his

own while in the Soviet Union.*^

Speculation.—The FBI tried to recruit Oswald. An FBI agent's

name, telephone number, and automobile license number were found

among Oswald's papers.

CoTYimission finding.—FBI officials have testified that they had never

tried to recruit Oswald to act on behalf of the FBI in any capacity.

The Commission's investigation corroborates this testimony. An FBI

agent, James P. Hosty, Jr., had given his name and telephone number

to Mrs. Ruth Paine so that she could call and give him Oswald's

address in Dallas when she learned it. Mrs. Paine and Marina Oswald

have stated that Mrs. Paine gave Oswald a slip of paper with the

agent's name and telephone number on it. Marina Oswald had taken

down the license number of Hosty's car on one of his visits and given

it to her husband.*^

Speculation.—Dallas police must have known where Oswald was

living in the city because Mrs. Paine had given the address of Oswald's room on North Beckley Avenue to the FBI some time before the

assassination.

Commission finding.—Mrs. Paine had never given the address of

Oswald's roominghouse to the FBI, nor had she known the address

prior to the assassination. Therefore, the Dallas police could not have

learned the address from the FBI which did not know the address

before the assassination. The Dallas Police did not know that Oswald

was in the city before the assassination.^^

Speculation.—It has been FBI policy for 20 years to inform employers of Communists or suspected Communists employed by them.

660
It is a mystery, therefore, how Oswald retained his job at the Texas

School Book Depository.

Commission finding.^—The FBI advised the Commission that it has

never been its policy to inform employers that they have Communists

or suspected Communists working for them and that the FBI does

not disseminate internal security information to anyone outside the

executive branch of the U.S. Government. FBI agents had no contacts with Texas School Book Depository officials until after the

assassination.^®

Speculation.—Municipal and Federal police had observed Oswald

closely for some time but had not regarded him as a potential killer. Commdssion -finding.—The Dallas police had not been aware of

Oswald's presence in the city before the assassination. The FBI knew

that Oswald was in Dallas from an interview with Mrs. Paine, but no FBI agents had interviewed him there before the assassination.

The FBI had not regarded him as a potential killer.®^ Speculation.—The FBI probably knew that Oswald had the rifle before the President's murder because it was most unlikely that it could have traced the ownership of the rifle within 1 day if it had not

already had information on the rifle. Conrndssion finding.—The FBI successfully traced the purchase of

the rifle by Oswald within 24 hours of the assassination. It had had

no previous information about the rifle.^^° Speculation.—The FBI interviewed Oswald 10 days before the assas- sination.

Conrniission finding.—The last FBI interview with Oswald, before

the assassination, took place in New Orleans in August 1963, when he

asked to see an FBI agent after his arrest by police for disturbing the

peace, the outcome of his distribution of Fair Play for Cuba handbills.

Neither Special Agent Hosty nor any other FBI agent saw or talked

with Oswald between his return to Dallas, on October 3, and November 22. Hosty did interview Mrs. Paine at her home about Oswald

on November 1 and 5, 1963. He also saw Marina Oswald briefly on November 1 at Mrs. Paine's house, but he did not interview her.^°\

CONSPIRATORIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Rumors concerning accomplices and plots linked Oswald and Ruby

with each other, or with others, including Patrolman J. D. Tippit,

Gen. Edwin A. Walker, and Bernard Weissman of the nonexistent

American Factfinding Committee, in a conspiratorial relationship.

The Commission made intensive inquiry into the backgrounds and

relationships of Oswald and Ruby to determine whether they knew

each other or were involved in a plot of any kind with each other or

others. It was unable to find any credible evidence to support the rumors linking Oswald and Ruby directly or through others. The

Commission concluded that they were not involved in a conspiratorial

relationship with each other or with any third parties.

661
B'pemLation.—^Leo Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, and Patrolman

J. D. Tippit lived within a few blocks of each other.

Commission -finding.—Oswald's room was 1.3 miles from Ruby's

apartment and Tippit lived 7 miles away from Ruby. Tippit's resi- dence was about 7 miles from Oswald's room.^^^

Speculation.—Since Oswald did not have the money to repay the

$435.61 he had received from the Department of State to cover part

of the expenses of his return from Russia, he must have received help

from some other source. Ruby lent Oswald money to pay baxik the

loan and lent him small amounts of money thereafter.

Commission -finding.—The Commission has n^ credible evidence that

Oswald received any money from Ruby or anyone else to repay his

State Department loan, nor that he received small amounts of money

from Ruby at any time. An exhaustive analysis of Oswald's income

and expenditures, made for the Commission by an Internal Revenue

Service expert, reveals that Oswald had sufficient funds to make the

State Department repayments from his earnings.^^

^speculation.—Just before Oswald was shot by Ruby, he looked di- rectly at Ruby in apparent recognition of him.

Comm^ission finding.—The Commission has been unable to establish as a fact any kind of relationship between Ruby and Oswald other

than that Oswald was Ruby's victim. The Commission has examined

television tapes and motion picture films of the shooting and has been

unable to discern any facial expression that could be interpreted to signify recognition of Ruby or anyone else in the basement of the

building.^o^

Speculation.—The Dallas police suspected Oswald and Ruby of being involved in an attack on General Walker and planned to arrest the two when the FBI intervened, at the request of Attorney General

Robert F. Kennedy, and asked the police not to do so for reasons of

state. Commission finding.—This allegation appeared in the November

29, 1963, issue (actually printed on November 25 or 26) of a German

weekly newspaper, Deutsche National Zeiting und Soldaten Zeitung,

published in Munich. The allegation later appeared in the National

Enquirer of May 17, 1964. The Commission has been reliably

informed that the statement was fabricated by an editor of the newspaper. No evidence in support of this statement has ever been advanced or uncovered. In their investigation of the attack on General

Walker, the Dallas police uncovered no suspects and planned no arrests. The FBI had no knowledge that Oswald was responsible for

the attack until Marina Oswald revealed the information on December

3, 1963.10^ Speculation.—Ruby and Oswald were seen together at the Carousel

Club.

Commission finding.—^AU assertions that Oswald was seen in the

company of Ruby or of anyone else at the Carousel Club have been

investigated. None of them merits any credence.^°® 662
Speculation.—Oswald and General Walker were probably ac- quainted with each other since Oswald's notebook contained Walker's

name and telephone number.

Commission finding.—Although Oswald's notebook contained

Walker's name and telephone number there was no evidence that the

two knew each other. It is probable that this information was in- serted at the time that Oswald was planning his attack on Walker.

General Walker stated that he did not know of Oswald before the

assassination.^°^

Speculation.—Patrolman J. D. Tippit, Bernard Weissman, and Jack

Kuby met by prearrangement on November 14, 1963, at the Carousel

Club.

Commission finding.—Investigation has revealed no evidence to support this assertion. Nor is there credible evidence that any of the

three men knew each other.^°^ Speculation.—Ruby's sister, Mrs. Eva Grant, said that Ruby and

Tippit were "like two brothers."

Commission finding.—Mrs. Grant has denied ever making this state- ment or any statement like it, saying it was untrue and without foundation. Ruby was acquainted with another Dallas policeman named

Tippit, but this was G. M. Tippit of the special services bureau pf the

department, not the Tippit who was killed.^°^ Speculation.—^Jack Ruby w^as one of the most notorious of Dallas

gangsters.

Commission finding.—There is no credible evidence that Jack Ruby

was active in the criminal underworld. Investigation disclosed no

one in either Chicago or Dallas who had any knowledge that Ruby

was associated with organized criminal activity.^^° Speculation.—The shooting in Dallas on January 23, 1964, of Warren A. Reynolds, who witnessed the flight of Patrolman Tippit's

slayer on November 22 and followed him for a short distance, may

have been connected in some way with the assassination of President

Kennedy and the slaying of Patrolman Tippit. A man arrested for

the attempt on Reynolds, Darrell Wayne Garner, was released as a

result, in part, of testimony by Betty (Nancy Jane Mooney) MacDonald, who had allegedly worked at one time as a stripper at Jack

Ruby's Carousel Club.

Commission finding.—This rumor, originally publicized by a news- paper columnist on February 23, 1964, was apparently based on the

alleged connection between Betty MacDonald and the Carousel Club.

Investigation revealed no evidence that she had ever worked at the

Carousel Club. Employees of the club had no recollection that she

had ever worked there. Betty MacDonald was arrested and charged

with disturbing the peace on February 13, 1964. After being placed

in a cell at the Dallas city jail, she hanged herself. The Commission

has found no evidence that the shooting of Warren Reynolds was in

any way related to the assassination of President Kennedy or the murder of Patrolman Tippit."^

663
OTHER RUMORS AND SPECULATIONS

Many rumors and speculations difficult to place in the categories

treated above also required consideration or investigation by the Commission. In some way or other, much of this miscellany was related to theories of conspiracy involving Oswald. The rest pertained to peripheral aspects that were of sufficient import to merit attention.

The Commission's findings are set forth below.

Speculation.—Oswald was responsible in some way for the death

of Marine Pvt. Martin D. Schrand.

Commission finding.—This rumor was mentioned by at least one

of Oswald's fellow Marines. Private Schrand was fatally wounded

by a discharge from a riot-type shotgun while he was on guard duty on January 5, 1958, near the carrier pier, U.S. Naval Air Station,

Cubi Point, Republic of the Philippines. The official Marine investigation in 1958 foimd that Schrand's death was the result of an acci- dental discharge of his gun and that no other person or persons were

involved in the incident. The rumor that Oswald was involved in

Schrand's death in some way may have had its origin in two circumstances: (1) Oswald was stationed at Cubi Point at the time of

Schrand's death; (2) on October 27, 1957, while stationed in Japan,

Oswald accidentally shot himself in the left elbow with a .22 derringer

that he owned. The Commission has found no evidence that Oswald

had any connection with the fatal shooting of Private Schrand.""

Specvlation.—The Texas School Book Depository is owned and

operated by the city of Dallas, and Oswald was therefore a municipal

employee. Accordingly, he could have secured his job at the Depository only if someone in an official capacity vouched for him.

Commission finding.—The Texas School Book Depository is a private corporation unconnected with the city of Dallas. Oswald therefore was not a municipal employee. He obtained his position at the

Depository with the assistance of Mrs. Ruth Paine, who learned of

a possible opening from a neighbor and arranged an interview for

him with Superintendent Roy S. Truly at the Depository."^

Speculation.—Prior to the assassination Dallas police searched

other buildings in the area of the Texas School Book Depository but

not the School Book Depository itself. Commission finding.—The Dallas police and the Secret Service both

notified the Commission that, other than the Trade Mart, they had

searched no buildings along the route of the President's motorcade

or elsewhere in Dallas in connection with the President's visit. It was not Secret Service practice to search buildings along the routes of motorcades.^^*

Speculation.—Sheriff E. J. Decker of Dallas County came on the

police radio at 12:25 p.m. with orders to calm trouble at the Texas

School Book Depository.

Comm^ission finding.—The final edition of the Dallas Times-Herald

of November 22 (p. 1, col. 1) reported that "Sheriff Decker came on the

air at 12 :25 p.m." and stated : " *I don't know what's happened. Take

664
every available man from the jail and the office and go to the railroad

yards off Elm near the triple underpass.^ " The article in the TimesHerald did not mention the time that the President was shot. The

radio log of the Dallas County Sherijff's Office shows that Sheriff

Decker came on the air at 40 seconds after 12:30 p.m. and stated:

"Stand by me. All units and officers vicinity of station report to the

railroad track area, just north of Elm—Report to the railroad track

area, just north of Elm." The radio log does not show any messages

by Sheriff Decker between 12 :20 p.m. and 40 seconds after 12 :30 p.m.^^^

Speculution.—Police precautions in Dallas on November 22 included

surveillance of many people, among them some who did no more than

speak in favor of school integration.

Commission fnding.—The Dallas Police Department notified the

Commission that on NoA^ember 22 it had no one under surveillance as a precaution in connection with President Kennedy's visit except at the Trade Mart. The Commission received no evidence that the Dallas

police had under surveillance people who spoke in favor of school

integration.^^^

Speculation.—Oswald was seen at shooting ranges in the Dallas area

practicing firing with a rifle. CoTJimission finding.—Marina Oswald stated that on one occasion

in March or April 1963, her husband told her that he was going to practice firing with the rifle. Witnesses have testified that they saw Oswald at shooting ranges in the Dallas area during October and

November 1963. Investigation has failed to confirm that the man seen by these witnesses was Oswald.^^^

Speculation.—Oswald could drive a car and was seen in cars at various places.

Commission finding.—Oswald did not have a driver's license. Marina Oswald and Ruth Paine have testified that he could not drive

a car, and there is no confirmed evidence to establish his presence at any location as the driver of a car. Mrs. Paine did give Oswald

some driving lessons and he did drive short distances on these

occasions.^^®

Speculation.—Oswald received money by Western Union telegraph

from time to time for several months before the assassination of

President Kennedy.

Commision finding.—An employee in the AYestern Union main office in Dallas, C. A. Hamblen, made statements that he remembered seeing

Oswald there on some occasions collecting money that had been tele- graphed to him. In his testimony before the Commission, Hamblen

was unable to state whether or not the person he had seen was Lee Harvey Oswald. Western Union officials searched their records in Dallas

and other cities for the period from June through November 1963 but

found no money orders payable to Lee Oswald or to any of his known

aliases. A Western Union official concluded that the allegation was "a figment of Mr. Hamblen's imagination." ^^^ The Commission has

found no evidence to contradict this conclusion.^^^

665

730-900 0-64—44
Speculation.—On his way back from Mexico City in October 1963,

Oswald stopped in Alice, Tex., to apply for a job at the local radio

station.

Commission finding.—This rumor apparently originated wdth the

manager of radio station KOPY, Alice, who stated that Oswald visited

his office on the afternoon of October 4 for about 25 minutes. According to the manager, Oswald was driving a battered 1953 model car and had his wife and a small child in the car with him. Oswald

traveled from Mexico City to Dallas by bus, arriving in Dallas on

the afternoon of October 3. The bus did not pass through Alice. On

October 4, Oswald applied for two jobs in Dallas and then spent the

afternoon and night with his wife and child at the Paine residence

in Irving. Investigation has revealed that Oswald did not own a car and there is no convincing evidence that he could drive a car. Accordingly, Oswald could not have been in Alice on October 4. There is no

evidence that he stopped in Alice to look for a job on any occasion.^^^

Speculation.—Oswald or accomplices had made arrangements for

his getaway by airplane from an airfield in the Dallas area. Com/mission -finding.—Investigation of such claims revealed that

they had not the slightest substance. The Commission fomid no evi- dence that Oswald had any prearranged plan for escape after the

assassination.^22

Speculation.—One hundred and fifty dollars was found in the

dresser of Oswald's room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue after the

assassination.

Commission finding.—No money was found in Oswald's room after

the assassination. Oswald left $170 in the room occupied by his wife

at the Paine residence in Irving. At the time of his arrest Oswald had

$13.87 on his person.^^a

Speculation.—After Oswald's arrest, the police fomid in his room

seven metal file boxes filled with the names of Castro sympathizers.

Commission finding.—The Dallas police inventories of Oswald's

property taken from his room at 1026 North Beckley Avenue do not

include any file boxes. A number of small file boxes listed in the in- ventory as having been taken from the Paine residence in Irving con- tained letters, pictures, books and literature, most of which belonged

to Ruth Paine, not to Oswald. No lists of names of Castro sympathizers were found among these effects. ^^^ Speculation.—Oswald's letters vary so greatly in quality (spelling,

grammar, sentence structure) that he must have had help in pre- paring the better constructed letters or someone else wrote them for

him.

Commission finding.—There is no evidence that anyone in the United

States helped Oswald with his better written letters or that anyone

else wrote his letters for him. His wife stated that he would write

many drafts of his more important letters. His mother indicated that

he would work hard over the drafts of some of his letters. It is clear that he did take greater pains with some of his letters than with

others and that the contrasts in quality were accordingly substantial.

666
It is also clear that even his better written letters contained some dis- tinctive elements of spelling, grammar, and punctuation that were common to his poorer efforts. Oswald wrote in his diary that he

received help from his Intourist Guide, Rima Shirokova, in the

preparation of his letter of October 16, 1959, to the Supreme Soviet.^^^

Speculation.—A Negro janitor who was a witness to the shooting and was supposed to be able to identify Oswald as the killer was held in

protective custody by the Dallas police until he could appear before

the President's Commission on the Assassination of President

Kennedy.

Commission finding.—Investigation revealed that this story had no

foundation in fact. No such witness was kept in protective custody by

the Dallas police for appearance before the Commission. The story

had its origin in a newspaper accoimt based on hearsay.^^^ Speculation.—The Secret Service incarcerated Marina Oswald immediately after the assassination.

Commission finding.—Marina Oswald was given protection by the

Secret Service for a period of time after the assassination. She had

freedom to communicate with others at anytime she desired, to go

where she pleased, or to terminate the protection at any time.^^^ Speculation.—Mrs. Marguerite Oswald was shown a photograph of

Jack Ruby by an FBI agent the night before Ruby killed her son. Commission finding.—On the night of November 23, 1963, Special

Agent Bardwell D. Odum of the FBI showed Mrs. Marguerite Oswald

a picture of a man to determine whether the man was known to her.

Mrs. Oswald stated subsequently that the picture was of Jack Ruby.

The Commission has examined a copy of the photograph and determined that it was not a picture of Jack Ruby.^^^

Speculation.—The son of the only witness to the Tippit slaying was arrested after talking to some private investigators and soon plunged to his death from an unbarred jail window.

Commission finding.—According to Mrs. Helen Markham, one of

the witnesses tO' the Tippit slaying, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald and two

men who claimed to be reporters from Philadelphia sought to interview her on June 27, 1964. Mrs. Markham did not wish to be interviewed and put them off. Afterward, Mrs. Markham's son, AVilliam

Edward Markham, talked with Mrs. Oswald and the men about the

Oswald matter and the shooting of Patrolman Tippit. William Edward Markham had been in Norfolk, Va., at the time of the assassination and had not returned to Dallas until May 7, 1964. He had no

personal knowledge of the shooting of Patrolman Tippit. On June

30, 1964, another of Mrs. Markham's sons, James Alfred Markham,

was arrested at Mrs. Markham's apartment by Dallas Police on a charge of burglary. While trying to escape, he fell from the bathroom

of the apartment to a concrete driveway about 20 feet below. He was

taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, treated for injuries, and after

61/^ hours was taken to jail. As of July 31, 1964, he was in Dallas

County Jail awaiting trial. There was also a warrant outstanding

against him for parole violation.^^g

667
Speculation.—The headquarters detachment of the U.S. Army, un- der orders from [Secretary of Defense Robert S.] McNamara's office, began to rehearse for the funeral more than a week before the assassination.

Commission finding.—This assertion is based on an interview with

U.S. Army Capt. Richard C. Cloy that appeared in the Jackson, Miss.,

Clarion-Ledger of February 21, 1964. The newspaper quotes Captain

Cloy, who was a member of the Army unit charged with conducting

funeral ceremonials in honor of deceased Chiefs of State, as having

said that, "we were in a state of readiness and had just finished a fimeral rehearsal because there was grave concern for President

Hoover's health. But we never expected that our practice was pre- paring us for President Kennedy." ^^° Speculation.—The ship in which Oswald went to Europe in 1959

stopped in Havana on the way.

Commission finding.—Oswald boarded the SS Marion Lykes in

New Orleans and it sailed on September 20, 1959. It docked in Le

Havre, France, on October 8 with only one previous stop^—at another

French port, La Pallice.^^^

668
APPENDIX XIII

Biography of Lee Harvey Oswald

EARLY YEARS

Marguerite Claverie, the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald, was born

m New Orleans in 1907/ into a family of French and German extraction.2 Her mother died a few years after Marguerite was born,

leaving her and five other young children in the care of their father, a streetcar conductor.^ Although Marguerite describes herself as "a

child of one parent," she recalls being "one of the most popular youngladies in the [grammar] school," and thinks of her childhood as a "very full happy" one.^ Her older sister, Mrs. Lillian Murret, remembers Marguerite as "a very pretty child, a very beautiful girl," ^ as does

a former acquaintance, Clem H. Sehrt, w^ho knew the Claveries.^ The

family was poor but, according to Mrs. Murret, was a "happy family * * * singing all the time." ^ Marguerite had 1 year of high

school.^ Shortly before she was IT, she went to work as a receptionist

for a law firm in New Orleans.®

In August 1929, while she was still working at the law firm. Marguerite married Edward John Pic, Jr.,^*^ a quiet man of her own age, who worked as a clerk for T. Smith & Son, a New Orleans stevedoring

company.^^ The marriage was not a success, and by the summer of

1931 she and Pic were separated.^^ Marguerite was then 3 months

pregnant; she told her family that Pic did not want any children

and refused to support her.^^ Pic ascribed the separation simply to their inability to get along together.^* A boy was born on January 17,

1932, whom Marguerite named John Edward Pic.^^ Pic saw his son

occasionally until he was about 1 year old ; after that, he did not see the boy again ^^ but contributed to his support until he was 18 years

old.i^ During her separation from her first husband. Marguerite saw a great deal of Robert Edward Lee Oswald, an insurance premium

collector,^^ who also was married but was separated from his wife.^®

In 1933, Marguerite was divorced from Pic^° and, Oswald's wife

also having obtained a divorce,^^ they were married in a Lutheran

church on July 20.^^ Marguerite has described the period of her marriage to Oswald as "the only happy part" of her life.^^ A son was born

on April 7, 1934, who was named for his father; ^^ Oswald wanted to adopt John Pic, but his mother objected on the ground that John's

father might cut off the support payments.^^ In 1938, the Oswalds

purchased a new house on Alvar Street for $3,900,^^ in what John

remembered as "a rather nice neighborhood." ^"^ The house was across the street from the William Frantz School,^^ which first John and
later both he and Eobert, Jr., attended.^^ On August 19, 1939, little more than a year after the Oswalds bought the Alvar Street house,

Kobert Oswald died suddenly of a heart attack.^° Two months later, on October 18, 1939, a second son was bom.^^

He was named Lee after his father ; Harvey was his paternal grandmother's maiden name.^^ For a while after her husband's death, Mrs.

Oswald remained in the Alvar Street house without working; she

probably lived on life insurance proceeds.^^ Sometime in 1940, she

rented the house to Dr. Bruno F. Mancuso, the doctor who had delivered Lee.^^ (Dr. Mancuso continued to rent the house until 1944,^'^ when Marguerite obtained a judgment of possession against him.^^

She sold the house for $6,500 to the First Homestead and Savings

Association, which resold it to Dr. Mancuso.) ^^ She herself moved to a rented house at 1242 Congress Street, where she lived for about half

a year.^® For part of this period after Oswald's death, the two older

boys were placed in the Infant Jesus College, a Catholic boarding

school in Algiers, La., a suburb of New Orleans.^® Neither they nor

their mother liked this arrangement,^ which John thought was in- tended to save money ; *^ it lasted for less than a year, after which

the boys returned to the school Frantz and then transferred to the

George Washington Elementary School.*^

On March 5, 1941, Mrs. Oswald purchased a frame *^ house at 1010

Bartholomew Street, for $1,300.*^ According to John's recollection,

the neighborhood was not as pleasant as Alvar Street ; the house had

a backyard, and the family kept a dog named "Sunshine." ^^ A neighbor, Mrs. Viola Peterman, recalls that Mrs. Oswald kept to herself

but appeared to be "a good mother to her children." *^ She opened

a shop in the front room, where she sold things like sewing supplies

and small groceries.*^ Oswald's Notion Shop, as it was called,^®

failed to make money,*^ and on January 16, 1942, Mrs. Oswald sold

the house back to the Third District Home Association, from which

she had purchased it, for a profit of $800.^°

Probably in contemplation of the sale of the house, Mrs. Oswald

applied in December 1941 to the Evangelical Lutheran Bethlehem

Orphan Asylum Association for the admission of her two older sons

to the orphan asylum, known as the Bethlehem Children's Home;

she stated on the application that she could contribute $20 per month

to their maintenance and would supply shoes and clothing.^^ She had

inquired also about Lee, who was too young to be admitted.^^ John

and Robert were accepted and entered the home on January 3, 1942.^^ Mrs. Oswald moved to an apartment at 831 Pauline Street,^* and

returned to work. In December 1942, she listed her occupation as "telephone operator" ; ^^ this may be the job she held at the Pittsburgh

Plate Glass Co., a company for wliich she worked at some point during

this period.^^ She left Lee for much of this time with his aunt, Mrs.

Murret, who thought him a good looking, friendly child, but could

not devote a great deal of attention to him because she had five children

of her own.^^ In the late spring of 1942, Lee was watched for several

weeks by Mrs. Thomas Roach, who lived with her husband in the

670
same house as the Oswalds.^* Lee evidently did not get along with

Mrs. Roach who told the next occupant of the house that Lee was a bad, unmanageable child who threw his toy gun at her.^^ Apparently

referring to the Roaches, Mrs. Oswald testified that she had once

hired a couple to care for Lee ; the couple neglected him, so she "put

them out" and cared for Lee herself until Mrs. Murret was able to help her again.^° Soon after the incident with the Roaches, Mrs.

Oswald moved again,^^ this time to 111 Sherwood Forest Drive, near

the Murrets.^^

Mrs. Murret took care of Lee for several months longer. Near Lee's third birthday, Mrs. Oswald again inquired about his admission into

the Bethlehem Children's Home,^^ perhaps because a disagreement

with her sister made it impossible to leave him with her any longer.^^

He was admitted on December 26.^^ On his application, Mrs. Oswald

agreed to contribute $10 per month and to supply shoes and clothing,

as for the other boys.^^

Lee remained in the home for about 13 months, but according to John's testimony, left on several occasions to spend short periods of

time with his mother or the Murrets.^^ John and Robert have pleasant

memories of the home,^^ which apparently gave the children a good

deal of freedom.^^ Robert described it as nondenominational but

having "a Christian atmosphere"; "it might have been just a Protestant home." ^"^ Mrs. Oswald visited them regularly,^^ and they occasionally left the home to visit her or the Murrets.'^^ In July 1943, Mrs. Oswald was hired to manage a small hosiery

store.^^ This is probably the store to which she referred in her testi- mony as the "Princess Hosiery Shop on Canal Street," at which, she

testified, she was left by herself and "in 6 days' time * * * hired four

girls." ^* Her employer remembers her as a neat, attractive, and

hardworking woman, an aggressive person who would make a good

manager."^^ She was not good with figures, however, and after several

months he discharged her.^^ At about this same time, she met Edwin

A. Ekdahl, an electrical engineer older than herself, who was originally from Boston but was then working in the area.^^ They saw

each other often. Ekdahl met the boys ^^ and, according to John's

testimony, on at least one occasion, they all spent a weekend at a summer resort area in Covington, La.'^® By January 1944, Mrs. Oswald and Ekdahl had decided to marry.**'

She withdrew Lee from the Children's Home ^^ and moved with him

to Dallas, where Ekdahl expected to be located.^^ They planned to postpone the marriage until the end of the school year so that the

older boys could complete the year at the home before they left it.*^ In the meantime, she would care for Ekdahl,^^ who was recovering

from a serious illness, probably a heart attack.^^ Mrs. Oswald has

testified that when she arrived in Dallas, she decided that she did

not want to marry Ekdahl after all.^^ Using part of the proceeds

from the sale of the Alvar Street house,^^ she purchased a house at 4801 Victor Street,^^ a portion of which she rented.^^ In elune, John

and Robert left the Children's Home and joined their mother in

671
Dallas.^^ They entered the nearby Davy Crockett Elementary School

the following September.^^

Ekdahl visited Mrs. Oswald on weekends and stayed at Victor

Street.^^ By the following year she had resolved her doubts about

marrying him, influenced in part by his substantial income ^^ and

perhaps by the visit some time earlier of his sister, who favored the

marriage because of his ill health.^* Explaining that she expected to travel a great deal, Mrs. Oswald tried unsuccessiully to return the

older boys to the home in February 1945.^^ She and Ekdahl were

married in May.^^ After a brief honeymoon, they returned to Victor

Street.^^ Ekdahl got along well with the boys, on whom he lavished much

attention.^ John testified that Ekdahl treated them as if they were

his own children and that Lee seemed to find in Ekdahl "the father

he never had"; John recalled that on one occasion he told Lee that

Ekdahl and his mother had become reconciled after a separation, and

that "this seemed to really elate Lee, this made him really happy that

they were getting back together." ^^ Because Ekdahl's business required him to make frequent trips,

in September, John and Robert were placed in the Chamberlain-Hunt

Military Academy at Port Gibson, Miss. ; ^°° their mother paid the

tuition herself, using the proceeds from the sale of the Alvar Street

property.^^^ They remained at the academy for the next 3 years, returning home only for vacations.^°^ Lee accompanied his parents on their travels.^^^ Mrs. Myrtle Evans, who had known both Marguerite and Ekdahl before their marriage,^°* testified that Marguerite

insisted on keeping Lee with her ; Mrs. Evans thought that Marguerite was "too close" to Lee and "spoiled him to death," which hurt her

marriage to Ekdahl.^^^

Sometime in the fall after John and Robert were at boarding school,

the Ekdahls moved to Benbrook, a suburb of Fort Worth, where they

lived on Granbury Road,^^^ in a house of stone or brick, set on a large

plot of land.^^^ Records of the Benbrook Common School show Lee's admission into the first grade on October 31 ; his birth date is incorrectly given as July 9, 1939, his mother presumably having given that

date to satisfy the age requirement.^^^ On February 8, 1946, he was

admitted to the Harris Hospital in Fort Worth with "acute mastoiditis." ^^^ A mastoidectomy was performed without complications, and

Lee left the hospital in 4 days.^^° (In 1955, Lee indicated on a school

form that he had an "abnormal ear drum in left ear," ^^^ presumably

a reference to the mastoidectomy ; but when he entered the Marines 1 year later, physical examination disclosed no physical defects.) ^^^ The Ekdahls' marriage quickly broke down. Before they had been

married a year. Marguerite suspected Ekdahl of infidelity.^^^ She

thought him stingy,^^^ and there were frequent arguments about his

insistence that she account for her expenditures and his refusal to share his money with her."^ In the summer of 1946, she left Ekdahl,

picked up John and Robert at Chamberlain-Hunt, and moved with the

boys to Covington, La.,^^^ where they lived for at least part of the time

672
at 311 Vermont Street/^^ Mrs. Evans described them at Covington,

]:»ossibly during this summer, as ''really a happy family*' ; Lee seemed

like a normal boy but "kept to himself'' and seemed not "to want to be

with any other children." ^^^ The separation continued after the two

boys returned to boarding school, and in September Lee was enrolled

in the Covington Elementary School."^ His record at Benbrook had

been satisfactory—he was present on 82 school days and absent on 15,

and received all A's and B's ^^°—but he had not completed the work of

the first grade, in which he was enrolled for a second time.^^^

Lee received no grades at the Covington School, from which he was withdrawn on January 23, 1947,^-- because his parents, now reconciled, were moving to Fort Worth, where they lived at 1505 Eighth

Avenue.^^^ Four days later, he enrolled in the Clayton Public School

he was still in the first grade, which he completed in May with B's in

every subject except physical education and health, in which he re- ceived A's.^^* In the fall, he entered the second grade in the same

school but, relations between his parents having deteriorated again, was withdrawn before any grades were recorded.^^^ After the move to Fort Worth, the Ekdahls continued to argue

frequently ; according to John, "they would have a fight about every

other day and he would leave and come back." ^^^ That summer,

Marguerite obtained what she regarded as proof that Ekdahl was

having some sort of affair. According to her testimony, a neighbor

told her that Ekdahl had been living on Eighth Avenue with another

woman while she was in Covington.^^^ Then, at a time when Ekdahl

was supposed to be out of town,^^ she went with John and several of

his friends to an apartment in Fort Worth ; one of the boys posed as a telegram carrier, and when the door opened she pushed her way into

the apartment and found Ekdahl in his shirt sleeves in the company

of a woman in a negligee.^^

Despite this apparent confirmation of her suspicions, Marguerite

continued to live with Ekdahl until January 1948.^^^ In January,

according to Ekdalal's allegations in the subsequent divorce proceedings, she "directed * * * [him] to leave the home immediately and

never to return," which he did.^^^ Ekdahl filed suit for divorce in

March.^^2 ^he complaint alleged that Marguerite constantly nagged

Ekdahl and argued "with reference to money matters," accused him of

infidelity, threw things at him, and finally ordered him out of the

house ; that these acts were unprovoked by Ekdahl's conduct toward

her ; that her acts endangered his already impaired health ; and that her

"excesses, harsh and cruel treatment and outrages" toward him made

it impossible for them to live together.^^^ She denied all these allegations.^^* After a trial, at which John testified and, he thought, Lee was called to the stand but was excused without testifying,^^^ the

jury found on special issues that Marguerite was "guilty of excesses, cruel treatment, or outrages" unprovoked by Ekdahl's conduct.^^^ On

June 24, the court granted the divorce and approved an agreement

between the parties disposing of their property between them and

673
awarding Marguerite $1,500; at her request, the divorce restored to Marguerite her former name, Marguerite C. Oswald/^^

While the divorce suit was pending. Marguerite moved from Eighth

Avenue to a house on 3300 Willing Street, next to railroad tracks.^^^ The boys found her there in May when they returned from the military academy; for John, the move signified that they "were back

down in the lower class again." ^^^ Lee's withdrawal from the Clayton School on March 18, 1948,^*° probably coincided with the move to Willing Street. He entered the Clark Elementary School on the

following day, and in June completed the second grade with a record

mostly of B's and A's.^*^ Philip Vinson, a classmate at the Clayton

School, has described Lee at that time as "a quiet type of kid," who

"didn't make a lot of noise." ^^^ Lee was "stocky and well built," which

made other boys look up to him and regard him as the leader of one

of their schoolyard "gangs." ^*^ Vinson thought that Lee was not a bully and got along with his classmates, but had the impression that

he rarely played with them or brought them home after school.^^* Shortly after the divorce, Mrs. Oswald purchased a small house in

Benbrook, on what is now San Saba Street ; ^*^ John has testified that

it had a single bedroom, in which Lee slept with his mother, and a screened porch where John and Robert slept.^*^ Mrs. Oswald worked

at a department store in Fort Worth, and left the three boys home

alone.^*^ A neighbor, Mrs. W. H. Bell, has stated that Lee seemed to enjoy being by himself and to resent discipline; ^^^ another neighbor,

Otis R. Carlton, stated that he once saw Lee chase John with a knife

and throw it at him, an incident which, Carlton said, their mother

passed off as a "little scuffle." ^*^ At the end of the summer, Carlton

purchased the property. He stated that he appraised it at $2,750

at Mrs. Oswald's request ; she then insisted that he had made an offer to purchase at that price, which he finally agreed to do.^^° After the house was sold, the family returned to Fort Worth, a move necessitated by Mrs. Oswald's, and now John's, employment.^^^

Mrs. Oswald bought a two-bedroom, frame house at 7408 Ewing, from

which Robert and Lee could walk to school.^^^ John, who was then

16, obtained a job as a shoe stockboy at Everybody's Department Store

he testified that he wanted to finish high school at the military academy, but that his mother advised him to leave school and help to support the family.^^^ He gave her $15 per week out of his salary of

$25.^^^ Robert returned to school.^^^ Lee entered the third grade at the Arlington Heights Elementary

School.^^^ He remained at Arlington Heights for the entire school

year, completing the third grade with a satisfactory record, which

included A's in social studies, citizenship, elementary science, art, and music, and a D in spelling.^^'^ In September 1949, he trans- ferred to the Ridglea West Elementary School, where he remained

for the next 3 years.^^^ Lee's record at Ridglea is not remarkable in

any respect. In the fourth and fifth grades, he received mostly B's;

in the sixth grade, B's and C's predominate.^^® He received D's in

674
both the fifth and sixth grades in spelling and arithmetic ; in the fourth

and sixth grades, C's are recorded for Spanish,^^^ which may account

for his rudimentary familiarity with that language later on.^^^ In

the fourth grade his IQ was recorded at 103 ; on achievement tests in each of the 3 years, he twice did best in reading and twice did worst

in spelling.^^^

Lee is generally characterized as an unexceptional but rather soli- tary boy during these years. His mother worked in a variety of

jobs,^^^ and, according to her own testimony, told Lee not to contact her at work except in an emergency.^^* He ordinarily returned home

alone directly after school, in obedience to his mother's instructions.^^^

A fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Clyde I. Livingston, described him as a lonely boy, quiet and shy, who did not easily form friendships with

other students.^^® But Eichard W. Garrett has stated that he was a classmate of Lee in the fourth or fifth grade and found him easy to get along with ; he recalled playing with Lee often at school and sometimes walking home together with him.^^^ Mrs. Livingston recalled

that at Christmas 1949, Lee gave her a puppy and afterward came to her home to see the puppy and talk to her and her family.^^^ Lee's relationship with his brothers was good but limited by the

difference in their ages.^^^ He still had a dog,^^° but there were few

children of his age in the neighborhood, and he appears to have been

by himself after school most of the time.^^^ He read a lot,^^^ had a stamp collection, and played chess and Monopoly with his brothers.^"

Mrs. Murret remembered that on a visit to her home in New Orleans,

Lee refused to play with other children or even to leave the house ; he

preferred to stay indoors and read (mostly "funnybooks") or listen to the radio.^^* After several weeks with the Murrets, Lee wrote to his mother and asked her to come for him.^^^ Hiram Conway, a neighbor on Ewing Street, thought Lee was an intelligent child, who

picked things up easily; although he did not recall many specific

incidents to support his impressions, Conway regarded Lee as "a bad

kid," who was "quick to anger" and "mean when he was angry, just

ornery." ^^^ John's general picture of Lee in these years is that of "a normal healthy robust boy who would get in fights and still have his

serious moments."^^^

John returned to high school in January 1949, but continued to work

part time.^^^ Early in 1950, he entered the Coast Guard.^^^ Kobert

left school soon after John's departure and went to work full time,

contributing most of his earnings to the support of his family.^^° He

returned to school in 1951-52, and after completing his junior year

in high school, joined the Marines in July 1952.^^^ In August, Mrs.

Oswald and Lee moved to New York, where John was living with his

wife and a very young baby in an apartment at 325 East 92d

Street; the apartment belonged to John's mother-in-law, who was

temporarily away.^^^ -^^q Oswald has explained that with Robert

gone she did not want Lee to be alone while she worked and that she

went to New York City "not as a venture," but because she "had

family" there.^®^ 675
The visit began well. John testified of his meeting with Lee : "We

met in the street and I was real glad to see him and he was real glad

to see me. We were real good friends." ^^^ He took about a week of

leave and showed Lee the city ; he remembered trips to the Museum

of Natural History and Polk's Hobby Shop, and a ride on the

Staten Island ferry.^^^ But when it became obvious that his

mother intended to stay, the atmosphere changed. Mrs. Oswald

did not get along with John's wife, with whom she quarreled

frequently.^^^ There was difficulty about her failure to contribute

anything towards her own and Lee's support. ^^^ According to John, his wife liked Lee and would have been glad to have him

alone stay with them but felt that his mother set Lee agamst her;

they never suggested that Lee remain with them since they knew that

it would not work out.^^^ The visit ended when Lee threatened Mrs.

Pic with a pocket knife during a quarrel,^^® and she asked Mrs. Oswald

to leave.^^° John testified that during this same quarrel Lee hit his

mother, who appeared to have lost all control over him.^^^ The

incident permanently destroyed the good relationship between Lee

and his brother.^^^ Mrs. Oswald and Lee moved uptown to a one-room basement apartment ^®^ in the Bronx, at 1455 Sheridan Avenue.^^* While they were

still at the Pics, he had been enrolled at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran School on Watson Avenue.^^^ He was withdrawn on September 26, after several weeks of irregular attendance, and 4 days later enrolled in the seventh grade of Public School 117, a junior high

school.^®^ Mrs. Oswald found a job at one of the Lerner Shops, a chain of dress shops for which she had worked briefly in Fort Worth

several years before.^^^ In January, they moved again, to 825 East

179th Street,^^* and a few weeks later, she left the employ of Lerner

Shops.^^^ In April, she w^as working at Martin's Department Store

in Brooklyn, where she earned $45 per week;^^" in May, she went to work for a chain of hosiery shops, with which she remained until

December.^°^ Lee was registered at Public School 117 until January 16, 1953,202 although the move to l79th Street, which took him

out of that school district, probably took place before that date.^°® He

had been at Public School 117 for 64 schooldays, out of which he had

been present on 15 full and 2 half days;^^* he had received failing

grades in most of his courses.^"^ Lee's truancy increased after he moved ; he was now located in the

school district of Public School 44 but refused to go to school there.2°^ On one occasion that spring, an attendance officer located Lee at the

Bronx Zoo ; the officer testified that Lee was clean and well dressed, but was surly and referred to the officer as a "damned Yankee." ^^^ Several

truancy hearings were held in January, at the first of which at least,

both Mrs. Oswald and Lee evidently failed to appear.^^^ At a hearing on January 27, by which time it was known that Lee was living

in the Public School 44 district, it was decided to commence judicial

proceedings if his truancy continued.^^^ Meanwhile, on January 16,

his mother called the Community Service Society, to which she had

676
been referred by the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, and

asked for an appointment to discuss the problem.^^o She mentioned

that a truancy hearing had been held and said that Lee would not

attend school despite the threat of official action; she thought that

his behavior was due to difficulty in adjusting to his new environment.2^^ An appointment was scheduled for January 30, but she

failed to appear, and the case was closed.^^^ Somethne in February, the

Pics visited the Oswalds. John testified that his mother told him about

Lee's truancy and asked how she could get Lee to accept psychiatric

aid. Nothing came of these discussions.^^^ On March 12, the attendance officer in charge of Lee's case filed a petition in court which alleged that Lee had been "excessively absent

from school" between October and January, that he had refused to

register at Public School 44 or to attend school there, and that he was

"beyond the control of his mother insofar as school attendance is concerned." ^" On the same day, Mrs. Oswald appeared in court alone

and informed the presiding judge that Lee refused to appear in

court.^^^ Evidently impressed by the proceedings, however, Lee did

register at Public School 44 on March 23.^^^ Nevertheless, on

April 16, Justice Delany declared him a truant, and remanded him

to Youth House until May 7 for psychiatric study.^^^ In accordance with the regular procedures at Youth House, Lee

took a series of tests and was interviewed by a staJff social worker and a probation officer, both of whom interviewed Mrs. Oswald as welL^^^

Their findings, discussed more fully in chapter YII of the Commission's report, indicated that Lee was a withdrawn, socially maladjusted

boy, whose mother did not interest herself sufficiently in his welfare

and had failed to establish a close relationship with him.^^^ Mrs.

Oswald visited Lee at Youth House and came away with a highly unfavorable impression ; she regarded it as unfit for her son.^^^ On the

basis of all the test results and reports and his own interview with

Lee, Dr. Eenatus Hartogs, the chief staff psychiatrist, recommended

that Lee be placed on probation with a requirement that he seek

help from a child guidance clinic, and that his mother be urged

to contact a family agency for help; he recommended that Lee not

be placed in an institution unless treatment during probation was

unsuccessful.22^ Lee returned to court on May 7. He and his mother appeared before

Justice McClancy, who discussed the Youth House reports with

them.222 He released Lee on parole until September 24, and requested

that a referral be made to the Community Service Society for treat- ment.^2^ The probation officer called the society on the same day but was told that it would probably not be able to take the case because of

its already full case load and the intensive treatment which Lee was

likely to require ; ^^^ it confirmed this position 1 week later and closed

the case on May 31.^^5 /^j-^ application was made to the Salvation

Army also, which turned it doAvn because it could not provide the

needed services.^^^ 677
During the few weeks of school which remained, Lee attended school

regularly, and completed the seventh grade with low but passing marks

in all his academic subjects.^^^ (He received a failing mark in a home

economics course. )^^* His conduct was generally satisfactory and he was rated outstanding in "Social-Participation'-; the record indicates

that he belonged to a model airplane club and had a special interest in

horseback riding.^^^ Robert Oswald visited New York that summer,

while he was on leave from the Marines.^^" Lee did not appear to him

to be unhappy or to be acting abnormally, nor did Robert observe that

relations between Lee and his mother were strained.^^^ Lee's truancy

the previous fall and winter was apparently discussed only in passing,

when Mrs. Oswald mentioned that Lee had had to appear before a

judge.^^^

On September 14, Lee entered the eighth grade at Public School

^233 jjjg papole was due to end 10 days later. On September 24,

however, Mrs. Oswald telephoned the probation officer and advised that

she could not appear in court ; she added that there was no need for her

to do so, since Lee was attending school regularly and was now well

adjusted.^^* The parole was extended until October 29, before which

date the school was to submit a progress report.^^^ The report was

highly unfavorable. Although Lee was attending school regularly,

his conduct was unsatisfactory; teachers reported that he refused to salute the flag, did little work, and seemed to spend most of his time

"sailing paper planes around the room." ^^e On October 29, Mrs. Oswald again telephoned to say that she would be unable to appear.

Justice Sicher continued Lee's parole until November 19 and directed

the probation officer to make a referral to the Berkshire Industrial

Farm or Children's Village.^^^

Before the next hearing, Mrs. Oswald discussed Lee's behavior with

the school authorities, who indicated to the probation officer that

Lee's behavior improved considerably after her visit to the school.^^^ He did, in fact, receive passing grades in most of his subjects in the

first marking period. His report also contains notations by his teachers that he was "quick-tempered," "constantly losing control," and

"getting into battles with others." ^^^ Both Lee and his mother

appeared in court on November 19. Despite Mrs. Oswald's request

that Lee be discharged. Justice Sicher stated his belief that Lee needed

treatment, and continued his parole until January 28, 1954 ; the probation officer was directed to contact the Big Brothers counseling service

in the meantime.^*"

At the request of the probation officer, the Big Brothers office con- tacted Mrs. Oswald in December, and on January 4 a caseworker

visited her and Lee at home.^*^ The caseworker reported that he was

cordially received but was told by Mrs. Oswald that continued counseling was unnecessary ; she pointed out to him that Lee now belonged

to the West Side YMCA, which he attended every Saturday. The

caseworker reported, however, that Lee was plainly "displeased with

the idea of being forced to join various 'Y' organizations about which

he cared little." Mrs. Oswald declared her intention to return to New

678
Orleans and was advised to obtain Lee's release from the court's jurisdiction before she left.^*^ On the following day, she called the probation officer, who was away on vacation, and was advised by his office again not to take Lee out of the jurisdiction without the court's consent.^^^ The same advice was repeated to her by the Big Brothers

caseworker on January 6.^** Through all these contacts, Mrs. Oswald

had evidenced reluctance to bring Lee into court, prompted probably

by fear that he would be retained in some sort of custody as he had

been at the time of the commitment to Youth House.^*^ Without further communication to the court, Mrs. Oswald and Lee returned to New Orleans sometime before January 10.^*^ On March 11, the court

dismissed the case.^*^ In New Orleans, Lee and his mother stayed with the Murrets at 757 French Street while they looked for an apartment.^*^ Lee enrolled

in the eighth grade at Beauregard Junior High School on January

13 ^*^ and completed the school year without apparent difficulty.^^*^ He

entered the ninth grade in September and again received mediocre

but acceptable marks.^^^ In October 1954, Lee took a series of achievement tests, on which he did well in reading and vocabulary, badly in

mathematics.^^^ At the end of the school year, on June 2, 1955, he

filled out a "personal history." He indicated that the subjects which

he liked best were civics, science, and mathematics; those he liked

least were English and art. His vocational preferences were listed as biology and mechanical drawing ; his plans after high school, however, were noted as "military service" and "undecided." He said that

reading and outdoor sports were his recreational activities and that

he liked football in particular. In response to the question whether

he had "any close friends in this school," he wrote, "no." ^^^ Lee is remembered by those who knew him in New Orleans as a

quiet, solitary boy who made few friends.^^* He was briefly a member

of the Civil Air Patrol,^^^ and considered joining an organization of

high school students interested in astronomy ; ^^^ occasionally, he

played pool or darts with his friend, Edward Voebel.^^^ Beyond this,

he seems to have had few contacts with other people. He read a lot, starting at some point to read Communist literature which he found

at the public library ; ~^^ he walked or rode a bicycle, sometimes visiting a museum.^^^ Except in his relations with his mother, he was not unusually argumentative or belligerent, but he seems not to have avoided

fights if they came ; they did come fairly frequently, perhaps in part

because of his aloofness from his fellows and the traces of a northern

accent in his speech.^^^ His only close friendship, with Voebel, arose when Voebel helped him tend his wounds after a fight.^^^ Friends of

Mrs. Oswald thought that he was demanding and insolent toward her

and that she had no control over him.^^^

While Lee was in the eighth and ninth grades, Mrs. Oswald worked

first at Burt's Shoestore ^^^ and then at the Dolly Shoe Co.^^* One of

her employers at Dolly, where she worked as a cashier and salesclerk,

remembered her as a pleasant person and a good worker.^^^ At her re- quest, the company hired Lee to work part time; he worked there,

679
mostly on Saturdays, for about 10 weeks in 1955.^^^ On the "personal

history" record which he filled out in school, he stated that he had been

a "retail shoesaleman" ; ^^^ but his employer recalled that they had

tried to train him as a salesman without success and that he had in

fact been a stockboy.^^^

After a short period with the Murrets, Mrs. Oswald and Lee had

moved to an apartment owned by Myrtle Evans at 1454 Saint Mary

Street, which she and Mrs. Murret helped to furnish ; later they moved

to a less expensive apartment in the same building, the address of which was 1452 Saint Mary Street.^^® Relations between Mrs. Oswald and

Mrs. Evans became strained,^^^ and in the spring of 1955 the Oswalds

moved to a new apartment at 126 Exchange Place in the French

Quarter.^''^ Although Lee gave the Exchange Place address on a school form at the end of the ninth grade,^^^ the school authorities had

apparently not been advised of these moves earlier, because Mrs.

Oswald did not want Lee to be transferred from Beauregard, which

she considered a good school.^''^ During the summer of 1955, Robert

left the Marine Corps and spent a week with his mother and Lee in New

Orleans before moving to Fort Worth ; he found Lee unchanged.^^*

That fall, Lee entered the 10th grade at Warren Easton High

School.^''^ He had been there for about a month when he presented to the school authorities a note written by himself to which he had signed

his mother's name. It was dated October 7, 1955, and read

To whom it may concern, Becaus we are moving to San Diego in the middle of tliis month Lee must quit school now. Also, please send by him any

papers such as his birth certificate that you may have. Thank

you.

Sincirely

Mrs. M. Oswald 276 He dropped out of school a few days later, shortly before his 16th

birthday.27^ After his birthday, he tried to enlist in the Marines,

using a false affidavit from his mother that he was IT.^^* (Some years

before, John Pic had joined the Marine Corps Reserve by means of his

mother's false affidavit that he was 17.) ^^^ The attempt failed, and,

according to his mother's testimony, Lee spent the next year reading

and memorizing the "Marine Manual," which he had obtained from

Robert and "living to when he is age 17 to joui the Marines." ^^^ He worked for the rest of the school year. Between November 10 and

January 14, he was a messenger boy for Gerald F. Tujague, Inc., a shipping company, where he earned $130 per month.^^^ His employer

remembers him as a quiet, withdrawn person.^^^ In January he

worked briefly as an office boy for J. R. Michels, Inc.^®^ For several

months thereafter, he was a messenger for the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory.^^^ His military record subsequently described his prior civil- ian jobs as follows

680
Performed various clerical duties such as distributing mail, delivering messages & answering telephone. Helped file records &

operated ditto, letter opening & sealing machines.^^^

Anticipating that Lee would join the Marines as soon as he was

17, Mrs. Oswald moved in July 1956 to Fort Worth,^^^ where she

took an apartment at 4936 Collinswood for herself, Lee, and Robert.^^^

In September, Lee enrolled in the 10th grade at the Arlington Heights

High School 2^ but attended classes for only a few weeks. He

dropped out of school on September 28.^^^ A few days later, he wrote

the following letter to the Socialist Party of America

October 3, 1956

Dear Sirs;

I am sixteen years of age and would like more information

about your youth League, I would like to know if there is a branch in my area, how to join, ect., I am a Marxist, and have

been studying socialist principles for well over fifteen months

I am very interested in your Y.P.S.L.

Sincerely

/s/ Lee Oswald 290 Accompanying the letter was an advertisement coupon, on which

he had checked the box requesting information about the Socialist

Party.29^

Lee became 17 on October 18. He enlisted in the Marines on

October 24.292 MARINES

On October 26, 1956, Lee Harvey Oswald reported for duty at the

Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Calif., where he was

assigned to the Second Recruit Training Battalion.^^^ He was 68

inches tall and weighed 135 pounds; he had no physical defects.^^* On October 30, he took a series of aptitude tests, on which he scored

significantly above the Marine Corps average in reading and vocabulary and significantly below the average in tests in arithmetic and

pattern analysis. His composite general classification score was 105,

2 points below the Corps average. He scored near the bottom of the

lowest group in a radio code test.^^^ His preference of duty was

recorded as Aircraft Maintenance and Repair, the duty assignment

for which he was recommended.^^^

While he was at San Diego, Oswald was trained in the use of the

M-1 rifle.297 His practice scores were not very good,^®^ but when his

company fired for record on December 21, he scored 212, 2 points

above the score necessary to qualify as a "sharpshooter" on a marksman/sharpshooter/expert scale.299 He did not do nearly as well when

681

730-900 0-64—45
he fired for record again shortly before he left the Marines.^°° He

practiced also with a riot gun and a .45 -caliber pistol A\'hen lie was in the Marines but no scores were recorded.^^

Oswald was given a 4.4 rating in both "conduct" and "proficiency"

at the Recruit Depot, the liighest possible rating being 5.0 and an

average rating of 4.0 being required for an honorable discharge.^^^

On January 18, 1957, he reported to Camp Pendleton, Calif., for further training and was assigned to "A" Company of the First Battalion,

Second Infantry Training Regiment.^^^ He was at Pendleton for a little more than 5 weeks, at the end of which he was rated 4.2 in

conduct and 4.0 in proficiency.^°* Allen E. Felde, a fellow recruit

who was with Oswald at San Diego and Pendleton, has stated that

Oswald was generally unpopular and that his company was avoided

by the other men.^^^ Wlien his squad was given its first weekend

leave from Pendleton, all eight men took a cab to Tijuana, Mexico.

Oswald left the others and did not rejoin them until it was time to return to camp. Felde said that this practice was repeated on other

trips to Los Angeles; Oswald accompanied the men on the bus to and from camp but did not stay with them in the city.^°^ On February 27, he went on leave for 2 weeks,^^^ during which he may have

visited his mother in Fort Worth.^^^

On March 18, he reported to the Naval Air Teclmical Training

Center at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla.^^^ For the

next 6 weeks he attended an Aviation Fundamental School, in Avliich he received basic instruction in his specialty, including such subjects

as basic radar theory, map reading, and air traffic control procedures.^^^

This course, as well as his next training assigimient at Keesler Air

Force Base, required Oswald to deal T\ith confidential material.^^^ He

was granted final clearance up to the "confidential" level on May 3, "after [a] careful check of local records had disclosed no derogatory

data." ^^2 He completed the course on the same day, ranking 46th in a class of 54 students.^^^ On the previous day, he had been promoted

to private, first class, effective May 1.^^* At Jacksonville, he received

ratings of 4.7 in conduc.t and 4.5 in proficiency, the highest ratings

he ever attained.^^^

Oswald left for Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., on the day

his course was completed ; ^^^ he traveled, probably by overnight train,

in a group of six marines led by Pfc. Daniel P. Powers, the senior

marine in charge.^^^ At Keesler, he attended the Aircraft Control and

Warning Operator Course, which included instruction in aircraft sur- veillance and the use of radar.^^* Powers was not sure whether he had

met Oswald before the trip to Biloxi^^® but remembers him there as "a

somewhat younger individual, less matured than the other boys," who

"was normally outside the particular group of marines that were in

this attachment to Keesler." ^^^ (Oswald was in fact 3 years yomiger

than Powers.) ^^^ Powers testified that Oswald had the nickname

"Ozzie Eabbit." ^^2 Oswald generally stayed to himself, often read682
ing ; he did not play cards or work out in the gym with the others.^^^ He spent his weekends alone, aw^ay from the base; Powers thought

he left Biloxi and perhaps went "home" to New Orleans, less than

100 miles away.^^* He finished the course seventh in a class of 30

marines on June 17,^^^ and on June 25, was given an MOS (military

occupational specialty) of Aviation Electronics Operator.^^^ On

June 20, he went on leave,^^'' possibly visiting his mother/''^^ His

ratings at Keesler were 4.2 in conduct and 4.5 in proficiency,^^^ which

Powers thought was "pretty good." ^^° On July 9, Oswald reported at the Marine Corps Air Station at El

Toro, Calif., near Santa Ana.^^^ He was classified as a replacement

trainee and attached to the Fourth Replacement Battalion.^^^ Six

w^eeks later, on August 22, he departed from San Diego for Yokosuka,

Japan, on board the U.S.S. BexarP^ Powers testified that while on

board, Oswald taught him to play chess, which they played frequently,

sometimes for more than 4 hours a day.^^* Like most of the men on

board, Oswald read a lot from the books which were available.

Powers thought he read "a good type of literature," remembering

in particular Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." ^^^ The Bexar docked at Yokosuka on September 12.^^^ Oswald was

assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron No. 1 (MACS-1), Marine

Air Group 11, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Atsugi, about 20

miles west of Tokyo.^^^ Oswald was a radar operator in MACS-1,

which had less than 100 men.^^® Its function was to direct aircraft to

their targets by radar, communicating with the pilots by radio.^^^ The squadron had also the duty of scouting for incoming foreign air- craft, such as straying Russian or Chinese planes, which would be

intercepted by American planes.^^

On October 27, when Oswald opened his locker to remove some

gear, a derringer .22 caliber pistol fell to the floor and discharged ; the

bullet hit him in the left elbow.^*^ Paul Edward Murphy, a fellow

marine who was in the next cubicle, heard the shot, rushed in, and

found Oswald sitting on the locker looking at his arm ; without emotion, Oswald said to Murphy, "I believe I shot myself." ^^^ He was

in the naval hospital at Yokosuka until November 15.^^^ The Judge Advocate General concluded that Oswald had "displayed a certain degree ,of carelessness or negligence" by storing a loaded revolver in his locker, but that his injury was incurred "in

the line of duty" and was not the result "of his own misconduct." ^^ He was, however, charged with possession of an unregistered privately

owned weapon in violation of general orders. A court-martial fol- lowed on April 11, 1958, when Oswald's unit returned from maneuvers,

and on April 29 he was sentenced to be confined at hard labor for 20

days, to forfeit $25 per month for 2 months, and to be reduced to the

grade of private.^*^ The confinement was suspended for 6 months,

after which that portion of the sentence was to be remitted.^*^

Five days after Oswald left the hospital, MACS-1 embarked aboard

the Terrell County^ LST 1157, for maneuvers in the Philippine Islands

683
area.^*^ According to Powers' recollection, the squadron was ex- pected to return to Atsugi after maneuvers were completed, but an

international crisis developed ; since another operation was scheduled

for a few months later, the squadron debarked at Cubi Point (Subic

Bay) in the Philippines and set up a temporary installation.^

While he was in the Philippines, Oswald passed a test of eligibility

for the rank of corporal ; ^^^ in a semiannual evaluation, however, he was given his lowest ratings thus far : 4.0 in conduct and 3.9 in proficiency.^^^ The unit participated in exercises at Corregidor, from

which it sailed for Atsugi on March 7, 1958, aboard the U.S.S. Wexford County, LST 1168.^^1 The Wexford County reached Atsugi 11 days later.^''^ Oswald was court-martialed a second time on June 27, for using

"provoking words" to a noncommissioned officer (a sergeant) on June 20, at the Bluebird Cafe in Yamato, and assaulting the officer by

pouring a drink on him.^^^ The findings were that Oswald spilled the

drink accidentally, but Avhen the sergeant shoved him away, Oswald

invited the sergeant outside in insulting language.^* Oswald admitted

that he was rather drunk and had invited the sergeant outside but did

not recall insulting him.^^^ He was sentenced to be confined at hard

labor for 28 days and to forfeit $55 ; ^^^ in addition, suspension of the

previous sentence of confinement was withdrawn.^^^ He was in con- finement until August 13.^ Meanwhile, a previously granted extension of oversea duty was canceled,^^^ and he was given ratings of 1.9 in

conduct and 3.4 in proficiency.^^^ On September 14, Oswald sailed with his unit for the South China

Sea area ; the unit was at Ping Tung, North Taiwan on September 30,

and returned to Atsugi on October 5.^^^ On October 6, he was trans- ferred out of MACS-1 and put on general duty, in anticipation of his

return to the United States.^^^ He spent several days thereafter in the Atsugi Station Hospital.^^^ On October 31, he received his last oversea ratings : 4.0 in both conduct and proficiency.^^*

Oswald appears generally to have been regarded by his fellows overseas as an intelligent person who followed orders and did his work

well, but who complained frequently.^^^ He did not associate much

with other marines and continued to read a great deal.^^® Paul

Murphy testified that Oswald could speak "a little Kussian" while he was overseas.^^^ Powers believed that Oswald became more assertive

in Japan and thought that he might have had a Japanese girl friend.^^

He departed from Yokosuka on board the USNS Bmirett on November

2, and arrived in San Francisco 13 days later.^es On November 19,

he took 30 days' leave.^^^ On December 22, Oswald was assigned to Marine Air Control

Squadron No. 9 (MACS-9) at the Marine Corps Air Station at El

Toro, where he had been briefly before he went overseas.^^^ He was

one of about seven enlisted men and three officers who formed a "radar crew," engaged primarily in aircraft surveillance.^'^ This

work probably gave him access to certain kinds of classified material, some of which, such as aircraft call signs and radio frequencies, was

684
changed after his defection to Russia.^^^ For part of his time at El Toro, Oswald may have been assigned to clerical or janitorial

tasks on the base.^^^ Some of his associates believed rumors,^^^ in- correct according to official records,^^^ that he had lost his clearance to work on radar crews ; one recalled hearing that Oswald had once had

clearance above the "confidential" level and had lost it because he

"had poured beer over a staff NCO's head in an enlisted club in

Japan, and had been put in the brig." ^^^ The officer in command of the radar crew, Lt. John E. Donovan,

found him "competent in all functions," and observed that he handled

himself calmly and well in emergency situations.^^^ Donovan thought

Oswald was not a leader but that he performed competently on occasions when, as the senior man present, he served as crew chief.^"^^ This

estimate was generally shared by his fellows, most of whom thought

that he performed his assigned duties adequately but was deficient in

disciplinary matters and such things as barracks inspection.^^^ One of

them recalled that after a number of bad inspections, the other members of Oswald's quonset hut complained about him and secured his

transfer to another hut.^^^ He was thought to be an intelligent person,

somewhat better educated and more intellectually oriented than other

men on the base.^*^ A few of the men thought it more accurate to describe him as someone who wanted to appear intelligent.^^^ He had

a pronounced interest in world affairs, in which he appears to have

been better informed than some of the officers, whose lack of knowledge amused and sometimes irritated him ; he evidently enjoyed drawing others, especially officers, into conversations in which he could

display his own superior knowledge.^®*

It seems clear from the various recollections of those who knew him

at El Toro that by the time Oswald returned to the United States,

he no longer had any spirit for the Marines ; the attitudes which had

prompted his enlistment as soon as he was eligible were entirely gone,

and his attention had turned away from the Marines to what he might

do after his discharge. While no one was able to predict his attempt

to defect to Russia within a month after he left the Marines, the testi- mony of those who knew him at El Toro, in contrast to that of his

associates in Japan, leaves no doubt that his thoughts were occupied

increasingly with Russia and the Russian way of life. He had studied

the Russian language enough by February 25, 1959, to request that

he be given a foreign language qualification test; his rating was

"poor" in all parts of the test.^^^ Most of the marines who knew him

were aware that he was studying Russian ; ^^^ one of them, Henry J. Roussel, Jr., arranged a date between Lee and his aunt, Rosaleen

Quinn, an airline stewardess who was also studying Russian.^^^ (Miss

Quinn thought that Oswald spoke Russian well in view of his lack

of formal training ; she found the evening uninteresting.^^^ Donovan,

with whom she had a date later, testified that she told him that Oswald

was "kind of an oddball.") ^^^ He read, and perhaps subscribed to, a newspaper, possibly printed in Russian, which his associates con- nected with his Russian bent.^^° 685
Most of those who knew him were able to recount anecdotes which

suggest that he was anxious to publicize his liking for things Russian,

sometimes in good humor and sometimes seriously. Some of his

fellows called him "Oswaldskovich," apparently to his pleasure.^^^ He

is said to have had his name written in Russian on one of his jackets ; ®^^ to have played records of Russian songs "so loud that one

could hear them outside the barracks" ; ^^^ frequently to have made

remarks in Russian ^^* or used expressions like "da" or "nyet," ^^^ or addressed others (and been addressed) as "Comrade'' ;^^^ to have come

over and said jokingly, "You called?" when one of the marines played

a particular record of Russian music.^^^

Connected with this Russophilia was an interest in and accep- tance of Russian political views and, to a lesser extent. Communist ideology. Less obvious to his fellows generally,^^® it nevertheless

led him into serious discussions with some of them. Donovan, who

was a graduate of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University,^''^ thought Oswald was "truly interested in international af- fairs" *^° and "very well versed, at least on the superficial facts of a given foreign situation." *°^ He recalled that Oswald had a particular

interest in Latin America ^^ and had a good deal of information about

Cuba in particular.^^^ Oswald expressed sympathy for Castro but,

according to Donovan, "what he said about Castro was not an unpopular belief at that time." *°* Donovan believed that Oswald subscribed

to the Russian newspaper—which Donovan thought was a Communist

newspaper—not only in order to read Russian but also because he

thought it "presented a very different and perhaps equally just side of

the international affairs in comparison with the United States newspapers." *°^ Donovan Was clear, on the other hand, that he never heard

OsAvald "in any way, shape or form confess that he was a Communist,

or that he ever thought about being a Communist." ^°^ Private Kerry Thomley described himself as a close acquaintance,

but not a good friend, of Oswald, whom he met in the spring of 1959 ; ^"^ he later wrote an unpublished novel in which he drew heavily on his

impressions of Oswald.*^^ Thornley generally corroborates Donovan's

testimony but thought Oswald definitely believed that "the Marxist

morality was the most rational morality to follow" and communism,

"the best system in the world." *^^ Thornley thought this belief was

"theoretical," a "dispassionate appraisal" which did not indicate "any

active commitment to the Communist ends" ; he described Oswald as "idle in his admiration for communism." *^° He recalled discussions

about Marxism in which Oswald criticized capitalism and praised the

Soviet economic system.*^^ Thornley testified that his association with

Oswald ended when, in response to Oswald's criticism of a parade in

which they both had to march, he said "Well, comes the revolution you

will change all that.'' Oswald, he said, looked at him "like a betrayed

Caesar" and walked away.*^^ Thornley attributed Oswald's decision

to go to Russia to a growing disillusionment with the United States,

especially its role in the Far East, and a conviction that communism

686
would eventually prevail.*^^ He was surprised by the decision but

expected Oswald to adjust to Eiissian life and remain in Russia

permanently.^^*

Another marine, Xelson Delgado, met Oswald soon after the latter arrived at El Toro.*^^ They were about the same age and had similar

interests; Oswald enjoyed trying to speak Spanish with Delgado,

who spoke it fluently.*^^ Delgado regarded him as a "complete be- liever that our way of government was not quite right," but did not think he was a Communist.*" Their discussions were concerned more

with Cuba than Eussia.*^^ They both favored the Castro government

and talked—"dreaming,'' Delgado said—about joining the Cuban

Army or Government and perhaps leading expeditions to other Caribbean islands to "free them too." *^^ Oswald told Delgado that he was

in touch with Cuban diplomatic officials in this country ; which Delgado

at first took to be "one of his * * * lies," *2° but later believed.*^^

Oswald's interest in Russia and deA^eloping ideological attacliment to theoretical communism apparently dominated his stay at El Toro. He

w^as still withdrawn from most of his fellows, although his special in- terests appear to have made him stand out more there than he had at other posts and to have given him a source for conversation which he

had hitherto lackecl.*^^ According to several of the witnesses, names

like "Ozzie Rabbit" still clung to him ; ^^s others recalled no nickname

or only shortened versions of his real name.*^* His reading acquired

direction ; books like "Das Kapital" and Orwell's "Animal Farm" and

"1984" are mentioned in the testimony concerning this period.*-° He

played chess ; *-^ according to one of his opponents he chose the red

pieces, expressing a preference for the "Red Army." ^^^ He listened to

classical music.*^^ For a short time, he played on the squadron football team.*^^ According to Donovan, who coached the team, Oswald

was not very good; he lacked team spirit and often tried to call the

plays, which was not his job.*^° Delgado thought Oswald was a mediocre player.*^^ Donovan did not know whether Oswald quit or was

thrown off the team.*^^ He spent most of his weekends alone, as he had

at Keesler, and did not leave the post as often as the other men.*^^

Delgado once rode with him on the train to Los Angeles but separated

from him there; Oswald returned to the base after one night.*^* Delgado recalls that on another weekend Oswald accepted his invitation

to go to Tijuana : they stayed there for one night.*^^

At the end of January 1959 and at the end of July, Oswald was

given his semiannual ratings, scoring 4.0 in conduct both times, and

4.0 and 4.2 in proficiency.*^^ (The July ratings were repeated in September, when he was transferred from MACS-9 in preparation for

his discharge. )*^^ On March 9, he was promoted as of March 1, to the rank of private, first class, for the second time.*^^ He took a

series of high school level general educational development tests on March 23 and received an overall rating of "satisfactory." His best

scores, in the 76th and 79th U.S. percentiles, were in English composition and phj^sical sciences; his worst was English literature, in

which he placed in the 34th percentile.*^^

687
In the spring, Oswald applied to Albert Schweitzer College in

Churwalden, Switzerland, for admission to the spring term in 1960;

the application is dated March 19.^^° Schweitzer is a small school,

which specializes in courses in religion, ethics, science, and literature.

He claimed a proficiency in Russian equal to 1 year of schooling *^^ and that he had completed high school by correspondence with an

average grade of 85 percent.^^^ He listed philosophy, psychology,

ideology, football, baseball, tennis and stamp-collecting as special interests, and writing short stories "on contemporaiy American life" as

his vocational interest.^^^ Jack London, Charles Darwin, and Norman

Vincent Peale were listed as favorite authors.**^ He claimed membership in the YMCA and the "A.Y.H. Association," and said that he

had participated in a "student body movement in school'' for the control of juvenile delinquency.*^^ Asked to give a general statement of

his reasons for wanting to attend the college, he wrot^

:

In order to aquire a fuller understanding of that subject which

interest me most. Philosophy. To meet with Europeans who can broaden my scope of understanding. To receive formal Education by Instructers of high standing and character. To broaden

my knowlege of German and to live in a healty climate and Good

moral atmosphere.**^

On the basis of these representations, Oswald's application was approved by the college.**^ He enclosed a registration fee of $25 in a

letter dated June 19, in which he said that he was "looking forward

to a fine stay." *** Few of the other marines seem to have known about

this application. He told Delgado, however, that he planned to at- tend a Swiss school to study psychology, and Delgado knew that some

application had been made.**^ Another marine, Eichard Call, also

knew something of his plans.*^°

Oswald was obligated to serve on active duty until December 7, 1959 (the date having been adjusted to compensate for the period of

confinement) .*^^ On August 17, he submitted a request for a dependency discharge, on the ground that his mother needed his support.^^^ The request was accompanied by an affidavit of Mrs. Oswald and cor- roborating affidavits from an attorney, a doctor, and two friends,

attesting that she had been injured at work in December 1958, and was unable to support herself.*^^ Oswald had previously made a vol- untary allotment of part of his salary to his mother, under which

arrangement she received $40 in August, and had submitted an application for a "Q" allotment (dependency allowance) in her behalf

of $91.30 ; one payment of the "Q" allotment, for the month of August, was made in September.*^* On August 28, the Wing Hardship or Dependency Discharge Board recommended that Oswald's request for

a discharge be approved ; *^^ approval followed shortly.*^® On September 4, he was transferred from ^IACS-9 to the H. & H. Squadron,*^^ and on September 11, he was released from active duty and

transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve, in which he was expected to 688
serve until December 8, 1962.^^^ He was assigned to the Marine Air

Keserve Training Command at the Naval Air Station in Glenview,

Ill.^=« Almost exactly 1 year later, on September 13, 1960, Oswald was

given an "undesirable discharge" from the Marine Corps Reserve,*^^

based on:

reliable information which indicated that he had renounced

his U.S. citizenship with the intentions of becoming a permanent

citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Further, that

petitioner brought discredit to the Marine Corps through adverse

newspaper publicity, which was generated by the foregoing action, and had thereby, in the opinion of his commanding officer,

proved himself imfit for retention in the naval service.*^^

SOVIET UNION

On September 4, the day on which he was transferred out of

MACS-9 in preparation for his discharge, Oswald had applied for a passport at the Superior Court of Santa Ana, Calif. His application

stated that he planned to leave the United States on September 21 to attend the Albert Schweitzer College and the University of Turku in

Finland, and to travel in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, England,

France, Germany, and Russia.^^ The passport was routinely issued

6 days later.*^^ Oswald went directly home after his discharge, and arrived in Fort

Worth by September 14.*®* He told his mother that he intended to get

a job on a ship or possibly in the "export-import business." *®^ If he

stayed in Fort Worth, he said, he would be able to earn only about

$30 per week; on a ship, he would earn "big money" and be able to send substantial amounts home.*^ Three days after he arrived in

Fort Worth, he left for New Orleans.*®^ While he was in Fort Worth

he had registered his dependency discharge and entry into the Marine

Reserve at the Fort Worth Selective Service Board,*®^ and visited his

brother Robert and his family.*®^ He also gave his mother $100.*^°

. On September 17, Oswald spoke with a representative of

Travel Consultants, Inc., a New Orleans travel bureau; he

filled out a "Passenger Immigration Questionnaire," on which he gave

his occupation as "shipping export agent" and said that he would be

abroad for 2 months on a pleasure trip. He booked passage from

New Orleans to Le Havre, France, on a freighter, the SS Marion Lyhes^

scheduled to sail on September 18, for which he paid $220.75.*^^ On

the evening of September 17, he registered at the Liberty Hotel.^^^ The Marion LyJces did not sail until the early morning of September 20.*^^ Before its departure, Oswald wrote his mother a letter,

which was her last news of him until she read stories of his defection

in Fort Worth newspapers

:

689
Dear Mother

:

Well, I have booked passage on a ship to Europe, I would of

had to sooner or later and I think it's best I go now. Just remember above all else that my values are very different from Robert's or your's. It is difficult to tell you how I feel. Just remember

this is what I must do. I did not tell you about my plans because

you could harly be expected to understand.

I did not see aunt Lilian while I was here. I will write again

as soon as I land.

Lee ^'^ The Marion Lyhes carried only four passengers.^ ^^ Oswald shared

his cabin with Billy Joe Lord, a young man who had just graduated

from high school and was going to France to continue his education.

Lord testified that he and Oswald did not discuss politics but did have

a few amicable religious arguments, in which Oswald defended

atheism. Oswald was "standoffish," but told Lord generally about

his background, mentioning that his mother worked in a drugstore in Fort Worth and that he was bitter about the low wages which

she received. He told Lord that he intended to travel in Europe and

possibly to attend school in Sweden or Switzerland if he had sufficient funds.*^^ The other two passengers were Lt. Col. and Mrs. George B.

Church, Jr., who also found Oswald unfriendly and had little contact with him. Oswald told them that he had not liked the Marine Corps

and that he planned to study in Switzerland; they observ-ed some

"bitterness" about his mother's difficulties, but did not discuss this

with him. No one on board suspected that he intended to defect to Russia.*^^ Oswald disembarked at Le Havre on October 8. He left for England that same day, and arrived on October 9."*^^ He told English

customs officials in Southampton that he had $700 and planned to remain in the United Kingdom for 1 week before proceeding to a

school in Switzerland. But on the same day, he flew to Helsinki, Finland, where he registered at the Torni Hotel ; on the following day,

he moved to the Klaus Kurki Hotel.^'^ Oswald probably applied for a visa at the Russian consulate on

October 12, his first business day in Helsinki.*^° The visa was issued on October 14. It was valid until October 20 and permitted him to take one trip of not more than 6 days to the Soviet Union.*^^ He also purchased 10 Soviet "tourist vouchers" which cost $30 apiece.^^ He

left Helsinki by train on the following day, crossed the Finnish

Russian border at Vainikkala, and arrived in Moscow on October 16.^^^ He was met at the Moscow railroad station by a representative

of "Intourist," the state tourist agency, and taken to the Hotel Berlin,

where he registered as a student.*^* On the same day he met the

Intourist guide assigned to him during his stay in Russia,

a young woman named Rima Shirokova. They went sightseeing

the next day. Almost immediately he told her that he wanted to leave

690
the United States and become a citizen of the Soviet Union. According to Oswald's "Historic Diary," she later told him that she

had reported his statement to Intourist headquarters, which in turn

had notified the "Passport and Visa Office" (probably the Visa and

Registration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the

MVD *^^) . She was instructed to help Oswald prepare a letter to the

Supreme Soviet requesting that he be granted citizenship. Oswald

mailed such a letter that same day.*^^ (The "Historic Diary" is Oswald's handwritten account of his life in Russia.*^^ The earlier

entries were written after the events which they describe; later, in

Minsk, he probably kept a contemporaneous record of his experiences. **^ The Commission has used the diary, which Oswald may have

written with future readers in mind, only as Oswald's record of his

private life and personal impressions as he sought to present them

and has relied wherever possible on official documents, correspondence,

and the testimony of witnesses.)

Tlie diary records that when Oswald told Rima Shirokova that he

intended to defect she was "flabbergassted," but agreeed to help.*"^® She

was "politly sympathetic but uneasy" when he told her that he

wanted to defect because he was "a Communist, ect." ^®° As an

Intourist guide, Rima toured parts of Moscow with Oswald in the

next few days. His primary concern, however, appeared to be his

effort to become a Soviet citizen, and she also aided him in his dealings

with the Soviet Government.^^^ He thought that Rima felt sorry for

him and tried to be a friend because he was "someth. new." ^^^ On

his 20th birthday, 2 days after he arrived in Russia, she gave him

Dostoevski's "The Idiot," *^^ in which she had written : "Dear Lee,

Great congratulations! Let all your dreams come true! 18.X

1959" *»* On October 19, Oswald was probably interviewed in his hotel room

by a man named Lev Setyayev, who said that he was a reporter for

Radio Moscow seeking statements from American tourists about their

impressions of Moscowj"^^^ but who was probably also acting for the

KGB.*^^ Two years later, Oswald told officials at the American

Embassy that he had made a few routine comments to Setyayev of no

political signifiance. The interview with Setyayev may, however,

have been the occasion for an attempt by the KGB, in accordance with

regular practice, to assess Oswald or even to elicit compromising state- ments from him; the interview was apparently never broadcast.^^^ (As discussed in ch. VI of this report, the Commission is aware that many of the Soviet officials with whom Oswald came into contact were employees of the KGB, the agency which has primary

jurisdiction for the treatment of defectors.)

On the following day, Rima Shirokova told him that the "Pass,

and Visa Dept." wanted to see him,^^^ and on the morning of October

21, he was interviewed by an official concerning his application for

citizenship. The official offered little information and no encouragement ; he told Oswald only that he would check to see if the visa could

691
be extended. Oswald returned to the Hotel Berlin.^®^ That afternoon,

he was notified that his visa had expired and that he had to leave

Moscow within 2 hours.^^ Oswald responded to the unfavorable decision by cutting himself

above his left wrist, in an apparent suicide attempt. Rima Shirokova

foimd him unconscious in his hotel room and had him taken to the Botkinskaya Hospital. His diary states : "Poor Rimmea stays by my side as interrpator (my Russian is still very bad) far into the night, I tell her 'Go home' (my mood is bad) but she stays, she is 'my friend.' '- ^^^ For 3 days Oswald was confined in the psychiatric ward of the

hospital. He was examined by a psychiatrist, who concluded that he

'was not dangerous to other people and could be transferred to the

"somatic" department. Hospital records containing the results of

the examination ^^^ state that Oswald came to Russia in order to apply

for citizenship, and that "in order to postpone his departure he in- flicted the injury upon himself." ^°^ They note that Oswald understood some Russian and, presumably based on information which he

provided, that he had "graduated from a technical high school in radio

technology and radio electronics." ^°* The record states : "He claims

he regrets his action. After recovering he intends to return to his

homeland." °°^ Oswald resented being in the psychiatric ward and told Rima Shirokova that he wanted a transfer.^^ She visited him at the hospital

frequently and his diary records that "only at this moment" did he

"notice [that] she is preety." ^"^ Another entry for the hospital period

says: "Afternoon I am visited by Roza Agafonova of the hotel tourist

office, who askes about my health, very beautiful, excelant Eng., ver^^ merry and kind, she makes me very glad to be alive." ^°^ These entries

reflect an attitude gentler and friendlier than his attitude before the

suicide attempt, when he seemed to be coldly concerned only with

his status in Russia. Once Oswald was out of the psychiatric ward,

he found the hospital more pleasant. The new ward, which he shared

with 11 other patients, was "airy," and the food was good. His only

complaint, according to his diary, was that an "elderly American"

patient was distrustful of him because he had not registered at the

American Embassy and because he was evasive about the reasons for

his presence in Moscow and confinement in the hospital.^^^

He was released from the hospital on October 28,^^"^ and, accompanied

by Rima Shirokova, was driven to the Hotel Berlin in an Intourist

car. After he said goodby to Lyudmila Dmitrieva, head of the Intourist office at the Berlin, and to Roza Agafonova, another Intourist

employee at the hotel, he checked out of the Berlin and registered at the Metropole, ^" a large hotel under the same administration as the

Berlin.^^2 The Government had undoubtedly directed him to make

the change. His visa had expired while he was in the hospital, and his

presence in Russia was technically illegal; he had received no word

that the decision that he must leave had been reversed. Later that day,

however, Rima told him that the "Pass and Registration Office" wished

692
to talk to him about his future.^^^ According to the diary, when

Oswald appeared at the office he was asked whether he still wanted to become a Soviet citizen and he replied that he did; he provided his

Marine Corps discharge papers for identification. He was told that he

could not expect a decision soon, and was dismissed. During this

interview, Oswald was apparently questioned about the interview

which preceded his hospitalization, which led him to conclude that

there had been no communication between the two sets of officials.^" That evening he met Rima, on whom he vented his frustration at being

put off by the authorities.^^^

Oswald ate only once on the following day ; he stayed near the tele- phone, fully dressed and ready to leave immediately if he were sum- moned. He remained in his room for 3 days, which seemed to him

"like three years," ^^® until October 31, when he decided to act. He met

Rima Shirokova at noon and told her that he was impatient, but did

not say what he planned to do ; she cautioned him to stay in his room

"and eat well." ^^^ She left him after a short while and, a few minutes

later, he took a taxi to the American Embassy, where he asked to see the consul. (See Commission Exhibits Nos. 24, 912, 913, pp. 264, 263,

261.) When the receptionist asked him first to sign the tourist register, he laid his passport on the desk and said that he had come to "dissolve his American citizenship." Richard E. Snyder, the Second

Secretary and senior consular official,^^^ was summoned, and he invited

Oswald into his office.^^^ Oswald's meeting with Snyder, at which Snyder's assistant,

John A. McVickar, was also present, is more fully discussed in appendix XV to the Commission's report. Oswald declared that he

wanted to renoimce his American citizenship ; he denounced the United

States and praised the Government of the Soviet Union. Over

Oswald's objections, Snyder sought to learn something of Oswald's

motives and background and to forestall immediate action. Oswald

told him that he had already offered to tell a Soviet official what he

had learned as a radar operator in the Marines. The interview ended

when Snyder told Oswald that he could renounce his citizenship on the

following Monday, 2 days later, if he would appear personally to do

so. During the interview, Oswald handed to Snyder a note ^^^ which

suggests that he had studied and sought to comply with section 349

of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which provides for loss of

American citizenship.^^^ The note contains paragraphs which read

like inartistic attempts to cast off citizenship in three of the ways

specified by the statute. The attempts failed but there is no reason

to doubt that they were sincere. Snyder has testified that he believed

that Oswald would immediately have formally renounced his citizenship had he been permitted to do so.^^^ The interview lasted for less than an hour. Oswald returned to

his hotel angry about the delay but "elated" by the "showdown" and

sure that he would be permitted to remain after his "sign of * * * faith" in the Russians.^^^ Soon after he returned to the hotel, he was

693
approached by A. I. Goldberg, a reporter for the Associated Press,

whom the Embassy had told about Oswald's actions. Oswald refused

to speak to him.^^* He answered a few questions for two other re- porters, R. J. Korengold and Miss Aline Mosby, but again refused to be interviewed.^^^ Thereafter, the news sendees made repeated unsuccessful attempts to interview him, which he thought was an indirect

form of pressure from the Embassy to return to the United States."*^^ On the day after Oswald's meeting with Snyder, his family read

in the newspapers about his appearance at the Embassy and tried to contact him. Mrs. Oswald testified that she was shocked at her

son's decision to defect but respected his motives for doing so; later she suspected that he had been forcibly removed to Russia."' She

placed a telephone call to him,^^® but he either refused to speak to her ^^^ or cut her off very quickly.^^° So too, on Xovember 2, he rejected

the Embassy's efforts to deliver or read on the telephone a telegram

from his brother Robert.^^^ A call from Robert was either canceled

before it was completed or was refused."^ Robert's telegram, along

with a message asking Oswald to contact him immediately, which

Robert had asked the State Department to deliver,^^^ was finally sent

to Oswald from the Embassy by registered mail.^^'' A few days later, the Embassy received a letter from Oswald dated

November 3 which requested that his citizenship be revoked."^ The

letter stated that he had appeared at the Embassy "for the purpose

of signing the formal papers to this effect" and protested against the

"conduct of the official" who had refused him "this legal right." Oswald noted that his application for Soviet citizenship was pending

and said that if it were granted he would ask the Soviet Government

"to lodge a formal protest" on his behalf.^^^ The Embassy replied on November 9 that Oswald could renounce his citizenship by appearing

at the Embassy and executing the necessary papers.^^^

Oswald's diary describes the period from November 2 to November

15, during which he continued to isolate himself, as "days of utter

loneliness." ^^^ On November 8, he wrote to his brother

:

Dear Robert

Well, what shall we talk about, the weather perhaps? Certainly you do not wish me to speak of my decision to remain in

the Soviet Union and apply for citizenship here, since I'm afraid

you would not be able to comprehend my my reasons. You really

dont know anything about me. Do you know for instance that I have waited to do this for well over a year, do you know that I * * * [phrase in Russian] speak a fair amount of Russian

which I have been studing for many months.

I have been told that I will not have to leave the Soviet Union

if I do not care to. this than is my decision. I will not leave

this country, the Soviet Union, under any conditions, I will never

return to the United States which is a country I hate.

Someday, perhaps soon, and than again perhaps in a few years, I will become a citizen of the Soviet Union, but it is a very legal

694
process, in any events I will not have to leave the Soviet Union

and I will never * * * [word missing].

I recived your telegram and was glad to hear from you, only one word bothered me, the word "mistake." I assume you mean

that I have made a "mistake" it is not for you to tell me that you

cannot understand my reasons for this very action. I will not speak to anyone from the United States over the tele- phone since it may be taped by the Americans.

If you wish to corespond with me you can write to the below

address, but I really don't see what we could take about if you

want to send me money, that I can use, but I do not expect to be

able to send it back.

Lee ^3^

Oswald's statement that he had been told that he could remain in

Russia was not true. According to his diary, he was not told

until later that he could remain even temporarily in Russia,^*^ and

only in January was he told that he could remain indefinitely.^*^ The

Embassy tried to deliver a typed copy of a telegram from his brother

John on November 9; Oswald refused to answer the knock on his

door, and the message was then sent to him by registered mail.^*^

Toward the end of this waiting period, probably on November 13,

Aline Mosby succeeded in interviewing Oswald.^^^ A reporter for

United Press International, she had called him on the telephone and

was told to come right over, Oswald's explanation being that bethought

she might "understand and be friendly" because she was a woman.^**

She was the first person who was not a Soviet citizen to whom he

granted an interview since his meeting with Snyder at the Embassy

on October 31. Miss Mosby found him polite but stiff ; she said that he

seemed full of confidence, often showing a "small smile, more like a

smirk," and that he talked almost "non-stop." Oswald said to her

that he had been told that he could remain in the Soviet Union

and that job possibilities were being explored; they thought it probably would be best, he said, to continue his education. He

admitted that his Russian was bad but was confident that it would

improve rapidly. He based his dislike for the United States on his

observations of racial prejudice and the contrast between "the luxuries

of Park Avenue and workers' lives on the East Side," and mentioned

his mother's poverty ; he said that if he had remained in the United

States he too would have become either a capitalist or a worker. "One

way or another," he said, "I'd lose in the United States. In my own

mind, even if I'd be exploiting other workers. That's why I chose

Marxist ideology."

Oswald told his interviewer that he had been interested in Communist theory since he was 15, when "an old lady" in New York

handed him "a pamphlet about saving the Rosenbergs." But when

Mosby asked if he were a member of the Communist Party he said

that he had never met a Communist and that he "might have seen" one only once, when he saw that "old lady." He told her that while
he was in the Marine Corps he had seen American imperialism in

action, and had saved $1,500 in secret preparation for his defection

to Russia. His only apparent regrets concerned his family : his

mother, Avhom he had not told of his plans, and his brother, who might

lose his job as a result of the publicity.^^^

The interview lasted for about 2 hours. According to Oswald's

own account, he exacted a promise from Miss Mosby that she would

show him the story before publication but she broke the promise ; he

found the published story to contain distortions of his words.^^^

Miss Mosby's notes indicate that he called her to complain of the dis- tortions, saying in particular that his family had not been "povertystricken" and that his defection was not prompted by personal hardship but that was "a matter only of ideology." ^^^ According to the diary, Oswald was told in mid-November that he

could -remain temporarily in Russia "until some solution was found

with what to do" with him. ^*^ Armed with this "comforting

news," ^^^ he granted a second interview, again to a woman, on November 16.^^° Miss Priscilla Johnson of the North American

Newspaper Alliance knocked on the door of his room at the

Metropole, and Oswald agreed to come to her room at the hotel

that evening. This interview lasted about 5 hours , from 9 p.m.

until about 2 in the morning. During the interview he fre- quently mentioned the fact that he would be able to remain in Russia,

which gave him great pleasure, but he also showed disappointment

about the difficulties standing in the way of his request for Soviet

citizenship. He repeated most of the information he had given Aline

Mosby and again denied having been a member of the Communist

Party or even ever having seen a Communist in the United States. When Miss Johnson asked him to specify some of the socialist writers

whose works he had read during the past 5 years, he could name

only Marx and Engels ; the only title he could recall was "Das Kapital." They talked for a long while about Communist economic theory,

which Miss Johnson thought was "his language" ; she became convinced

that his knowledge of the subject was very superficial.^^^ He com- mented that the Russians treated his defection as a "legal formality,"

neither encouraging nor discouraging it.^^^ When she suggested

that. if he really wished to renounce his American citizenship he could

do so by returning to the Embassy, he said that he would "never set foot in the Embassy again," since he was sure that he would be given the

"same run-around" as before. He seemed to Miss Johnson to be

avoiding effective renunciation, consciously or unconsciously, in order

to preserve his right to reenter the United States.^^^ For the rest of the year, Oswald seldom left his hotel room where

he had arranged to take his meals, except perhaps for a few trips to museums. He spent most of his time studying Russian, "8

hours a day" his diary records. The routine was broken only

by another interview at the passport office; occasional visits from

Rima Shirokova; lessons in Russian from her and other Intourist

guides; and a New Year's visit from Roza Agafonova, who gave

696
him a small "Boratin" clown as a New Year's present.^^* He

replied to a letter from Robert in a letter quoted at length in chapter

VII of this report, which contains his most bitter statements against

the United States.^^^ Robert received a third letter on December 17,

in which Oswald said that he would not write again and did not wish

Robert to write to him. The letter concluded

:

I am starting a new^ life and I do not wish to have anything to do with the old life. I hope you and your family will always be in good health.

Lee ^^® His mother mailed him a personal check for $20 dated December 18. It was returned to her on January 5 with the notation that he could

not "use this check, of course" ; he asked her to send him $20 in cash

and added that he had little money and needed "the rest," presumably

a reference to the $100 he had given her in September. Mrs. Oswald

later sent him a money order for about $25.^^^

On January 4, Oswald was summoned to the Soviet Passport Office

and given Identity Document for Stateless Persons No. 311479.^^^ He

was told that he was being sent to Minsk,^^^ an industrial city located

about 450 miles southwest of Moscow and with a population in 1959

of about 510,000.^^° His disappointment that he had not been granted

Soviet citizenship was balanced by relief that the uncertainty was

ended; he told Rima Shirokova that he was happy.^^^ On the fol- lowing day, he went to a Government agency which the Russians

call the "Red Cross"; it gave him 5,000 rubles (about 500 new rubles, or $500 at the official exchange rate).^^ He used 2,200 rubles

to pay his hotel bill and 150 rubles to purchase a railroad ticket to Minsk.563

Oswald arrived in Minsk on January 7. He was met at the station

by two "Red Cross" workers who took him to the Hotel Minsk. Two

Intourist employees, both of whom spoke excellent English, were

waiting for him.^^* One of them, a young woman named Roza Kuznetsova, became his close friend and attended his 21st birthday party

in October 1960.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 2609, p. 271.) On

the following day, Oswald met the "Mayor," who welcomed him to Minsk, promised him a rent-free apartment, and warned him against

"uncultured persons" who sometimes insulted foreigners.^^^

Oswald reported for work at the Belorussian Radio and Television

Factory on January 13.^^^ Two days earlier he had visited the factory

and met Alexander Ziger, a Polish Jew who had emigrated to Argentina in 1938 and went to Russia in 1955. Ziger was a department

head at the factory ; he spoke English, and he and his family became

good friends of Oswald and corresponded with him after his return

to the United States.^^^ The factory, a major producer of electronic

parts and systems, employed about 5,000 persons.^®^ Oswald's union

card described him as a "metal worker" ; ^^^ Marina testified that he

fashioned parts on a lathe.^"^^ As Oswald later described it, the shop in

730-900 0-64—46 "^'
which he worked, called the "experimental shop," ^^^ employed 58

workers and 5 foremen. It was located in the middle part of the fac- tory area in a 2-story building made of red brick. The workday began

at 8 o'clock sharp. Work was assigned according to "pay levels,"

which were numbered from one to five plus a top "master" level. A

worker could ask to be tested for a higher level at any time.""

Oswald had hoped to continue his education in Eussia, and was

disappointed by his assignment to a factory.^^* His salary varied

from 700 to perhaps as high as 900 rubles per month ($70-$90)."5

Although high compared with the salaries of certain professional

groups in Kussia, which in some areas have not grown proportionately with the wages of factory workers,^^^ his salary was normal

for his type of work.^^^ It was supplemented, however, by 700 rubles

per month, which he received from the "Red Cross," and, according to Oswald, his total income was about equal to tliat of the director of the

factory.^^^ In August he applied for membership in the union ; ^^^ he became a dues-paying member in September.^^^

Undoubtedly more noteworthy to most Russians than his extra in- come was the attractive apartment which Oswald was given in March

1959. It was a small flat with a balcony overlooking the river,^^^ for

which he paid only 60 rubles a month.^^^ (See Commission Exhibit

No. 2606, p. 271.) Oswald describes it in his diary as "a Russian

dream." ^^^ Had Oswald been a Russian worker, he would pro])ably

have had to wait for several years for a comparable apartment, and

would have been given one even then onh^ if he had a family.^^^ The

"Red Cross" subsidy and the apartment were typical of the favorable

treatment which the Soviet Union has given defectors.^^

Oswald's diary records that he enjoyed his first months in Minsk.

His work at the factory was easy and his coworkers were friendly

and curious about life in the United States ; he declined an invitation

to speak at a mass meeting. He took Roza Kuznetsova, his interpreter

and language teacher,^^^ to the theater, a movie, or an opera almost

every night, until he moved into his apartment and temporarily lost contact with her. He wrote in his diary, "I'm living big and am very

satisfied." ^^^ In March or April, he met Pavel Golovachev, a co- worker at the factory, whom Oswald described as intelligent and

friendly and an excellent radio technician. (See Commission Exhibit

No. 2609, p. 271.) Oswald helped Golovachev with English.^^" They

became friends,^^^ and corresponded after Oswald returned to the

United States until at least as late as September 1963.^^° The spring and summer passed easily and mieventfully. There were

picnics and drives in the country, which Oswald described as "green

beauty." ^^^ On June 18, he obtained a hunting license and soon afterward purchased a 16-gage single-barrel shotgim. His hunting

license identifies him as "Aleksy Harvey Oswald." (He was called

"Alec" by his Russian friends, because "Lee" sounded foreign to them and was difficult for them to pronounce.) ^^^ He joined a local chapter of the Belorussian Society of Hunters and Fishermen, a hunting club sponsored by his factory, and hunted for small game in the

698
farm regions around Minsk about half a dozen times in the summer

and fall. The hunters spent the night in small villages and often left their bag with the villagers ; Oswald described the peasant life which

he saw as crude and poor.^^^ Sometime in June, he met Ella

German, a worker at the factory, of whom he later said he "perhaps

fell in love with her the first minute" he saw her.^^* (See Commission

Exhibit No. 2609, p. 271.)

At the same time, however, the first signs of disillusionment with his

Russian life appeared. He noted in his diary that he felt "uneasy

inside" after a friend took him aside at a party and advised him to return to the United States.^^^ Another entry compared life in Minsk

with military life

I have become habituatated to a small cafe which is where I dine in

the evening. The food is generaly poor and always eactly the

same, menue in any cafe, at any point in the city. The food is cheap and I don't really care about quiality after three years in the

U.S.M.C.^^«

In an entry for August-September, he wrote that he was becoming

"increasingly concious of just what sort of a sociaty" he lived in.^^^ He spent New Year's Day at the home of Ella German and her

family. They ate and drank in a friendly atmosphere, and he was

"drunk and happy" when he returned home. During the walk back

to his apartment he~ decided to ask Ella to marry him. On the following night, after he had brought her home from the movies, he proposed on her doorstep. She rejected him, saying that she did not

love him and that she was afraid to marry an American. She said

that the Polish intervention in the 1920's had led to the arrest of all people in the Soviet Union of Polish origin and she feared that

something similar might happen to Americans some day. Oswald

was "too stunned to think," and concluded that she had gone out with

him only because she was envied by the other girls for having an American as an escort.^^^ But in one of the entries in the diary he

appears to have attributed her failure to love him to "a state of fear

which was always in the Soviet Union." ^®^ His affection for Ella

German apparently continued for some time; ^^ he had his last formal

date with her in February and remained on friendly terms with her

as long as he was in Russia.^°^

After he returned to the United States, Oswald often commented on

Russian life. He discussed the Soviet systems of public education ^^^ and medical care.^°^ He observed to one acquaintance that everyone

in Russia was trained to do something,^^* and discussed with another

the system of regular wage and salary increases.^^^ His most frequent

criticisms concerned the contrast between the lives of ordinary workers and the lives of Communist Party members. He told an ac- quaintance in Dallas that the working class in the Soviet Union made

just about enough to buy clothing and food and that only party

members could afford luxuries.^^^ On another occasion, he remarked
that if he had had as much money as some of the "managers," he could

have visited the Black Sea resorts.^^^ He complained about the lack

of freedom in Russia; ^°^ the lack of opportunity to travel ;^°® inadequate housing ; ^^^ and the chronic scarcity of food products.®^^ To one

acquaintance, he observed that the party members were all "opportunists," who "shouted the loudest and made the most noise," but who

were interested only in their own welfare.^^^ He expressed similar views in a manuscript which he worked on in

Russia ^^^ and probably intended to publish ; soon after he returned

to the United States, he hired a stenographer to prepare a typed draft

from his notes.^" Oswald described the manuscript, which amounted

to 50 typed pages, as "a look into the lives of work-a-day average

Russians." *^^ The manuscript describes the factory in which Oswald worked and

suggests that political considerations of which Oswald disapproved

dominated its operation. He attributed the lack of unemployment to the shortage of labor-saving machinery and the heavy load of bureaucracy, which kept "tons of paper work" flowing in and out of

the factory and required a high foreman-worker ratio.®^^ In addition,

he wr,ote, there was "a small army of examiners, committees, and

supply checkers and the quality-control board." ^^^ He described life in Russia, including life at the factory, as cen- tered around the "KoUective." The head of the Kollective in his

shop, Comrade Lebizen, saw to it that everyone maintained shop dis- cipline, attended party meetings, and received all the new propaganda

as it came out. He himg the walls of the shop with signs and slogans

of the Communist Party. Meetings of the Kollective were "so nu- merous as to be staggering." In a single month, there were scheduled one meeting of the professional union, four political information

meetings, two young Communist meetings, one meeting of the production committee to discuss ways of improving work, two Communist Party meetings, four meetings of the "School of Commimist

Labor," and one sports meeting. All but one of them were compulsory for Communist Party members and all but three were compulsory

for everyone.^^^ (Marina Oswald testified that her husband did not

attend the courses in Marxism and Leninism given in the factory for

party members and those who wished to become party members.) ®^^ They were scheduled so as not to interfere with work, and lasted anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours. Oswald said that no one liked

the meetings, which were accepted "philosophically" ; at the political

meetings especially, everyone paid strict attention, and party members

were posted in the audience to watch for the slightest sign that anyone's attention might relax, even for a moment.^^° Oswald wrote that the "spontaneous" demonstrations on Soviet

holidays or for distinguished visitors were almost as well organized as the Kollectivist meetings at the factory.^^i jj^ noted that elections were supervised to ensure that everyone voted, and that they voted for

the candidates of the Communist Party. The manuscript touches on

other aspects of Soviet life—as the housing shortage and the corrup700
tion which it evoked, the "rest-homes" where workers had their vacations, television and the omni-present radio, and Russian reading

habits.^^^ This writing also may include only what Oswald thought

might be acceptable.

On January 4, 1961, 1 year after he had been issued his "stateless"

residence permit, Oswald was summoned to the passport office in

Minsk and asked if he still wanted to become a Soviet citizen. He

replied that he did not, but asked that his residence permit be extended

for another year.®^^ The entry in his diary for January 4-31 reads: "I am stating to reconsider my disire about staying. The work is drab.

The money I get has nowhere to be spent. No nightclubs or bowling

allys, no places of recreation acept the trade union dances. I have had

enough." ^^4 The American Embassy in Moscow had not heard from Oswald

after it received his letter of November 3, 1959.^^^ On February 13,

1961, it received an undated letter from him which had been mailed

in Minsk about a week earlier. He asked for the return of his passport

and stated that he wanted to return to the United States if he could

"come to some agreement [with the American Government] concern- ing the dropping of any legal proceedings" against him. He noted

that he had not become a Soviet citizen and was living in Russia with

"nonpermanent type papers for a foreigner," and said that he did not

appear personally because he could not leave Minsk without permission. The letter concluded : "I hope that in recalling the responsibility I have to America that you remember yours in doing everything

you can to help me, since I am an American citizen." ^^^ In this letter,

Oswald referred to a previous letter which he said had gone unanswered ; there is evidence that such a letter was never sent.^^^ The Second Secretary, Richard Snyder, answered on February 28

that Oswald would have to appear at the Embassy personally to dis- cuss his return to the United States.®^^ In the meantime, Oswald's

mother, who in January had inquired at the Department of State

about his whereabouts,®^^ had been notified of his letter.®^^ A second

letter from Oswald, posted on March 5, reached the Embassy on March

20 ; it reiterated that he was unable to leave Minsk without permission

and asked that "preliminary inquiries * * * be put in the form of a

questionnaire" and sent to him.®^^ His diary entry for this period

records his "state of expectation about going back to the U.S.," and

adds that a friend had approved his plans but warned him not to dis- cuss them with others.®^^ (The Soviet authorities had undoubtedly

intercepted and read the correspondence between Oswald and the

Embassy and Imew of his plans.®^^ Soon after the correspondence

began, his monthly payments from the "Red Cross" were cut off.)®^*

Having informed Washington,®^^ the Embassy wrote to Oswald on March 24, stating again that he would have to come to Moscow.®^®

Later, the Department of State decided that Oswald's passport should

be returned to him only if he appeared at the Embassy for it and the

Embassy was satisfied, after exploring the matter with him, that he

had not renounced his citizenship.®^^

701
Sometime in the second week of March, Miss Katherine Mallory,

who was on tour in Minsk with the University of Michigan symphonic

band, found herself surrounded by curious Russian citizens. A young

man who identified himself as a Texan and former marine stepped

out of the crowd and asked if she needed an interpreter ; he interpreted

for her for the next 15 or 20 minutes. Later he told her that he

despised the United States and hoped to stay in Minsk for the rest of

his life. Miss Mallory is unable to swear that her interpreter was

Oswald, but is personally convinced that it was he.®^^ A few days later, probably on March 17, Oswald attended a trade

union dance with a friend, Erik Titovyets, at the Palace of Culture

for Professional Workers in Minsk.^^^ The dance followed a lecture

by a Russian woman who had recently returned from a trip to the

United States.^*^ Marina Nikolayevna Prusakova arrived too late to hear the lecture ^^ but was at the dance. Oswald noticed her and asked

Yuriy Merezhinskiy, the son of the lecturer and a friend of both

Oswald and Marina^ to introduce him to her. Oswald asked her to dance. According to the diary, they liked each other immediately and

he obtained her telephone number before she left.^^ Marina testified that she told Oswald that she might see him at another dance, but did

not give him her telephone number.^^ Oswald was smitten.^^*

Marina Prusakova was 19 years old when she met Oswald. (See

Commission Exhibit No. 1395, p. 270. ) She was born on July 17, 1941,

at Severodvinsk (formerly Molotovsk), Arkhangel Oblast', Russia.^*^

A few years later, her mother, Klavdiya Vasilie^nia Prusakova, married Aleksandr Ivanovich Medvedev, who became the only father Marina knew.^*^ While she was still a young girl, Marina went to Arkhangel'sk, Arkhangel Oblast', to live with her maternal grandparents,

Tatyana Yakovlevna Prusakova and Vasiliy Prusakov. Her grandfather died when Marina was about 4 years old ; she continued to live with her grandmother for some time.^^ When she was not more than

7, she moved to Zguritva, Moldavian SSR (formerly called Bessarabia) to live with her mother and stepfather, who was an electrical

worker.^^^ In 1952, the family moved to Leningrad,®^^ where her

stepfather obtained a job in a power station.®^" Marina testified that

neither he nor her mother was a member of the Communist Party.^^^ In Leningrad, Marina attended the Three Hundred and SeventyFourth Women's School. After she had completed the seventh

grade at the school in 1955,^^^ she entered the Pharmacy Teknikum for

special training, which she had requested on the ground that her

mother was ill and Marina might need to have a specialty in order

to support herself. While she was at the Teknikum, she joined the

Trade Union for Medical Workers ^°^ and, in her last year there,

worked part time in the Central Pharmacy in Leningrad. She graduated from the Teknikum with a diploma in pharmacy in June 1959.

Marina's mother had died in 1957, during Marina's second year at the Teknikum; she continued to live with her stepfather, but had

little contact with him. She testified that she did not get along with

702
her stepfather, whom she displeased by her fresh conduct; she said

that she was not easily disciplined ^^* and was a source of concern to

him.^^^ Because of the friction between them, Marina regarded her

childhood as an unhappy one. After her graduation, Marina was assigned to a job preparing and

packing orders in a pharmaceutical warehouse in Leningrad; as a new employee she had the right to leave this job within 3 days after

the assignment,^^^ and she did so after the first day. She took no job

for the next 2 months, at the end of which she went to live in Mmsk

with an aunt and micle, the Prusakovs, who had no children. She

had known them since she was a child and there was a mutual affection

between her and them.^^'^ Her uncle, a member of the Communist

Party,^^^ was assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and headed

the local bureau concerned with lumber. The Prusakovs had one of

the best apartments in a building reserved for MVD employees.^^^

Marina was 18 when she arrived in Minsk. She had had boyfriends

in Leningrad but was not interested in marriage. In October 1960 she

started work in the drug section of the Third Clinical Hospital where

she earned about 450 rubles per month ;®^° at about the same time she

became a member of the local Komsomol, the Communist youth organization. ^^^ Her friends were mostly students, whose social life consisted of meeting in cafes to sip coffee, read newspapers, gossip, and

carry on discussions. The group of friends "ran together," and

Marina did not attach herself to a particular boyfriend. She enjoyed

this life, which she had been leading for about 7 months when she

met Oswald at the dance at the Palace of Culture in March 1901.^^2

'\^nien Marina met Oswald, she thought he was from one of the

Russian-speaking Baltic countries because he spoke with an accent;

later that same evening she learned that he was an American.^^ She

met him again at another dance a week later.^^* They danced together

most of the evening, at the end of which he walked home with her.

They arranged to meet again the following week.^^^ Before the scheduled time, Oswald called to say that he was in the hospital and that

Marina should visit him there.^^^ Medical records furnished to the

Commission by the Russian Government show that Oswald was admitted to the Clinical Hospital—Ear, IN'ose, and Throat Division, on

Thursday, March 30, 1961.^^^ Marina visited him often,^^^ taking

advantage of her uniform to visit him outside regular visiting hours,

which were only on Sunday.^^^ On Easter Sunday, the first Sunday

after his admission to the hospital, she brought him an Easter egg.®^°

On a subsequent visit, he asked her to be his fiancee, and she agreed to consider it.^^^ He left the hospital on April 11.^^^ During these visits, Marina apparently discussed with Oswald his reasons for coming to Russia and his current status. According to her later account, he told her that he had surrendered his American

documents to the Embassy in Moscow and had told American officials that he did not intend to return to the United States. He did not say

definitely that he was no longer an American citizen, but said in answer

703
to a question about his citizenship that he could not return to the United

States.^^^ Oswald visited Marina regularly at her aunt and uncle's apartment

;

they were apparently not disturbed by the fact that he was an American

and did not disapprove of her seeing him. He continued to ask her to marry him and, according to her recollection, she accepted his proposal on April 20 ; ^^^ Oswald's diary puts the date 5 days earlier.^''^ Marina testified that she believed that Oswald could not return to the

United States when she agreed to marry him, and that she had not

married him in hope of going to the United States.^^^ After filing notice of their intent to marry at the registrar, obtaining

the special consent necessary for an alien to marry a citizen, and waiting the usual 10 days, they were married on April 30.^^^ The diary

entry for the wedding day reads

:

two of Marinas girl friends act as bridesmaids. We are married. At her aunts home we have a dinner reception for about

20 friends and neboribos who wish us happiness (in spite of my

origin and accept [accent?] which was in general rather dis- quiting to any Russian since for. are very rare in the soviet

Union even tourist. After an evening of eating and drinking

in which * * * [Marina's uncle] started a fright [fight?] and

the fuse blow on an overloaded circite we take our leave and

walk the 15 minutes to our home. We lived near each other, at midnight we were home.^^^

They both took 3 days off from their jobs, which they spent in Minsk.^^^

Oswald wrote in his diary for May 1, 1 day after the wedding:

"In spite of fact I married Marina to hurt Ella I found myself in

love with Marina." ^^° The next entry, marked simply "May," reads

in part

The trasistion of changing full love from Ella to Marina was

very painfull esp. as I saw Ella almost every day at the factory

but as the days & weeks went by I adjusted more and more [to]

my wife mentaly * * * She is maddly in love with me from

the very start. Boat rides on Lake Minsk walks through the

parks evening at home or at Aunt Valia's place mark May." ^^^ And in June: "A continuence of May, except that; we draw closer

and closer, and I think very little now of Ella." ^^^ Sometime within the first month or two after they were married

Oswald told his wife that he was anxious to return to the United States. The diary says that he told her "in the last days" of June and that

she was "slightly startled" but encouraged him to do as he wished.^^^

Marina's recollection is that she learned of his plan between May and

July. Embassy records show that Oswald notified the Embassy in a

letter received on May 25 that he was married and his wife would

704
seek to accompany him to the United States.^^* At about this'time, the

Oswalds began to make inquiries in Soviet offices about exit visas.^^^ While these preparations were being made, the Oswalds apparently

enjoyed their new life.^^^ They ate most of their meals in cafes or at restaurants where they worked.^^^ For amusement, they went boating,

attended the opera, concerts, the circus, and films; occasionally, they

gathered with a group of friends for a cooperative meal at someone's

apartment.^*^ His Russian improved, but he retained an accent and

never learned to speak grammatically or to write well.^^^ He read

the English language edition of the Daily Worker and books, also

in English, on Marxism and Leninism; he also read some Russian

newspapers.^^^

Before he married Marina (and presumably before February, when

he had begun his efforts to return to the United States) Oswald had

applied for admission to the Patrice Lumumba Friendship University

in Moscow. He received a letter dated May 3 apologizing for the delay

in responding to his application and turning it down on the ground

that the university had been established exclusively for students from

the underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.®^^

Oswald expressed his disappointment at having been turned down

to Marina.«92

Oswald reopened his correspondence with his family on May 5, with a friendly letter to his brother Robert. He said nothing about

his contacts with the American Embassy, but mentioned that he had

married, and that he had a job as a "metal-smith" and was living well. He asked his brother for their mother's address, and encouraged him

to come to Minsk for a visit.^^^ Robert answered the letter quickly.

On May 31, Oswald wrote again and expressed his pleasure at having

heard from Robert after so long. Apparently in response to an offer

to send him whatever he needed, Oswald wrote that he needed nothing

and thanked Robert for the thought; he suggested, however, " that

Marina might like a small wedding present. At the end of the letter he said that he did not know whether he would ever return to the

United States ; he said that before he could return he would have to obtain the permission of the Soviet Union for him and Marina to leave

and insure that no charges would be lodged against him in the United

States. In this letter, he mentioned that he was in touch with the

Embassy in Moscow.^^* At about this time, Oswald wrote also to

his mother.^^^

On May 25, the Embassy received a letter mailed in Minsk about

10 days before, in which Oswald asked for assurances that he would

not be prosecuted if he returned to the United States, and informed

the Embassy that he had married a Russian woman who Avould want

to accompany him.^^^ The Embassy communicated this development

to Washington ^^^ and did not answer Oswald immediately. In

addition, he had had no word since March concerning the return of

his passport. Impatient for action,^^® he appeared without warning

at the Embassy on July 8; it was a Saturday and the offices were

closed.^^^ He used the house telephone to reach Snyder, who came

705
to the office, talked with him briefly, and suggested that he return on

the following MondayJ°° Oswald called Marina and asked her to join him in Moscow. She arrived on Sunday, July 9,^°^ and they took

a room at the Hotel Berlin,^^^ where he had stayed when he first arrived in Russia.

Oswald returned to the Embassy on Monday. Marina waited out- side during his interview with Snyder,^°^ who asked to see Oswald's

Soviet papers and questioned him closely about his life in Russia and

possible expatriating acts. Oswald stated that he was not a citizen

of the Soviet Union and had never formally applied for citizenship,

that he had never taken an oath of allegiance to the Soviet Union,

and that he was not a member of the factory trade union organization.

He said that he had never given Soviet officials any confidential information that he had learned in the Marines, had never been asked

to give such information, and "doubted" that he would have done so had he been asked.'^°* Some of Oswald's statements during this interview were undoubtedly false. He had almost certainly applied for

citizenship in the Soviet Union ^^^ and, at least for a time, been dis- appointed when it was denied.^°^ He possessed a membership card in

the union organization.'^°^ In addition, his assertion to Snyder that

he had never been questioned by Soviet authorities concerning his

life in the United States is simply unbelievable.

Oswald showed anxiety, already displayed in his letters, that he

might be prosecuted and imprisoned if he returned to the United

States. Snyder told him informally that he did not know any grounds

on which he would be prosecuted but that he could give no assurances

in this regard.'^°^ Snyder testified that Oswald seemed to have matured while he was in Russia and did not show the bravado and arro- gance which characterized his first contacts with the Embassy.

Oswald told him that he had "learned a hard lesson the hard way"

and had acquired a new appreciation of the United States and the

meaning of freedom.'^''^ Since Oswald's passport would expire on September 10, 1961,'^^° before which date he probably would not be able to obtain Russian

exit papers, he filled out an application for its renewal."^" On a ques- tionnaire attached to the application,'^^^ he reiterated his oral state- ments that he had obtained only a residence permit in the Soviet

Union and was still an American national. On the basis of Oswald's

written and oral statements, Snyder concluded that he had not ex- patriated himself and returned his passport, stamped valid only for

direct travel to the United States,^^^ to him. Accompanied by his

wife,^^* Oswald came to the Embassy again on the following day,^^^ to

initiate procedures for her admission to the United States as an immigrant; they had a routine interview with McVickar, Snj^der's assistant.'^^^ Three days later, they returned to Minsk.'^^^ On the same day, Oswald wrote to his brother. He told Robert that

he had his passport again and that he and Marina were doing everything possible to leave the Soviet Union. Apparently referring to his

initial reappearance at the Embassy in quest of his passport, he

706
wrote : "I could write a book about how many feeling have come and

gone since that day." The letter closed with an affectionate greeting

to his brother and his family/^^ The letter's tone of firm purpose to return to the United States in the face of heavy odds reflected Oswald's

attitude thereafter.

As soon as they returned to Minsk, the Oswalds began to work with

local authorities for permission to leave the country.'^^^ His diary

entry for July 16 through August 20 reads,

We have found out which blanks and certificates are nessceary to apply for a exit visa. They number about 20 papers; birth

certificates, affidavit, photos, ect. On Aug 20th we give the

papers out they say it will be S^/^ months before we know wheather

they let us go or not. In the meantime Marina has had to stade 4

differant meeting at the place of work held by her boss's at the

direction of "someone" by phone. The Young Comm. leauge

headquttes also called about her and she had to go see them for

11/^ hours. The purpose (expressed) is to disuade her from going

to the U.S.A. Net effect : Make her more stubborn about wanting

to go. Marina is pregnet. We only hope that the visas come

through soon.'^^^ In a letter dated July 15, he reported their efforts to the Embassy,

and said that he would keep it informed "as to the overall picture."

The letter mentioned that Marina was having difficulties at work be- cause of her decision to leave but added that such "tactics" were "quite

useless" and that Marina had "stood up well, without getting into

trouble." ^^^ For August 21 through September 1, the diary reads

I make repeated trips to the passport & visa office, also to Ministry of For. Affairs in Minsk, also Min. of Internal Affairs,

all of which have a say in the granting of a visa. I extrackted

promises of quick attention to us.'^^^ For September through October 18, "No word from Min. ('They'll

call us.')." ^23 Marina testified that when the news of her visit to the American

Embassy in July reached Minsk, she was dropped from membership in

"Komsomol," the Communist Youth Organization,^^^ and that "meetings were arranged" at which "members of the various organizations"

attempted to dissuade her from leaving the Soviet Union.'^^^ Her

aunt and uncle did not speak to her for "a long time." ^^^ Paul Gregory, to whom Marina taught Russian in the United States, testified that she once referred to this period of her life in Minsk as "a very

horrible time." "^^^ Oswald wrote to the Embassy again on October 4, to request that

the U.S. Government officially intervene to facilitate his and his wife's

applications for exit visas.'^^^ He stated that there had been "systematic and concerted attempts to intimidate [Marina] * * * into Avith- 707
drawing her application for a visa" which had resulted in her being

hospitalized for a 5-day period on September 22 for "nervous ex- haustion." ^^^ Marina has denied that she was hospitalized for a nervous disorder ^^° and he made no mention of it in his diary or letters to his family ; he probably lied to the Embassy. The Embassy replied

to his letter on October 12, saying that it had no way of influencing

Soviet conduct on such matters and that its experience had been that

action on applications for exit visas was "seldom taken rapidly." '^^ In October 1961 Marina took her annual vacation.^^^ She and Oswald agreed that she should get a "change of scenery," ^^^^ and she spent

about 3 weeks with an aunt in Khar'kov. It is possible that they were

not getting along well together during this period.^^* A dairy entry

after her return indicates that they were having some quarrels and that

she was wavering in her decision to go to the United States, which Oswald attributed to anxiety about their applications for visas and the

fact that she was pregnant ; he in turn dreaded the approach of the

"hard Russian winter." ^^^ He noted in his dairy that he was lonely

while she was gone, but that he and his friend "Erich," presumably

Erik Titovyets, went to some dances and other public amusements."^^^

On his 22nd birthday he went alone to see his favorite opera, "The

Queen of Spades." ^^^ Marina sent him a gold and silver cup, inscribed

"To my dear husband on his birthday, 18/x/61" and other gifts, for

which he wrote to thank her."^^^ She returned on November 12, in Oswald's words, "radient, with several jars of preserses for me from her

aunt." '^^ Sometime after Marina's return Oswald applied for an interview

with Col. Nicolay Aksenov, an official in the local MVD, in an effort to expedite their application for exit visas; he was told by the

colonel's subordinates that they were competent to handle the matter. Oswald then insisted that Marina seek an interview; she agreed re- luctantly. The interview was granted ; '*° Marina thought that this

n^ight have been due to the fact that her uncle was also a high-ranking

official in the Minsk MVD, but she did not believe that he would per- sonally have presumed on his official position to obtain special treat- ment.^*^ Colonel Aksenov questioned her about her reasons for

wanting to go to the United States and, noticing that she was

pregnant, suggested that she at least delay her departure so that her

child could be born in Russia, but did not otherwise try to discourage

her. He finally told her that there were many others seeking visas and

that she and her husband would have to wait their turn.'^*^ Throughout this period, Oswald continued to correspond with liis mother and brother. His letters contained the usual chatter among

members of a family and occasional references to the progress of the

visa applications.^*^ He wrote to the Embassy on November 1, say- ing that if, as he anticipated, his residence permit were renewed in

January for another year, it would be over his protest.'^** On November 13 the Embassy replied, telling Oswald that retention of his Soviet

passport, which was of the kind issued to persons considered to be

stateless, or an extension of it, would not prejudice his claim to Ameri708
can citizenship. The letter added that he could discuss the renewal

of his American passport whenever he appeared in person at the

Embassy to do so/*^

Late in December, Oswald wrote a letter to Senator Jolin G. Tower

of Texas, which was received in Washington near the end of January.

He stated that he was an American citizen and that the Soviet Government refused to permit him and his wife to leave the Soviet Union.

He asked Senator Tower to raise "the question of holding by the

Soviet Union of a citizen of the U.S., against his will and expressed

desires." The letter was referred to the State Department and no

further action concerning it was taken."^*^ On December 25, Marina was called to the Soviet Passport Office and told that exit visas would

be granted to her and her husband ; she was surprised, having doubted

that she would ever be permitted to leave. Oswald wrote to the Embassy on December 27 that they would be given visas and asked that

his passport be extended without another trip to Moscow ; he added,

however, that he would come to Moscow if this would expedite the

processing of his application. In his diary, he wrote, "It's great (I

think?) ." ^^^ Before the year ended, Marina went on maternity leave

from her job."^*® They spent New Year's Eve at a dinner party ^ven

by the Zigers."^*^

Oswald wrote to his mother on January 2, 1962, and told her that he

and his wife expected to arrive m the United States sometime aroimd

March. He asked her to contact the local Red Cross and request that

it put his case before the International Rescue Committee or some

other group which aids immigrants to the United States. He told

lier that he would need about $800 and that she should hisist on a

gift rather than a loan ; he told her not to send any of her own money.'^^°

Despite his instructions, she requested a loan from the Red Cross."^^^ On January 13, Oswald wrote to the International Rescue Committee

himself; he asked for $800 with which to purchase two tickets from

Moscow to Texas. '^2 He wrote to the Committee again on January 26,

this time asking for $1,000.^^^

In the meantime, letters of Oswald '^* and the American Embassy,^°^ both dated January 5, crossed in the mail. The Embassy's letter suggested that since there might be difficulties m obtaining an American

visa for Marina, he consider returning alone and bringing her over

later. He replied on the 16th that he would not leave Russia without

j^gp 756 jj^ ]-^^g letter, Oswald requested that the U.S. Government

loan him the money for his and Marina's airplane tickets or arrange

a loan from another source. The Embassy replied on January 15

that Marina had not yet obtained an American visa and that no

evidence had yet been submitted that she would not become a public

charge in the United States."^" It suggested that Oswald's mother

or some other close relative file an affidavit of support in Marina's

behalf. Before receiving this letter, Oswald wrote out such a document himself ^^^ and mailed it to the Embassy.'^^^

On January 23, after receiving the Embassy's letter, he wrote that

his own affidavit should be sufficient, since he had been away from

709
the United States for more than 2 years and could not be expected to obtain an affidavit from someone else.'^° But on the same day, he wrote

to his mother asking that she file an affidavit of support with the

Immigration and Naturalization Servic-e/^^ On January 24, the Embassy acknowledged receipt of his affidavit, but again suggested that

he obtain one from someone else.' ^^ Late in January, Oswald received a letter from his mother telling

him that he had been given a dishonorable discharge from the !Marines/^^ (The discharge had actually been "undesirable,*' a less derogatory characterization.) ^^^ This apparently revived his fear of

prosecution, and on January 30, he wrote to his brother for more

information.^^^ On the same day he wrote also to John B. Connally,

Jr., then Governor of Texas, who Oswald believed was still Secretary

of Navy. The letter read

I wish to call your attention to a case about which you may have

personal knowlege since you are a resident of Ft. TTorth as I am. In November 1959 an event was well publicated in the Ft. ,Worth newspapers concerning a person who had gone to the Soviet Union to reside for a short, time, (much in the same way

E. Hemingway resided in Paris.)

This person in answers to questions put to him by reporteds in

Moscow criticized certain facets of american life. The story was

blown up into another "turncoat" sensation, with the result that

the Navy department gave this person a belated dishonourable

discharge, although he had received an honourable discharge after

three years service on Sept. 11, 1959 at El Toro, Marine corps

base in California.

These are the basic facts of my case. I have and allways had the full sanction of the U.S. Embassy,

Moscow USSR, and hence the U.S. goverment. In as much as I am returning to the U.S.A. in this year with the aid of the U.S.

Embassy, bring with me my family (since I married in the

USSR) I shall employ all means to right this gross mistake or

injustice to a boni-fied U.S. citizen and g-cc-ser^nce man. The

U.S. government has no charges or complaints against me. I ask

you to look into this case and take the neccessary steps to repair

the damage done to me and my family. For information I would

direct you to consult the American Embassy, Chikovski St. 19/21,

Moscow, USSR.^^^

Connally referred the letter to the Department of the Navy,^^^ which

sent Oswald a letter stating that the Department contemplated no

change in the undesirable discharge.'^^^ On March 22, Oswald wrote

to the Department insisting that his discharge be o-iven a further, full

review.'^^^ The Department promptly replied that it had no

authority to hear and review petitions of this sort and referred

Oswald to the Na^^ Discharge Review Board."^'^ Oswald filled out 710
the enclosed application for review in Minsk but did not mail it until

he returned to the United States."^^^ The Department of State had notified Oswald's mother that it would need $900 to make the travel arrangements for her son and

daughter-in-law.'^^^ On February 1, Oswald sent his mother a brief

letter rejecting her suggestion that she try to raise money by telling the

newspapers about his financial plight/^^ Five days later, the Embassy

wrote to Oswald and asked him to make formal application for a

loan."* Oswald wrote to his mother again on February 9, reminding

her to file an affidavit of support and asking that she send him clippings from the Fort Worth newspapers about his defection to Russia, a request which he later repeated to his brother. He told her

that he wanted to know what had been written about him, so that

he could be "forewarned." "^ Oswald took Marina to the hospital on the morning of February 15. A baby girl was born at about 10 a.m."^ He had gone on to the factory

where news of the birth awaited him on his arrival."^ In accordance

with regular hospital practice,'^^^ he did not see the baby until Marina

left the hospital.^^^ He was excited by the child,^^° who was named

"June Lee" in accordance with the Russian custom and law that a

child's second name must be the father's first name or a variation of it. He had wanted to name his child "June Marina," and protested the application of the law to her, since he had a United States passport.

His diary contains the wry comment, "Po-Russki." ^^^ His coworkers

at the factory gave the Oswalds "one summer blanket, 6 light diapers,

4 warm diapers, 2 chemises, 3 very good warm chemises, 4 very nice

suits and two toys" for the baby.'^^^ Marina came home on February

23J83

There was less urgency about the departure for the United States

after June Lee was born.'^^* Oswald wrote to his mother,^^^ and

brother,^^^ that he would probably not arrive for several months.

The Embassy received a letter on March 3, in which Oswald applied

for a loan of $800 ; ^^^ the Embassy replied that it was authorized to loan him only $500.^^^ It had in the meantime decided that his own

affidavit of support for Marina would be sufficient under the circumstances.'^^^ On March 15, he received notification from the Immigration and Naturalization Service that Marina's application for a visa

had been approved.^^° By March 28, he had received an affidavit of

support in Marina's behalf from his mother's employer, Byron K.

Phillips,^®^ which he filed although it was no longer necessary to do

so.'^^^ A few days before, Marina, still on maternity leave,

had quit her job.'^^ Discussions with the Embassy to complete

financial and travel arrangements continued in April and

May."^^* In a letter to Robert on April 12, Oswald wrote that only

"the American side" was holding up their departure, but added that

the winter being over, he didn't "really * * * want to leave until the

beginning of fall, since the spring and summer * * * [in Russia] are

so nice." ^^^ 711
On May 10, the Embassy wrote that everything was in order and

suggested that Oswald come to the Embassy with his family to sign

the final papers.'^^® At his request/^^ he was discharged from the

factory on about May 18/^^ His work had apparently never been very

good. Marina testified that he was rather lazy and resented having to take ordersJ^^ This estimate is confirmed by a report of the plant di- rector and personnel department chief, filed on December 11, 1961,

which was apparently a routine assessment of his work. The report

noted that he did not "display the initiative for increasing his skill" in

his job, that he was "over-sensitive * * * to remarks from the foremen,

and * * * careless in his work"; Oswald took "no part in the social

life of the shop" and kept "very much to himself." ^^ Oswald picked up his Soviet exit visa on May 22 ; ®°i at about this

time, he also had an interview with an official of the MVD to obtain final clearance for his departure.^^^ He wrote to Robert that he

and his family would leave for Moscow on the following day and depart

for England 10 to 14 days later. He expected to cross the Atlantic

by ship, probably docking in New Orleans. Returning to a point

which he had made in an earlier letter to his mother, he commented

that he knew from the newspaper clippings what Robert had said

about him when he left for Russia ; he thought that Robert had talked

too much at that time, and asked that Robert say nothing to the

newspapers now.^*^^ The Oswalds arrived in Moscow by May 24^°* and on that date

filled out various documents at the American Embassy ; ^°^ Marina

was given her American visa.®°^ Final arrangements for their emigration were made with Soviet officials.®^^ On June 1, Oswald signed a promissory note at the Embassy for a repatriation loan of $435.71.^^^

He and his family boarded a train for Holland,*^^ which passed

through Minsk that night.^^° They crossed the Soviet frontier at Brest on June 2. Two days later, they departed from Holland on the

SS Maasdam.?^^ Onboard ship, the Oswalds stayed by themselves;

Marina testified that she did not often go on deck because she was

poorly dressed and Oswald was ashamed of her.^^^ Probably while he was on board the Maasdam Oswald wrote some

notes on ship stationery, which appear to be a summary of what he

thought he had learned by living under both the capitalist and Communist systems. The notes reflect his unhappy and deepening feeling

of disillusionment with both the Soviet Union and the United States. Oswald observed that although reform groups may oppose the government in power, they always declare that they are for their people and

their country, and he asked what "would happen if somebody was to stand up and say he was utterly opposed not only to the governments,

but to the people, too the entire land and complete foundations" of

his society. He condemned existing political groups and proposed

the formation of a third choice between communism and capitalism,

neither of which was acceptable to him. "I have lived," he said,

"under both systems, I have sought the answers and although it would

712
be very easy to dupe myself into believing one system is better than

the other, I know they are not." In these notes, he acknowledged

that his "Ked Cross" subsidy had been paid by the Soviet Government rather than the international organization, and said, "I shall never sell myself intentionlly, or unintentionlly to anyone again." ^^"^ (Commission Exhibit No. 25, p. 273.) It was probably also onboard

ship that Oswald wrote two sets of answers to questions which he

anticipated about his decision to go to Russia and later to return to the United States. Although the sets of answers are somewhat

similar, but the tone of one is apologetic, while the other suggests

that Oswald went to Russia to study the Soviet system, but remained

a loyal American and owed no apologies.^^^

The Maasdam landed at Hoboken, N.J., on June 13.^^^ The Oswalds were met by Spas T. Raikin, a representative of the Traveler's Aid Society, which had been contacted by the Department of

State; Raikin had the impression that Oswald was trying to avoid

meeting anyone. He told Raikin that he had only $63 and had nO' plans

either for that night or for travel to Fort Worth, and accepted the so- ciety's help, according to Raikin, "with confidence and appreciation." ^^^ They passed through the immigration office without

incident,^^^ and Raikin helped them through customs.^^^

The society referred the Oswalds to the New York City Department

of Welfare, which helped them find a room at the Times Square

Hotel.^^^ Oswald told both Raikin and representatives of the welfare department that he had been a marine stationed at the American

Embassy in Moscow, had married a Russian girl, renounced his citi- zenship, and worked in Minsk; he soon found out, he said, that the

Russian propaganda Avas inaccurate but had not been able to obtain an exit visa for his wife and child for more than 2 years. He said

also that he had paid the travel expenses himself.^^° The welfare department called Robert Oswald's home in Fort

Worth. His wife answered and said that they would help. She contacted her husband who sent $200 immediately.^^! Oswald refused to accept the money and insisted that the department itself should pav

the fare to Texas; he threatened that they would go as far as they

could on $63 and rely on local authorities to get them the rest of the

way. In the end he accepted the money.^^^ On the afternoon of June

14, the Oswalds left New York by plane for Fort Worth.^^a

FORT WORTH, DALLAS, NEW ORLEANS

Oswald had originally indicated that he and his family would stay

with his mother in Vernon, Tex.^^* His decision to stay with Robert

Oswald in Fort Worth apparently had been prompted by his brother's

invitation in a letter to him in Russia.^^^ Oswald listed only his

brother as a relative on an "Intake Interview" form which he prepared

for the New York Department of Welfare.^^e 713

730-900 0-64-47
Eobert took his wife and children to Love Field, the Dallas airport, to meet Lee and Marina and their baby, June Lee.^^^ He testified that the most noticeable change in his brother's appearance was that

he had become rather bald ; he seemed also to be somewhat thinner than

he had been in 1959. Robert thought that his brother had picked up

"something of an accent" but, except for these changes was "the same

boy" whom he had known before.^^^ Lee commented on the absence

of newspaper reporters and seemed to Robert to be disappointed that none had appeared.^^® Later on, Lee was anxious to avoid publicity.^^^

Robert drove the Oswalds to his home at 7313 Davenport Street .^^^ For a few days, Lee seemed tense,^^^ but the brothers got along well,^^^

and to Robert it was "more or less * * * [as if Lee] had not been to Russia"; they were "just together again." ^^^ The}' did not discuss

politics, according to Robert because of a "tacit agreement" between

them.^^^ Lee indicated to his brother that he hoped to have his

undesirable discharge from the Marines corrected.^^® Robert and his

wife "took to Marina and June," and enjoyed showing Marina "things

that she had never seen before." ^^^ Marina rested and took care of

her baby, and when she could, helped in the household.^^^ She

testified that, apart from a trip to the library, Lee spent about a week

'^merely talking." ^^^ On June 18, 4 days after he arrived in Fort TTorth, Oswald went

to the office of Mrs. Pauline Virginia Bates, a public stenographer

whose name he had found m the telephone directoiy,^^^ and asked

her to type a manuscript from the "scraps of paper," on which he

had recorded his impressions of the Soviet Laiion.®^^ Intrigued by

his tale that he had just returned from the Soviet Union and had

smuggled his notes out of that country, she agreed to type the notes for

$1 per page or $2 an hour, 50 cents less than her usual hourly rate.^^- On that day and the succeeding 2 days, Mrs. Bates spent 8 hours typing

for Oswald while he remained in her office helping her with the notes and translating portions of them which were in Russian.®^^ At the

end of each session he collected his notes and as much of the manuscript as she had done and took them away with him.**^ On Jmie 20,

he gave Mrs. Bates $10 for the 10 completed pages ; he told her that

he had no more money and refused to accept her offer to postpone payment or continue the work for nothing.^*^

Oswald told Mrs. Bates that there was an engineer m Fort Worth

who wanted to help him publish his notes.^^^ On June 19,^^^ he had

called Peter Gregory, a petroleum engineer who was born m Siberia

and taught Russian at the Fort Worth Public Library as a "civic

enterprise." ^*^ He asked if Gregor}^ could give him a letter testifying

to his ability to read and speak Russian, so that he could obtain work

as an interpreter or translator. Gregory suggested that Oswald come

to his office, where Gregory opened a Russian book at random and

asked Oswald to read from it. Oswald read well, and Gregory gave

him the letter he wanted.®*^ Gregory and Oswald had lunch together

and discussed Oswald's life in the Soviet Union,^^^ but, according to Gregory's testimony, nothing was said about publishing Oswald's

714
manuscript.^^^ About a week later, Gregory and his son Paul, a

college student, visited the Oswalds at Kobert Oswald's home and ar- ranged for Marina to give Paul lessons in Eussian during the

summer.^^2

On June 26, Oswald was intervieAved by FBI agents in Fort

Worth.^^^ One of the agents who interviewed him described him as tense and "drawn up"; he said that Oswald "exhibited an arrogant

attitude * * * and [was] inclined to be just a little insolent." ^^^ Oswald declined to say why he had gone to Russia, saying that he

refused to "relive the past." ^^^ He said that he had not attempted

to obtain Soviet citizenship, had not been approached by Soviet

officials for information about his experiences in the Marines, and had

not offered them such information. Marina^s Soviet passport required

her to notify the Soviet Embassy in Washington of her address in this

country, and Oswald told the agents that he planned to contact the

Embassy for this purpose within a few days.^^^ He promised to notify

the FBI if he were contacted by Soviet agents "under suspicious cir- cumstances or otherwise." ^^^ Oswald told his brother about the interview, saying that it had been "just fine." ^^^ Oswald and his family remained with Robert for about a month.^^^

Wliile they were there his mother moved to Fort Worth from Crowell, Tex.,^^° and, sometime in July they moved into her apartment

at 1501 West Seventh Street.^^^ Mrs. Oswald testified that she had

visited them at Robert's house in June ^^^ and moved to Fort Worth

because she thought that the house was too crowded and wanted to help them.^^2 Mrs. Oswald described the period when her son and his

family lived with her as "a very happy month"; according to her

testimony, she and her son and daughter-in-law got along well. She

mentioned that she not only helped Marina keep house and care for the

baby but also aided her son in his efforts to find employment.^^^

Marina testified, however, that Lee did not get along well with his

mother and that he decided after several weeks that they should move

to their own apartment.^*^^ He did not file a change-of-address card at the post office when the family moved to West Seventh Street, as he did

when they made their next move,^^^ so he may have contemplated

from the beginning that they would stay with his mother for only

a short while. Around the middle of August,^^^ the Oswalds

moved to a one-bedroom furnished apartment at 2703 Mercedes Street,

for which they paid $59.50 in advance for 1 month's rent.^^^ In the third week in July, Oswald had obtained a job as a sheet metal

worker with the Louv-R-Pak Division of the Leslie Welding C.o.,^^^ a manufacturer of louvers and ventilators,^^*^ to which he had been re- ferred by the Texas Employment Commission.^^^ On his application

for employment, filled out several days before, he wrote falsely that

he had had experience as a sheet metal worker and machinist in the

Marines and had been honorably discharged.^^^ He usually worked

8 or 9 hours a day, for which he was paid $1.25 an hour.^^^ Marina

testified that Oswald did not like his work,^^* but he was regarded

as a good employee ^^^ and remained with the company until October,

Y15
when he quit.^^^ On the job, he kept to himself and was considered

uncommunicative.^"

Mrs. Oswald visited her son and his family at their apartment and

tried to help them get settled ; she testified that she bought some clothes

for Marina and a highchair for the baby but that Oswald told her that

he did not want her to buy "things for his wife that he himself could

not buy." ^^^ Finally, Oswald apparently decided that he did not

want his mother to visit the apartment anymore and he became

incensed when his wife permitted her to visit despite his instructions.^^^ After he moved to Dallas in October, Oswald did not see his mother or communicate with her in any way until she came to

see him after the assassination.®^'' Witnesses have described the Mercedes Street apartment as "decrepit" and very poorly furnished;®®^

there was no telephone service.®®^ Acquaintances observed that Marina and the baby were poorly clothed, that the Oswalds had little food, and that at first there was not a bed for the baby.®®^

On August 16, the FBI again interviewed Oswald. This interview

took place in the back seat of a car in front of his home and covered

substantially the same material as the previous interview. Oswald

again denied having made any deal with representatives of the Soviet

Union. He protested his undesirable discharge from the Marines,

and stated that his wife was registered at the Soviet Embassy. He

still refused to discuss why he had gone to the Soviet Union, but he was less hostile than he had been during the previous inter^^ew.®®*

According to his wife, however, he was very upset by the interest the

FBI showed in him.^^^

The Oswalds became acquainted with a growing number of people of

the Eussian-speaking community in the Dallas-Fort "Worth area, who

were tied together socially by a common origin, language, and religion.

The group was not restricted to people from Russia but was composed primarily of people from Eastern European countries.^ The

Oswalds' initial contact with this group was through Peter Gregory.

Marina gave conversational Russian lessons to Paul Gregory 2 days a week during August and early September, for which she was paid $35.

Most of the lessons took place at the Mercedes Street apartment

and Oswald was generally present.®®^ In addition, Paul Gregory

occasionally took the Oswalds shopping; after they became friendly,

he had a number of discussions with Oswald, some of them politically

oriented.®^®

Sometime around August 25, Peter Gregory invited the Oswalds

and several members of the Russian community to his house for dinner.

One of the guests was George Bouhe, a Dallas accomitant and a leader

of the Russian community. He was very interested in meeting and

conversing with Marina, because she had spent much of her life in

Leningrad, which was his birthplace.®®^ Also present was Mrs. Anna

Meller, the Russian-born wife of a Dallas department store employee.®^° Near the end of August, the Oswalds met Declan Ford,

a consulting geologist in the Dallas area, and his Russian-bom wife

at Mrs. Meller's home. The Oswalds were also introduced to Mrs.

Y16
Elena Hall, who was born in Tehran, Iran, of Russian parentage.

She worked in a dental laboratory and at this time was divorced from

her former husband John Hall, whom she subsequently remarried. In

order to obtain dental aid for Marina, George Bouhe had brought her

to Mrs. Hall's house.^®^ In early September, the Oswalds met Alexander Kleinlerer, another member of the Russian group, who was

then courting Mrs. Hall.*^^ Mrs. Max Clark was introduced to Marina

during this period by George Bouhe and Anna Meller. Max

Clark met the Oswalds at a later time.^®^ At about the same time,

they were visited by George De Mohrenschildt, a petroleum engineer

born in Russia,^®* who had heard of them from one of the Russianspeaking group.^^^ Later on, the Oswalds met his wife, Jeanne, and

his daughter and son-in-law, Gary and Alexandra Taylor.*^^

Most of the members of the Russian community were interested in

the Oswalds not only because they needed help, but also because they

could provide the latest information about what was happening in

Russia.^^'' Some members of the group were at first apprehensive

about them because the apparent ease with which they had left Russia

seemed suspicious.^^^ Nevertheless, many of the group provided small

amounts of money, groceries, clothing, and furniture for the Oswalds

;

George Bouhe, Anna Meller, and Elena Hall were the primary contributors, although others provided help in the form of transportation

and groceries.^^^ These acquaintances occasionally visited the Oswalds,

and the Oswalds in turn visited some of them in Dallas.^°° It was evident that Oswald did not appreciate the help of the

Russian community.^^^ At least once he flew into a rage and shouted

that he did not need any of the things that people were giving to

him.^^2 Some felt that he resented the gifts because he could not give

his wife what the others were providing ; ^^^ he apparently was critical of them also because he felt that they were overly concerned with

improving themselves economically.^^*

Oswald became increasingly unpopular with his Russian-speaking

acquaintances, partly because of his resentment of their assistance.®^^ Alexander Kleinlerer stated that none of them cared for Oswald "be- cause of his political philosophy, his criticism of the United States,

his apparent lack of interest in anyone but himself and because of his

treatment of Marina." ^°* Some of them believed that Oswald was

mentally disturbed.^^'^ However, they felt sorry for Marina and the

child and continued to help.®°^

On a weekend afternoon early in October, the Oswalds were visited

by his mother and a number of people from the Russian community,

including George Bouhe, Anna Meller, the Halls, the De Mohrenschildts, and the Taylors.^°^ Oswald had apparently decided to look

for a new job, and discussed his lack of job prospects and the fact that

his rent was overdue.^^^ He was advised to seek employment in the

Dallas area.®^^ Elena Hall invited Marina to move into her house in

Fort Worth until Oswald found a job in Dallas. She accepted the

proposal, and Mrs. Hall moved Marina, her daughter June, and the

717
Oswalds' few household goods in a pickup truck belonging to the

dental laboratory where she was employed.^^^

Oswald worked at the Leslie Welding Co. on Monday, October 8, but failed to appear on the following day. He was already in Dallas.^^^ He falsely told his wife that he had been discharged,^" and told

George Bouhe that the job had been a temporary one.^^^ Sometime

later, the company received an undated letter from him stating that

he had "moved permanently to Dallas," and asking that the wages due

him be forwarded to him at box 2915 in Dallas.^^^ He did not tell his mother that he was leaving Fort Worth.^^^

Wliile they were in Foit Worth, the Oswalds were having marital

problems.^^^ Several people noted that Marina had a blackened eye

when they visited her at the Mercedes Street apartment.^^^ She told

her mother-in-law and George Bouhe that her husband had struck

her, but said to Anna Meller that she had walked into a door.^^^ It seems clear that Oswald had in fact liit her.^^i People observed fric- tion between the Oswalds on various occasions,^-^ although their dis- putes became more apparent later. Marina has written that this was a

difficult period for them and that her husband was "'very irritable'' and

sometimes some completely trivial thing would "drive him into a rage." ®^^ She testified that

:

* * * immediately after coming to the United States Lee

changed. I did not know him as such a man in Russia. * * * He helped me as before, but he became a little more of a re- cluse * * * He was very irritable, sometimes for a trifle * * *

^^^ She has denied, however, that their separation was the result of quarrels between them.^^^

Marma spent the first few weeks after Oswald's departure at Elena

Hall's house in Fort Worth, except for a brief stay at Gary Taylor's

house in Dallas after one of her appointments at the Baylor Dental

Clinic.^26 ^^ri^iie she was in Dallas, Mi*s. De ^Mohrenschildt brought

her to the clinic on October 8, October 10, and October 15 ; ^-^ George

Bouhe had given Mrs. De Mohrenschildt the money to cover the

expense of Marina's dental care.^-^ Even before Oswald went to Dallas, some of his acquaintances were

helping him in his effort to find a job there.^-^ George De Mohrenschildt directed him to Samuel B. Ballen, a Dallas financial consultant, but no employment resulted.^^° George Bouhe recommended that

Oswald go to the Texas Employment Commission in Dallas ; and Anna

Meller had her husband ask Mrs. Helen Cunningham, a counselor in

the clerical and sales division of the Dallas office of the employment

commission, to help Oswald find a job.^^^ Oswald first came

into the office of the employment commission on October 9. He was

reluctant to accept industrial employment, and was placed in the cler- ical category and turned over to Mrs. Cunningham for counseling. He

718
indicated that he had an interest in writing. The results of general

aptitude tests which he had taken at the Fort Worth employment office had been transmitted to the Dallas office, and indicated that he had

some aptitude in this direction and for clerical work. It was noted on

his application form that he had "outstanding verbal-clerical potential." He demonstrated ability to perform many skilled and semiskilled jobs, and there was some indication that he could do college

work. Mrs. Cunningham gave liim three special tests: for general

clerical work, work as an insurance claims examiner, and drafting

work. He scored high on all three. His application form indicated

that he did not have a driver's license, and noted : "well-groomed and

spoken, business suit, alert replies—expresses self extremely well." He

told Mrs. Cunningham that he hoped to develop qualifications for re- sponsible junior executive employment by a work-study program at a

local college but that this must be delayed because of his immediate

financial needs and responsibilities.^^^

Mrs. Cunningham concluded that although Oswald would be classi- fied for clerical work, she should try to get him any available job,

since he badly needed money. He was referred to an architect for an opening as a messenger but was not hired. On October 11, he was referred to Jaggars- Chiles- Stovall Co., a graphic arts company,

in response to a call from John Graef, head of the photographic department of the company, who had told the employment commission

that he needed a photoprint trainee. Oswald was enthusiastic about

liis prospects and apparently made a good impression ; Graef picked

him over several other applicants.^^^ On the following day he began

working in his new position as a trainee making prints of advertising material. He worked a 40-hour week at approximately $1.35

per hour; his take-home pay varied from $49 to $74 a week.^^* According to his wife, "he liked his work very much." ^^^ Oswald moved into the YMCA on October 15, and stayed there

until October 19, paying $2.25 a night.^^^ He had used the Taylors'

address and telephone number as a place where he could be reached,^^''

but on October 9 had also rented post office box 2915 under his own

name at the main post office on Ervay Street.^^^ On October 10, he

filed a change-of-address form indicating that mail for 2703 Mercedes

Street should be forwarded to the box.^^^ Marina has written that

Oswald wrote her letters and telephoned her during the separation.^^

On October 16, Mrs Hall brought Marina and June to Dallas to have June baptized. Marina apparently did this surreptitiously, be- cause her husband opposed baptism ; they did not contact him in Dallas, but left birthday gifts for him at the Taylors. Oswald did not

appear very disturbed when he found out about the baptism.^*^

Two days later, Mrs. Hall had an automobile accident and went to the hospital, where she remained until October 26 ; Marina remained

in the Hall house. Mrs. Max Clark and Alexander Kleinlerer, a friend of Mrs. Hall, checked up to make sure that she was getting

719
along without too much trouble.^*^ After Oswald left the YMCA on

October 19, he moved to a room or apartment somewhere in Dallas,^^

which has not been located.^^ It seems likely, however, that during

that time he spent several weekends with Marina at the Hall house.^^^ Four days after Mrs. Hall returned from the hospital, she left for

New York to visit friends. By the time she returned, ]Marina had

moved to a three-room apartment at 604 Elsbeth Street in Dallas,

which Oswald had rented on Saturday, November 3; ^*^ the landlady

stated that he had looked at the apartment about a week before. The

monthly rent was $68, in addition to which he had to pay several dollars a month for utilities. He paid the rent plus a $5 deposit on November

3,^*^ but probably spent that night with Marina at the Hall house.

On Sunday the Taylors helped the Oswalds move their belongings

to the Elsbeth Street apartment with a rented trailer.^*^ Oswald

had asked Kleinlerer to help them move, and Kleinlerer also was pres- ent when they departed.^*^

Soon after the Oswalds were reunited, their marital difficulties started again. T^Hiile they were moving to Elsbeth Street, Kleinlerer

noticed that Oswald slapped his wife for not having the zipper on her

dress completely closed.^^^ They argued over his refusal to allow

her to smoke.^^^ There was a quarrel also when he told the landlady

that Marina was from Czechoslovakia ; he was angered when Marina,

who disapproved of this deception, told the landlady the truth.^^^ Although several people tried to help Marina improve her scanty

knowledge of English, Oswald discouraged this,^" perhaps because

he wanted to keep up his Eussian.^^^ Some witnesses testified that

she commented about Ms sexual abilities.^^^ He apparently con- tinued to beat her, and once she suggested to George De Mohrenschildt that she should "get away" from Oswald. When De

Mohrenschildt criticized Oswald's conduct, Oswald replied, "It is my business." ^^^ Marina testified that when they moved into

the Elsbeth Street apartment, her husband became "nervous and

irritable" and was very angry over "trifles." ^°^ She said that it was

sometimes her fault that he beat her,^^^ for example when she wrote

to an old boyfriend in Russia that she wished she had married him

;

the letter was returned for postage due, and Oswald read it.^^^ Because of this quarreling, a few of their acquaintances felt that

Marina would be better off alone. George Bouhe offered to help her

if she promised to leave Oswald permanently.^^^ Finally, in early

November, Marina, helped by the De Mohrenschildts, moved into

Anna Meller's house with the intention not to return to Oswald. He

was apparently quite upset and did not want Marina to leave him.^^^

Oswald did not visit his wife at Anna Meller's house,®^^ and for a short time did not even know where she was.^^^ According to Marina,

he called her after she moved and they met at De Mohrenschildt's

house. He asked her to return home. She insisted that he stop

quarreling and that he change his ways. He said that he could not

change. Marina would not agree to return home with him and he

left.^«* 720
Marina was uncomfortable at the Meller house, where there was

very little room. She moved to Katherine Ford's house ^^^ where she

apparently stayed from November 11 to 17. She indicated that she

had decided never to return to her husband ; ^^^ it was Mrs. Ford's

impression that Marina was going to stay at other people's houses until a permanent place could be found for her.^^'' When Mr. Ford re- turned from a business trip on November 17, Marina and June moved

to the home of Mrs. Frank Ray, where they spent the day. Mrs. Ray,

the wife of a Dallas advertising man, was also of Russian origin. Since

Mrs. Ray had no baby bed, Marina returned to the Fords that evening.

On the next day, however, Marina moved her belongings to the Rays'

house. That same day, Oswald called and asked to visit his wife,

whom he had called and written. Mr. Ray picked him up and took

him to Marina.^^®

Marina testified that at this meeting Oswald professed his love for

her. She stated : "I saw him cry * * * [he] begged me to come back,

asked my forgiveness, and promised that he would try to improve,

if only I would come back." ^^^ On another occasion she said : "* * * he cried and you know a woman's heart—I w^ent back to him. He

said he didn't care to live if I did not return." ^^° That same day she

decided to return to him. Mr. Ray packed her belongings and took

her back to the Elsbeth Street apartment.^^^

Members of the Russian community who had taken care of Marina

so that she would not have to live with Oswald felt that their efforts had been in vain. George Bouhe was so irritated that he never again

tried to help either of the Oswalds.^^^ Contacts between them and

members of the Russian community diminished markedly.®^^ Oswald

did not care for most of these people and made his feelings apparent.^^*

Even the De Mohrenschildts, whom he liked most, saw much less of

them.^^^ Lydia Dymitruk, another Russian born woman in the DallasFort Worth area,, testified that she saw the Oswalds on only one occasion, and did not care to see them again. She drove Marina and

June, who had a high fever, to the hospital ; Oswald told the hospital

that he was unemployed in order to avoid paying for June's treatment

and later left Mrs. Dymitruk without thanking her.^^^ Mrs. Ford

testified that Marina had told her that she contemplated suicide during

this period because Oswald was treating her badly and she had no

friends; she felt that she had "no way out." ^" Marina acknowledged

to the Commission that she had had such thoughts.^^^

In an effort to renew family ties, Robert Oswald wrote to Lee and

John Pic on November 17, inviting them and their families to Thanksgiving dinner. Lee accepted the invitation. He and Marina traveled to Fort Worth by bus on Thanksgiving Day, and John Pic and

Robert met them at the station.^^^ Pic had not seen his half-brother

for 10 years. He observed, as many others have also attested, that

Lee seemed to be a good father and to take an active interest in June.®^°

After dinner, Marina phoned Paul Gregory, who later drove the Oswalds to his house for sandwiches and then took them to the bus station

for the return trip to Dallas.®^^ Thereafter, Robert spoke to his

721
brother once by telephone and received a post card and a letter from

him, but he eventually lost contact with T^e and did not see him a^ain

until after the assassin ation.^^^ Despite his disillusionment with Soviet life, Oswald kept up his

interest in Russia. He wrote to the Soviet Embassy in Wasliington

for information on how to subscribe to Russian periodicals and for

"any periodicals or bulletins which you may put out for the benefit

of your citizens living, for a time, in the U.S.A." ^^^ He subsequently

subscribed to several Russian journals.^^^ In December 1962, tlie Soviet Embassy received a card in Russian, signed "Marina and Lee

Oswald," which conveyed New Year's greetings and wishes for

"health, success and all of the best" to the employees at the Embassy.^®^ The Oswalds continued to correspond with acquaintances in Russia.^^''' Soon after his return to this country, Oswald had started to cor- respond with the Communist Party, U.S.A., and the Socialist Workers Party. He subscribed to the Worker in August 1962.^®^ He wrote

for additional literature from these organizations, and attempted to join the Socialist Workers Party, which, however, had no branch in Texas.^®^ He sent samples of his photographic work to the Socialist

Workers Party, the Worker, and the Hall-Davis Defense Committee,

and offered to aid them in printing and photographic work in con- nection with posters ; these offers were not accepted.^^^

He continued to read a great deal on a variety of subjects.^^^ George

Bouhe testified that Oswald's fare consisted of books by Marx, Lenin,

"and similar things." ^^^ Marina said that he read books of a historical

nature, including H. G. Wells' two volume "Outline of History," and

biographies of Hitler, Kennedy, and Khrushchev.^^^

Despite the Oswalds' break with the Russian community, De Mohrenschildt, knowing that they would be alone during the Christmas sea- son, asked the Fords whether he could bring the Oswalds to a party

celebrating the Russian Christmas at the Fords' home; the Fords

assented. The party was attended by many members of the Russian

community.^^^ Oswald spoke at length with Yaeko Okui, a Japanese

w^oman who had been brought to the party by Lev Aronson, first cellist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra ; ^®* she told Federal investigators

that she never saw Oswald again.^^^ The Oswalds were not in^-ited to three other Russian Christmas season gatherings which occurred

during the next few days.^®^

Marina visited the De Mohrenschildts several times after Christmas.^^^ They invited both Lee and Marina to a small dinner party in

February 1963 ; also present were Everett Glover, a chemist employed

in Dallas, and his roommate Volkmar Schmidt.^^^ On February 22,

Glover had a gathering at his house, one of the purposes of which was to permit his friends, many of whom were studying Russian, to meet the Oswalds.^^^ They were the objects of much attention.^°°° Marina conversed at length with another guest named Ruth Paine,

who had recently separated from her husband, ^lichael Paine, a re- search engineer at the Bell Helicopter plant in Fort Worth. ^Irs. Paine, who was studying Russian, obtained Marina's address ^°°^ and

722
shortly thereafter wrote Marina asking to see her. Marina responded

by inviting Mrs. Paine to visit her.^^^^ The Oswalds moved out of their Elsbeth Street apartment on March

3, 1963, to an upstairs apartment several blocks away at 214 West

Neely Street. Oswald inquired about the apartment in response to a "For Rent" sign; the rent was $60 per month, not including utilities.^°^^ They moved without assistance, carrying their belongings in

their hands and in a baby stroller.^^^* Marina preferred the Neely

Street apartment because it had a porch and was, she felt, more suitable for June.^005 Aware of Oswald's difficulties in obtaining employment, George

Bouhe had advised him as early as October 1962 to attend a night

school in Dallas.^°°^ On January 14, Oswald enrolled in a typing

course in the night school of Crozier Technical High School, and

started attending on January 28. The class ran from 6 :15 to 7 :15 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesday, and Thursdays. Although Oswald re- viewed a typing textbook at home, he attended the course irregularly

and stopped going altogether on about March 28.^°*^^ Ruth Paine and Marina started to exchange visits in March. Mrs.

Paine invited the Oswalds for dinner, and on April 20 she took

them on a picnic. When OsAvald was not present, the two women

frequently discussed their respective marital problems, and Marina

disclosed to Mrs. Paine that she was pregnant.^'^^^ Marina wrote of

these meetings:

One day we were invited to a friend's house, where I met Ruth

Paine, who was studying Russian here in America and wanted to improve her conversational knowledge. We began to see each

other. Ruth would come to see me with her children. This was

very good for both me and for June. She was growing up alone

and becoming terribly wild, so the company of other children was good for her. Sometimes we went out on picnics at a nearby

lake. Lee loved to fish, and we would look and rejoice if he

caught a little fish. Several times we went to visit Ruth who

lived in Irving.^^^

Using the name of A. »T. Hidell, Oswald had ordered a Smith &

Wesson .38 revolver from Los Angeles on a form which he dated

January 27. On March 12, he ordered a rifle from Klein's Sporting

Goods in Chicago under the name of A. Hidell.^'^^^ Oswald used the

name "Alek James Hidell" on identification cards which he probably

produced at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall. One of his fellow employees

taught him various photographic techniques, which he could have used

to prepare not only these cards, but also the samples of his work which

he sent to various organizations.^*^^^

Both Aveapons were shipped on March 20.^^^^ Oswald kept the rifle in a small storeroom at the Neely Street apartment. He spent long

periods of time in the storeroom, which he told Marina she was not

to enter."^^ He told her that he intended to use the rifle for hunt723
ing i<^i^ and that he practiced with it. She saw him leave with it once, and clean it several times.^^^^ He also posed for two pictures,

taken by Marina in the backyard of the Neely apartment, in which

he held his rifle and copies of the AYorker and the Militant and the

revolver was strapped to his belt. He gave one of the pictures to his

w^ife and asked her to keep it for June.^^^^ Over the weekend of March 9-10, Oswald photographed the alley

which runs behind the home of Gen. Edwin Walker, and probably at about the same time he photographed the rear of Walker's home and

a nearby railroad track and right-of-way.^°^^ He prepared and studied a notebook in which he outlined a plan to shoot General Walker, and he

looked at bus schedules."^^ He went to the Walker residence on the

evening of April 6 or 7, planning to make his attack. However, he

changed his plans, hid his rifle nearby, and determined to act on the

following Wednesday, April 10, when a nearby church was planning

a meeting which, Oswald reasoned, would create a diversion that

would help him escape.^^^^ On Wednesday, Oswald left a note for

Marina telling her what to do if he were apprehended. He retrieved

his rifle and fired at Walker, but the bullet narrowly missed Walker's

head. Oswald secreted his rifle again and took the bus home.^°^°

Wlien Oswald told Marina what he had done, she became angry

and made him promise never to repeat such an act. She testified that

she kept his letter, intending to give it to the authorities if he

repeated his attempt. He told Marina that he was sorry he had

missed Walker and said that the shooting of Walker would have been

analogous to an assassination of Hitler.^'^^^ Several days later, the

De Mohrenschildts visited the Oswalds, bringing an Easter present

for June. During the visit, Jeanne De Mohrenschildt saw the rifle and told her husband about it. Without any knowledge of the truth,

De Mohrenschildt jolringly intimated that OsAvald was the one who had

shot at Walker. Oswald apparently concluded that Marina had told

De Mohrenschildt of his role in the attempt and was visibly shaken.^^^- On April 6, Oswald was dropped by Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall because,

in his supervisor's opinion, he could not do the work, although he was trying; in addition, he did not get along with his fellow employees.^^^^ The fact that he brought a Eussian newspaper to work

may also have been of some significance.^^^* Marina testified that

her husband, who had always worried about his job security at JaggarsChiles-Stovall,^^25 ^^^g q^^ite upset by the loss of his job since he had

liked the work.^^^e

Oswald again resorted to the Texas Employment Commission.^°^^

On April 8, he informed the Commission that he was seeking employment but was referred to no employers. He stated that he had been

laid off at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall due to lack of work." ^^^s q^ April

12, he made a claim for unemployment benefits; 4 days later the

commission mailed him a determination disapproving his claim be- cause of insufficient wage credits.^^^^ For a while after the Oswalds moved into the Neely Street apartment they got along well,^°^° but they soon began to quarrel.^^^^

724
Oswald was apparently still preventing Marina from learning English,^^^^ and there is some indication that he continued to beat her.^°^^ Since February, he had been urging her to return to Russia.^°^* Marina wrote several letters to the Russian Embassy requesting a visa to return to Russia ; ^^^^ she testified, however, that Oswald forced

her to write them, and that she never wanted to return to Russia.^^^® '\'\nien Ruth Paine visited the Oswalds at their apartment on

April 24, she was surprised to learn that Oswald was packed and

ready to leave for New Orleans by bus. He explained that he had

been unable to find employment in or around Dallas, and that Marina

had suggested that he go' to New Orleans since he had been born

there.^°^^ Marina has testified that the real reason behind her suggestion was that she wanted to get him out of town because of the

Walker incident.^^^^ Mrs. Paine offered to drive Marina to New

Orleans at a later date, and also to have Marina and June stay with

her rather than at the apartment in the meantime. Oswald helped

the women pack Mrs. Paine's car, and the two women moved everything from the Neely Street apartment to the Paine house in Irving.^^^^

When he arrived at the bus station in New Orleans, Oswald tele- phoned his aunt, Lillian Murret, to ask if he could stay at her home

at 757 French Street while he looked for employment. She had

been unaware that he had returned from Russia or that he was

married and had a child and was surprised to hear from him. She

said that she did not have room to accommodate three guests, but that

since he was alone he was welcome.^'^^^ Oswald had been born in New Orleans, and on his return showed

great interest in finding out what had happened to the other members of his father's family. He visited the cemetery where his father was buried and called all the Oswalds in the telephone book. By this

method he located one relative, Mrs. Hazel Oswald of Metairie, La.,

the widow of William Stout Oswald, his father's brother. He visited

her at her home ; she gave him a picture of his father and told him that

as far as she knew the rest of the family was dead.^°*^ On April 26, Oswald began his search for employment. He went

to the employment office of the Louisiana Department of Labor and

stated that he was qualified as a commercial photographer, shipping

clerk, or "darkroom man." The interviewer noted on Oswald's application card : "Will travel on limited basis. Will relocate. Min. $1.25

hr. Neat. Suit. Tie. Polite." ^^^^ Although the employment commission made a few referrals, Oswald relied primarily upon newspaper

advertisements, and applied for a number of positions.^^^^ Mrs. Murret testified that he would spend the day job hunting, return to her

home for supper, watch television, and go to bed.^°^* On April 29, he filed a request for reconsideration of the employment commission's disapproval of his imemployment compensation

claim. His complaint that he had not been credited for his employment at Jaggars-Chiles- Stovall was ruled valid on May 8, and he was granted maximum benefits of $e369, payable at the rate of $33

per week. He filed interstate claims on May 7 and 15, and received

725
$33 in response to the latter; the former claim was filed before the

expiration of the prescribed waiting period.^'^^'^ Not only had Oswald in fact been working since May 10, but he included on his claim

sheet, as concerns with which he had sought work, fictitious employers

and employers whom he apparently had not contacted.^^*^ Oswald wrote to Marina: "All is well. I am living with Aunt

Lillian. She has very kindly taken us in. I am now looking for

work. When I find it I will write you." ^°*^ And on May 3, he wrote

to Marina and Ruth Paine : "Girls, I still have not found work, but I receive money from the unemployment office in the amount 15 to 20

dollars. They were mistaken in the Dallas office when they refused,

but I straightened everything out. Uncle 'Dyuz' offered me a loan

of $200.00 if needed. Great, eh ? !" i«^« On May 9, responding to a newspaper advertisement, Oswald completed an application for employment with William B. Reily Co.,

Inc., at 640 Magazine Street, an enterprise engaged in the roasting,

grinding, canning, bagging, and sale of coffee. On his application

form, Oswald listed as references in addition to John Murret, "Sgt.

Robert Hidell" and "Lieut. J. Evans," both apparently fictitious names.^^*^ His application was approved and he began work on May

10, at the rate of $1.50 per hour. His task was the lubrication of the

company's machinery.^^° Oswald did not enjoy this work,^^^^ and told

his wife and Mrs. Paine that he was working in commercial photography.^^'^^

Also on May 9, Oswald obtained an apartment at 4905 Magazine

Street with the help of Myrtle Evans, who had known him when he was a child. The rent was $65 a month. Oswald moved in on May

10,^^^^ after telephoning Marina on the ninth and asking her to come

to New Orleans. Ruth Paine testified that the invitation elated Marina: "Papa nas lubet"—"Daddy loves us," she repeated again and

again. Mrs. Paine drove Marina and June to New Orleans ; they left Dallas on May 10, spent the night in Shreveport, and arrived on the

11th. Mrs. Paine stayed with the Oswalds for 3 days; the three of

them, with June and Mrs. Paine's children, toured the French Quarter.

On May 14, Mrs. Paine left New Orleans to return to her home.^°^^

The Murrets and the Oswalds exchanged visits from time to time;

Marina testified that the Murrets were very good to them.^°^^ Mrs.

IMurret's daughter, Marilyn, took the Oswalds on an outing.^^^^ But,

according to Marina's testimony, aside from Ruth Paine and Ruth

Kloepfer and her daughters, the Murrets were the only social visitors

the Oswalds had.^°" Ruth Kloepfer was a clerk of the Quaker Meeting

in New Orleans whom Ruth Paine had written in the hope that she

might know some Russian-speaking people who could visit Marina.

Mrs. Kloepfer herself visited the Oswalds but made no attempt to direct any Russian-speaking people to them.^*^^^ On July 19, Oswald was dismissed by Reily because of inefficiency

and inattention to his work. He had spent many of his working hours

next door at the Crescent City Garage, where he read gun magazines

and discussed guns with one of the owners, Adrian Alba.^°^^ On the

726
following Monday, July 22, Oswald again visited the Louisiana em- ployment office to seek new employment and file a claim for unemployment compensation. Thereafter, he collected unemployment

compensation weekly and, although apparently making some effort to obtain another job, again listed a number of fictitious job applications on his unemployment compensation claim forms/^^° He soon gave up his search for employment, and began to spend his days at home reading.^^^^ He received another setback on July 25, when

he was notified that in response to the request for review which he

had made in 1962, his undesirable discharge from the Marine Corps

had been affirmed.^*^®^ During this period, Oswald began to evidence thoughts of returning

to the Soviet Union or going to Cuba. On June 24 he applied for a new passport, which he received on the following day.^°^^ Apparently at Oswald's request,^^^^ Marina wrote to the Russian Embassy,

expressing a desire to return to Russia and indicating that she would

be accompanied by her husband. She explained that she wanted to return because of family problems, including the impending birth

of her second child.^*^^^ Accompanying her letter was a letter written

by Oswald dated July 1, in which he asked the Embassy to rush an

entrance visa for his wife and requested that his visa be considered

separately.^^®® Marina believed that Oswald w^as really planning to go only to Cuba.^^^ She testified that "his basic desire was to get to Cuba by any means, and that all the rest of it was window dressing for

that purpose." ^^^ During the early days of the New Orleans period, the Oswalds'

marriage was more harmonious than it had been previously. Marina

wrote

;

* * * our family life in New Orleans was more peaceful. Lee

took great satisfaction in showing me the city where he was born.

We often went to the beach, the zoo, and the park. Lee liked

to go and hunt crabs. It is true, that he was not very pleased with

his job * * * We did not have very much money, and the birth

of a new child involved new expenses * * * As before, Lee spent

a great deal of time reading.^*^^^

Marina testified, however, that after they had been in New Orleans

for a while, Oswald became depressed and that she once found him

alone in the dark crying.^*^^° She w^rote to Ruth Paine that his "love"

had ceased soon after Mrs. Paine had left New Orleans.^°^^ Mrs.

Paine testified, however, that she had noticed friction between the

Oswalds before she left.^^^^ q^ j^^ly n^ ^j.q Paine wrote Marina

that if Oswald did not wish to live with her any more and preferred

that she return to the Soviet Union, she could live at the Paines' house.

Although Mrs. Paine had long entertained this idea, this w^as the first time she explicitly made the invitation. She renewed the invitation on

July 12, and again on July 14 ; she attempted to overcome any feeling

which Marina might have that she would be a burden by stating that

727
Marina could help with the housework and help her learn Russian, and

that she would also provide a tax advantage.^^^^

Marina replied that she had previously raised the subject of a sepa- ration and that it had led to arguments. She stated that she was happy and that for a considerable period of time Oswald had been

good to her. She attributed this improved attitude to the fact that

he was anticipating their second child. Marina turned down Mrs.

Paine's invitation but said that she would take advantage of it if things became worse.^^^* Mrs. Paine replied that she was taking a

trip north to visit her parents and would \dsit Marina in New Orleans

about September 18. She also suggested that Marina come to her

house for the birth of the baby.^^^^

On July 6, Eugene Murret, a cousin of Oswald who was studying to be a Jesuit Priest in Mobile, Ala., wrote and asked if Oswald could come to Mobile and speak at the Jesuit House of Studies about "con- temporary Russia and the practice of Communism there." Oswald

accepted, and on July 27 he and his family, joined by some of the Murrets, traveled to Mobile ; Charles Murret paid the expenses. Oswald

spoke concerning his observations in Russia and conducted a question

and answer period ; he impressed his listeners as articulate. He indicated that he had become disillusioned during his stay in Russia, and

that in his opinion the best political system would be one which combined the best points of capitalism and communism.^^^^ A^^iile he left his listeners with the impression that he was an atheist, he avoided a direct discussion of religion. The group returned to New Orleans on

July 28."^^ In late May and early June, Oswald had apparently begun to formulate plans for creating a New Orleans branch of the Fair Play

for Cuba Committee. Using the name "Lee Osborne" he ordered a number of printed circulars demanding "Hands off Cuba" in large

letters, and application forms and membership cards for the proposed

chapter.^^"^^ On August 5, he visited a store managed by Carlos Bringuier, a Cuban refugee and avid opponent of Castro and the New Orleans delegate of the Cuban student directorate. Oswald indicated an interest in joining the struggle against Castro. He told Bringuier

that he had been a marine and was trained in guerrilla warfare, and

that he was willing not only to train Cubans to fight Castro but also to join the fight himself. The next day Oswald returned to the store and left his "Guidebook for Marines" for Bringuier.^^^^

On August 9, Bringuier saw Oswald passing out Fair Play for

Cuba leaflets. Bringuier and his companions became angry and a dispute resulted. Oswald and the three Cuban exiles were arrested

for disturbing the peace.^°^° Oswald spent the night in jail and was

interviewed the next day by a lieutenant of the New Orleans Police

Department. At Oswald's request, an FBI agent also interviewed

him. Oswald maintained that he was a member of the New Orleans

branch of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee which, he claimed, had

35 members. He stated also that he had been in touch with the president of that organization, A. J. Hidell.^°®^ Oswald was in fact the

728
only member of the "New Orleans branch," which had never been

chartered by the National Fair Play for Cuba Committee.^^^^ Later

that day Oswald was released on bail, and 2 days later he pleaded

guilty to the charges against him and paid a $10 fine. The charges

against the Cuban exiles were dismissed.^'^^^ Marina testified that the

arrest upset Lee and that he "became less active, he cooled off a little" after it.^^^* On August 16, Oswald, assisted by at least one other person who

was a hired helper, again passed out Fair Play for Cuba literature, this

time in front of the International Trade Mart. That night, television

newscasts ran pictures of Oswald's activities.^^^^ (This hindered Oswald's subsequent attempts to obtain employment in New Orleans.) ^^^^ Bringuier sent one of his friends to Oswald's home to pose as a Castro

sympathizer and attempt to obtain information about Oswald, but

Oswald apparently saw^ through the ruse.^°*^ William Stuckey, a radio broadcaster with a program called "Latin

Listening Post," had long been looking :^or a member of the Fair

Play for Cuba Committee to appear on his program. He learned

about Oswald from Bringuier, and visited Oswald on August IT. Later that day, Stuckey recorded an interview with Oswald which was

cut to about 5 minutes and played back on the show that evening.^^^^

Two days later, Stuckey asked the news director of the station if he

could run the entire tape, but the director felt that a debate with a

local opponent of Castro would be of greater public interest. Consequently, Stuckey arranged for a debate between Oswald and Bringuier on a 25-minute daily public affairs program called "Conversation Carte Blanche," which took place on August 21.^°^^ Oswald

defended the Castro regime and discussed Marxism. He was put on

the defensive when his defection to Russia was brought up,^°^" and

Stuckey later testified that he thought that the progTam had finished

the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans.^^^^ However,

Stuckey also testified that Oswald seemed to be a clean-cut and

intelligent person who conducted himself very well during the interviews and debates.^^^2 Oswald wrote several times to V. T. Lee, then national director

of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, telling him, sometimes in exaggerated terms, of his activities.^^^^ He wrote also to the Communist

Party and asked whether, in view of his prior defection, he should

"continue to fight, handicapped as it were, by * * * [his] past record,

[and] compete with anti-progressive forces, above-ground or

* * * should always remain in the background, i.e., underground." ^°®* The Party replied that "often it is advisable for some people to re- main in the background, not underground." ^°^^ And although Oswald wrote four letters to V. T. Lee during the summer,^^^^ there is no

evidence that Oswald heard from him after May 29. Ruth Paine arrived in New Orleans on September 20, and spent

three nights with the Oswalds. During this stay, Mrs. Paine fomid

relations between them much improved. Nonetheless, it was decided

that Marina would go back with her to Irving for the birth of the

729

730-900 0-64—48
baby. Marina and Mrs. Paine toured Bourbon Street while Oswald

stayed home and did some packing for Marina's return to Texas.^''^" On Sunday, September 22, Oswald and Mrs. Paine finished loadin^^

the station wagon with the Oswalds' household belongings.^*^^®

MEXICO CITY

Marina Oswald testified that sometime in August her husband first told her of his plan to go to Mexico and from there to Cuba, where

he planned to stay ; he had given up a plan to hijack an airplane and

fly directly to Cuba, which plan Marina consistently opposed.^^^^ On

September 17, he obtained from the Mexican consulate general in New

Orleans a "Tourist Card," FM-8 No. 24085, good for one journey

into Mexico for no longer than 15 days. Typed in the blank, "Appelidos y nombre," w^as "Lee, Harvey Oswald," "Fotogrofo";

the intended destination was shown as Mexico City."°° (The comma

between "Lee" and "Harvey" seems to have been an error.) ^^"^ On

the application Oswald stated that he was employed at "640 Rampart" ; he was in fact unemployed."^^ (See Commission Exhibits Nos.

2478, 2481, p. 300.)

Marina and June departed with Mrs. Ruth Paine for Indng on the

morning of September 23.^^°^ Before she left, Oswald told Marina

that she should not tell anyone about his impending trip to Mexico.^^°^ Marina kept this secret until after the assassination."^'

On the previous day, Oswald's landlord had seen Mrs. Paine's car being packed and had asked Oswald, whose rent was about 15 days

overdue, whether he was leaving. Oswald told him that Marina was

leaving temporarily but that he would remain.^^°^ A neighbor tes- tified that on the evening of September 24, he saw Oswald, car- rying two pieces of luggage, hurriedly leave the Magazine Street

apartment and board a bus.^^^^ Though micertain of the exact date, a city busdriver recalls that at the same time of day and at the same

location he picked up a man who was carrying two suitcases of differ- ent sizes and helped him place them so that they would not disturb

the other passengers. The driver remembers that the man asked

directions to the Greyhound bus station. He discharged the pas- senger at an intersection where he could board a Canal Street car and

transfer to another bus which would go past the Greyhound and Continental Trailways stations.^^^^ The landlord fomid Oswald's apartment vacant on September 25.^^°^ Oswald appears to have taken with him a Spanish-English dictionary ; ^^1° his address book; ^^^^ his 1963 passport and old passport ; ^^^- his correspondence with the Communist Party and with the Soviet

Embassy in Washington, some of which was in Russian ; ^^^^ proof of

his marriage ; ^"^ newspaper clippings concerning his arrest and his

interest in the activities of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee ^^^^ (activities which, -Marina testified, he had undertaken because he thought

that they would help him when he got to Cuba) ; ^^^^ evidence that he

730
was the "Director" of the New Orleans chapter of the Committee ; ^^^^ and various other cards, such as a work card, which he had obtained in

Russia.^^^^ He took also several sheets of notepaper on which he had

written a summary of important events in his life which he presumably intended to call to the attention of Cuban and Soviet officials in

Mexico City to convince them to let him enter Cuba. On these sheets

he had recorded facts about his Marine service, including the dates

of his enlistment and discharge, the places where he had served, and

the diplomas that he had received from military school. Recorded

also were notes on his stay in the Soviet Union, his early interest in

Communist literature, his ability to speak Russian, his organization

of the New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee,

his contact with police authorities in connection with his work for

the Committee, and his experience in "street agitation," as a "radio

speaker and lecturer," and as a photographer.^^^^ The two pieces of

luggage which Oswald took with him were a small, blue, zipper bag ^^^^ and a large, olive-colored bag,^^^^ both made of cloth. He carried

the smaller bag with him throughout the trip, but, at least from

Nuevo Laredo to Mexico City, checked the larger one through to his

destination.^^22

Oswald remained in New Orleans until September 25. His precise

whereabouts on the night of September 24 are uncertain, but in view

of his limited finances, he probably returned to the apartment to sleep

after checking his luggage at a bus station or spent the night at an

inexpensive hotel or roominghouse. Some time after 5 a. m. on September 25, he collected a Texas unemployment compensation check

for $33 at his New Orleans post office box. He cashed the check between 8 a.m. and noon at a store about six blocks from his apartment on Magazine Street.^^^^ This gave him about $200 for the trip to Mexico.1124

He left New Orleans by bus,^^-^ probably on Continental Trailways

Bus No. 5121, departing New Orleans at 12 :20 p.m. on September 25,

and scheduled to arrive in Houston at 10 :50 p.m. ; that bus is the only one on which Oswald could have left New Orleans after noon on September 25 ^^26 r^j^(j arrived in Houston before midnight.^^^^ Sometime

in the evening he called the home of Horace Elroy Twiford, a member of the Socialist Labor Party who had received Oswald's name

from the party's headquarters in New York and sent him a copy of

its official publication, the "Weekly People." ^^^s M^g^ Twiford, who

answered the telephone,^^^® believes that the call was made locally,

before 10 p.m. It may have been made from Beaumont or some other

stop on the route ; however, in view of the bus schedule, it probably was made in Houston later than Mrs. Twiford remembered.^^^^ Oswald

told Mrs. Twiford that he was a member of the Fair Play for Cuba

Committee and that he hoped to see her husband for a few hours that

evening before he flew to Mexico. He wanted also to find out how

Twiford had obtained his name and address. Mrs. Twiford told

Oswald that her husband, a merchant seaman, was at sea but would be

happy to see him at some other time; she offered to take a message.

731
Oswald said that he could not await her husband's return because he was flying to Mexico.^"^ The Twifords have stated that they had no

other contact with Oswald.^^^^

An employee of the U.S. Selective Service System has stated

that an individual calling himself "Harvey Oswald'* appeared at her

office in Austin, Tex., immediately after lunch on September 25, and

discussed with her the possibility of rectifying his undesirable dis- charge from the Marine Corps.^^^^ Despite the employee's reputability and apparent sincerity, all of the information which she

furnished with respect to Oswald's appearance and conversation could

have been derived from news media, consciously or unconsciously, by

the time she told the FBI her story. Other persons in Austin who,

according to the employee's testimony, should also have observed

Oswald failed to corroborate her testimony.^^^* No other evidence

tending to show that Oswald was in Austin at this time has been

discovered.

The telephone call which Oswald made to the Twifords on the

evening of September 25, indicates that he was either in Houston

or on his way there when he made it, since the purpose of the call was to make an appointment to see Twiford in Houston that evening. Oswald could not have left New Orleans on September 25,

been in Austin 521 miles away by early afternoon, and returned 162

miles to Houston by night unless he traveled by air; airline records

contain no indication that Oswald was on such flights.^^^^ It is very

unlikely that he had with him enough money beyond what he needed

for the trip to Mexico City to take such flights, and the poor state of

his finances at this time plus his well-established frugality make it extremely unlikely that he would have considered it worthwhile to do

so even if he could. There is no evidence that Oswald was in such a hurry to reach Mexico that he would have felt it necessary to travel

by airplane rather than a less expensive means of travel. He

took a bus from Houston to Mexico City, lived very inexpensively

there, and took a bus back to Dallas ; there is no apparent reason why

he would have interrupted such an inexpensive trip to fly to Austin

and then to Houston. He told a passenger whom he met on the next

leg of his trip that he had come from New Orleans, and made no refer- ence to Austin.^^^^

On September 26, Oswald boarded Continental Trailways bus No.

5133 in Houston and departed at 2:35 a.m. for Laredo, Tex., via

Corpus Christi and Alice.^^" Two British tourists. Dr. and Mrs.

John B. McFarland, who boarded No. 5133 in Houston, noticed Oswald

when they awoke at about 6 a.m. Oswald told them that he was

going to Cuba via Mexico City, and they inferred from conversation

with him that he had left New Orleans early in the afternoon of

September 25 and that he was going to Cuba via Mexico City. He

said also that he was secretary of the New Orleans branch of the Fair

Play for Cuba Committee and that he hoped to see Fidel Castro in

Cuba. The bus was scheduled to arrive in Laredo at approximately

1 :20 p.m."3«

732
Oswald crossed the border from Laredo to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico,

between 1 :30 and 2 p.m.^^^^ From Nuevo Laredo, lie traveled to Mexico

City aboard bus No. 516 of the Flecha Roja Bus Line, which departed

at 2 :15 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Mexico City at 9 :45 a.m. on the following day ; he held baggage claim check No. 320-135.^^*° He

was seen on the bus by the McFarlands and by two Australian girls

who boarded the bus on the evening of September 26 at Monterrey.^^*^

He occupied the seat next to an elderly Englishman, who told the girls

that the young man sitting next to him apparently had been to Mexico

before."*^ The man next to Oswald was probably Albert Osborne,

a native of the British Isles who has worked as an itinerant preacher in

the Southern United States and Mexico for many years. Osborne

denied that he sat beside Oswald ; but in view of his inconsistent and

untrue responses to Federal investigators concerning matters not directly related to Oswald, the Commission believes that his denial

cannot be credited. It appeared to the .other passengers on the bus

that Osborne and Oswald had not previously met ; extensive investigation has revealed no other contact between them.^^*^

In the course of the 20-hour bus trip, Oswald initiated two conversations with the Australian girls, during which he mentioned his visit to Russia and recommended the Hotel Cuba in Mexico City as a "clean and cheap" hotel ; he told them, apparently falsely, that he had

stayed there on previous occasions. He said that when he had seen them board the bus with their heavy suitcases, he had been under the

impression that they were Mexican and had therefore asked the man

next to him how to say "How can I help you ?" in Spanish. From this

they inferred that Oswald did not speak Spanish, an impression which

is shared by every witness who met Oswald on his trip and is supported by notations which he made on documents that he carried.^^** He got off the bus at every stop and ate large meals, always eating by

himself ; the girls thought he ate so much because he could not make

himself understood in Spanish and had to order by pointing at the

menu.^^^^ The bus arrived in Mexico City 15 minutes late, at 10

g^ j^ 1146 Oswald left the bus station by himself and had no known

further contact with any of the people with whom he had spoken on the

bus.ii^^ Oswald registered at the Hotel del Comerdo within an hour of his

arrival in Mexico City. He stayed there throughout his visit.^^*^ The

hotel, located not far from the commercial heart of the city and within

four blocks of the bus station, is one of a group of hotels located near

the intercity bus terminals and has perhaps the best appearance of

the group.^^*^ It is known by personnel in other hotels that the owner

of the Hotel del Comercio can understand and speak a little English.^^^° Oswald registered as "Lee, Harvey Oswald," and gave his

occupation as "photo." ^^^^ He had room 18 which cost $1.28 per

day."^2

After he had registered, Oswald turned promptly to the task of

obtaining permission to enter Cuba. Mexican officials would not per- mit a U.S. citizen without a Cuban visa to board a plane for Cuba

733
even if he had an American passport, but would permit passage if he

had a visa even though the passport proscribed travel to Cuba.^^^^

Oswald had a 1963 American passport (stamped invalid for travel to Cuba)^^^^ but had neither a regular Cuban visa nor an intransit visa

which would permit a short stay in Cuba on his way to Russia or some

other country. His address book contained the telephone number and

address of a Cuban airline, but there is evidence that he never visited

its office."^^ He visited the Cuban Embassy on Friday, September 27 and spoke

with Senora Silvia Tirado de Duran, a Mexican citizen employed there. Senora Duran later made a signed statement to the Mexican police

that Oswald

:

* * * applied for a visa to Cuba in transit to Russia and based

his application on his presentation of his passport in which it was recorded that he had been living in the latter country for a period of three years, his work permit from that same country

written in the Russian language and letters in the same language,

as well as proof of his being married to a woman of Russian nationality and being the apparent Director in the city of New

Orleans of the organization called "Fair Play for Cuba" with

the desire that he should be accepted as a "friend" of the Cuban

Revolution * * *.^^^^ He apparently also stated that he was a member of the Commmiist

Party and displayed documents which he claimed to be evidence of

his membership.^^^^ He said that he intended to go to Cuba on September 30 and to remain there for 2 weeks, or longer if possible, and then

go on to Russia.^^^* Senora Duran took down the relevant date and

filled out the appropriate application. Oswald left the Embassy but was to return in the afternoon.^^^^ Then, or possibly even before his initial visit to the Cuban Embassy

Oswald went to the Soviet Embassy where he spoke with either Pavel

Antonovich Yatskov or Valeriy Vladimirovich Kostikov."^'' They

are both consular officials serving also as agents of the KGB.^^^^

Oswald later said that he had dealt with "Kostin," ^^^^ undoubtedly

a reference to Kostikov. He was unable to obtain a Soviet visa then.

Marina said that the officials at the Soviet Embassy "refused to have

anything to do with him." ^^^ Oswald returned to the Cuban Embassy later that afternoon, this

time bringing with him passport photographs which he may have obtained in the United States.^^^^ Senora Duran telephoned the Soviet

Embassy to inquire about the status of Oswald's Russian visa and was

told that there would be a delay of about 4 months.^^*^^ Oswald became

"highly agitated and angry," particularly when he learned that he

could not obtain an intransit visa to Cuba before he acquired a Russian

visa. Senora Duran called the Cuban consul, then Eusibio Azque, to speak to him. The discussion between Oswald and Azque developed

into a heated argument, which ended when Azque told Oswald that in

Y34
his opinion people like Oswald were harming the Cuban Kevolution

and that so far as Azque was concerned, he would not give Oswald

a visa.^^^® Senora Duran wrote her name and the phone number of

the Embassy on a piece of paper which she gave to Oswald in case he wished to contact her again. He copied this information into his

address book.^^®^ Senora Duran forwarded the Cuban visa application to Havana ;"^^ the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied on October 15 that the visa could be issued only after Oswald had

obtained a Russian visa.^^^^ (See Commission Exhibit No. 2564,

p. 303.)

Oswald contacted the Russian and Cuban Embassies again during

his stay in Mexico.^^^" He had no greater success than he had before. Marina testified that when he returned to Texas, he was con- vinced that his trip had been a failure and disappointed at having

been unable to go to Cuba.^^^^ A month later, in a painstakingly

composed ^^^^ letter to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, Oswald

ascribed his failure to "a gross breach of regulations" on the part of

the Cuban Embassy. "Of corse," he wrote, "the Soviet Embassy

was not at fault, they were, as I say unprepared." ^^^^ The hotel maid said that Oswald generally was gone by the time

she arrived at 9 a.m. The night watchman said he usually returned

at about midnight,^^^* which is not unusual, in view of the late hour at which Mexico City's evening activities beg-in. He ate several lunches

at a small restaurant immediately adjacent to the hotel, coming to the

restaurant shortly after 2 p.m., and ordering food by pointing to the

menu, apparently wdth some consideration of cost; he spent between

40 and 48 cents for each meal. He ate the soup of the day, rice, and

either meat or eggs, but refused dessert and coffee ; the w^aitress con- cluded that Oswald did not realize that the items which he refused were included in the price of the lunch.^^^^ He was seen with no

other person either at his hotel or at the restaurant.^^^^ A hotel guest

stated that on one occasion he sat down at a table with Oswald because

there was no empty table in the restaurant, but that neither spoke to the other because of the language barrier.^^^^ Although the Soviet and Cuban Embassies are within two blocks of

each other, they are some distance from Oswald's hotel.^^^^ He must,

therefore, have traversed a substantial portion of the city on more

than one occasion. Marina testified that he told her that he had seen

a bullfight,^^^® wliich would normally have been on Sunday afternoon,

and that he had visited museums '^'^^^ and done some sightseeing.^^^^

He apparently also saw one or more motion pictures, either American

with Spanish subtitles or Mexican with English subtitles.^^®^ From

notations in his Spanish-English dictionary and on his guide map of

Mexico City, it appears that Oswald intended to attend a jai alai

game ^^^^ but he almost certainly did not do so.^^^^ He purchased several postcards depicting bullfights and tourist at- tractions, which he brought back to Marina.^^^^ She had told him be735
fore he left that she would like Mexican silver bracelets as a souvenir,

and he brought her a silver bracelet inscribed with her name.^^*^

Marina suspected, almost certainly correctly, that the bracelet, of Japanese origin, did not come from Mexico.^^^^ No such jeAvelry is known

to be sold in or around Mexico City, because of a high duty ^^^^ but

the bracelet is of a type commonly sold in 5-and-lO-cent stores in

Dallas.^^^^ Oswald did not buy the Mexican phonograph records

which Marina had requested, despite the notation, "records," which

he had placed in his dictionary.^^^'^

On Monday, September 30, OsAvald began to prepare for his re- turn to the United States. He appeared at the Agencia de Yiages,

Transportes Chihuahuenses,^^^^ and purchased international exchange

orders costing $20.30 for travel on a Transportes del Norte bus from

Mexico City to Laredo and by Greyhound bus directly from Laredo to Dallas. The travel agency made a reservation for him on Transportes del Norte bus No. 332, departing Mexico City at 8 :30 a.m. on

October 2. The seat. No. 12, was reserved in the name of the travel

agency, which recorded the reservation in the name of "H. O. Lee." ^^^^ The employee who made the reservation testified that he probably

wrote the name that way because he was copying from Oswald's tourist

card, which read "Lee, Harvey Oswald." ^^^^ (The manifest for

Transportes Frontera bus No. 340, leaving Mexico City for Monterrey

and Nuevo Laredo at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, October 2, 1963, contains

the name "Oswld" [sic], which apparently was added to the manifest

after the trip; "^* in any event, Oswald did not take bus 340.) ^^^^ On October 1, Oswald paid his hotel bill through that night.^^^® The hotel night watchman remembers helping Oswald obtain a taxicab

at about 6 :30 or 7 on the following morning.^^^^ Transportes del Norte

bus No. 332 left as scheduled at about 8 :30 a.m. : at Monterrey the pas- sengers were shifted to a relief bus, No. 373, scheduled to depart for

Laredo at 10 p.m. that evening.^'^^ Fellow passengers recall that Oswald was pulled off the bus by Mexican officials at the border, because

of some alleged irregularity in his Mexican tourist papers; one pas- senger overheard him mumbling complaints about the Mexican

immigration officials when he returned to the bus.^^^^ They remember

also that Oswald was hurriedly "gulping" down a banana after the bus

reached customs, perhaps because he believed that he could not take

fruit into the United States.^^oo (Marina has testified that her husband

liked bananas and frequently ate them.)^^°^ One of the passengers

testified that Oswald annoyed him by keeping his overhead light on

to read after 10 p.m.^^"^ He may have conversed with an elderly

woman on the bus, but he was not traveling with her.^-°^ At about 1 :35 a.m. on October 3, Oswald crossed the International

Bridge from Nuevo Laredo into Texas.^^^* He traveled from Laredo

to Dallas via San Antonio, on Greyhound bus No. 1265, substantially

following Interstate Route 35 for the entire trip ^^^^ leaving Laredo at 3 a.m. and arriving in Dallas at about 2 :20 p.m. on the same day.^^°^

736
DALLAS

Oswald did not contact his wife immediately when he returned to Dallas. He went to the office of the employment commission, where he

filed an unemployment compensation claim ^2°' and announced that

he was again looking for work.^^^® He spent the night at the YMCA,

where he registered as a serviceman in order to avoid paying the

membership fee.^^°^ On the following day, he applied for a job as a

typesetter trainee at the Padgett Printing Co. He made a favorable

impression on the department foreman, but the plant superintendent

called Jaggars- Chiles- Stovall and decided not to hire Oswald because

of the unfavorable responses which his inquiries produced.^^^^ Later

that day, Oswald telephoned Marina and asked her to have Mrs. Paine

pick him up in Dallas. Marina refused, and he hitchhiked out to the

Paine home,^^^^ where he spent part or all of the weekend.^^^^ Marina

testified that although her husband "changed for the better" and

treated her better after his Mexican trip,^^^^ she did not want to live

with him because she was pregnant and thought it would be better "to be with a woman who spoke English and Russian." ^^^ On Monday, October 7, Mrs. Paine drove OsAvald to the bus station, and he

returned to Dallas to look for a job and a place to live.^^^^ Oswald thought that the YMCA was too expensive for him, and

intended to rent a room.^^^^ He inquired about a room at 1026 North

Beckley, where he lived later, but on October 7 there were no vacancies.^^^^ He next responded to a "For Rent" sign at a rooming house

at 621 Marsalis Street. He obtained a room, for which he paid the

weekly rent of $7 in advance, and moved in on the same day.^^^^ He

immediately resumed his job-hunting, relying partially on referrals

by the employment commission.^^^^ He spent much of the time when

he was not looking for work in his room.^^^^ He telephoned his wife

daily.^^^^ She wrote : "Lee called twice a day, was worried about my

health and about June." ^^^^ On Friday, Oswald told his landlady,

Mrs. Mary Bledsoe, that he was going to Irving for the weekend but

would return the following week. She refused to rent the room to him

for another week because she didn't like him.^^^^

Oswald spent the weekend of October 12-13 at Mrs. Paine's home,

during which time she gave him a driving lesson.^^^* He told her

that he had received the last of the unemployment checks due him,

and that it had been smaller than the previous ones. Mrs. Paine

testified that Oswald was extremely discouraged because his wife was

expecting a baby, he had no job prospects in sight, and he no longer

had any source of income.^^^^

On Monday, Mrs. Paine drove Oswald into Dallas, since she had

other business there.^226 jj^ picked up his bag from Mrs. Bledsoe's

roominghouse ^^^^ and later that day rented a room at 1026 North

Beckley Avenue from Mrs. A. C. Johnson for $8 a week. He registered as O. H. Lee and moved in immediately.^^^^ Oswald felt that

this room was more comfortable than the previous one, particularly

737
because he had television and refrio^erator privileges.^^^^ He apparently continued to spend most of his evenings in his room.^^^*^ He

borrowed books from the library ^^^^ and had subscriptions to various

periodicals, including Time, the Worker, the Militant, and some Russian periodicals.^^^^

On that Monday, Mrs. Paine mentioned the Oswalds' financial and

employment problems to neighbors whom she was visiting. Mrs. Linnie Mae Handle, who was also present, remarked that she thought that

her younger brother, Buell Wesley Frazier, who worked at the Texas

School Book Depository, had said that there was a job opening there.

'\'\'lien Marina heard of this, she asked Mrs. Paine to call the Depository to see if there was an opening.^^^^ Mrs. Paine called Roy S. Truly, superintendent of the Depository, who indicated that he would

talk to Oswald if he would apply in person.^^^* When Oswald

telephoned the Paine house on Monday evening, Mrs. Paine told him

about this possibility.^^^^ On the next day, Oswald was interviewed by

Truly and hired in a temporary capacity. He began work on Wednesday, October 16. His duties were to fill book orders; his hours were

8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., for which he received $1.25 an hour.^^^^ Both the Oswalds were elated with the new job,^^^^ although it ap- parently required little skill or experience ^^^^ and he indicated that he

still hoped to obtain a better job.^^^^ He did a satisfactory job at the

Depository,^2*° but he kept to himself and very few of his fellow employees got to know him.^2*^

During his first week at work, Oswald became acquainted with

Frazier, with whom he arranged to ride to Irving on weekends.^^^^

On Friday, October 18, Frazier drove him from work to the Paine

home ; ^^^^ since it was his birthday, Marina and Ruth Paine had

arranged a small celebration.^^** On Sunday, he stayed with June and

the Paine children, while Mrs. Paine drove Marina to Parkland Hospital where she gave birth to a second daughter, Rachel.^^^^ He went

to work on Monday, but that evening visited Marina in the hospital

and spent the night in Irving.^^*^ Marina wrote

:

Monday evening Lee visited me in the hospital. He was very

happy at the birth of another daughter and even wept a little. He said that two daughters were better for each other—two sis- ters. He stayed with me about two hours.^^*^ Oswald returned to Dallas the next morning.^^*^

Oswald wrote to Arnold Johnson of the Communist Party, U.S.A.,

that on the evening of October 23, he had attended an "ultra right*'

meeting headed by Gen. Edwin A. Walker.^^*^ Two evenings later,

he accompanied Michael Paine to a meeting of the American Civil

Liberties Union, held at Southern Methodist University.^^^^ At this

meeting, a statement was made to the effect that members of the John

Birch Society should not be considered anti-Semitic ; Oswald rose and stated that at the meeting which he had attended 2 days earlier,

he had heard a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic statements. 738
Later in the evening, Oswald became involved in a discussion with sev- eral people, including Frank Krystinik, who was employed with Paine

at the Bell Helicopter plant. During this conversation, Oswald ex- pressed Marxist views and declared that he was a Marxist, although

denying that he was a Communist. He admitted that the United

States was superior to the Soviet Union in the area of civil liberties

and praised President Kennedy for his work in that connection.^^^^

Krystinik testified that he got the impression that Oswald did not fully

understand the views he was expounding.^^^^

Throughout that week Oswald telephoned his wife to inquire about

her health and that of the baby. He spent the w^eekend at the Paine

home, to which Marina and Kachel had returned during the week.^253 On Friday, November 1, he obtained post office box No. 6225 at the Terminal Annex Post Office Station. He indicated that the box

would also be used to receive mail for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union.^254 Qnce again he

spent the weekend in Irving.^^^^

Throughout this period, the FBI had been aware of the whereabouts

of the Oswalds. There was a record in the Dallas office of the FBI that

Oswald subscribed to the Worker, engaged in Fair Play for Cuba

Committee activities and had traveled to Mexico.^^^^ An FBI agent

visited the Paine home on November 1 and, accompanied by another

agent, again on November 5, and spoke briefly with Mrs. Paine. On

neither occasion was Oswald present.^^^^ Kuth Paine noted the agent's

name and telephone number and, in accordance with her husband's in- structions, Marina noted the license number of the agent's automobile,

all of which was subsequenty reported to Oswald.^^^^ Both Mrs.

Paine and Marina testified that Oswald was troubled by the FBI's

interest in him.^^^^ He declared that the FBI was "trying to inhibit"

his activities,^^^^ and wrote the Soviet Embassy in Washington:

The Federal Bureu of Investigation is not now interested

in my activities in the progressive organization "Fair Play for

Cuba Committee" of which I was secretary in New Orleans (state

Louisiana) since I no longer reside in that state. However, the

F.B.I, has visted us here in Dallas, Texas, on November 1st. Agent James P. Hasty warned me that if I engaged in F.P.C.C.

activities in Texas the F.B.I, will again take an "interest" in me. This agent also 'suggested' to Marina Nichilayeva that she

could remain in the United States under F.B.I, 'protection', that is, she could defect from the Soviet Uion, of couse, I and my wife

strongly protested these tactics by the notorious F.B.I. Please inform us of the arrival of our Soviet entrance visa's as soon as they come.^^^^ (See Commission Exhibit 15, p. 311.)

Marina testified that the statements, both by and to the FBI agents,

to which her husband referred in this letter, were in fact never made.^^^^

739
The following Friday, November 8, Oswald as usual drove to the

Paine house with Frazier.^^^^ On Saturday Mrs. Paine took him to the Texas Drivers' License Examining Station, but because it was an

election day the station was closed. Oswald stayed at the Paines

through Monday, November 11, which was Veterans Day. During

the weekend, Mrs. Pame gave Osw^ald a second driving lesson.^^^* Oswald did not go to Irving on the next weekend. His wife had

asked him not to come because Michael Paine, with whom Oswald

did not get along, would be there to celebrate his daughter's birthday.

Also, she felt that because he had stayed for 3 days the preceding

weekend, he would abuse Mrs. Paine's hospitality if he returned

so soon. Oswald telephoned Marina on Saturday afternoon and said

that he had returned to the drivers' license examining station that

morning but had not waited because there was a long line.^^^ On Sunday, November 17, at Marina's request, Euth Paine tele- phoned Oswald at the Beckley Avenue number, which he had given

to Marina. When she asked for him, she was told that no one by

that name lived at the address, which greatly surprised her. On the next day, Oswald telephoned his wife. When she indicated that

she had been upset by the fact that there had been no Lee Oswald at the number which she had asked Mrs. Paine to call, Oswald became

angry ; he said that he was using a fictitious name and that she should

not have called the Beckley Avenue number.^^*^® He did not tele- phone on the following day, which was unusual.^2^'" On the morning of Thursday, November 21, Oswald asked Frazier

to take him to Irving when he went home that evening, saying that

he wanted to pick up some curtain rods.^^^^ His arrival was a sur- prise because he generally asked Mrs. Paine's permission before ar- riving for a visit.^269 ^j^^ women thought that he had come to Irving

because he felt badly about arguing Avith his wife about the use of the

fictitious name.^^^° He said that he was lonely, because he had not come the preceding weekend, and told Marina that he "wanted to make

his peace" with her.^^^^ He spent the time before dinner on the lawn

playing with his daughter.^^'^ However, when he attempted to talk

to his wife she would not answer, which upset him. He asked her to

live with him in Dallas, and she refused.^^'^ After supper, Oswald

watched television Avhile the women cleaned the house and prepared

their children for bed.^^'* He retired early in the evening at about 9.^"^

740
APPENDIX XIV

Analysis of Lee Harvey Oswald's Finances

From June 13, 1962,

Through November 22, 1963

The following analysis of Lee Harvey Oswald's receipts and ex- penditures for the period June 13, 1962, through November 22, 1963,

contains a complete record of all funds that he and his wife are re- ported to have received and disbursed from all known sources. It also

contains an estimate for food, clothing, and incidental expenses, which

include telephone calls, money order and check cashing fees, postage,

local transportation costs, personal care goods and services, local newspapers, and similar small items. Oswald's expenditures for food, clothing, and incidentals were estimated at $100 per month, except for those

months in which his wife and children resided with relatives or

acquaintances. The estimate reflects Oswald's frugal living habits

during this period, as described in chapter VI of this report. The

Commission has been advised by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of

the U.S. Department of Labor that this estimate is a little higher than

would be normal for a family in Oswald's income class residing in the

southern region of the United States. (See Commission Exhibit

No. 1169.) Lee Harvey Oswald Receipts and Expenditures June 13, 1962, to Nov. 22, 1963

Expendi- June 1962: Receipts tures Balance On hand on arrival, New York City ^ $63. 00

Received from Robert Oswald^ 200.00

Received from Marguerite Oswald ^ 10. 00

Transportation in New York City * $10. 85 Plane fare, New York City to Dallas, including

luggage" 201.04

Hotel bill. New York City " 15. 21 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses' 5.00

Public stenographer * 10. 00 Estimated repayment, Robert Oswald " 30.00

Total 273. 00 271. 60 Cash on hand, June 30, 1962 $1. 40

July 1962

:

Net salary" 46.82 Estimated repayment, Robert Oswald" 10. 00

Subscription for Time magazine ^^ 3.87

Total 46.82 13.87 Cash on hand, July 31, 1962 34. 35 741
ExpendiAugnst 1962

:

Receipts tures Balance Net salary " $207. 31 Repayment, State Department loan '* $10.00

Estimated repayment, Robert Oswald'" HO. 00 Rent and utilities'" 71. .lO Subscription for the Worker'' 2.00 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses'^ 75.00

Total 207.31 208. oO Cash on hand, Aug. 31, 1962 $.33. IG

September 1962

:

Net salary '' 187. 59 Received from Paul Gregory "" 35. 00 Rent and utilities '^ 71.50 Repayment, State Department loan ^" 9. 71 Estimated repayment, Robert Oswald -' 50. 00

Subscription for the Russian humor magazine

"Krokodil"'* 2.20 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses 100. 00

Total 222.59 233.41 Cash on hand, Sept. 30, 1962 22. 34

October 1962

:

Net salary '" 228. 22 Received from George Bouhe "" 5. 00 Repayment, State Department loan -' 10. 00

Rent, room in YMCA '' 9. 00 Post office box rental -^ 4. 50 Estimated repayment, Robert Oswald ''' 60. 00 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses ^^ 50.00

Total 233.22 133.50 Cash on hand, Oct. 31, 1962 122. 06

November 1962 •. Net salary ^- 315. 71 Rent'' 73.00 Rental of U-Haul Trailer '* 5. 00 Repayment, State Department loan ^ 10. 00 Bus fare, Dallas to Fort Worth and return '°__ 4. 60 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses'^ 50.00

Total 315.71 142.60 Cash on hand, Nov. 30, 1962 295. 17 742
ExpendiDecember 1962

Receipts tures Balance Net salary ^ $243. 13 Rent'' $68.00

Post office box rental*" 4.50 Repayment, State Department loan *^ 190.00

Subscription for the Militant'' 1.00 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses -. 100. 00

Total 243.13 363.50 Cash on hand, Dec. 31, 1962 $174. 80

January 1963

:

Net salary'^ 247. 12 Rent and utilities ^ 75. 13 Repayment, State Department loan ^^ 206. 00

Deposit, Smith & Wesson revolver *^ 10. 00 Fee paid Crozier Tech High School *' 9. 00

Subscription for Ogonek, Agitator, Sovetskaya

Belorussiya *' 13.20 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses 100. 00

Total 247.12 413.33 Cash on hand, Jan. 31, 1963 8. 59

February 1963.: Net salary *^ 256. 95 Rent and utilities ^ 71.64

Subscription for the Worker ^^ 7.00 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses 100. 00

Total 256.95 178.64 Cash on hand, Feb. 28, 1963 86. 90

March 1963

:

Net salary ^= 327.55 Rent and utilities ^ 78.76

Post office box rental"* 4. 50

Cost of rifle ^ 21.45

Subscription for Time magazine ^® 3. 82 Balance due on revolver and freight charge " 21. 22 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses 100. 00

Total 327.55 229.75 Cash on hand, Mar. 31, 1963 184. 70 743
EwpendiApril 1963

:

Receipts tures Balance Net salary ^ $108. 86 Income Tax refund'' 57.40 Rent and utilities "^ $62.97

Bus fare from Dallas to New Orleans ^ 13. 85 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses ^

100. 00 Total 166.26 176.82 Cash on hand, Apr. 30, 1963 $174. 14 May 1963: Net salary'' 107.44 Unemployment compensation check ^ 33.00 Rent and utilities '' 75.00

Subscription for the Militant ^ 1.00 Dues and printing—Fair Play for Cuba " 9. 00 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses'* 100.00

Total 140.44 185.00 Cash on hand, May 31, 1963 129. 58 June 1963

:

Net salary '" 216. 00 Rent and utilities '" 67.85 Post office box rental '' 4. 00 Printing—Fair Play for Cuba " 15. 23 New alien registration card ^^ 5.00 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses 100.00

Total 216.00 192.08 Cash on hand, June 30, 1963 153. 50 July 1963

:

Net salary '* 224. 97 Rent and utilities '' 72.22 Printing—Fair Play for Cuba '^ 3. 50 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses 100, 00 Total 224.97 175.72 Cash on hand, July 31, 1963 202. 75 August 1963

:

Unemployment compensation payments " 165. 00 Rent and utilities ^^ 73.54

Fine'' 10.00

Distribution, Fair Play for Cuba circulars ^°— 2. 00 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses 100.00

Total 165.00 185.54 Cash on hand, Aug. 31, 1963 182. 21 744
ExpendiSept. 1-24, 1963 : Receipts tures Balance Unemployment compensation payments *^ $132. 00 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses «' $100. 00

Total 132.00 100.00 Cash on hand, Sept. 24, 1963 ^$214.21

Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 1963

:

Mexican trip

:

Estimated transportation cost " 50. 55 Hotel plus estimated food cost *^ 18. 70 Estimated cost of entertainment and mis- cellaneous items ^

15. 20

Total 84.45 Cash on hand, Oct. 2, 1963 '' 129. 76

Oct. 3-31, 1963

:

Unemployment compensation payments *^ 39. 00 Net salary '^ 104. 41

Rent, rooms and YMCA^___ 33.25 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses^ 75.00

Total 143.41 108.25 Cash on hand, Oct. 31, 1963 164. 92

Nov. 1-22, 1963

:

Net salary '' 104. 41 Room rent '^ 24.00

Post office box rental '* 3. 00 American Civil Liberties Union dues ^ 2. 00 Bus and taxi fares Nov. 22, 1963 '" 1. 23 Estimated cost of food, clothing, and incidental expenses ^^ 75.00

Total 104.41 105.23 Cash on hand, Nov. 22, 1963 164. 10 Grand total, June 13, 1962-Nov. 22, 1963 3, 665. 89 3, 501. 79 164. 10

Contents of Oswald's wallet 170. 00 Cash taken from Oswald when arrested 13. 87 Total "" 183. 87

745

730-900 0-64—49
APPENDIX XV

Transactions Between Lee Harvey Oswald and Marina

Oswald, and the U.S. Department of State and

the Immigration and Naturalization Service

of the U.S. Department of Justice

From September 4, 1959, when he applied for his first passport,

until shortly before the assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald had numerous dealings with the U.S. Department of State in Washington and

with the American Embassy in Moscow. In connection with Marina

OsAvald's entry into the United States, the dealings also extended to the

Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice.

During the course of these dealings, the Department of State and the

Immigration and Naturalization Service were called upon to decide a

series of legal and administrative questions which arose under the laws

of this country. In order to determine whether Lee Harvey Oswald

or his wife received any treatment not accorded others in similar positions, the Commission has examined the manner in which the trans- actions with the Oswalds were handled and the manner in which the

relevant legal questions were resolved. In light of the facts then available and the applicable statutes, regulations, and practices in force at the time, the Commission has found no indication that the treatment

accorded the Oswalds was illegal or different in any respect from the

treatment that other persons similarly situated would have received.

ISSUANCE OF PASSPORT IN 1959

On September 4, 1959, while on active duty with the U.S. Marine

Corps, Oswald applied for a passport before a clerk of the superior court at Santa Ana, Calif.^ On the application Oswald stated that he

intended to leave the United States for 4 months on approximately

September 21, 1959, by ship from New Orleans, La., and that the purposes of his trip would be to attend the Albert Schweitzer College in

Switzerland ^ and the University of Turku in Finland, and to visit Cuba, the Dominican Republic, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Finland and Russia as a tourist. With the application, Oswald

submitted a statement signed by a Marine officer that he was to be

discharged from the Corps on September 11, 1959.^ The passport.

No. 1733242, was routinely issued on September 10, 1959.* At the

time, the United States proscribed travel to none of the countries

named in Oswald's application.

746
OSWALD'S ATTEMPTS TO RENOUNCE HIS U.S.

CITIZENSHIP

American officials in Moscow had no knowledge that Oswald was in

Russia until October 31, 1959/'^ more than 2 weeks after he had arrived,

since he failed to register at the U.S. Embassy, as Americans traveling

through Russia normally did.® However, on October 31, 1959, a Saturday, Oswald presented himself at the American Embassy in

Moscow.^ He placed his passport on the receptionist's desk and in- formed her that he had come to "dissolve his American citizenship." ^ She immediately summoned the consul, Richard E. Snyder, who in- vited Oswald into his office.^ In the room with Snyder was his

assistant, John A. McVickar, who observed what ensued.^° Snyder

recalled Oswald as "neatly and very presentably dressed," ^^ but he

also remembered his arrogance. Oswald seemed to "know what his

mission was. He took charge, in a sense, of the conversation right

from the beginning." ^^ Oswald stated at once that he was there to renounce his citizenship ^^ and that "his allegiance was to the Soviet Union." " He said he had

already applied for Soviet citizenship.^^ He said he knew the provisions of American law on loss of citizenship and did not want to hear

them reviewed by Snyder.^® Having taken his passport back from

the receptionist, Oswald put it on Snyder's desk.^^ Snyder noticed that

Oswald had inked out the portion which would have shown his address

in the United States.^^ Oswald also presented Snyder with a note ^^ which he had prepared in advance, which reads

:

I Lee Harey Oswald do herby request that my present citizen- ship in the United States of america, be revoked.

I have entered the Soviet Union for the express purpose of

appling for citizenship in the Soviet Union, through the means

of naturalization.

My request for citizenship is now pending before Suprem Soviet

of the U.S.S.R.

I take these steps for political reasons. My request for the

revoking of my American citizenship is made only after the

longest and most serious considerations. I affirm that my allegiance is to the Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics.20

Oswald told Snyder that he had not mentioned his intent to remain

in the Soviet Union to the Soviet Embassy in Helsinki at the time

he had applied for his tourist visa.^^ Oswald's passport, upon which

his Soviet visa was stamped, shows that by the 31st of October he had

already overstayed his visa, despite a 1-day extension which he had

received.^^

Oswald gave as his "principal reason" for wanting to renounce

his citizenship, "I am a Marxist." ^^ He stated that he admired the

system and policies of the Soviet Union and desired to serve the Soviet

74T
State, and that his intent to defect to the So^det Union had been formed

long before he was discharged from the Marine Corps.^^ Shortly

after the interview, Snyder observed that Oswald had "displayed all the airs of a new sophomore partyliner.'' ^^ At one point, Oswald

alluded to hardships endured by his mother as a "worker'' and said

he did not intend to let this happen to him.^^ He stated that his Marine

service in Okinawa and elsewhere had given him a chance "to obser^^e American imperialism," and he displayed some resentment at not having been given a higher rank in the Marine Corps.^^ Oswald

stated to Snyder that he had voluntarily told Soviet officials that he

would make known to them all information concerning the Marine

Corps and his specialty therein, radar operation, as he possessed.^^

Snyder did not permit Oswald to renounce his citizenship at that

time. He told Oswald that his renunciation could not be effected on a Saturday, but that if he would return on a day when the Embassy was

open for business, the transaction could then be completed.^^ Snyder

testified that his real reason for delaying Oswald was that he believed,

as a matter of sound professional practice, that no one should be per- mitted to renounce his American citizenship precipitously; such an

act has extremely serious consequences, and, once accomplished, it is irrevocable.^^ Snyder noticed that Oswald was young, apparently

not well educated and obviously in a highly emotional state.^^ Snyder

testified : "particularly in the case of a minor, I could not imagine myself writing out the renunciation form, and having him sign it, on the

spot, without making him leave my office and come back at some other

time, even if it is only a few hours intervening.'' ^^ Snyder's decision was also influenced by his familiarity with a recent unfavorable inci- dent in which an American citizen by the name of Petrulli had been

allowed to renounce his citizenship hastily, without awareness that

Petrulli was mentally ill at the time.^^ Snyder was able to persuade

Oswald to tell him his home address and the name of his mother,

however, by saying that no progress on his renunciatiton could be made

without this information.^ The State Department has advised that

Snyder's treatment of Oswald "was in line * * * with the general

policy of the Department to discourage expatriation of American

citizens." ^^ The same day, the Embassy sent a telegram to the Department of

State, advising that Oswald had appeared there in an attempt to renounce his American citizenship, and setting out most of the details

of the intei-view with Snyder.^^ Copies were immediately furnished

to the FBI 3^ and the CIA.^^ The telegram was followed on Xovember 2, 1959, by an Embassy report addresed to the Department

of State,^^ which concluded

:

* * * in view of the Petrulli case and other considerations, the

Embassy proposes to delay action on Oswald's request to execute an oath of renunciation to the extent dictated by developments

and subject to the Department's advice.*°

T48
Copies of this memorandum were also furnished both Federal security

agencies.^^

After having received the telegram of October 31, 1959,^^ but not

the Embassy Despatch of November 2, 1959, the State Department on November 2, 1959, sent a telegram to the Moscow Embassy which read

in part

:

If Oswald insists on renouncing U.S. citizenship. Section 1999

Revised Statutes precludes Embassy withholding right to do so regardless status his application pending Soviet Government and

final action taken Petrulli case.^^ This telegram, like most of the communications from the Department

regarding Oswald, was prepared in the Passport Office and cleared by

the Office of Eastern European Affairs and the Office of Soviet Union

Affairs.**

Oswald never returned to the Embassy.*'^ On November 6, 1959,

the Embassy received *^ a handwritten letter from Oswald on the

stationery of the Metropole Hotel, dated November 3, 1959, which

read

I, Lee Plarvey Oswald, do hereby request that my present

United States citizenship be revoked.

I appeered in person, at the consulate office of the United

States Embassy, Moscow, on Oct. 31st, for the purpose of signing

the formal papers to this effect. This legal right I was refused

at that time. I wish to protest against this action, and against the conduct

of the official of the United States consular service who acted on behalf of the United States government.

My application, requesting that I be considered for citizenship

in the Soviet Union is now pending before the Surprem Soviet

of the U.S.S.R. . In the event of acceptance, I will request my

government to lodge a formal protest regarding this incident.*- The Embassy immediately informed the Department of the receipt

of this letter and advised that it intended to reply to Oswald by letter telling him that, if he wished, he could appear at the Embassy on any normal business day and request that the necessary expatriation

documents be prepared.*^ On the same day, November 6, the Embassy

sent Oswald a letter so advising him.*^ From then until November 30

the Embassy attempted to communicate with Oswald on several occasions to deliver messages from his relatives in the United States urging

him to reconsider, but he refused to receive the messages or talk to anyone from the Embassy.^° The messages were therefore sent to him by registered mail.^^

On November 16, 1959, Priscilla Johnson, an American newspaperwoman stationed in Moscow, interviewed Oswald at the Metropole

749
Hotel. ^2 On November 17, 1959, she informed the Embassy of her

interview, and the information was recorded in a file memorandum.^^ Oswald told Miss Johnson that he was scheduled to leave Moscow

within a few days. She thought that Oswald "may have purposely

not carried through his original intent to renounce [citizenship] in

order to leave a crack open.'' ^^ The Embassy accordingly informed

the Department of State about 2 weeks later that Oswald had

departed from the Hotel Metropole within the last few days.^^ According to his "Historic Diary" ^^ and other records available to the

Commission,^^ however, Oswald probably did not in fact leave

Moscow for Minsk until about January 4, 1960. Miss Johnson's

report of her interview with Oswald Avas the last information about

him which the U.S. Government was to receive until February 13,

1961.^

On March 6, 1960, Oswald's mother asked Kepresentative James C.

Wright, Jr., of Texas to help her locate her son. The Congressman

forwarded her inquiry to the Department of State, which in turn

sent it to the Embassy.^^ In response, the Embassy in Moscow in- formed the Department on March 28, 1960, that they had had no contact with Oswald since November 9, 1959.^^ The Embassy went on

to say that it had no evidence that Oswald had expatriated himself

"other than his annoimced intention to do so."' It believed, therefore,

that since Oswald was presumably still an American citizen, the

American Government could properly make inquiry concerning him

through a note to the Soviet Foreign Office. The Embassy went on

to suggest, however, that it would be preferable if Oswald's mother

wrote a letter to her son which could then be forwarded by the

Department to the Soviet Govemment.^^

The Department replied on May 10, I960, that no action should be

taken in the case other than on a request voluntarily submitted by a member of Oswald's family.^^ On June 22, a second communication

was dispatched, asking whether the Embassy had been able to contact Oswald.^^ On July 6, 1960, the Embassy replied that it had received no further commmiication with anyone on the subject of Oswald and

that in view of the Department's memorandum of May 10, 1960, it intended to take no further action in the matter.*^^ Mrs. Oswald apparently took no steps to f,olloAv up on her original inquiry.

Under the procedures in effect in 1960, a "refusal sheet'' was pre- pared in the Department of State Passport Office whenever circumstances created the possibility that a prospective applicant would not

be entitled to receive an American passport.^^ The records section of

the Passport Office, on the basis of the refusal sheet, w,ould prepare

what was knoAvn as a lookout card ^^ and file it in the lookout file in

the Passport Office. Whenever anyone applied for a passport from

any city in the world, his application was immediately forwarded to

this office, and his name and date of birth checked against the lookout

file.^^ If a lookout card was found, appropriate action, including the

possible refusal of a passport, was taken.^^ Passport Office procedures

750
also provided that the lookout card would be removed from a prospective applicant's file whenever facts Avarranted an unquestioned pass- port grant.®^

On March 25, 1960, the Passport Office had made up a "refusal

sheet" on Lee Harvey Oswald, typed across which was the explanation

that Oswald "may have been naturalized in the Soviet Union or otherwise * * * expatriated himself." "° An Operations Memorandum stating the reasons for which the card had been prepared was drawn up on March 28 and also put on file "^ and a copy sent to the

Embassy. It advised the Embassy to take no further action on the

Oswald case unless it came into possession of evidence upon which to base the preparation of a certificate of loss of nationality. Included

in the operations memorandum was the folloAving

:

An appropriate notice has been placed in the lookout card

section of the Passport Office in the event that Mr. Oswald should

apply for documentation at a post outside the Soviet Union.'^^

Despite these indications that a lookout card was prepared, the Department of State on May 18, 1964, informed the Commission that "investigations, to date, failed to reveal any other indication or evidence

that a lookout card was eA^er prepared, modified or removed." No

such card Avas eyer located, and certain file entries indicate that such

a card was never prepared.^^

The State Department has adAdsed the Commission that as of October 1959 the Department had "developed information Avhich might

reasonably have caused it to prepare * * * a lookout card for Lee

Harvey Oswald." ^* The Passport Office employee Avho prepared the

refusal sheet for OsAvald has suggested as a possible explanation of

the failure to prepare a lookout card that between the day she prepared

the refusal sheet and the time the records section would normally

have prepared the lookout card, Oswald's file Avas temporarily pulled

from its place because the Department received some additional corre- spondence from the Embassy. When the file Avas returned, she suggested, it may have been assumed that the card had already been

prepared.^^

Had a lookout card been prepared on the ground of possible ex- patriation, it Avould have been removed and destroyed after the decision was made in 1961 that OsAvald had not expatriated himself and

thus prior to the time that he applied for a second passport in June

1963. Hence, the Department's apparent failure to prepare a lookout

card on Oswald had no effect on its future actions. As of February 20, 1964, the Department issued additional regulations regarding

the manner in Avhich the lookout file is to be handled.^® On INIarch 14,

1964, a category Avas established for returned defectors, so that these

persons automatically have lookout cards in their files, and on July 27,

1964, the Office of Security of the Department of State issued a procedural study of the lookout-card system, Avith recommendations."^^

751
RETURN AND RENEWAL OF OSWALD'S 1959 PASSPORT

Negotiations Between Oswald and the Embassy

On February 1, 1961, as a result of a visit by Oswald's mother to the Department of State on January 25, 1961,^^ the Department sent a request to the Moscow Embassy as follows

:

The Embassy is requested to inform the [Soviet] Ministry of

Foreign Affairs that Mr. Oswald's mother is worried as to his

present safety, and is anxious to hear from him.^^

The inquiry went to the Embassy by diplomatic pouch and was re- ceived in Moscow on February 10 or 11.^*^ On February 13, before

the Embassy had acted on the Department's request,®^ the Embassy

received an undated letter from Oswald postmarked Minsk, February 5. The letter stated

:

Since I have not received a reply to my letter of December

1960, I am writing again asking that you consider my request

for the return of my American passport.

I desire to return to the United States, that is if we could come

to some agreement concerning the dropping of any legal proceedings against me. If so, than I would be free to ask the Russian

authorities to allow me to leave. If I could show them my American passport, I am of the opinion they would give me an exit

visa. They have at no time insisted that I take Russian citizenship. I am living here with non-permanent type papers for a foreigner. I cannot leave Minsk without permission, therefore I am writing rather than calling in person. I hope that in recalling the responsibility I have to america

that you remember your's in doing everything you can to help

me since I am an american citizen.^^ Despite Oswald's reference to his letter of December 1960, there is no indication that he had written to the Embassy previously.^^ Furthermore, his diary^ refers to his February 1 letter as his "first request"

concerning his return to the United States.** On February 28, 1961, the Embassy wrote Oswald that he would

have to come to Moscow to discuss the passport and expatriation

matters.*^ Then on March 20, 1961, a second letter from Oswald,

dated March 12, was received by the Embassy. It read

:

In reply to your recent letter. I find it inconvenient to come

to Moscow, for the sole purpose of an interview.

In my last letter I believe I stated that I cannot leave the city

of Minsk without permission.

752
I believe there exist in the United States also a law in regards

to resident foreigners from Socialist countries, traveling between

cities. I do not think it would be appropriate for me to request to leave

Minsk in order to visit the American Embassy. In any event,

the granting of permission is a long drawn out affair, and I find

that there is a hesitation on the part of local officials to even

start the process. I have no intention of abusing my position here, and I am sure you would not want me to. I see no reasons for any preliminary inquires not to be put in

the form of a questionnaire and sent to me.

I understand that personal interviews undobtedly make to work of the Embassy staff lighter, than written correspondence,

however, in some cases other means must be employed.^^

After receiving the first letter postmarked February 5, the Embassy on February 28 forwarded a despatch to the Department in- forming it of Oswald's letter and its reply to Oswald. At that time,

the Embassy also inquired of the Department whether Oswald would

be subject to prosecution on any grounds if he should return to the

United States and, if so, whether Oswald should be so informed. The

Department was also asked Avhether there was any objection to return- ing Oswald's 1959 passport to him by mail, since that might facilitate

his application for a Soviet exit visa.^^ Upon receiving Oswald's

March 20 letter, the Embassy again consulted with Washington. The

Embassy proposed that it write Oswald repeating that he must come

to Moscow if he wanted to discuss reentering the United States and

pointing out that the Soviet government did not object to such visits by American citizens.^^ Such a letter was mailed to Oswald on March 24.«» In the meantime, the State Department was considering the Embassy despatch of February 28, 1961.^° Although a different response was originally recommended by a staff member in the Passport Office,^^

the Department instructed the Embassy on April 13 that for security reasons Oswald's passport should be given to him only if he personally

appeared at the Embassy and that even then he was to receive the document only after a full investigation had been made and the Embassy

vv^as satisfied that he had not renounced his American citizenship.

Also, he was to present evidence that he had made arrangements to depart from the Soviet Union to travel to the United States, and his

passport was to be stamped valid for direct return to the United States

only. The Department also told the Embassy that Oswald could not

be advised whether or not he would be prosecuted for any possible of- fenses should he return to the United States.^^ Matters remained in

this posture for over a month. During the interim, Oswald met and

married Marina Nikolaevna Prusakova.^^

On May 26, 1961, the Embassy sent a despatch to the Department ^^ advising that on May 25, 1961, it had received a letter from Oswald

753
postmarked Moscow, May 16, 1961.^'' In his latest letter Oswald said

lie wanted "to make it clear" that he was asking for full guarantees

that he would not be prosecuted "under any circumstances" should he

return to the United States. Oswald went on to say that if the Embassy could not give him these assurances, he would "endeavor to use

3ny relatives in the United States, to see about getting something done

in Washington." He also informed the Embassy that he was married

to a Russian woman Avho would want to accompany him back to his

native country, and he once again repeated his reluctance to come to Moscow. The Embassy suggested that it reply to Oswald by repeating

that the question of citizenship could only be made on the basis of a personal interview, and by advising Oswald of the requirements and

procedures pertaining to his wife's immigration. The despatch noted

that Oswald's letter referred to his present Soviet internal passport in which he claimed to be designated as "without citizenship," and observed: "It would appear on this basis that Oswald has not yet ex- patriated himself under Section 349(a)(1) of the Immigration and

Nationality Act." The Embassy inquired whether the Department

considered Oswald entitled "to the protection of the United States Government while he continues to reside abroad under present circumstances in the absence of reasonable evidence that he has committed an

expatriating act?"

The Department answered the despatch under date of July 11, 1961.

It said that it was not entirely clear what the description "without

citizenship" means, i.e., "whether he is without Soviet citizenship or without any citizenship." The instructions continued

:

In any event in the absence of evidence showing that Mr. Oswald has definitely lost United States citizenship he apparently

maintains that technical status. Whether he is entitled to the

protection of the United States pending any further developments

concerning his precise status is a matter which will be left to the Embassy's discretion in the event an emergency situation

should arise. In a situation of this kind, not of an emergency

nature, the facts should be submitted to the Department.

It is noted that the Embassy intends to seek the Department's

prior advice before granting Mr. Oswald documentation as a United States citizen upon any application he may submit.

The Embassy's careful attention to the involved case of Mr.

Oswald is appreciated * * * ^^ However, on Saturday, July 8, 1961, before the Embassy had re- ceived the response from Washington, Oswald appeared without

warning at the Embassy in Moscow. Snyder came down to meet Oswald after Oswald called him on the house telephone, and after a brief

talk, asked Oswald to return on Monday, July 10.^" Later that day

Oswald telephoned his wife and told her to come to Moscow, Avhich she

did the next day.^^ Oswald returned alone to the American Embassy

on Monday, where Snyder questioned him about his life in Russia.

754
According to a memorandum which Snyder prepared shortly after- wards :Twenty months of the realities of life in the Soviet Union haA^e clearly had a maturing effect on Oswald. He stated frankly that

he learned a hard lesson the hard way and that he had been

completely relieved about his illusions about the Soviet

Union * * * Much of the arrogance and bravado which characterized him on his first visit to the Embassy appears to have left him.99

Oswald told Snyder that despite the statement he had given him in

October 1959, he had never applied for Soviet citizenship, but only

for permission to reside in the Soviet Union. He presented his Soviet

internal passport, which described him as without citizenship of

any kind. Oswald said that he had been employed since January 13,

1960, as a metal worker in the research shop in the Byelorussian Eadio

and Television Factory in Minsk. He claimed that he had taken no

oath of allegiance of any kind, and that he had not been required to sign any papers in connection with this employment. He added that

he was not a member of the factory trade union organization. Oswald said that he was earning 90 rubles ($90) a month and that

he had saved about 200 rubles ($200) toward travel expenses to the

United States. He denied that he had made any derogatory state- ments concerning the United States to radio, press, or TV in the

Soviet Union, and he denied that he had turned over any information

to the Russians as he had threatened to do in the 1959 interview with

Snyder.i«« . During the course of the interview Oswald filled out an application

for renewal of his American passport.^*^^ The renewal application w^as required since Oswald's existing passport Avould expire on September 10, 1961,^^2 and it was extremely unlikely that he would be able to obtain the requisite Soviet departure documents before that time. The

renewal application contained a printed statement which set forth, in

the disjunctive, a series of acts which, if committed by the applicant,

would either automatically disqualify him from receiving a passport on the ground that he had lost his American citizenship, or would raise a question whether he might be so disqualified. The printed statement was preceded by two phrases, "have," and, "have not,'' the first phrase

being printed directly above the second. One carbon copy of the application indicates Oswald signed the document after the second

phrase, "have not," had been typed over, thereby apparently admitting

that he had committed one or more of the acts which would at least raise a question as to Avhether he had expatriated himself. Snyder was not able to remember wdth certainty to which of the acts listed on

the statement Oswald's mark was intended to refer, but believed it may have been to "swearing allegiance to a foreign state." ^°^ He

points out that the strikeout of "have not" may also have been a clerical

error.^°* On the actual signed copy of the application kept in the

755
files of the Moscow Embassy, which is not a carbon copy of the copy

sent to the Department, the strikeout is slightly above the "have;"

therefore, since the "have" is itself printed above the "have not," the

strikeout may have been intended to obliterate the "have." ^°^ In any event, Oswald filled out the supplementary questionnaire

which was required to be completed if the applicant admitted he had

performed one or more of the possibly expatriating acts. He signed

the questionnaire under oath.^°^ Snyder testified that it was routine

for any kind of "problem case" to fill out the supplementary questionnaire. ^^^ The Passport Office employee who processed the Oswald

case in Washington testified that she routinely regarded the ques- tionnaire rather than the application itself as the controlling document for expatriation purposes, so that she probably paid no attention to the strikeout.^^®

The pertinent questions included on the questionnaire, with Oswald's

answers, read as follows

:

2. (a) Are you known or considered in your community to be a national of the coimtry in which you are residing? No.

(Yes or No)

(b) If your answer to 2(a) is "No," explain why not. On my document for residence in the USSR my nationality is American.

3. (a) Have you ever sought or obtained registration as a national

of a foreign comitry, applied for or obtained a passport,

certificate, card document or other benefit therefrom in

which you were described as a national of a country other

than the United States? No. (Yes or No)

(b) If your answer to 3(a) is "Yes," did you voluntarily seek or claim such benefits? (Yes or No) If "No," please

explain.

/ recived a document for residence in the USSR hut I am

described as heingr '^Without citizenship.''^

4. (a) Have you ever informed any local or national official of a foreign state that you are a national of the United States?

yyr _ * * * (b) If your answer to 4(a) is "No," explain why not. On my

document for residence in the USSR, my nationality is American.

6. (a) Have you ever taken an oath or made an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state? No. * * *

8. Have you ever accepted, served in, or performed the duties

of any office, post or employment under the government pf

a foreign state or political subdivision thereof ? No. * *

* / do not regard factory employment as state employment.,

a^ is meant in the question ahove}^^

756
On the basis of these answers, and on the basis of the statements

Oswald made orally during the interview, Snyder concluded that

Oswald had not lost his citizenship. Snyder therefore handed him

back his passport. Pursuant to the instructions from Washington, it was stamped, "This passport is valid only for direct travel to the

United States." "« In a despatch dated July 11, 1961,^" the Embassy informed the

Department of State of its conclusion that Oswald had not lost his

American citizenship and requested that, if Washington agreed with

the conclusion, "the Embassy be authorized to renew Oswald's passport

at its discretion." The despatch, with which Oswald^s application

and supplemental questionnaire ^^^ were enclosed, informed the Department that Oswald was questioned at length at the Embassy and

that no evidence was revealed of any act which might be considered

as having caused the loss of his American citizenship.

The Embassy added in the despatch

It is our intention not to renew it [the passport] without the

Department's prior approval of the enclosed renewal application,

and then only upon evidence of a present need for the renewal in

connection with his efforts to return to the United States.^^^ Oswald appeared at the Embassy once again on July 11, 1961, this

time accompanied by Marina, in order to complete the papers neces- sary to obtain permission for his wife to enter the United States.^^* In a letter dated July 16, 1961, Oswald informed the American

Embassy about his and Marina's application to the Soviet officials for

permission to leave Russia, and described the harassment which

Marina was allegedly undergoing because of her attempts to leave

the country.^^^

Based upon Snyder's recommendation and the information in its

tiles, the Passport Office on August 18, 1961, concluded that Oswald

had not expatriated himself.^^^ Therefore, on that date, the Department of State sent a despatch to the Embassy in Moscow stating that

they concurred in the Embassy's recommendation of July 11, 1961,

with respect to Oswald's citizenship

:

We concur in the conclusion of the Embassy that there is available no information and/or evidence to show that Mr. Oswald has

expatriated himself under the pertinent laws of the United States. The renewal of Mr. Oswald's passport, issued on September 10,

1959, is authorized upon his referenced application if no adverse

reason is known, to take place upon his presentation of evidence

that he needs such renewal in connection with his efforts to return to the United States as indicated in the final sentence on

page 2 of Despatch 29. As requested in the final paragraph of

the Despatch the Embassy may perform this citizenship function

for Mr. Oswald at its discretion.

757
Any passport renewal granted to Mr. Oswald should be

limited to his passport needs and, as stated in the second paragraph of the Department's A-173, April 13, 19G1 his passpoit

should be made valid for direct return to the United States. The

additional precaution set forth in the same paragraph should be

obsen^ed and his passport should be delivered to him on a per- sonal basis only. "When available, a report of his travel data

should be submitted, as well as a report of any inten^ening

developments.^^^

On October 12, 1961, the Embassy wrote the Department to inform

it of four letters it had received from Oswald dated July 15, August 8, and October 4, and an undated letter received in August. With ref- erence to these letters, the despatch noted :

* * * that Oswald is having difficulty in obtaining exit visas for

himself and his Soviet wife, and that they are subject to increasing

harassment in Minsk. In replying to Oswald's latest letter, the

Embassy pointed out that it has no way of influencing Soviet

action on exit visas. It informed him that the question of his

passport renewal could be discussed with him personally at the

Embassy. In answer to Oswald's question, the Embassy notified

him that the petition to classify his wife's status had not yet

been approved.^^^

The Department on December 28, 1961, informed the Embassy that

the Passport Office approved the manner of the Embassy's reply to Mr. Oswald with respect "to his receiving further passport facilities." "^ After a further exchange of correspondence between Oswald and the Embassy, dealing primarily with Oswald's difficulties in obtaining the necessary Soviet clearance, his impatience in receiving

American approval for Marina's entry into the United States, and

his efforts to obtain a repatriation loan,^^^ the passport problem was

finally concluded on May 24, 1962, when the Embassy renewed Oswald's passport for 30 days, stamped it valid for direct return to the

United States only and handed it to him.^^^ A week later he used it to return to the United States.^22 The decision that Oswald was entitled to a new passport because

he had not expatriated himself was made for the Embassy by the consul, Richard E. Snyder.^-^ For the Department it was made initially

by Miss Bernice L. Waterman, a worker in the Passport Office for 36

years, and was then approved by her area chief, by the head of the

Foreign Operations Division, and by the Legal Division of the Pass- port Office.^24 Snycler and Miss Waterman have both testified that

they reached their decisions independently and without influence from

any other person. ^-^ The Director of the Passport Office and the Legal

Aclviser to the State Department both stated that after a re^dew of the

record they concluded that Oswald had not expatriated himself and

that Snyder and Waterman, therefore, acted correctly .^^^ 758
Legal Justification for the Return and Reissue of Oswald's Passport

Since he was bom in the United States, Oswald was an American

citizen.^2^ However, Congress has provided that by performing cer- tain acts, a person may forfeit his American citizenship. Thus

Oswald would have become expatriated Avhile in Russia if he obtained

naturalization in the Soviet Union, renounced U.S. nationality, took an oath of allegiance to the Soviet Union, or voluntarily worked for

the Soviet Government in a post requiring that the employee take an oath of allegiance.

Naturalization In a foreign state.—Section 349(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 provides that a U.S. citizen

shall lose his nationality by "obtaining naturalization in a foreign

state upon his own application * * *." ^^s Although Oswald applied

for Soviet citizenship, he never received it.^^^ Thus, Oswald did not

expatriate himself under section 349(a) (1).

Formal renunciation of U.S. nationality.—Section 349(a) (6) of the

act provides that a U.S. citizen shall lose his citizenship by

:

* * * making a formal renunciation of nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign state, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State.^^*^ In accordance with this statute, the Secretary has promulgated regulations prescribing the manner in which renunciation is to be ef- fected."^ The regulations provide, among other things, that 4

copies of the renunciation form are to be executed and the original

and one copy sent to the Department. The Department must then

approve the form and advise the appropriate consular official, who

may then furnish a copy of the form to the person to whom it relates. The form itself requires the person to subscribe it in the presence of

a consular official, and it must also be signed by this official."^ Though in 1959 Oswald clearly stated to officials at the American

Embassy, both orally and in writing, that he desired to renounce his

U.S. citizenship, he at no time took the steps required by the statute and regulations to effect his renunciation. Oswald did not execute

the proper forms, he did not sign his letter of October 31 or November 3, 1959, in the presence of a consular official, and neither letter was signed by such an official.^^^ Because section 349(a) (6) in terms

requires compliance with the form prescribed by the Secretary of

State, Oswald did not expatriate himself under that section.

Oath of allegiance to a foreign state.—Section 349(a)(2) of the

act provides that a U.S. citizen shall lose his nationality by

:

* * * taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal

declaration of allegiance to a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof.^^ 759
In his letter of October 31, 1959, Oswald wrote: "I affirm that my

allegiance is to the union of Soviet Socialist Republics/' ^^^ Both in this letter and in his letter of November 3, 1959, he stated that his

application for citizenship in the Soviet Union was pending before the

Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.^^^

Oswald's letters no doubt were intended to express allegiance to the

Soviet Union in a manner inconsistent with continued allegiance to the United States, as the statute has been held to require."^ However,

since 1940, it has been well established that in order for an oath of

allegiance to a foreign state to work an expatriation from the United

States, it must be given to an official of the foreign state, and not to a party unconnected with the foreign state."^ This requirement can

be viewed as a necessary corollary of the broader, but less clearly

established, principle that the oath must be taken in accord with the

requirements of the foreign state."" Although Lee Harvey Oswald

wrote that his allegiance was to the Soviet Union,^-'^ there is no indication that he had ever actually taken an oath or declaration or that

any such oath was taken before an official of the Soviet Government.

He, therefore, did not expatriate himself under section 349(a) (2).

Employment under the government of a foreign state.—Section

349(a) (4) of the Immigration and Xationality Act of 1952 provides

that a U.S. citizen shall lose his nationality by

:

(a) accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, if he has or acquires the nationality

of such foreign state; or (b) accepting, serving in, or performing

the duties of any office, post of employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, for which

office, post, or employment an oath, affirmation, or declaration of

allegiance is required. * * * i-^i While Oswald was employed in a state-owned factory in Minsk, he

did not acquire Russian nationality, and there is no indication that he

had to take any oath when lie obtained this employment.^^^ Furthermore, prior judicial decisions indicate that merely working m a government-owned factory does not result in expatriation even if an oath was required to be taken in connection with such employment.^^^ Several cases decided under an earlier but similar statutory provision held

that where a person took a government job in order to subsist, such

employment was considered involuntary since it was based on economic

duress, and thus it did not result in expatriation.^^* Thus, Oswald

did not expatriate himself under section 349 (a) (4)

.

The Commission therefore concludes that Lee Han^ey Oswald had

not expatriated himself by any acts performed between October 16,

1959, and May 1962, and concurs in the opinion of the State Department that his passport Avas properly returned to him in July 1961 and

properly reissued in May 1962.

760
AUTHORIZATION FOR MARINA OSWALD TO ENTER THE

UNITED STATES

Negotiations Between Oswald and the Embassy

On July 11, 1961, Oswald and his wife appeared at the Embassy in

Moscow before Jolm A. McVickar/^^ Together they executed papers

to set in motion the procedures for her admittance to the United States

as a nonquota immigrant under the provisions applicable to the wife

of an American citizen/^^ The interview was routine. McVickar

asked Marina whether she was a member of any Communist organization and she replied that she was a member of the Trade Union of

^Medical Workers ^^' but she denied she was or ever had been a member

of the Komsomol,^^^ the Communist youth organization, or any other

Communist organization.^^^ Marina Osw^ald has since admitted to the

Commission that at one time she was a member of The Komsomol, but was expelled, according to her testimony, when it was learned that she

intended to accompany her husband to the United States/°° The Embassy forwarded the papers pertaining to her application to the State

Department on August 28, 1961/^^

Marina Oswald's ability to obtain a nonquota immigrant visa depended on the favorable resolution of 3 questions. First, it had to be determined that she was the wife of an American citizen,^^^ which

depended on whether her husband had expatriated himself. Second,

it was necessary to determine that she was not and had not been affiliated with a Communist organization on other than an involuntary

basis.^" Third, it had to be determined that she was not likely to become a public charge after she was admitted to the United States.^^* Section 243(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ^^^ presented

a fourth issue. This section of the act prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas by American Consuls stationed in countries which have

refused to accept or have unduly delayed accepting the return of per- sons sought to be deported from the United States. The Soviet

Union had been designated as such a country in 1953. How^ever, the

sanctions of section 243 (g) are often waived ; and even if they w^ere not

waived in Marina's case, she could obtain her visa at an American Embassy in some other country on her way from the Soviet Union to the

United States, if she were otherwise entitled to the visa.^^^ In a despatch dated August 28, 1961, the Embassy requested from

the Department a security advisory opinion on Marina Oswald's application to enter the United States. The Embassy wrote

:

A favorable advisory opinion and approval of * * * [Mrs.

Oswald's] petition is recommended together with a waiver of the

sanctions imposed by section 243(g) of the Act. * * * In connection with her employment and her professional training, she has been a member of the Soviet Trade Union for Medical Workers since 1957. Such membership is routinely considered

to be involuntary. * * * 157 761

730-900 0-64—50
The Department initiated a check on Marina Oswald with the CIA,

the FBI, the Department's own Office of Secnrity, and Passport Office.^'^^ The security clieck turned up no derogatory information on

her, so that in early October 1901 the Department cabled Moscow that

the available information concerning the applicant established her

eligibility to enter the country as a nonquota immigrant.^^^

The Department's decision assumed that prior to obtaining her visa

to enter the United States, Marina Oswald would provide some reasonable assurance that she was not likely to become a public charge after

she had arrived there. The Department later encountered some diffi- culty in deciding that she had met this requirement. She knew no

one in the United States other than the members of her husband's

family, and they lacked the means to furnish any substantial financial

guarantees. After considerable correspondence on the matter with

Oswald ^^° and Avith the Department,^^^ the Embassy decided to ac- cept Oswald's oAvn affidavit to support his wife as sufficient assurance

that she would not become a public charge. The Embassy's reasons were set forth in a memorandum dated March 16, 1962

:

It appears that * * * [Oswald] can find no one in the United

States who is able and willing to execute an affidavit of support

for his wife. Furthermore, Oswald has been able to obtain no

concrete offer of employment in the United States. On the other

hand, he is trained in a trade wdiich should make him readily

employable and he and his family will be able to live with his

mother in Texas until he has found work and become otherwise

settled. Taking into consideration the latter factors, Oswald's

legal obligation to support his wife, and the unusual circumstances

of the case which make it difficult for Oswald to provide the usual

financial evidence, the responsible consular officer * * * [is] willing to accept Oswald's unsubstantiated affidavit as sufficient to overcome the public charge provisions of the law^^^^ The necessity of relying solely upon Oswald's own affidavit, however, was eliminated somewhat later when the Department received an

affidavit of support from the emplover of Oswald's mother in Yernon,

Tex.i«3

By law the Attorney General must also pass upon an applicant's

eligibility, and this responsibility has been delegated to the District

DirectOxS of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.^^^ The

machinery to get approval of the Immigration and Naturalization

Service for Marina Oswald's admission to the United States was set in motion on October 6, 1961. On that date the Visa Office of the

Department of State sent a letter to the District Director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Dallas, Tex., requesting the

Service to take action on her immigrant visa.^^^ The letter trans- mitted her marriage certificate, a check for $10 from Lee Harvey

Oswald, and a "Petition to Classify Status of Alien For Issuance of

Immigrant Visa." The petition was signed by Oswald and was on

762
behalf of Marina, asking that she be classified in "the status of the

alien beneficiary for issuance ,of an immigrant visa as * * * the spouse

of a United States citizen." ^^^ The letter from the Visa Office stated

:

Mrs. Oswald has been the object of an investigation by the Department and has been found, in the Department's opinion, not ineligible to secure a visa.^^^ On the basis of this communication, the Immigration and Naturalization Service at its Dallas, Tex., office instituted a field investigation on Lee Harvey Oswald.^^^ Routine checks with the Federal security

agencies and with local law enforcement authorities turned up no new derogatory information, and no evidence was uncovered that

Oswald was ever a member of the Communist Party or other subversive groups.^^^ A record check was made in New Orleans, La.,

and a birth certificate was found for Lee Harvey Oswald, proving

that he was an American citizen by birth."*^ On October 17, 1961, an investigator from the Dallas office interviewed Oswald's brother,

Robert, who expressed the view that Lee was just a "mixed up kid"

who had emigrated to Russia because he had become embittered,

possibly over something that had happened while he was in the

Marine Corps.^^^

On January 25, 1962, the results of the field investigation in Dallas were consolidated in a report^^^ which, with a covering memorandum,^^^ was sent to the District Director of the Service in San Antonio

the next day. The accompanying memorandum noted that the immigrant inspector who processed the case had endorsed it "approved,"

but the author of the memorandum overruled the decision of the

inspector on the grounds that the sanctions under section 243(g)

should not be waived.^^* The reasons for denying the waiver were

stated as follows

:

01 [Operations Instructions] 205.3, as you know, provides that

the District Director may waive sanctions in an individual meritorious case for a beneficiary of a petition filed by a reputable

relative where no substantial derogatory security information

is developed. I am of the opinion that both of these restrictions are present in this case.^^^ On January 30, 1962, the District Director at San Antonio affirmed

the decision of the Dallas office, including the decision that the sanctions imposed under section 243(g) not be waived.^^^ He concluded

that Oswald's recent statements to the American Embassy in Moscow

to the effect that he had learned from his experiences in Russia were

not sufficient to relieve the doubts which were raised regarding his

loyalty to the United States by the arrogant, anti-American state- ments he made when he entered Russia in 1959.^"

San Antonio forwarded its decision to Washington in a letter dated

January 31, 1962, in which Marina Oswald's petition and all the

763
aforementioned memoranda and reports Avere included.^^^ Hoavever, because Washington had previously indicated its impatience at not yet having received anything on the Oswald case, the San Antonio

office also telegraphed its decision to Washington about a Aveek later/ ^^ the telegram presumably being received by Washington before the

letter of January 31. The Washington copy of this telegram has a handwritten note on the lower portion which indicates that on February 12 an officer in the Visa Office of the State Department informed the

Immigration and Naturalization Service by telephone: "Political

desk of opinion, we're better off with subject in U.S. than in Kussia." ^^° Nonetheless, the Washington office of the Service concurred in the

field decision that the provisions of section 243(g) should not be

waived.^^^ However, the Washington office pointed out that the correct disposition should be not to deny the visa petition as the field

offices had proposed, but to grant the petition and indorse it to read,

"Waiver of sanctions imposed under section 243 (g) of the Act is not

authorized." ^^^ On February 28, 1962, the Dallas office of the Inmiigration and Naturalization Service notified the Department of State in Washington

and the American Embassy in Moscow of this disposition. The communication from the Dallas office noted that Oswald "has been notified at his Minsk, Eussia, address of the approval of the petition in his

wife's behalf." ^^^ Oswald later told the Embassy that he had received

the notice on March 15.^»* On March 9, 1962, the Department of State

also notified the Embassy in Moscow that Oswald's wife was entitled

to nonquota status but that the Immigration and Naturalization Service would not waive section 243 (g) of the Act. The Embassy was told

to inform Oswald of this fact if he asked about it. The memorandum

indicated that the Embassy might suggest that Marina could proceed

to some other country to file her visa application and thus avoid the

sanction.^®^

The Moscow Embassy on March 16, 1962, asked the Embassy at Brussels if Mrs. Oswald could obtain her visa in Brussels.^^^ The

Brussels Embassy replied affirmatively and said a visa could be issued to Marina within 2 or 3 days ,of her arrival.^*^ The Marina Oswald

file accordingly was sent to the Embassy at Brussels.^^^ The plan to obtain the visa in Belgium was rendered unnecessary,

however, when the Immigration and Naturalization Service reversed

its position regarding the waiver of section 243(g). On March 16,

the Soviet desk at the Department of State took initial action to attempt to secure such a change by sending a memorandum to the

Visa Office within the Department, urging that the Immigration and

Naturalization Service be asked to reconsider its decision.^*^ According to this memorandum

SOV believes it is in the interest of the U.S. to get Lee Harvey

Oswald and his family out of the Soviet Union and on their way

to this country as soon as possible. An unstable character, whose

actions are entirely unpredictable, Oswald may well refuse to 764
leave the USSK or subsequently attempt to return there if we

should make it impossible for him to be accompanied from Mos- cow by his wife and child.

Such action on our part also would permit the Soviet Government to argue that, although it had issued an exit visa to Mrs.

Oswald to prevent the separation of a family, the United States

Government had imposed a forced separation by refusing to issue

her a visa. Obviously, this would weaken our Embassy's position

in encouraging positive Soviet action in other cases involving

Soviet citizen relatives of U.S. citizens.^^"^ Soon thereafter, however, the Department of State notified its Moscow Embassy that the decision was imder review and instructed

it to withhold action pending the outcome of the reconsideration.^^^

The Visa Office first contacted the Washington office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service informally, and was advised, ac- cording to a contemporaneous notation

* * * that case had been carefully considered and decision made

at Assistant or Deputy Associate Commissioner level. Therefore,

although not wishing to comment on likelihood of reversal, [INS

officer] felt that any letter requesting a review of the case should come from the Director or Acting Administrator,^^^

On March 27, 1962, such a letter was written from an acting administrator in the Department of State to the Commissioner of Immigration

and Naturalization. The letter read in part

:

I appreciate the difficulty this case presents for your Service,

because of Mr. Oswald's background, and the fact that granting

a waiver of the sanction makes it appear that this Government is assisting a person who is not altogether entitled to such assistance.

However, if the Embassy at Moscow is unable to issue Mrs. Oswald

a visa, it would appear that she and indirectly the Oswalds' new- bom child are being punished for Mr. Oswald's earlier indiscretions. I might also point out that this Government has advanced

Mr. Oswald a loan of $500.00 for repatriation.

More important, however, is the possibility that if Mrs. Oswald

is not issued a visa by the Embassy, the Soviet Government will

be in a position to claim that it has done all it can to prevent the

separation of the family by issuing Mrs. Oswald the required exit

permission, but that this Government has refused to issue her a

visa, thus preventing her from accompanying her husband and

child. This would weaken the Embassy's attempts to encourage

positive action by the Soviet authorities in other cases involving

Soviet relatives of United States citizens. Because of these considerations and because I believe it is in

the best interests of the United States to have Mr. Oswald depart

765
from the Soviet Union as soon as possible, I request that the sec- tion 243(g) sanction be waived in Mrs. Oswald's case.^^^ The Immigration and Naturalization Service ultimately reversed its original position and granted the waiver on May 9, 1962. The letter reversing its initial decision states that the matter has been "carefully

reviewed in this office" and that "in view of the strong representations''

made in the letter of March 27, the sanctions imposed pursuant to section 243(g) were thereby waived in behalf of Mrs. Oswald.^®^

Actually, the Office of Soviet Affairs had informally learned on May 8 that the May 9 letter Avould be signed by the Immigration and

Naturalization Service.^^^ On the strength of the assurance that a written reversal would be forthcoming immediately, the State Department quickly telegraphed the Moscow Embassy reporting that the

waiver had been granted.^^^ Marina Oswald completed her processing when she, her husband, and daughter came to Moscow in May

1962 on their way from Minsk to the United States.^^^ Legal Justification for the Decisions Affecting Marina Oswald

Wife of a citizen of the United States.—Section 205 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 provides for the admission into

the United States of persons married to American citizens.^^* Once

it was determined that Lee Harvey Oswald was bom in the United

States ^^^ and had not expatriated liimself, his American citizenship was established. Marina Oswald submitted a marriage certificate to show that she was his wife.^*^° This requirement was, therefore,

satisfied. Assurance that Marina Oswald loould not become a public charge.—

Section 212(a) (15) of the act provides that aliens will not be admitted

to the United States if, in the opinion of the responsible Government

official, they "are likely at any time to become public charges." ^°^ The

pertinent Department of State regulations provide that a determination to exclude an alien for this reason must be "predicated upon cir- cumstances Avhich indicate that the alien will probably become a charge

upon the public after entry into the United States." ^°^ In 1962, Oswald was 22 years old and in good health. He had lived

in the United States for 17 years before joining the Marine Corps

and was, therefore, familiar with its language and customs. He had

gained job experience by working 2i/2 years in a factory which pro- duced electronic equipment. Under these circumstances the Department was not unreasonable in concluding that Oswald's own affidavit that he would support his Avife was sufficient assurance tliat she was

not likely to become a charge upon the public after her entry into the

United States. The receipt of the affidavit from Marguerite Oswald's

employer provided a possible alternative basis for reaching this decision, but since a favorable ruling had already been made on the basis

of Oswald's affidavit, the Embassy had no reason to consider the sufficiency of the second affidavit. 766
Membership in a Communist organization.—Under section 212(a)

(28) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, an alien will not be

admitted to the United States if he is or was a member of, or affiliated with, a Commmiist organization unless

:

* * * such an alien establishes to the satisfaction of the consular

officer when applying for a visa and the consular officer finds that

(i) such membership or application is or was involuntary, or is or was solely when under sixteen years of age, by operation of law, or for purposes of obtaining employment, food rations, or other

essentials of living and where necessary for such pur-

* * *?5 203 At the time Marina Oswald applied for a visa she was a member

of the Soviet Trade Union for Medical Workers.^*'* According to the

Department of State, the

* * * long-standing interpretation [of the statute] concurred in

by the State and Justice Departments [is] that membership in a professional organization or trade union behind the Iron Curtain

is considered involuntary unless the membership is accompanied

by some indication of voluntariness, such as active participation in

the organization's activities or holding an office in the organization.^"^

Since there was no evidence that Marina Oswald actively participated

in the union's activities or held an office in the organization, her union

membership was properly held not to bar her admission to this

country.

Although Marina Oswald declared that she was not a member of

the Komsomol or any other Communist organization, she was in fact a member of the Komsomol, the Communist youth organization.^^^ If

this fact had been known to the State Department, Marina Oswald

would not necessarily have been denied a visa, although a careful in- vestigation into the nature of the membership would have been required.^°'^ However, had her membership in the Komsomol become

known to the Department after her denial of such membership, it is possible that she would have been excluded from the United States on

the ground of having willfully misrepresented a material fact.^'^^ Judicial decisions are not in agreement as to what constitutes a "material fact" such that its intentional misrepresentation warrants ex- clusion of the alien.2"® Some cases indicate that a misrepresentation in an application for a visa involves a material fact even if the alien would

not definitely have been excluded on the true facts; ^^^ others hold

that a misstatement is material only if it referred to such facts as would have justified refusing the visa had they been disclosed.^^^ The

Visa Office of the Department of State has announced that it applies

a "rule of probability" under which a misstatement will be deemed ma767
terial only if it concealed facts which probably would have resulted

in a denial of a visa.^^^ Waiver of the provisions of section 21{3{g).—Section 243(g) of the

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, by its terms, prevented is- suance of a visa to Marina Oswald by the Moscow Embassy. The

section provides that upon notification of the Secretary of State by the

Attorney General that a country has refused or unduly delayed the ac- ceptance of a deportable alien from the United States who is a subject or was a resident of that country, consular officers in such country are not to issue visas to citizens of the country. The section had been in- voked against Kussia on May 26, 1953. Nonetheless, although section

243(g) does not contain an express provision for waiver, the Justice

Department has concluded that the Attorney General possesses such

waiver powers.^^^ Pursuant to this decision, the Department has

granted waivers in over 600 cases from the Soviet Union since 1953.^14 The waiver procedures followed in 1962 were prescribed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The relevant provision reads

:

Before adjudicating a petition for an eligible beneficiary re- siding in the USSR, Czechoslovakia or Hungary, against which

sanctions have been imposed, the district director shall obtain a report of investigation regarding the petitioner which shall in- clude an affiliation of a subversive nature disclosed by a neighborhood investigation, local agency records and responses to Form

G-135a. * * * If no substantial derogatory security information

is developed, the district director may waive the sanctions in an

individual meritorious case for a beneficiary of a petition filed by

a reputable relative to accord status under Section 101(a) (27)

(A) or Section 203(a) (2), (3) or (4). * * * If substantial ad- verse security information relating to the petitioner is developed,

the visa petition shall be processed on its merits and certified to the regional commissioner for determination whether the sanctions

should be waived. The assistant commissioner shall endorse the

petition to show whether the Waiver is granted or denied, and

forward it and notify the appropriate field office of the action

taken. * * * ^^^

State Department regulations are much less explicit.^^® The State

Department's visa instructions for the guidance of consular officers provide, "The sanctions will be waived only in individual meritorious

cases in behalf of a beneficiary of a petition filed by a reputable relative

pursuant to [sections] of the act." ^^ Because Lee Harvey Oswald signed the petition on Marina's behalf,

his character was relevant to whether the sanctions of section 243(g)

could be waived for her. The file on Lee Harvey Oswald which was

maintained by the Department of State and made available to the Department of Justice for purposes of passing on his wife's application

contained the facts relating to Oswald's attempted expatriation.

However, despite the derogatory material in the Oswald file, the Im768
migration and Naturalization Service regulations did not require

automatic denial of the waiver; they provided only that if adverse

security information were developed, "the visa petition shall be processed on its merits and certified to the regional commissioner for determination whether the sanctions should be waived." This procedure was followed in Marina's case and the factors considered in reaching

the decision do not appear to be inappropriate. The State Department

successfully urged that the original decision of the Immigration and

Naturalization Service be reversed because this would be in the best

interests of future United States dealings with the Soviet Union on

behalf of American citizens, and because it seemed unfair to punish

Lee Harvey Oswald's wife and baby for his own earlier errors.^^'^ Prevention of the separation of families is among the most common

reasons underlying the frequent waivers of section 243 (g).^^^

OSWALD'S LETTER TO SENATOR TOWER

Sometime shortly before January 26, 1962, an undated letter from

Lee Harvey Oswald was received in the office of the U.S. Senator from

Texas, John G. Tower.^^o The letter reads as follows

:

My name is Lee Harvey Oswald, 22, of Fort Worth up till October 1959, when I came to the Soviet Union for a residenaul

stay. I took a residenual document for a non-Soviet person living

for a time in the USSR. The American Embassy in Moscow is familier with my case Since July 20th 1960, 1 have unsucessfully applied for a Soviet

Exit Visa to leave this country, the Soviets refuse to permit me

and my Soviet wife, (who applied at the U.S. Embassy Moscow,

July 8, 1960 for immigration status to the U.S.A.) to leave the

Soviet Union. I am a citizen of the United States of America

(passport No. 1733242, 1959) and I bessech you. Senator Tower,

to rise the question of holding by the Soviet Union of a citizen

of the U.S., against his will and expressed desires.^^^ The letter was read in Senator Tower's office by a caseworker on

his staff. According to the caseworker and the Senator's press secre- tary, the letter w^as forwarded as a matter of routine on January 26

to the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations, Department

of State. The letter was forwarded with a cover letter, machine

signed by the Senator, stating that he did "not know Oswald, or any

of the facts concerning his reasons for visiting the Soviet Union ; nor what action, if any, this Government can or should take on his behalf."

The cover letter pointed out that Osw^ald's inquiry should have gone

to the executive branch of the Government and that for this reason

the Senator was forwarding it "for whatever action the Department

may consider appropriate." ^^^ On February 1 an officer at the Department of State telephoned the Senator's office and spoke briefly

769
with the caseworker on the Oswald case. She made a memorandum

of the call which notes, "Senator should not become involved in such

case—therefore State will report to us the course which they follow

regarding Lee Hai-vey OsAvalt [sic]."^^ About a week later the

Department of State forwarded to Senator Tower copies of some of

the correspondence which the Department had had with Oswald and

informed the Senator that if he wished to be kept informed on further

developments regarding Oswald he could contact the Department of

State.^^^ Neither the Senator nor any member of his staff contacted

the Department again nor did they take any other action in respect

to the matter.22^ THE LOAN FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT

In a letter dated January 5, 1962, Oswald said that he would like

to make arrangements for a loan from the Embassy or some private

organization for part of the airplane fares.^^^ The Embassy on February 6, 1962, replied that he would have to supply certain personal

and financial data.^-^ The letter also said that after repatriation he

would not be furnished a passport for travel abroad until he had

repaid the money.

Between February 6, 1962, and May 1, 1962, Oswald attempted to secure a loan from the Red Cross ^^ and the International Rescue

Committee ^^^ in the United States. The State Department on February 1 wrote Oswald's mother a letter asking whether she could

advance the money.^^° Oswald later wrote both his mother and the

Department advising each that his mother should not be bothered in

reference to the loan.^^^ Ultimately, after an exchange of communications between the Embassy and Washington,^^^ the Department ap- proved a loan to Oswald for passage to New York only, directing the

Embassy to "Keep cost minimum." ^^s Qn June 1 Oswald signed

a promissory note for $435.71.^^*

Statutory authority for making such a loan was conferred by title 5, section 170(a), of the U.S. Code, which authorizes the Secretary of

State to "make expenditures, from such amounts as may be specifically

appropriated therefor, for unforeseen emergencies arising in the diplomatic and consular service." Since 1947, the Department of State's annual appropriation act has included a sum for expenses necessary

"to enable the Secretary of State to meet unforeseen emergencies

arising in the Diplomatic and Consular Service. * * *'' 235 jj^ recent

years, the accompanying reports submitted by the Appropriations

Committee of the House of Representatives have stated, "These fmids

are used for relief and repatriation loans to the U.S. citizens abroad

and for other emergencies of the Department." ^^ Out of the amomit

appropriated to meet unforeseen emergencies arising in the Diplomatic and Consular Service, the Secretary of State has annually

allotted approximately $100,000 to meet the expenses of indigent

U.S. nationals, including those in the Soviet Union, who request

770
repatriation loans. From 1959 to 1963, 2,343 such loans were

granted.2^^

Section 423.2-1 of the Department's regulations provides that re- patriation loans may be granted only to destitute U.S. nationals

:

a. Who are in complete and unquestioned possession of their

citizenship rights

;

b. Who are entitled to receive United States passports;

c. Whose loyalty to the United States Government is beyond

question, or to whom the provisions of Section 423.1-2 (b)

apply.238

Oswald undoubtedly satisfied the requirements of paragraphs (a)

and (b), since he was determined to have been a U.S. citizen at the

time the loan was granted and he had been issued a passport to return

to the United States. There is a serious question whether he could

have qualified mider the first clause of paragraph (c) . The Commission is of the opinion that in its application of this clause the Department should exercise great care in determining whether an applicant's

loyalty to the U.S. Government is beyond question, particularly in

the case of a defector like Oswald who has expressed hostility and

disloyalty to our government and manifested a desire to renounce

his citizenship. The Department chose instead to exercise its judgment under the second clause of paragraph (c) , which refers to section

423.1-2 (b). This section provides that loans to destitute nationals

are authorized when

:

b. The United States national is in or the cause of a situation

which is damaging to the prestige of the United States Government or which constitutes a compelling reason for extending

assistance to effect his return.^^

The Department decided that the provisions of section (b) were

applicable to Oswald because his "mistable character and prior crit- icism of the United States" would make his continued presence in the

Soviet Union damaging to the prestige of the United States.^*° In

acting under this section, the Department was acting within its competence and the law. As required by another section of the regulations,

the Department sought to obtain funds for the Oswalds' repatriation

from private sources—his mother and the International Rescue

Committee—before using Government funds.^*^ Regulations further provide that repatriation loans are authorized

for the alien, wife, and children of the U.S. national receiving a repatriation loan in order to avoid the division of families. ^^^ However, loans are limited

To the minimum amount required to cover transportation and

subsistence while enroute to the nearest continental United States

port. * * * When necessary, loans may include: expenses inci- 771
dent to embarkation, such as fees for documentation and minimum

subsistence from the date of application for a loan to the date

of departure by the first available ship. * * * The cost of trans- portation shall be limited to third-class passage by ship.^^^

Oswald's loan was sufficient to cover no more than the least expensive

transportation from Moscow to New York. His passport was stamped

as valid only for return to the United States.^*^ Oswald completed

all necessary forms and affidavits to obtain the loan.^*^ According to its own procedures the Department of State should

have prepared a lookout card for Oswald in June 1962 when he

received the proceeds of the loan.^*^ The promissory note which he

signed contained a provision stating, I further miderstand and agree that after my repatriation I will not be furnished a passport for travel abroad until my obligation to reimburse the Treasurer of the United States is liqui- dated.2^^ However, a lookout card was never in fact prepared. With respect to

this failure the State Department has informed the Commission as follows

On receipt of notice of the loan from the Embassy in Moscow,

the Department's procedures provided that Miss Leola B. Burkhead of the Revenues and Receipts Branch of the Office of Finance

should have notified the Clearance Section in the Passport Office

of Oswald's name, date, and place of birth. If the Passport

Office received only the name and not the date and place of birth

of a borrower, it would not have prepared a lookout card under

its established procedures because of lack of positive identification.

(Among the Passport Office's file of millions of passport applicants, there are, of course, many thousands of identical names.)

Mr. Richmond C. Reeley was the Chief of the Revenues and

Receipts Branch of the Office of Finance and Mr. Alexander W.

Maxwell was Chief of the Clearance Section. If the notice was

received in the Clearance Section it would have been delivered to the Carding Desk for preparation of a lookout card on Oswald.

It appears, however, that such a lookout card was not prepared.

It may have been that the Finance Office did not notify the Clear- ance Section of Oswald's loan. One reason for this might have

been the Finance Office's lack of information concerning Oswald's

date and place of birth. On the other hand, the Finance Office

may have notified the Clearance Section of Oswald's name only,

in which case this Section would not have prepared a lookout card

mider its procedures. Since Oswald began repaying the loan in

installments immediately after his return to the United States, it is also possible that the Office of Finance decided that it was mi772
necessary to pursue the matter further. In any event, Oswald's

loan was repaid in full on January 29, 1963, five months prior to

his application for a new passport.^^

OSWALD'S RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES AND

REPAYMENT OF HIS LOAN

On June 1, 1962, the same day that Oswald received his loan from

the State Department, he and his family left Moscow by train destined

for Rotterdam, The Netherlands.^*^ They boarded the SS Maasdam

at Rotterdam on June 4 and arrived in New York on June 13, 1962.^^° The Embassy sent word of the OsAvalds' departure to the Department

of State in Washington on May 31. ^^^ Consistent with its prior practice of keeping the Federal security agencies informed of Oswald's

activity,252 the Department notified the FBL^^^

Frederick J. Wiedersheim, an officer of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in New York, interviewed the Oswalds upon their

entry into the United States at Hoboken, N.J., on June 13, 1962, but

made no w^ritten report. Mr. Wiedersheim recalled that he asked the

Oswalds various questions which would determine the eligibility of

both Oswald and Marina to enter the United States. The questions

included whether Oswald had expatriated himself and w^hether Marina

belonged to any Communist organization which would bar her entry.

These questions were answered in ways which did not appear to raise

any problems and therefore the Oswalds were admitted.^^^

After his reentry, Oswald repaid his loan without having to be re- minded by the Department to do so. The early payments were very

small because he first repaid the approximately $200 he had borrowed

from his brother Robert to apply against the expenses of his travel

from New York to Fort Worth, Tex.^^^ The schedule of payments is as follows

:

Aug. 13, 1962 $10.00

Sept. 5, 1962 9. 71

Oct. 10, 1962 10. 00

Nov. 19, 1962 10.00

Dec. 11, 1962 190.00

Jan. 9, 1963 100. 00

Jan. 29, 1963 106.00

Total ^'435. 71 ISSUANCE OF A PASSPORT IN JUNE 1963

On June 24, 1963, Oswald applied for a U.S. passport at the Pass- port Office in New Orleans, La.^^" He said he was planning to visit England, France, HoUand, U.S.S.R., Finland, Italy, and Poland, and

that he intended to leave the country sometime during November or December 1963 by ship from Ne^Y Orleans.^^^ He stated further that

773
he was married to a person born in Russia who was not an American

citizen. For occupation, the word "Pliotooraplier" was inserted on the

application.^^^

On the same day a teletype was sent to Washington containing the names of 25 of tlie persons who applied for passports on that date in New Orleans, Oswald's name among them. On the right side of the

Washington Passport Office copy of the teletype message, approximately parallel to his name, are the letters, "XO," written in red pen-

^,j| 260 Oswald was issued a passport on June 25, 1968.^^^ Since there was no lookout card on Oswald, the passport was processed routinely. Twenty-four hours is the usual time for routinely

granted passports to be issued.^^^ The handw-ritten notation, "NO/'

which appeared beside Oswald's name on the list of applicants from

New Orleans, is a symbol for the New Orleans Passport Office that is routinely placed on incoming teletype messages by anyone of a group

of persons in the teletype section of the Passport Office.^^^ No one

looked at Oswald's file previously established with the Department.^^^ The Department, however, has informed the Commission that at the

time the passport was issued there was no information in its passport

or security files which would have permitted it to deny a passport to Oswald.^^^ No lookout card should have been in the file based upon

the Moscow Embassy's memorandum of March 28, 1960, which drew

attention to OsAvald's intention to expatriate himself, because the subsequent determination that Oswald had not expatriated himself would

remove expatriation as a possible ground for denying him a passport.^^^ And by January 29, 1963, the repatriation loan had been repaid, so a lookout card should not have been in the file on that basis.^^^ Oswald was entitled to receive a passport, in 1963 unless he came

within one of the two statutory pro\dsions authorizing the Secretary

of State to refuse to issue it.^^^ Section 6 of the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950, which has recently been declared unconstitutional,^^^ then provided

:

* * * it shall be unlawful for any member of [an organization

required to register], with knowledge or notice that such organization is so registered and that such order has become final—(1) to make application for passport, or the renewal of a passport,

to be issued or renewed by or under the authority of the United

States; or (2) to use or attempt to use any such passport.^^^

Pursuant to section 6, the State Department promulgated a regulation which denied passports to

* * * any individual w^ho the issuing officer knows or has reason

to believe is a member of a Communist Organization registered or required to be registered under Section 7 of the Subversive

Activities Control Act of 1950 as amended.^^^

774
Since there is no evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald was a member of

the American Communist Party or any other organization which had

been required to register under section 7 of the Subversive Activities

Control Act,2^2 a passport could not have been denied him under

section 6. Section 215 of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides

that, while a Presidential proclamation of national emergency is in force,

* * * it shall, except as otherwise provided by the President, * *

* be unlawful for any citizen of the United States to depart from

or enter * * * the United States unless he bears a valid pass- port.2"

Because a proclamation of national emergency issued by President

Truman during the Korean war had not been revoked by 1963, the

Grovernment has taken the position that the statute remains in force.^^* Pursuant to section 215, the State Department has issued regulations

setting forth the circumstances under which it will refuse a passport

In order to promote and safeguard the interests of the United

States, passport facilities, except for direct and immediate re- turn to the United States, shall be refused to a person when it appears to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State that the

person's activity abroad would : (a) violate the laws of the United

States; (b) be prejudicial to the orderly conduct of foreign rela- tions; or (c) otherwise be prejudicial to the interests of the

United States.^^^ The State Department takes the position that its authority under

this regulation is severely limited. In a report submitted to the Commission, the Department concluded that "there were no grounds con- sonant with the passport regulations to take adverse passport action

against Oswald prior to November 22, 1963." ^^^ Although Oswald's

statement in 1959 that he would furnish the Russians with information he had obtained in the Marine Corps may have indicated that he

would disclose classified information if he possessed any such in- formation, there was no indication in 1963 that he had any valuable

information.^^'^ Moreover, Oswald's 1959 statement had been brought

to the attention of the Department of the Navy ^^^ and the FBI ^^^ and neither organization had initiated criminal proceedings. The

Department therefore had no basis for concluding that Oswald's

1959 statement was anything more than rash talk.^^^ And the State

Department's files contained no other information which might rea- sonably have led it to expect that Oswald would violate the laws of

the United States when he went abroad.

The most likely ground for denying Oswald a passport in 1963,

however, was provided by subsection (c) of the regulation quoted

above, which requires the denial of a passport when the Secretary of

775
State is satisfied that the applicant's "activity abroad would * * * otherwise be prejudicial to the interests of the United States." In

1957 the State Department described to the Senate Foreifrn Relations

Committee one category of persons to whom it denied passports under

this provision

:

Persons whose previous conduct abroad has been such as to bring discredit on the United States and cause difficulty for other

Americans (gave bad checks, left unpaid debts, had difficulties with police, etc.).^®^ In light of the adverse publicity caused the United States by Oswald's

prior defection to the Soviet Union, he could have been considered a person "whose previous conduct abroad had been such as to bring

discredit on the United States." Indeed, the State Department itself had previously been of the opinion that Oswald's continued presence

in Russia was damaging to the prestige of the United States because

of his unstable character and prior criticisms of the United States.^®^ However, in 1958 the Supreme Court had decided two cases which

restricted the Secretary of State's authority to deny passports. In

Kent V. Dulles ^^^ and Dayton v. Dulles.^^^ the Supreme Court invalidated a State Department regulation permitting the denial of pass- ports to Communists and to those "who are going abroad to engage in

activities which will advance the Communist movement for the purpose, knowingly and willfully of advancing that movement," on the

ground that the regulation exceeded the authority Congress had

granted the Secretary. The Kent opinion stressed the importance to be

attached to an individual's ability to travel beyond the borders of the

United States

:

The right to travel is a part of the "liberty" of which the

citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under

the Fifth x\jnendment * * * Freedom of movement across frontiers in either direction, and inside frontiers as well, was a part

of our heritage. Travel abroad, like travel within the country,

may be necessary for a livelihood. It may be as close to the heart

of the individual as the choice of what he eats, or wears, or reads.

Freedom of movement is basic in our scheme of values.^^^ The Kent opinion also suggested that grounds relating to citizenship

and allegiance to illegal conduct might be the only two upon which

the Department could validly deny a passport application.

The Department, though publicly declaring that these decisions

had little effect upon its broadly worded regulation,-^^ in practice

denied passports only in limited situations. In 1963 the Department

denied passports only to those who violated the Department's travel

restrictions, to fugitives from justice, to those involved in using

passports fraudulently, and to those engaged in illegal activity abroad

or in conduct directly affecting our relations with a particular coun- 776
^j.y 287 Passports Avere granted to people who the Department might

have anticipated would go abroad to denounce the United States, and

to a prior defector.-^® State Department officials believed that in

^'iew of the Supreme Court decisions, the Department was not em- powered to deny anyone a passport on grounds related to freedom

of speech or to political association and beliefs.-^^ Since Oswald's citizenship was not in question and since there was

no indication that lie would be involved in illegal activity abroad,

the only grounds upon which a passport might have been denied

Oswald would have fallen within the area of speech or political belief

and association. The Commission therefore concludes that the Department was justified in granting a passport to Oswald on June 25,

1963.

VISIT TO THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN MEXICO CITY

In October 1963, the Passport Office of the State Department re- ceived a report from the Central Intelligence Agency that Oswald

had visited the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City.^^^ The report said

nothing about Oswald's having visited the Cuban Embassy in Mexico

City, a fact which was not known until after the assassination. Upon

receipt of the information the ])assport file on Lee Harvey Oswald was

reviewed by the Passport Office.-^^ The CIA communication and the

passport file were read by an attorney and a supervisory attorney in

that office who found no basis for revoking Oswald's passport or for

notifying the FBI or CIA that Oswald had been issued a new pass- port in June 1963. 2^- The Department has informed the Commission

that, "since the report indicated no grounds for determining Oswald

was ineligible for a passport, a determination was made that no action

by the passport office was required." ^^^ Travel to Russia was not proscribed in 1963. Moreover, the Soviet Union w\as one of the countries

OsAvald had listed on his passport application. Hence, the Commission agrees that Oswald's taking steps to enter the Soviet Union in

1963 Avas not a sufficient reason to revoke his passport.

Later, on November 14, 1963, the FBI sent the Department a report on Oswald's arrest in New Orleans, La. during August in connection

with a fistfight in which he became engaged when passing out pamphlets entitled "Hands Off Cuba." No action was taken on the basis

of the Bureau's report.^^* The Commission agrees that this incident was not groimds for revoking Oswald's passport.

CONCLUSION

Investigation of Oswald's complete dealings with the Department

of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service reveals no

irregularity suggesting any illegal actions or impropriety on the part

of government officials. The Commission believes, however, that in ap777

730-900 0-64—51 -
plying its own regulations the Department should in all cases exercise

great care in the return to this country of defectors such as Oswald

who have evidenced disloyalty or hostility to this country or who have

expressed a desire to renounce their U.S. citizenship and that, when

such persons are returned, procedures should be adopted for the better

dissemination of information concerning them to the intelligence

agencies of the Government. The operation of the "lookout card"

system in the Department of State was obviously deficient, but since

these deficiencies did not affect Oswald or reflect any favoritism or impropriety, the Commission considers them beyond the scope of its inquiry.

Especially while he was in the Soviet Union, Oswald's manner to Government personnel was frequently insulting and offensive. As

one 1962 communication between the Embassy and the Department of

State observed, "It is not that our hearts are breaking for Oswald.

His impertinence knows no bounds." ^^^ Nonetheless, the officials of

the U.S. Government respected Oswald as a troubled American citi- zen and extended to him the services and assistance for which the

agencies of government have been created. Though Oswald was known to be "an unstable character, whose actions are highly unpredictable," ^^^ there was no reasonable basis in 1961 and 1962 for suspecting that upon his readmittance to the country he would resort to violence against its public officials. The officers of the Department of

State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, acting within

the proper limits of their discretion, concluded that Oswald's return

to the United States was in the best interests of the country ; it is only

from the vantage of the present that the tragic irony of their con- clusion emerges.

Y78
APPENDIX XVI

A Biography of Jack Ruby

In this appendix the Commission presents a biography of Jack

Ruby. Although criminal proceedings involving its subject are pending in the State of Texas, the Commission has decided to include this

rather detailed account of Euby's life and activities for several reasons. Most importantly, the Commission believes it will permit a better

evaluation of the evidence on the question whether Euby was in- volved in any conspiracy. Furthermore, the Commission believes that

in view of the many rumors concerning Euby the public interest will

be served by an account which attempts to give sufficient material

to provide an impression of his character and background. The Commission's desire not to interfere in the pending proceedings involving

Ruby necessarily limits the scope of this appendix, which does not

purport to discuss the legal issues raised during Ruby's trial or his

possible motive for shooting Oswald.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Jack Ruby, born Jacob Rubenstein, was the fifth of his parents'

eight living children. There is much confusion about his exact birth

date. School records report it as June 23, April 25,^ March 13, and,

possibly, March 3, 191 1.^ Other early official records list his date of

birth as April 21 and April 26, 1911.^ During his adult life the date

Ruby used most frequently was March 25, 1911.^ His driver's license,

seized following his arrest, and his statements to the FBI on N,ovember 24, 1963, listed this date.^ However, the police arrest report for

November 24 gave his birth date as March 19, 1911.^ Since the re- cording of births was not required in Chicago prior to 1915, Ruby's

birth may never have been officially recorded.^ No substantial conflict exists, however, about whether Jack Ruby was born in 1911.^ Ruby has one older brother and three older sisters. The oldest

children, Hyman and Ann, were born shortly after the turn of the

century,^ before their parents arrived in the United States.^^ The

other children were bom in Chicago. Ruby's sister Marion was born

in June 1906 ^^ and his sister Eva in March 1909.^^ Ruby also has

two younger brothers and a younger sister. Sam was born in December 1912," Earl in April 1915.^^ The youngest child, Eileen, was born

in July 1917.^^ At least one and possibly two other children died

during infancy.^^ Jack Ruby's father, Joseph Rubenstein, was bom in 1871 in Sokolov,

a small town near Warsaw, Poland, then under the rule of Czarist

Russia.^^ He entered the Russian artillery in 1893.^^ There he learned

779
w

the carpentry trade, which had been practiced by his father and at least one brother ^^ and he picked up the habit of excessive drinking

that was to plague him for the rest of his life.^*^ While in the amiy,-^

he married Jack's mother, Fannie Turek Eutkowski ; ^^ the marriage was arranged, as w^as customary, by a professional matchmaker.^^

According to his oldest son, Joseph Rubenstein served in China, Korea,

and Siberia, detesting these places and army life. Eventually, in 1898,

he simply "walked away" from it and about 4 yeai^ later he went to England and Canada, entering the United States in 1903.^^ Settling in Chicago, Joseph Rubenstein joined the carpenters union

in 1904 and remained a member until his death in 1958.25 Although

he worked fairly steadily until 1928, he was unemployed during the

last 30 years of his life.^'' The only other group which Joseph Rubenstein joined consisted of fellow immigrants from Sokolov. His

daughter Eva described this group as purely social and completely nonpolitical. 2^ tlack Ruby's mother, Fannie Rubenstein, was probably bom in 1875 near Warsaw, Poland.^^ She followed her husband to the United

States in 1904 or 1905, accompanied by her children Hyman and Ann.^^

An illiterate woman, she went to night school in about 1920 to learn

how to sign her name.^° She apparently failed in this endeavor, however, for an alien registration form, filed after about 35 years in the

United States, was signed by an "X".^^ Although she apparently

learned some English, her speech was predominantly Yiddish, the primary language of the Rubenstein household.^^ Still, Mrs. Rubenstein

felt strongly that her children required an education in order to better

themselves. She frequently arg-ued about this with her husband, who

had received little, if any, formal education and firmly believed that

grammar school training was sufficient for his children.^^

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH (1911-33)

In 1911, when Jack Ruby was born, his family resided near 14th

and Newberry Streets in Chicago, the first in a series of Jewish neighborhoods in which the Rubensteins lived during his childhood.^^ In

1916, the Rubensteins lived at 1232 Morgan Street, where they ap- parently remained until 1921.^^ This was the fourth residence in the

first 5 years of Jack Ruby's life.^® Earl Ruby described one typical

neighborhood in which the family lived as a "ghetto" with "pushcarts on the streets." ^^ His sister Eva characterized it as "below the middle

class but yet it wasn't the poorest class." ^^ The family generally lived near Italian sections, where there were frequent fights along ethnic

lines.^^ The Rubenstein home was marked by constant strife and the

parents were reported to have occasionally struck each other.*^ Between 1915 and 1921, Joseph Rubenstein was frequently arrested be- cause of disorderly conduct and assault and battery charges, some

filed by his wife.*^ In the spring of 1921, Jack Ruby's parents sep- 780
arated.^2 In 1937 Mrs. Eubenstein reported that she had desired a divorce 15 years earlier, but her husband had been opposed to it.^^ The

predominant causes of the separation were apparently Joseph Rubenstein's excessive drinking and Fannie Rubenstein's uncontrollable

temper. She resented her numerous pregnancies, believed her husband

to be unfaithful, and nagged him because he failed to make enough

money.**

Psychiatric Report

Young Jack soon showed the effects of parental discord. On June 6, 1922, at the age of 11, he was referred to the Institute for Juvenile

Research by the Jewish Social Service Bureau. The reason for the

referral was "truancy and incorrigible at home." *^ On July 10, 1922,

the institute recominended to the bureau that Jack be placed in a new

environment where his characteristics might b^ understood and where

he might be afforded the supervision and recreation that would end

his interest in street gangs.*® In March 1923, the institute advised the

bureau that "placement in a home, where intelligent supervision and

discipline can be given'' was appropriate.*^

The institute's psychiatric examination, which served as a basis for

these recommendations, took place in 1922, prior to the advent of many

techniques and theories of modern psychiatry,*^ but it is the most

objective evidence of Jack Ruby's childhood character. According to the psychiatric report. Jack was "quick tempered" and

"disobedient.'' *^ He frequently disagreed openly with his mother,

whom he considered an inferior person with whose rules he did not

have to comply.^^ Jack told the institute's intervicAver that he ran away from home because his mother lied to him and beat him.^^

Although Mrs. Rubenstein was severe with her children, she was

described as totally incapable of coping with them "because of

their delinquencies, i.e., principally their destiaictive tendencies and

disregard for other people's property." ^^ His mother's "extreme

temperament" and quarrelsomeness were cited as possible causes of

Jack's "bad behavior." ^^ Self-administered questionnaires revealed that Jack felt his class- mates were "picking" on him and that he could not get along with his

friends.^* They also indicated that, although Jack described himself

as a good ballplayer, he did not belong to any clubs and was not a member of any athletic teams.'^^ Jack's psychiatric interviewer

reported

:

He could give no other good reason for running away from

school except that he went to amusement parks. He has some sex knowledge and is greatly interested in sex matters. He stated

that the boys in the street tell him about these things. He also claims that he can lick everyone and anybody in anything he wants

todo.s®

781
The interviewer noted that during "mental tests" he reacted quickly,

often carelessly, and his attention was apt to wander so that he had to be reprimanded.^''

A letter recommending the boy's placement in a more wholesome

environment stated

:

He is egocentric and expects much attention, but is unable to get it as there are many children at home. His behavior is further colored by his early sex experiences, his great interest [in

sex] and the gang situation in the street. From a superficial

examination of his mother who was here with him, it is apparent

that she has no insight into his problem, and she is thoroughly

inadequate in the further training of this boy.^®

Recognizing that the sketchiness of the case record precluded complete diagnosis, Dr. Raymond E. Robertson, currently the superintendent of the institute, reported nonetheless that it seems "firmly

established * * * [that] his unstable and disorganized home could

not provide Jack with the necessary controls and discipline." ^^

Placement in Foster Homes

On July 10, 1923, a dependency hearing involving Jack, his younger

brothers Sam and Earl, and his sister Eileen, was held in Chicago's

juvenile court.^^ The petition alleged that the children were not

receiving proper parental care. They had, until then, been in their

mother's custody, living on Roosevelt Road, the border between Jewish and Italian districts.^^ The juvenile court made a finding of dependency. It appointed the Jewish Home Finding Society guardian

with the right to place the children in foster homes, and it ordered

Joseph Rubenstein to pay the court clerk $4 per week for the support

of each child. On November 24, 1924, this order was vacated, which

apparently signified the termination of the guardianship and the

return of the children to their mother. On April 8, 1925, the case was continued "generally," meaning that it was inactive but could

be reactivated if the court so desired.^^

Despite court records, the exact circumstances and length of time

that Jack Ruby lived away from home are not entirely clear. Records indicate that Jack, Sam, Earl, and Eileen Rubenstein were wards of the Jewish Home Finding Society "for a short time in

1922-23." ^^ However, Jack and Eileen stated they spent about 4

or 5 years in foster homes.^* Earl testified that he and Sam were

originally sent to a private foster home and then lived on a farm

for a little more than a year, while Jack was on a different farm

"some distance away." Subsequently the three brothers lived to- gether in another foster home.^^

782
Subsequent Home Life

'\^nien Jack Ruby returned to liis family, the unit was still dis- ordered. His father remained apart from the children at least until

1936 and perhaps until a few years later.^^ Mrs. Rubenstein's

inability to manage her home, which had been reported by

the Institute for Juvenile Research in 1922, apparently continued.

For example, in 1937 Marion Rubenstein observed that her mother

"has never been any kind of a housekeeper, was careless with money,

and never took much interest in the children's welfare * * * she was selfish, jealous, disagreeable, and never cared to do anything in

the home but lie around and sleep." ®^ Dr. Hyman I. Rubenstein, the son of Joseph Rubenstein's brother, recalled that Jack Ruby's mother

ran "an irregular household" and appeared to be "a rather disturbed

person of poor personal appearance with no incentive for cleaning

or cooking." ^^ Mrs. Rubenstein's domestic shortcomings were accompanied by

sjTnptoms of mental disease. In about 1913, 2 years after Jack was

born, Mrs. Rubenstein began to develop a delusion that a sticking

sensation in her throat was caused by a lodged fishbone.^^ Each

month Hyman, her oldest child, took her to a clinic. And each

month the examining doctor, finding no organic cause for discomfort,

informed her that there was nothing in her throat and that the sen- sation was but a figment of her imagination. According to Hyman,

this practice continued for a number of vears until ]\frs. Rubenstein

tired of it.'^« In 1927, Mrs. Rubenstein once again began to visit clinics in con- nection with her. fishbone delusion. Three years later, a thyroidectomy was performed, but she subsequently said it did nothing to

relieve her discomfort.'^^ According to the Michael Reese Hospital,

whose clinic she had visited since 1927, Mrs. Rubenstein was suffer- ing from psychoneurosis with marked anxiety state. By order of the county court of Cook County, Mrs. Rubenstein was

committed to Elgin State Hospital on July 16, 1937."^ She was

paroled on October 17, 1937, 3 months after her commitment.^^ On

January 3, 1938, the Chicago State Hospital informed Elgin State

that the family desired that she be readmitted to the mental hospital.

The family reported that she was uncooperative, caused constant

discord, was very noisy, and used obscene language."^* A State social

worker observed that Mrs. Rubenstein refused ever to leave the house,

explaining that her children would have thrown her things out had she

left. ]\frs. Rubenstein rebuffed a suggestion by the social worker that

she help with the dishes by stating that she would do nothing as long

as her "worthless" husband was in the house.'^^ She was readmitted on January 14, 1938.^« Mrs. Rubenstein was again paroled on May 27, 1938, and was dis- charged as "improved" on August 25, 1938.*^^ She stayed in an apartment with Marion, and her separation from the rest of the family

apparently ended most of the difficulties.'^^ Subsequently, Jack Ruby's

783
parents were apparently reconciled, since their alien re^stration

forms, filed in late 1940, indicated that they both resided at Marion's

address^®

Fannie Ru'benstein was admitted to Michael Reese Hospital on

April 4, 1944, as a result of a heart ailment. Her condition was complicated by an attack of pneumonia and she died at the hospital on

April 11, 1944.^^ Hyman testified that, perhaps because she favored

the education of her children and they recognized her difficulties in rearing them during a turbulent marriage, they all remembered Mrs.

Rubenstein with warmth and affection.^^ The evidence also indicates

that Jack, notwithstanding his earlier attitudes, became especially

fond of his mother.®^ Following his wife's death, Joseph Rubenstein

stayed with the children in Chicago, where he died at the age of 87, on December 24, 1958.®^ Education

Records provided by the Chicago Board of Education revealed

that Jack Ruby attended Smyth Grammar School from October 24,

1916, through the 1920-21 term, completing kindergarten to grade

4B.^ He repeated the third grade.*^ During the 1921-22 school year

Jack finished the fourth grade at the Clarke School; he attended

Schley School for the 1924-25 term, when he completed the sixth

grade. Ruby's relationship with the Institute for Juvenile Research

and the Jewish Home Finding Society may explain the lack of aca- demic records for the 1922-23 and 1923-24 school years. T^Hiile there

is some micertainty about Ruby's education subsequent to September

1925,^^ it seems likely that he completed the eighth grade in 1927,

when he was 16. Although Jack Ruby and others have stated that

he attended at least 1 year of high school,®^ the Chicago Board of

Education could not locate any record of Ruby's attending Chicago

high schools.^^ Considering the absence of academic records and

Jack's apathetic attitude toward school,^® the Commission deems it unlikely that his education extended into high school.

Records of the Institute for Juvenile Research revealed that, as of

June 1922, Ruby had no religious education outside the public school

system.^*^ However, according to their children. Jack's parents made

some effort to inculcate in them a desire to adhere to the tenets of

Orthodox Judaism. Jewish dietary and festival laws were observed

and several of the children accompanied Joseph Rubenstein to the

synagogue.®^ Earl Ruby stated that all the boys received some Hebrew school training until the breakup of the Rubenstein home in

1921.^2 However, Hyman Rubenstein testified that the instability and

economic necessities of the household and the children's relationships

outside the home frustrated the religious efforts of Ruby's parents.®^

Activities

Born in a home that disintegrated when he was 10 and boasting no

substantial educational background. Jack Ruby early found himself

784

I
on Chicago Greets attempting to provide for himself and other members of his family. An avid sports fan, he, together with many of

his friends, "scalped" tickets to various sporting events.^* He also

sold numerous novelty items and knickknacks, particularly those con- nected with professional and collegiate athletics. Even in his youth,

Euby declined to work on a steady basis for someone else.^^ According to his brother Hyman, Jack Ruby's only legal difficulty as a youth resulted from an altercation with a policeman about ticket

scalping. Hyman, then active in local politics, was able to have

charges arising out of the incident dropped.^^ Ruby has indicated

that during the depression he served a short jail sentence for the unauthorized sale of copyrighted sheet music.^^

The only other member of the Rubenstein family who appears to have had any difficulty with the law while a youth was Hyman. On

May 1, 1916, Chicago's juvenile court declared Hyman incorrigible, a term covering a wide range of misbehavior. Because of the absence

of informative court records and the lapse of time, the misconduct

that occasioned this proceeding could not be ascertained, but Hyman

is not known to have encountered subsequent difficulty.^^ Some of

Ruby's childhood friends eventually became criminals ;^^ however,

Hyman Rubenstein, his sister Mrs. Eva Grant, and virtually all of

Ruby's friends and acquaintances who were questioned reported that

he was not involved with Chicago's criminal element.^^^

The evidence indicates that young Jack was not interested in politi- cal affairs.^^^ H3rman was the only Rubenstein to participate actively

in politics. Sponsored by various political officials, he became a sidewalk inspector and warehouse investigator for 8 years. On one occasion, he obtained a permit for Jack to sell novelties from a pushcart

located in a business district during the pre-Christmas buying rush.

Eventually the complaints of enraged businessmen led licensing authorities to declare that a mistake had been made and to revoke Ruby's

permit.^^2

Temperament

The evidence reveals striking differences of opinion among childhood friends and acquaintances of Jack Ruby about whether he possessed violent tendencies. Many persons stated that he was mild

mannered, quiet, and even tempered.^'^^ Former welterweight champion Barney Ross, whom Jack Ruby idolized from the inception of

his boxing career,^°* stated that Ruby was "well behaved," was never

a troublemaker, and was never involved with law-enforcement agencies.^°^ Another friend, who became a successful businessman on the

west coast, said that, as a youth. Ruby never started fights even though

he was adept with his fists.^°^ Other friends declared that he would,

if at all possible, avoid clashes.^^^ But many other friends and acquaintances recalled that he had a hot temper and was quickly moved to violent acts or words.^^^ One

friend explained that in the "tough" Chicago neighborhood where

they lived, self-defense was vitally important and added that Ruby

785
was fully capable of defending himself.^ ^^ Another friend described

Euby as quick tempered and, tliough unlikely to pick fights, willing

to accept any challenge without regard to the odds against him.^^®

Young Jack also interfered in fights, particularly when the person he was aiding appeared to be taking a severe beating or in a disadvantageous position.^^^ Others reported that he had the reputation of

being a good street brawler.^^^ One school friend recalled that when

Jack argued vehemently about sports, he occasionally used a stick or other available weapon. He reported, however, that after Kuby's

anger subsided, he reverted to his normal, likable character.^^^ From early childhood. Jack Ruby was called "Sparky" by those

who knew him.*^* According to his sister Eva Grant, the nickname

derived from the way Jack wobbled Avhen he walked. He was thought

to resemble the slow-moving horse called "Sparky" or "Sparkplug"

depicted in a contemporary comic strip. Mrs. Grant testified that her

brother became incensed when called "Sparky" and that from the

time he was about 8 years old he would strike anyone calling him by

that name.^^^ A childhood friend also recalled that Jack hated the

nickname and would fight when called by it.^^^ Mrs. Grant was unsure whether the nickname "Sparky" did not also result from his

quick reaction to the taunts of young friends.^^^ Hyman Rubenstein

thought that the nickname derived from Jack's speed, aggressiveness,

and quick thinldng. The many accounts of Ruby's lightninglike temper lend credence to the theory, widely held, that his nickname was

connected with his volatility .^^® YOUNG MANHOOD (1933-43)

San Francisco (1933-37)

Jack Ruby reported that in about 1933, he and several Chicago

friends went to Los Angeles and, shortly thereafter, to San Francisco."^ Although there is evidence that he stayed there until 1938,

1939, or 1940,120 j^^^by stated that he returned to Chicago in about

1937,121 and this appears to have been the case.^^s Eva Grant testified that Ruby went to the west coast because he believed employment

would be available there.i^^ Eva, who married Hyman Magid in Chicago in 1930,1^4 was divorced

in early 1934, and in about June of that year joined her brother Jack

in San Francisco. She and her son, Ronald, shared an apartment with

him. In 1936, Eva married Frank Granovsky, also known as Frank

Grant, in San Francisco, and Ruby shared a four-room apartment

with them and Ronald for a short while.i^^

Occupations and Activities

Ruby stated that when he and his friends arrived in Los Angeles,

they sold a handicapper's tip sheet for horseraces at Santa Anita race- 786
track which had just opened.^^^ Eva Grant testified that Ruby also

worked as a singing waiter in Los Angeles, but made very little money.^^^

TVHien the group moved to San Francisco, Ruby continued to sell "tip" sheets at Bay Meadows racetrack.^-^ Subsequently, he became

a door-to-door salesman of subscriptions to San Francisco newspapers.^^^ Although there is some evidence that he ultimately became

chief of his crew and had several people working under him,^^^ other

reports indicate that this is unlikely.^^^ Eva Grant testified that she

also sold newspaper subscriptions but Avas less proficient than her

brother and relied upon him for advice and support.^^^

Although virtually all his San Francisco acquaintances knew Jack

Ruby as "Sparky," ^^^ there is no evidence that he engaged in violent

activities in San Francisco or was reputed to possess a vicious temper.

One friend, who stated that he resided with Ruby and Eva for about

a year, described him as a "well-mannered, likable individual who

was soft spoken and meticulous in his dress and appearance." ^^^ Another friend described him as a "clean-cut, honest kid," ^^^ and the

manager of a crew with which Ruby worked stated that he had a good reputation and appeared to be an "honest, forthright person."

The crew manager reported that Ruby associated with a sports crowd, some of whose members were involved with professional boxing, but

not with criminals. He added that Ruby had a personal liking for

law enforcement and would have wanted to become a police officer had

he been larger physically .^^^ One friend reported that although Ruby always associated with

Jewish people, he never exhibited great interest in religion.^^^ Ruby

met Virginia Belasco, granddaughter of the prominent playwright

and actor, David Belasco, in about 1936 at a dance at the Jewish

community center in San Francisco. Miss Belasco stated that while

a teenager she saw Ruby socially on several occasions between 1936

and 1941.^^^ The only other evidence concerning Ruby's social activities while in San Francisco is his statement to his long-time girl

friend, Alice Nichols of Dallas,^^^ that while in San Francisco he met

the only other woman, Virginia Fitzgerald or Fitzsimmons, that he

ever considered marrying.^*°

Chicago (1937-43)

Jack Ruby stated that following his return to Chicago, he was

unemployed for a considerable period.^^^ However, when his mother was admitted to Elgin State Hospital in 1937,^*^ she reported that he was employed as a "traveling salesman" apparently living away from

home.^*^ Although there is conflicting evidence about his ability to earn a comfortable living,^^^ he apparently was able to maintain a normal existence ^^^ and required no financial assistance from his

family or friends. He continued to be a so-called "hustler," scalping

tickets and buying watches and other small items for resale at dis-
count prices.^*^ One of his closest Chicaf^o friends stated that Ruby's

sales and promotions were "shady" but "legitimate." ^^' Labor union activities.—Ruby reported that in "about 1937" he be- came active in Local 20467 of the Scrap Iron and Junk Handlers

Union.^*^ At this time, his friend, attorney Leon Cooke, was the

local's financial secretary.^^^ Records provided by the Social Security

Administration indicate that Ruby was employed by the union from

late 1937 until early 1940; ^^^ he worked as a union organizer and negotiated with employers on its behalf.^^^ On December 8, 1939, the union's president, John Martin, shot

Cooke, who died of gunshot wounds on January 5, 1940 ; Martin was

subsequently acquitted on the ground of self-defense.^^^ Although a Jack Rubenstein is mentioned in the minutes of a union meeting on February 2, 1940,^^^ and Ruby is reported to have said after Cooke's

death that he wanted to "take over" the union,^^* the evidence indicates

that Ruby was so upset by Cooke's death that he was unable to devote

himself further to union activities and left its employ.^^^ Ruby re- ported that after Cooke's death he adopted the middle name "Leon,"

which he used only infrequently, in memory of his friend.^^^ Since Ruby was the ultimate source of all but one of these accounts,^^^

other descriptions of Ruby's separation from the imion cannot with

certainty be deemed inaccurate. These reports indicated that Ruby

might have been forced out of the union by a criminal group, or might

have left because he lacked the emotional stability necessary for sucess- ful labor negotiations ^^^ or because he felt he was not earning enough

money with the union.^^° Although the AFL-CIO investigated the ethical practices of local 20467 in 1956, placed the local in trusteeship, and suspended Paul

Dorfman, who succeeded Martin and Cooke, there is no evidence that

Ruby's union activities were connected with Chicago's criminal ele- ment.^®^ Several longtime members of the union reported that it had

a good reputation when Ruby was affiliated with it ^^^ and employers

who negotiated with it have given no indication that it had criminal

connections.^^^

Subsequent employment.—In 1941, Ruby and Harry Epstein or- ganized the Spartan Novelty Co., a small firm that sold in various

northeastern States small cedar chests containing candy and gambling

devices known as punchboards.^^* Earl Ruby and two of Jack Ruby's

friends, Martin Gimpel and Martin Shargol, were also associated in

this venture. The group had no fixed addresses, living in hotels.^^ Late in 1941, Jack Ruby returned to Chicago, where he continued

his punchboard business through the mails.^^° Following the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, he and several friends decided

to design and sell plaques commemorating the Day of Infamy. However, the venture was impeded by Ruby's perfectionistic approach to details of design which resulted in numerous production delays.^^^

By the time Ruby's copyrighted plaque ^^^ was finally ready for sale, the market was flooded with similar iteins.^^^ At about this time,

788
Ruby also sold busts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.^^^ In late 1942

and 1943, Ruby was employed by the Globe Auto Glass Co.^^^ and

Universal Sales Co.^^^ Although one of Ruby's acquaintances at this time described him as a cuckoo nut on the subject of patriotism,^^^ the evidence does not

indicate that Ruby's promotion of "Remember Pearl Harbor" plaques

and Roosevelt busts was motivated by patriotic or political considerations. Rather, the sale of these items was, to Ruby, just another

commercial venture, but he might also have considered these sales "a good thing." ^^* Numerous friends reported that Ruby had no

interest in political affairs during this period,^''^ although he greatly

admired President Roosevelt.^^^ Other activities.—The evidence indicates that Ruby led a normal

social life during these years. Virginia Belasco stated that while

Ruby was selling punchboards in New York during November 1941,

he entertained her each weekend.^^^ Other reports indicate that Ruby

fancied himself a "ladies' man," enjoyed dancing, almost always had

female accompaniment and was "very gentlemanly" with women.^^^

Ruby, with several friends, frequently attempted to disrupt rallies of the German-American Bund.^^^ One acquaintance reported that

Ruby was responsible for "cracking a few heads" of Bund members.^^° Apparently he joined in this activity for ethnic rather than political reasons. The young men in the group were not organized adherents

of any particular political creed, but were poolhall and tavern companions from Ruby's Jewish neighborhood who gathered on the spur

of the moment to present opposition when they learned that the proNazi and anti-Semitic Bund movement was planning a meeting.^^^

Hyman Rubenstein testified that Ruby would fight with any person

making derogatory comments about his ethnic origins, and others

have stated that Ruby would fight with anyone he suspected of proNazi or anti-Semitic tendencies.^^^

During this period Ruby, though temperamental, apparently en- gaged in no unusual acts of violence. However, he did interfere on

several occasions when he thought someone was treated unfairly. A

friend who described Ruby as "somewhat overbearing regarding the

rights and feelings of others," reported that Ruby fought two college

students who insulted a Negro piano player.^^^ Another friend re- ported that Ruby had a "bitter" fight with a man who was abusing an older woman.^^^

Maintaining his friendship with Barney Ross, and still an ardent

sports fan. Ruby associated with various figures in the boxing world

and regularly attended the fights at Marigold Gardens.^^^ He fre- quented the Lawndale Poolroom and Restaurant, a rallying point for

the anti-Bundists and chief "hangout" of many of Ruby's friends.^^®

In addition. Ruby, described as a "health nut" ^^^ who earnestly con- tended that he could hit harder than Joe Louis,^^ exercised at several

athletic clubs.^^^ Despite Ruby's participation in "shady" financial enterprises, his

association with a labor union subsequently disciplined by the AFL789
CIO, liis participation in violent anti-Bund activities, and liis connection with a poolroom, the evidence falls shoit of demonstrating that

Ruby was significantly affiliated with organized crime in Chicago.

Virtually all of Ruby's Chicago friends stated he had no close con- nection with organized crime.^^° In addition, unreliable as their

reports may be, several known Chicago criminals have denied any

such liaison.^^^ The Commission finds it difficult to attach credence

to a newspaper reporter's contrary statement that his undisclosed

"syndicate sources" revealed Ruby was connected with organized

crime and confidence games.^^- Ruby was unquestionably familiar,

if not friendly, with some Chicago criminals,^^^ but there is no evidence

that he ever participated in organized criminal activity.

MILITARY ACTIVITIES (1943-46)

In September 1941, Jack Ruby was apparently classified 1-A ^^^ and declared eligible for the draft. Subsequently he appeared before

a local board and was reclassified 1-H or 3-A.^^^ Between August

31, 1941, and November 19, 1942, when it was abolished, the 1-H

classification applied to registrants who had reached their 28th birthday and were, therefore, no longer liable for service.^^*^ The 3-A

deferment applies to persons whose entry into military service presents

financial hardship to dependents. Because of the length of time

involved and the destruction of local draft board records, Ruby's

precise status or the reason for his deferment could not be ascer- tained.^^^ According to one somewhat unreliable report. Ruby, immediately prior to his physical examination, feigned a hearing disability

and occasionally wore a hearing aid.^^^ Hyman Rubenstein, who testi- fied that Jack was deferred because of economic liardsliip since he was

"the only one home," specifically denied the truthfulness of this alle- gation.^^^ Early in 1943, Ruby was again classified 1-A, and, following an unsuccessful appearance before his appeal board, he was

inducted into the U.S. Army Air Forces on May 21, 1943.^^ Jack was

the last of the Rubenstein brothei^ to enter the service. Previouslv,

Earl had enlisted in the Navy, Sam was in Army Air Force Intelli- gence and Hyman was in the field artillery. ^^^ Except for 5 weeks in Farmingdale, X.Y., Ruby spent his military

days at various airbases in the South.^°^ He received the basic training given all recruits and advanced training as an aircraft mechanic.^°^ On August 2, 1943, he passed marksmanship tests with the .30 caliber

carbine and the .45 caliber submachinegun, but failed with the .30 caliber rifle. On February 10, 1944, he earned a sharpshooter's rating

for his firing of an Ml .30 caliber carbine. His character and effi- ciency ratings, when determined, were excellent.2°* After attaining

the rank of private first class and receiving the good conduct medal,

Ruby was honorably discharged on February 21, 1946.^^^ Two persons who recalled Ruby while he was in the Amiy Air Forces

asserted that he was extremely sensitive to insulting remarks about

790
Jews.-°^ When, during an argument, a sergeant called Kuby a "Jew

bastard," Euby reportedly attacked him and beat him with his fists.^^' There is conflicting evidence about the zeal with which Ruby per- formed his military duties. One associate indicated that Ruby, who

at 34 was the oldest in his group, always worked harder than the

others to prove that he could keep up with them.^^^ Another recalled,

by contrast, that Ruby had "no liking for work" and carefully avoided

situations requiring him to dirty his hands.^^® However, there is no

basis in the record for the inference that Ruby was in any way antiAmerican.

Ruby frequently expressed to some fellow soldiers his high re- gard for Franklin Delano Roosevelt.^^° Two independent sources reported that he cried openly when informed of Roosevelt's death

in April 1945.^^^ This did not indicate any sudden political interest,

however, since none of his known militarv^ associates reported such an

interest, and Ruby's admiration for President Roosevelt anteceded his

military days.^^^

While in service. Ruby is reported to have continued his promotional ventures. One person recalled that in 1944, Jack received

punchboards and chocolates from someone in Chicago and peddled

these items through the base to make extra money. This person also

indicated that Ruby enjoyed card and dice games in or near the

barracks.^^^

POSTWAR CHICAGO (1946-47)

Following his discharge from the Army Air Forces in February

1946, Jack Ruby returned to Chicago. He joined his three brothers,

who had previously been discharged from the service,^^^ in the Earl

Products Co. Earl Ruby testified that he was the sole investor in

the enterprise, but each brother received an equal ownership interest on his return from the service.^^^ The company manufactured and

sold small cedar chests and distributed punchboards.^^^ In addition,

it made aluminum salt and pepper shakers, key chains, bottle openers,

screwdrivers, and small hammers.^^^ Sam supervised the manufacturing end of the business, while Earl managed the office and advertising.2^^ Jack was in charge of sales, but the company was small and

he had no subordinates.^^^

Because insufficient profits led to frequent arguments, Hyman soon

left Earl Products.-^^ Jack, who stayed with the company through

most of 1947, had many disputes Avith his brothers because he insisted on selling the products of other companies, such as costume jewelry,

and he did not like traveling outside the Chicago area. Earl and

Sam finally purchased Jack's interest, paying him more than $14,000

in cash.221 Although there is some evidence to the contrary,222 it is unlikely

that Ruby was in the nightclub business in Chicago during the post- war period. Many who have reported this may have mistaken him

for Harry Rubenstein,^^ who was convicted of manslaughter and op791
erated several such establishments."* Xone of Jack Ruby's close friends or relatives indicated that lie was in the niglitclub business.

Following his return from the Army, Ruby was described as ready

to fight with any person who insulted Jews or the military.^^ Earl

Ruby testified that on one occasion in 1946, Jack returned from downtown Chicago with his suit covered with blood. He explained at that

time that he had fought Avith a person who had called him a ''dirty

Jew or something like that." "® Other evidence indicates that Ruby's personality was not substantially changed by his military experience. One person who met him in 1947, reported that Ruby was a "fashionable" dresser."^ He con- tinued to be described as soft spoken,^^^ although he was also known as hot-tempered.^^^ Ruby worked out regularly at an athletic club,^°

and one friend regarded him as a "Romeo," who was quite successful

in attracting young women.^^^

DALLAS (1947-63)

The Move to Dallas

During World War II, Ruby's sister, Eva Grant, visited Dallas.-^^ Ha\nng operated a restaurant on the west coast and considering it a lucrative business, she arranged, near the end of 1945, to lease a building under construction in Dallas, which she ran as a nightclub.^^ Part of the financing for this establishment, the Singapore

Supper Club, was provided by her brothers. Jack Ruby, who apparently obtained the money from Earl Products, sent $1,100 as a downpayment on the lease, Earl contributed about $1,500, and Hyman paid

for more than $2,000 worth of equipment.^^^ Before she opened the Singapore in 1947, Eva Grant engaged in the

sale of metal products.^^ In that year she met Paul Roland Jones,

who allegedly was seeking customers for iron pipe and whom she re- ferred to Hyman Rubenstein.^^^ Jones had, at about that time, been

convicted of attempting to bribe the newly elected sheriff of Dallas.^^^ On October 24, 1947, he was arrested for violating Federal narcotics

statutes.238 Jack Ruby had visited Dallas early in 1947 to help Eva

Grant manage the Singapore,^^ and 5 days after Jones* arrest, Jack

and Hyman Rubenstein were interrogated in Chicago by agents of

the Bureau of Narcotics.^*^ The brothers admitted knowing Jones but

denied awareness of his connection with narcotics. During the 2 years

in which Jones was appealing his conviction he and other criminals

frequented the Singapore Club, then operated by Jack Ruby.^^^

Intensive investigation to determine whether Jack Ruby was criminally or otherwise connected Avith Jones' narcotics violation leads the

Commission to conclude Ruby probably was not involved.^"^- A search

of the files of the Bureau of Narcotics disclosed no record that either

Hyman or Jack had been prosecuted by Federal authorities in 1947.-^^ Jack, Hyman, and Eva denied participating in any narcotics activities. 792
Jones and his coconspirators also denied that Jack was a participant.^^ One of Jones' confederates reported after the shooting of

Oswald that although Jones "propositioned" the two brothers con- cerning narcotics, they refused to participate.^^ Moreover, when one

of the conspirators was arrested with 48 pounds of raw opium in his

possession, he implicated Jones and another person, both of whom were

convicted, but he did not implicate tJack Ruby or his brother.^*^ Late in 1947, Ruby established permanent residence in Dallas.-*^ Shortly after shooting Oswald, Ruby stated that he returned to Dallas

at Eva Grant's request, to help her operate the Singapore Supper

Club.2*^ However, on December 21, 1963, he reported that although as- sociation with his sister had been the purpose of his initial visit to Dallas, he returned there because of the failure of his "merchandising

deals" in Chicago.^*® These factors, in conjunction with his separation

from Earl Products,^^^ probably motivated Ruby's move to Dallas.

A different reason has been given by Steve Guthrie, former sheriff of

Dallas. Guthrie reported that shortly after his election as sheriff in July 1946, Paul Roland Jones, representing other Cliicago criminals, offered him a substantial amount of money to permit them to move in and manage illegal activities in Dallas. Although he never met Ruby, Guthrie asserted that these criminals frequently mentioned

that Ruby would operate a "fabulous" restaurant as a front for

gambling activities.^^^ Despite its source, the Commission finds it difficult to accept this

report. A member of the Dallas Police Department, Lt. George E.

Butler, who was present during virtually all the conversations between Guthrie and Jones and who performed considerable investigative work on the case, stated that Ruby was not involved in the

bribery attempt and that he had not heard of Ruby until the investigation and trial of Jones had been completed. He explained that

Ruby's connection with the case stemmed from the fact that, as mentioned previously, Jones and other criminals frequented the Singapore

Supper Club.2^^ And 22 recordings of the conversations between

Guthrie, Butler, and Jones not only fail to mention Ruby, but indicate

that Jones was to bring from outside the Dallas area only one confederate, who was not to be Jewish.^'^

The Change of Name

Sometime in 1947, Jack Ruby's brothers Earl and Sam, pursuant to a joint understanding, legally changed their names from Rubenstein

to Ruby.2^* Earl testified that he changed his name because eA^eryone

called him Ruby and because a former employer advised him that it was preferable, not to use a "Jewish name" on mail orders for Earl

Products.2^^

On December 30, 1947, elack changed his name to Jack L. Ruby

by securing a decree from the 68th Judicial District Court of Dallas.

His petition alleged that he sought the change because the name Rubenstein was misunderstood and too long and because he was "well

^ 793

730-900 0-64—52
known" as Jack L. Ruby.^"^*^ TJie Bureau of Narcotics report of his

relationship with Paul Roland Jones indicates that as of October 29,

1947, Jack was known as Ruby ; '^^'^ however, several persons in Dallas

knew him as Rubenstein.^^^

Nightclub Operations

Except for a brief period in about 1953, when Ruby managed the

Ervay Theater, a motion picture house,^^^ the operation of nightclubs

and clanoehalls was his primary source of income, and his basic interest in life during the 16 years he spent in Dallas prior to shooting Lee

Oswald. Wlien Ruby first arrived in Dallas in 1947, he and Eva Grant

jointly managed the Singapore Supper Club.^^" Shortly thereafter, she

returned to the west coast. Except for sporadic trips to Dallas, she

remained there until 1959, leaving Ruby a power of attomey.^^^ Ruby,

who had received $14,000 from the sale of his interest in Earl Products,^^^ invested a substantial amount in the club, which Mrs. Grant

described as "too nice a club for that part of town.'' ^^^ Ruby changed

the Singapore's name to the Silver Spur Club. It was operated primarily as a dancehall, serving beer to its patrons.^^* In about 1952,

Ruby borrowed $3,700 from a friend, Ralph Paul, to purchase the Bob

Wills Ranch House ^^^ with Martin Gimpel, a former associate in the

Spartan Novelty Co.^®® The Ranch House was run as a western-type

nightclub.26^

With two establishments to run. Ruby experienced substantial

financial reversals in 1952. He abandoned his interest in the Ranch

House and, on July 1, 1952, transferred the Silver Spur to Gimpel and

Willie Epstein, who assumed some of its debts.^®^ Disappointed by

these setbacks. Ruby stated that he had a "mental breakdown," and

"hibernated" in the Cotton Bowl Hotel in Dallas for 3 or 4 months,

declining to see his friends.^^^ Still depressed, he then returned to Chicago, apparently intending to remain there permanently.^^^ However, he stayed only 6 weeks. Gimpel and Epstein were anxious to be rid of the Silver Spur and Ruby once again became its owner.^^^

In 1953, Ruby obtained an interest in the Vegas Club, which he

operated with Joe Bonds until September 1953.^^^ At that time he

informed Irving Alkana, who had retained a prior ownership interest, that he was unable to meet his obligations with respect to the

club. Alkana then assumed management of the Vegas until June 19,

1954, when, following numerous disagreements with him, he sold Ruby

his interest.^^^ Ruby still .owned the Vegas Club at the time of his arrest on November 24, 1963. However, when Eva Grant returned from San Francisco in 1959, she assumed management of the club, receiving a salary

but no ownership interest.^^* The Vegas, which occasionally featured

striptease acts,^^^ employed a dance band and served beer, wine, soft

drinks, and some prepared foods.^^^ In 1954, Ruby's Vegas associate, Joe Bonds, was convicted of sodomy

and sent to a Texas penitentiary to serve an 8-year sentence.^'^ In 1955,

794
Ruby sold the Silver Spur to Roscoe "Rocky" Robinson; ho^yever,

Robinson could not obtain a license to operate the club and it was

subsequently closed.^^^ For a few months during this period, Ruby

also operated Hernando's Hideaway, but this venture proved

unsuccessful.2^^

Sam Ruby testified that shortly after he sold his interest in Earl

Products in mid-1955 and moved to Dallas, he loaned Jack $5,500 to enable him to pay Federal excise taxes on the Vegas. As secuiity for

the loan, Sam required Jack to execute a bill of sale of the Vegas.

Upon Jack's default in payment, Sam instituted suit, claiming that

he owned the Vegas and that Jack had breached his promise to repurchase it. The case was ultimately settled, with Jack retaining his

ownership interest in the club.^^^ In late 1959, Jack Ruby became a partner of Joe Slatin in establishing the Sovereign Club, a private club that was apparently per- mitted by Texas law to sell liquor to members.^^^ Since Slatin was

troubled about Dallas news stories describing police raids on a private

club that permitted gambling, he felt he needed more capital. ^^^ Ruby

invested about $6,000 which he borrowed from his brother Earl and

perhaps some of his own money.^^^

The Sovereign was described as a "plush" and exclusive club, and

Ruby was apparently very anxious to attract a wealthy "carriage"

trade.^^^ The venture was not successful, however. The two men

could not work together, and Slatin withdrew in early 1960.^^ Ruby

turned for new capital to Ralph Paul,^^^ who had operated a Dallas

club with Joe Bonds.^^^ Ruby still owed Paul $1,200 of the $3,700 loan

made in connection with the Bob Wills Ranch House, but Paul advanced him another $2,200, which allowed him to pay the Sovereign's

rent for 4 months. Subsequently, Ruby spontaneously gave Paul a stock certificate representing 50 percent of the equity of the corporation

owning the club. Ruby told Paul that if the venture failed, the

Sovereign's fixtures and other physical property would belono* to

Paul.28«^ Experiencing difficulty in recruiting sufficient membei-s. Ruby soon found himself again unable to pay the Sovereign's monthly rent of

$550. Again he turned to Paul, who loaned him $1,650 on the condition that he change-the club's method of operation. Paul insisted that

Ruby discontinue club memberships, even though this would preA^ent

the sale of liquor, and offer striptease shows as a substitute attraction.

Ruby agreed, and the Sovereign's name was changed to the Carousel

Club.2^^ It became one of three downtown Dallas burlesque clubs -"'' and served champagne, beer, "setups" and pizza, its only food.^^^ The

Carousel generally employed four strippers, a master of ceremonies, an assistant manager, a band, three or four waitresses, and a ]:>orter or handyman.292 ^^t receipts averaged about $5,000 per month,-^' most

of which was allocated to the club's payroll.^^^ Late in 1963. Ruby

began to distribute "permanent passes" to the Carousel : ^^'' however,

the cards were apparently designed solely for publicity and did not

affect the club's legal status. 795
Employee Relationships

Ruby's employees displayed a wide range of personal reactions to him. Those associated with Ruby lon<r enough to grow accustomed to his violent temper and constant threats of discharge generally portray

him sympathetically.^^^ They reported he was genuinely interested in their welfare and happiness. In addition, many former employees

stated that he was a pleasant or unobjectionable employer.^^^ There is also considerable evidence that Ruby tended to dominate his

employees, frequently resorted to violence in dealing with them, publicly embarrassed them,^^* sometimes attempted to cheat them of their

p.^y^299 ^j^^ delayed paying their salaries.^^ Other employees reported

Ruby continually harassed his help,^°^ and used obscene language in their presence.^^^ However he frequently apologized, sought to atone

for his many temper tantrums,^°^ and completely forgot others.^"* One of the many violent incidents that were reported took place in

1950, when Ruby struck an employee over the head with a blackjack.^^^

In 1951, after his guitarist, Willis Dickerson, told Ruby to "go to

hell," Ruby knocked Dickerson to the ground, then pinned him to a wall and kicked him in the groin. During the scuffle, Dickerson bit Ruby's finger so badly that the top half of Ruby's left index finger was amputated.^°® In approximately 1955, Ruby beat one of his

musicians with brass knuckles ; the musician's mouth required numerous stitches.^^^ During 1960, Ruby and two entertainers, Rreck Wall and Joe Peterson, entered into an agreement that the performers would produce and

star in a revue at the Sovereign in exchange for a 50-percent interest

in the club.^°^ After performing for 2 months, the entertainers complained that they had received neither a share of the profits nor

evidence of their proprietary interest. Ruby responded by hitting

Peterson in the mouth, knocking out a tooth. The two men left the

Sovereign's employ, but they subsequently accepted Ruby's apology

and resumed their friendship with him.^^

In September 1962, Frank Ferraro, the Carousel's handyman, be- came involved in a dispute at a nearby bar. Ruby told him not to get

into a fight, and Ferraro told Ruby to mind his own business. Ruby

then followed Ferraro to another club and beat him severely. Ferraro

required emergency hospital treatment for his eye, but he decided not

to press charges since Ruby paid for his hospital care.^^° In March

1963, during an argument about Avages, Ruby threatened to throw a cigarette girl down the stairs of the Carousel.^^^

Ruby's relationship with his employees commanded much of his

attention during the months preceding the assassination. The Carousel's comparatively high turnover rate ^^- and Ruby's intense desire to succeed ^^^ required him to meet numerous prospective employees,

patrons, and other persons who might help improve his business.

Ruby frequently encountered difficulties with the American Guild of

Variety Artists (AGVA), the union which represented Carousel en- tertainers.^" For several years, starting in about 1961, he unsuccess- 796
fully sought modification of AGVA's policy permitting "amateur"

strippers,^^^ inexperienced girls paid less than union-scale wages,^^^

to perform at union houses. Ruby apparently believed his two competitors, the Weinstein brothers, were scheduling amateur shows in a manner calculated to destroy his business.^^^ Ruby's discontent with

AGYA grew particularly acute during the late summer and early fall of 1963 when, in addition to meeting with AGVA officials,^^^ he called

upon several acquaintances, including known criminals, who, he

thought, could influence AGVA on his behalf.^^^ Other problems with

AGVA arose because of his policy of continuous shows, which did not

give masters of ceremonies enough time off,^^^ and his alleged use of

AGVA members to mingle with patrons to promote the consumption

of liquor.^2^ In June 1963, Ruby visited New Orleans, where he obtained the

services of a stripper known as "Jada," ^^^ who became his featured

performer.^2^ Jada and Ruby had numerous contract disputes and

he was concerned about her high salary, recurrent absenteeism, and

diminishing drawing power.^^* Moreover, he thought that Jada had

deliberately exceeded even the Carousel's liberal standards of decency

in order to cause him to lose his license or to obtain publicity for herself.^^^ On several occasions Ruby excitedly turned off the spotlights

during her act, and at the end of October 1963^ he fired her.^^^ However, after Jada sued out a peace bond, she apparently recovered a week's salary from Ruby.^^?

In addition to problems with its star stripper, the Carousel was

required to employ three masters of ceremonies in rapid succession

following the departure in about September 1963, of Wally Weston,

who worked there about 15 months.^^^ And in early November, the

band that had played at the Vegas Club for about 8 years left the

Vegas to accept the offer of another Dallas clulb.^^^ Financial Data and Tax Problems

Jack Ruby's pockets and the trunk of his car served as his bank.

With a few exceptions. Ruby and his clubs rarely employed bank

accounts.^^^ Instead, Ruby carried his cash with him, paying the

bulk of his expenses and debts directly out of club receipts.^^

During the latter half of 1963, the Carousel, the Vegas, and Ruby

each maintained checking accounts at the Merchants State Bank in

Dallas. Balances of the latter two accounts never exceeded $275. In

July 1963, the Carousel's account had more than $500 ; after August 8, its maximum balance was less than $300. Between May 31 and November 24, 1963, 53 checks were drawn on the three accounts ; with the

exception of one check for $129.47, all were for less than $100.^^ jje

generally purchased cashier's checks at the Merchants State Bank to pay his monthly rental of $550 for the Carousel and $500 for the

Vegas.^^^ He also purchased cashier's checks during the 3 months prior

to the assassination to pay about $1,500 to the Texas State treasurer,

$110 to Temple Shearith Israel, apparently for Jewish high holy day

tickets, and $60 to the American Society of Authors and Publishers.^^*

797
Kecords of the more than 50 banking institutions checked during

the investigation of Kuby's financial affairs^ revealed that he had

three other dormant accounts, all Avith small balances.^^® Two safety

deposit boxes belonging to Ruby, opened by Texas officials pursuant

to search warrants, were empty and unused for more than a year prior

to the assassination.^^ Although Ruby negotiated several loans at the Merchants State Bank,^^ there is no evidence that he was the

maker or co-maker of other loans,^^ and, after investigation, the

Dallas Police Department found no record that Ruby cosigned the

note of any policeman at any time.^^° Ruby's financial records were chaotic. One accountant abandoned

efforts to prepare income tax returns and other financial state- ments because of the hopeless disarray of Ruby's data.^*^ The

record indicates that Ruby was frequently weeks, if not months, late in filing Federal tax forms and that he held numerous conferences

with Internal Revenue agents who attempted to obtain the delinquent

stiatements.^^

Ruby encountered serious difficulties with respect to State franchise

and Federal excise and income taxes. The Texas charter of the cor- poration (controlling the Sovereign and Carousel clubs was canceled

in 1961, because Ruby failed to pay Texas franchise taxes.^^ And,

only after numerous conferences, did Ruby and representatives of

the Internal Revenue Service reach agreements on installment payments of various Federal tax liabilities, to which Ruby more or less adhered.^^

Ruby's primary difficulty concerned Federal excise taxes. Advised

by an attorney that the Vegas Club, a dance hall providing food, was

not subject to Federal excise taxes because it was not a "cabaret,"

Ruby charged Vegas patrons on the assumption that no excise taxes were due. However, his attorney reported, when Federal courts ruled

that dance halls providing "incidental'' food were subject to excise taxes as "cabarets," ^^^ Ruby became liable to the Federal Government

for more than 6 years of taxes, amounting, with interest, to almost

exactly $40,000.^

Ruby also fell behind on his personal income tax payments. At the

time of his arrest he owed more than $4,400 for 1959 and 1960.^^^ Remittances accompanied his 1961 and 1962 tax forms, the latter received by the office of the Dallas District Director on September 18,

1963.^ The following table summarizes amounts which Ruby re- ported as gross and net income from the Vegas Club from 1956 to 1962 ; and the taxes due

:

349 Year Gross income Net income Tax

1962 $41, 462. 77 $5, 619. 65 ' $1, 217. 75 1961 40,411.00 6,255.29 ^1,200.00

1960 44,482.41 9,703.90 2,221.39

1959___ 50, 981. 95 14. 060. 86 3, 778. 17 1958 37,755.65 3,274.64 586.52 1957 33,671.60 2,619.52 438.41 1956 30,695.27 7,437.01 1,527.10

1 Estimated. 798
On his income tax forms, Ruby did not itemize personal deductions

and claimed only his own exemption. For 1962, Ruby reported salary

income of $650 from the corporation controlling the Carousel, and

$900 for 1961.3^0 Ruby and officers of the Internal Revenue Service frequently dis- cussed methods of satisfying his large excise and income tax liability.^^^ In 1960, the Government filed tax liens for more than

$20,000,352 In November 1962, the Government rejected Ruby's offer to pay $8,000 to compromise the assessed taxes of more than $20,000

because he had not filed returns for other Federal taxes and had not

paid these taxes as they became due. These other taxes, for the

period September 1959 through June 1962, amounted to an additional

$20,000,352 In June 1963, Ruby submitted an offer of $3,000 to compromise all past assessments ; the offer was not acted upon prior to November 24, 1963.354 Other Business Ventures

In addition to nightclub management and ownership. Ruby participated in numerous other commercial ventures. He was able to do so primarily because work at the clubs consumed few of his daytime

hours. Many of Ruby's ventures related to show business, others were somewhat speculative promotions; almost all ended unsuccessfully.

While operating the Silver Spur Club, Ruby sold costume jewelry

at discount rates,^^^ and, in about 1951, he sold sewing machine attachments at the Texas State Fair.^^^ Approxim^ely a year later, he

managed a talented yomig Negro boy, "Little Daddy" Nelson. The

boy appeared at the Silver Spur, the Vegas Club, and the Bob Wills

Ranch House. In about 1953 or 1954, Ruby took "Little Daddy" and

his parents to Chicago to obtain a television appearance for him. However, shortly after their arrival. Ruby was confronted by a second

woman claiming to be "Little Daddy's" mother. Upon advice of

counsel, Ruby decided to abandon the venture.^^^ In 1954, Ruby became interested in the sale of pizza crusts to Dallas

restaurants.35« He is also reported to have sold an arthritic preparation 359 and to have manufactured and sold "Miniron," a liquid vitamin

formula.3^0 In about 1958 or 1959, Ruby attempted to build and sell log cabins at a Texas lake resoii:.3^^ In early 1959, he investigated the

possibility of selling jeeps to Cuba.362 He is also reported to have furnished entertainment for a Dallas hotel,3^3 ^^ have promoted records

for musicians ^^^ and to have sold English stainless steel razor blades.3^

In October 1963 Ruby assisted the producers of a carnival show,

"How Hollywood Makes Movies," appearing at the Texas State

Fair.^^® At about this time Ruby also sought to open a new club in

Dallas. He conferred with numerous persons and placed advertisements in Dallas newspapers in an attempt to obtain financial backjj^g 367 Assuming that he would be occupied by the new club. Ruby of- fered his oldest Jbrother, Hyman, a managerial post at the Carousel.

However, Hyman, who had recently lost his sales territory, declined

the offer because he felt he was too old for the nightclub business.3^^ 799
Ruby unsuccessfully attempted to sell "tAvistboards," an exercising

device consisting of two square fiberboards separated by ball bearings.

Despite the contrary advice of his brother Earl,^^ Jack ordered several

dozen twistboards and had 2,000 promotional flyers published.^^^ He

had one of his strippers demonstrate the twistboards at the Texas

Products Show during the first week of November 1963.^^^

Arrests and Violations

Between 1949 and November 24, 1963, Ruby was arrested eight times

by the Dallas Police Department. The dates, charges, and dispositions of these arrests are as follows: ^^^ February 4, 1949, Ruby paid

a $10 fine for disturbing the peace. July 26, 1953, Ruby was suspected

of carrying a concealed weapon ; however, no charges were filed and

Ruby Avas released on the same day. May 1, 1954, Ruby Avas arrested

for allegedly carrying a concealed Aveapon and violating a peace bond

:

again no charges Avere filed and Ruby was released on the same day.

December 5, 1954, Ruby Avas arrested for allegedly \^iolating State

liquor laws by selling liquor after hours ; the complaint Avas dismissed on February 8, 1955.^'^ June 21, 1959, Ruby Avas arrested for allegedly

permitting dancing after hours ; the complaint Ava^ dismissed on July

8, 1959. August 21, 1960, Ruby was again arrested for allegedly

permitting dancing after hours; Ruby posted $25 bond and was re- leased on that date. February 12, 1963, Ruby Avas arrested on a charge

of simple assault ; he was found not guilty February 27, 1963. Finally, on March 14, 1963, Ruby Avas arrested for allegedly ignoring traffic summonses ; a $35 bond was posted.

T\nien Ruby applied for a beer license in March 1961, he reported

that he had been arrested "about four or five times" between 1947 and

1953.374 BetAveen 1950 and 1963, he received 20 tickets for motor

vehicle violations, paying four $10 fines and three of $3.^^^ In 1956

and 1959, Ruby Avas placed on 6 months' probation as a traffic violator.

Ruby was also frequently suspended by the Texas Liquor Control

Board. In August 1949, when he Avas operating the Silver Spur, he was suspended for 5 days on a charge of "Agents—Moral Turpitude."

In 1953 Ruby receiA^ed a 5-day suspension because of an obscene show,

and, in 1954, a 10-day suspension for alloAving a drunkard on his

premises.^7® On February 18, 1954, he Avas suspended for 5 days be- cause of an obscene striptease act at the Silver Spur and for the

consumption of alcoholic bcA^erages durino- prohibited hours.^^'' On

March 26, 1956, Ruby Avas suspended by the liquor board for 3 days

because seA^eral of his checks were dishonored.^^^ On October 23, 1961,

he received another 3-day suspension because an agent solicited the

sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on licensed premises.^^^

Police Associations

Although the precise nature of his relationship to members of the

Dallas Police Department is not susceptible of conclusive evaluation,

800
the evidence indicates that Ruby was keenly interested in policemen

and their work.^^^ Jesse Curry, chief of the Dallas Police Department, testified that no more than 25 to 50 of Dallas' almost 1,200

policemen were acquainted with Rubv.^^^ However, the reports of

present and past members of the Dallas Police Department as well as Ruby's employees and acquaintances indicate that Ruby's police

friendships were far more widespread than those of the average

citizen. ^^2 There is no credible evidence that Ruby sou<rht special favors from

police officers or attempted to bribe them.^®^ Although there is considerable evidence that Ruby o^ave policemen reduced rates,^^* declined

to exact any cover charo:e from them,^^^ and o^ave them free coffee and soft drinks, ^^^ this hospitality was not unusual for a Dallas nightclub operator.*^^^ Ruby's personal attachment to police officers

is demonstrated by reports that he attended the funeral of at least one policeman killed in action and starred a l^enefit performance for the

widow of another.^^^ Ruby regarded several officers as personal

friends, and others had worked for him.^^^ Finally, at least one policeman regularly dated, and eventually married, one of the Carousel's

strippers.^^

Underworld Ties

From the time that Ruby arrived in Dallas in 1947, he was friendly

with numerous underworld figures. One of his earliest Dallas ac- quaintances was Paul Roland Jones, who was convicted of attempting

to bribe the sheriff of Dallas and engaging in the sale of narcotics."^^^ Joe Bonds, one of Ruby's partners in the Vegas Club, had a criminal

record.-"^^^ Ruby, who enjoyed card playing ^^^ and horse racing,^^^ was friendly

with several professional gamblers. In 1959, he visited Cuba at the in- vitation and expense of Lewis McWillie, a professional gambler.^*^^

Alice Nichols reported that Rubv's refusal to give up gambling was

one reason why she never seriously considered marrvnng him.^^ '\^^ien

Sidney Seidband, a Dallas gambler, was arrested in Oklahoma City, his

list of gambling acquaintances included Jack Ruby.^^ And other

friends of Ruby have been identified as gamblers.^^ Finally, two per- sons of questionable reliability have reported that Ruby's consent was

necessary before gambling or narcotics operations could be launched

in Dallas.^

Based on its evaluation of the record, however, the Commission

believes that the evidence does not establish a significant link between

Ruby and organized crime. Both State and Federal officials have

indicated that Ruby was not affiliated with organized criminal activity.*°° And numerous persons have reported that Ruby was not con- nected with such activity.^°^ Travels

Despite reports that Ruby visited Havana, Las Vegas, Xew York,

Chicago, Honolulu, and Mexican border towns, most of his time subse801
quent to 1947 was spent in Dallas. Some of his travels, inoliulinir his

efforts in behalf of "Little Daddy" Nelson and his visit to New Orleans

in June 1963 have been discussed.^^ j^^^i^y stated that he went to Chicago in 1952, in 1958 when his father died, and in Au^st 1968 when he

met members of his family at O'Hare International Airport while en

route from New York to Dallas.^^^ His Au^ist trip to New York

motivated by his difficulties with the American Guild of Variety

Artists and his desire to obtain talent, has been completely e^stablished

by hotel records.^^^ Early in 1963 Ruby also traveled to Wichita,

Kans., because of his interest in stripper Gail Raven,^^^ and on May 25,

1963, he apparently re<ristered in an Oklahoma motel.^°® Although Ruby denies being in Las Vegas after 1937,^^ there are unsupported rumors that he was in that city in late 1962,*°^ and the

early part of November 1963.^^ Reports that he was in Las Vegas

during the weekend prior to the assassination ^^° appear similarly

unfounded.^^

There is some uncertainty about Ruby's trip to Havana, Cuba, in 1959. The evidence indicates that he accepted an invitation from

gambler Lewis J. McWillie, who subsequently became a violent antiCastroite, to visit Havana at McWillie's expense.^^^ Ruby apparently

met McWillie in about 1950, Avhen McWillie operated a Dallas nightclub."^ McWillie, whom Ruby said he idolized,^^^ supervised gambling activities at Havana's Tropicana Hotel in 1959 and later was employed in a managerial capacity in a Las Vegas gambling establishment."^ Ruby testified that he went to Havana for 8 days in August

1959 and left because he was not interested in its gambling activities."® McWillie corroborated this story except that he stated only that Ruby

visited Havana "sometime in 1959." ^^^ Three Chicagoans reported

seeing Ruby in Havana during the Labor Day weekend in 1959."^

Meyer Panitz, an acquaintance of McWillie, reported that when he

met Ruby in Miami during the "summer of 1959" Ruby stated that he was returning from a pleasure trip to Cuba."^ The theory that the

trip to Havana had conspiratorial implications is discussed in chapter

VI. There is no reliable evidence that Ruby went to Havana subsequent to September 1959.^20 Although Ruby denied ever being in Hawaii,*^^ there is some evi- dence that during the summer of 1961 he was in Honolulu seeking

dancing talent.*^^ While it is unlikely that Ruby would forget a trip to Honolulu in 1961, there is no other indication that such a trip, if

it occurred, had any sinister motives.

CHARACTER AND INTERESTS

Family Relationships

As mentioned previously,^^^ Eva Grant was the only member of the

family living in Dallas when Ruby returned to that city in late 1947. In 1948, she returned to the west coast, visiting Dallas sporadically

802
until 1959, when she assumed management of the Vegas.*^* Despite

their recurring arguments, during which they sonjetimes came to

blows,*^^ Ruby was closer to Eva than any of his brothers or sisters. In the summer of 1963, Eva complained bitterly to Ruby because he

gave a friend about $800 instead of paying Vegas Club bills. Eva,

citing her poor health, stated that she should be hospitalized. Ruby

rejoined that he had provided her money to enter a hospital. He

then shoved, her, causing her to fall back about 8 feet and hurt her arm and shoulder. At this point Ruby insisted he wanted her to leave the Vegas Club.^^e Ruby frequently told Eva to submit to an operation and in early

November 1963 she consented. She was hospitalized for a week, leaving about November 13.^^7 ^hile she was in the hospital. Jack called

Earl and Sam, requesting them to convey their concern to Eva.^^ According to Eva, Jack visited her at the hospital two or three times a day. He kept in constant touch with her throughout the weekend of

November 22.^^9 Sam Ruby moved to Dallas from Chicago in July 1955, after sell- ing his interest in the Earl Products Co.*^° His son's asthma and

Eva's suggestion that he work as a builder in Dallas prompted the

move.*^^ Apparently as a result of difficulties in collecting the $5,500

Sam loaned Jack in 1955 to pay Federal excise taxes, *^^ Jack and Sam

were never particularly close to each other. However, Sam entered

into a partnership in an unsuccessful ice cream business with Jack's

close friend, Ralph Paul.*^^ Jack visited Sam and his family oc- casionally, especially on Jewish holidays, and from time to time they

spoke to each other by telephone.^^^

Jack had sporadic contacts with his brother Earl, who remained in

Chicago until about 1960, when he moved to Detroit.*^^ The most

successful of the brothers. Earl often gave Jack business advice and

capital.*^^ He estimated, perhaps conservatively, that, when arrested.

Jack owed him $15,000.*^' The evidence also indicates that Jack borrowed at least $1,000, and probably more, from his sister Marion in

Chicago.*^*

Social Relationships

There have been statements that Ruby was a homosexual. The

available evidence does not support the allegation. There is no

evidence of homosexuality on his part; Ruby did not frequent

known gathering places for homosexuals,*^^ many of the reports were

inherently suspect or based upon questionable or inaccurate premises,**° and Ruby and most of his associates and employees denied

the charge.**^ All the allegations were based on hearsay or derive

from Ruby's lisp or a "feeling" that Ruby was a "sissy," seemed

"weird," acted effeminately, and sometimes spoke in a high-pitched

voice when angry.^^^ Some proceeded upon the erroneous theory that

Ruby did not date women.**^

For the better part of 11 years, Ruby dated Mrs. Alice Reaves

Nichols, a blonde divorcee, 4 years younger than he. Mrs. Nichols,

803
secretary to a Dallas life insurance company execiitive,^* testified that she saw Ruby twice a week between 1948 and 1956, and once a week from then until about 1959.**^ Ruby discussed marriage with

Mrs. Nichols,^*^ but Mrs. Nichols stated that while dating Ruby she was seeing other men and he was taking out other women.^^^ Although there are sharply conflicting reports about whether Ruby

dated women who worked for him,^^ the record indicates that Ruby

sought and enjoyed feminine company.*^^

Affection for Dogs

Ruby was extremely fond of dogs. Numerous persons stated that

he was constantly accompanied by several of the dogs he owned.*^'^ Testimony at Ruby's trial in March 1964 indicated that he referred to

his dogs as his "children." *^^ He also became extremely incensed

when he witnessed the maltreatment of any of his dogs.*^^

Religious Interests Reared in the Jewish faith, Jack Ruby was not especially devout.

Rabbi Hillel Silverman, whose conservative temple Ruby favored, re- ported that when Ruby's father died in 1958, Ruby came to services

twice daily for the prescribed period of 11 months to recite the traditional memorial prayer.*^^ Ruby normally attended services only on

the Jewish high holy days and he was quite unfamiliar with the

Hebrew language.^^

Ruby was apparently somewhat sensitive to his identity as a Jew.

He forbade his comedians to tell stories directed at Jews or Jewish

practices *^^ and, on several occasions after 1947, he fought with persons

making derogatory remarks about his ethnic origins.*^* The evidence

also indicates that he was deeply upset that an advertisement insulting

President Kennedy appeared above a Jewish-sounding name.*^^

Physical Activities and Violence

While in Dallas, Ruby continued attempts to keep in excellent

physical condition. He frequently exercised at the YMCA, the

Carousel, and his apartment, where he maintained a set of weights.*^*

Ruby was extremely concerned about his weight and health, including

his baldness,*^® and about his appearance in general.*^^

Ruby's concern for his physical well-being was partially motivated

by practical considerations, for he was his own unofficial club bouncer.

On about 15 occasions since 1950, he beat with his fists, pistol whipped,

or blackjacked patrons who became unruly.^^^ At other times, he

ejected troublesome customers without a beating,^^^ in many instances,

justifiably.^^ However, many people stated that he employed more force than necessary, particularly because he often ended a fracas

by throwing his victim down the stairs of the Carousel.*^^ 804
Besides acting- as a bouncer, Ruby on numerous other occasions

severely beat people who were not club patrons, usually employinoonly his fists. Several of these episodes have been discussed in con- nection with Ruby's relationship with his employees.^^^ In 1951, Ruby

attacked a man who had called him a "kike Jew" and knocked

out a tooth.*^^ At about that time Ruby is also reported to have

knocked a man down from behind and then to have kicked him in the

face.^^^ In about 1958, Ruby disamied a man who had drawn a gun

on him at the Vegas, beat him almost to death, put the gun back in the

man's pocket, and threw him down the stairs.^ In 1958, Ruby re- portedly knocked down a man at the Vegas who was 6'3" tall and weighed 230 pounds. Ruby was approximately 5'9" tall and

weighed about 175 pounds.^^'^ Ruby then made the man, who had

slapped his date, crawl out of the club.*^° In a fight at the Vegas,

reportedly witnessed by policemen. Ruby severely beat a heavyweight

boxer who had threatened him.*^^

During 1962, several violent episodes occurred. Ruby beat a man

who refused to pay admission or leave and then shoved him down the

stairs.^^^ He "jostled" a woman down the stairs of the Carousel and

struck her escort., who was "much smaller" than he.*" On one occasion.

Ruby picked up a man who was arguing with his date, knocked him to the floor, cursed him, and then removed him from the Vegas.*^* When

a cabdriver entered the Carousel and inquired about a patron who

had neglected to pay his fare. Ruby struck the cabdriver.*^^

In February 1963, Ruby badly beat Don Tabon, who had made

some remarks about Ruby's lady companion, injuring Tabon's eye.*^®

Ruby was acquitted of a charge of assault and Tabon sought no monetary relief because he believed Ruby financially incapable of satisfying any resulting judgment. A doctor who went to the Carousel

several times between August and November 1963, stated that on

each occasion Ruby ejected someone from the club.*^^ Buddy Turman, a prizefighter and Ruby's friend, stated that Ruby

"picked his shots." *^* According to Turman, a bouncer at the Vegas

for about a year. Ruby's victim was frequently drunk, female, or otherwise incapable of successfully resisting Ruby's attack. The evidence

indicates that, imlike his youthful escapades. Ruby was often malicious. He frequently felt contrite, however, when his anger had

passed or when his victim was an old acquaintance, and he would seek

to make amends for his violent temper.^^^ With two exceptions, there is no evidence that Ruby settled disputes

with firearms. Shortly before Joe Bonds' conviction in 1954, Ruby

is reported to have chased Bonds with a pistol.*^^ And, Larry Crafard

reported that about a week before the assassination. Ruby told him

to get Ruby's gun so that an AGVA official and former employee,

Earl Norman, could be ejected.*^^ Although Ruby did not often use

his gun, it was frequently accessible when he was carrying large

amounts of money.^^^ 805
Generosity to Friends and the Need for Recognition 1

'^^Hiile Ruby ofen flared up and acted aggressively, he seemed to calm down or forget his anger quickly, and there is also a great deal

of evidence that he was extremely generous to his friends. He loaned

money to them and apparently cared little whether the loans would

be repaid.*^^ He was quick to offer employment to persons desperately

in need of a job *^* and he lent considerable aid to persons seeking work

elsewhere.*^^ Moreover, when friends or new acquaintances had no

roof over their heads, Ruby's apartment was frequently theirs to

share.'**^ Ruby's unusual generosity may be explained in part by his extremely

emotional reaction to persons in distress, which may have resulted

from his firsthand familiarity with poverty, and by his imusual crav- ing to be recognized and relied upon.^^' Many of Ruby's acquaintances

described him as a "publicity hound,'' "glad hander." and "name

dropper," one always seeking to be the center of attention.^®^ Apparently the "egocentrism'' of his youth ^^ never left Ruby. Yet,

frequently he sought reassurance from persons he admired.^^^

806
APPENDIX XVII

Polygraph Examination of Jack Ruby

PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS

As early as December of 1963, Jack Ruby expressed his desire to be examined with a polygi^aph, truth serum, or any other scientific device which would test his veracity.^ The attorneys who defended

Ruby in the State criminal proceedings in Texas agreed that he should

take a polygraph examination to test any conspiratorial connection

between Ruby and Oswald.^ To obtain such a test, Ruby's defense

counsel filed motions in court and also requested that the FBI administer such an examination to Ruby.^ During the course of a psychiatric examination on May 11, 1964, Ruby is quoted as saying:

"I want to tell the truth. I want a polygraph * * *." * In addition, numerous letters were written to the President's Commission on behalf

of Ruby requesting a polygraph examination.^

When Ruby testified before the Commission in Dallas County Jail on June 7, 1964, his first words were a request for a lie detector test. The Commission hearing commenced with the following exchanges:

Mr. Jack Ruby. Without a lie detector test on my testimony,

my verbal statements to you, how do you know if I am telling

the truth?

Mr. ToNAHiLL [Defense Counsel]. Don't worry about that,

Jack.

Mr. Ruby. Just a minute, gentlemen.

Chief Justice Warren. You wanted to ask something, did you,

Mr. Ruby?

Mr. Ruby. I would like to be able to get a lie detector test or truth serum of what motivated me to do what I did at that particular time, and it seems as you get further into something, even though you know what you did, it ojDerates against you somehow,

brain washes you, that you are weak in what you want to tell the

truth about and what you want to say which is the truth.

Now Mr. Warren, I don't know if you got any confidence in

the lie detector test and the truth serum, and so on. Chief Justice Warrex. I can't tell you just how much confi- dence I have in it, because it depends so much on who is taking

it, and so forth.

But I will say this to you, that if you and your counsel want

any kind of test, I will arrange it for you. I would be glad to do that, if you want it. I wouldn't suggest a lie detector test to

testify the truth. We will treat you just the same as we do any other witness, but

if you want such a test, I will arrange for it. 807
Mr. EuBT. I do want it. Will you agree to that, Joe ? Mr. ToNAHiLL. I sure do, Jack.^

Throughout Euby's testimony before the Commission, he repeated his

request on numerous occasions that he be given an opportunity to take

a lie detector test.^ Ruby's insistence on taking a polygraph examination is reflected right to the end of the proceedings where in the very

last portion of the transcribed hearings Ruby states

:

Mr. Ruby. All I want to do is to tell the truth, and the only way

you can know it is by the polygraph, as that is the only way you

can know it. Chief Justice Warren. That we will do for you.^

Following Ruby's insistence on a polygraph test, the Commission

initiated arrangements to have the FBI conduct such an examination.^

A detailed set of questions was prepared for the polygraph examination, which was set for July 16, 1964.^^ A few days before the scheduled test, the Commission was informed that Ruby's sister, Eva Grant,

and his counsel, Joe H. Tonahill, opposed the polygraph on the ground

that psychiatric examinations showed that his mental state was such

that the test would be meaningless."

The Commission was advised that Sol Dann, a Detroit attorney rep- resenting the Ruby family, had informed the Dallas office of the FBI

on July 15, 1964, that a polygraph examination would affect Ruby's

health and would be of questionable value according to Dr. Emanuel

Tanay, a Detroit psychiatrist.^^ On that same date. Assistant Counsel

Arlen Specter discussed by telephone the polygraph examination with

Defense Comisel Joe H. Tonahill, who expressed his personal opinion

that a polygraph examination should be administered to Ruby.^^ By

letter dated July 15, 1964, Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade re- quested that the polygraph examination cover the issue of premeditation as well as the defensive theories in the case.^* Against this background, it was decided that a representative of the

Commission would travel to Dallas to determine whether Jack Ruby

wanted to take the polygraph test. Since Ruby had had frequent

changes in attorneys and because he was presumed to be sane, the final decision on the examination was his, especially in view of his prior

personal insistence on the test.^^ In the jury conference room at the

Dallas jail on July 18, Assistant Counsel Arlen Specter, representing

the Commission, informed Chief Defense Counsel Clayton Fowler, co- Counsel Tonahill and Assistant District Attorney William F. Alexander that the Commission was not insisting on or even requesting

that the test be taken, but was merely fulfilling its commitment to make

the examination available.^^ In the event Ruby had changed his mind

and would so state for the record, that would conclude the issue as far

as the Commission was concerned.^^

Chief Defense Counsel Fowler had objected to the test. He con- ferred with Jack Ruby in his cell and then returned stating that

808
Ruby insisted on taking the examination.^^ Mr. Fowler requested

that (1) Dr. Tanay, the Detroit psychiatrist, be present; (2) the

results of the test not be disclosed other than to the Commission;

(3) the questions to be asked not be disclosed to the District Attorney's office; and (4) the results of the test be made available to defense

counsel.^^ Sheriff William Decker announced his intention to have

Allan L. Sweatt, his chief criminal deputy who was also a polygraph

operator, present to maintain custody of Jack Ruby while the examination was being administered.^^ Assistant District Attorney Alexander requested a list of questions, a copy of the recording made by the

polygraph machine and a copy of the report interpreting the test.^^ In response to the numerous requests, the procedure was determined

that the questions to be asked of Euby would be discussed in a preliminary session in the presence of defense counsel, the assistant district

attorney and Chief Jailer E. L. Holman, who was to replace Sweatt.^^

The assistant district attorney would not be present when Ruby an- swered the questions, but Jailer Holman was allowed to remain to retain custody of Ruby.^^ No commitment was made on behalf of

the Commission as to what discliosure would be made of the results

of the examination.2* Since Dr. Tanay was not in Dallas and therefore could not be present,^^ arrangements were made to have in attend- ance Dr. William R. Beavers, a psychiatrist who had previously

examined and evaluated Ruby's mental state.^^ At the conclusion of the lengthy preliminary proceedings. Ruby

entered the jury conference room at 2:23 p.m. and was informed

that the Commission was prepared to fulfill its commitment to offer him a polygraph examination, but was not requesting the test.^'' On

behalf oi the Commission, Assistant Counsel Specter warned Ruby

that anything he said could be used against him.^^ Chief Defense

Counsel Fowler advised Ruby of his objections to the examination.^^

Ruby then stated that he wanted the polygraph examination con- ducted and that he wanted the results released to the public as promptly as possible.^^ Special Agent Bell P. Hemdon, polygraph

operator of the FBI, obtained a written "consent to interview with

polygraph" signed by Jack Ruby.^^ Herndon then proceeded to administer the polygraph examination by breaking the questions up

into series which were ordinarily nine questions in length and consisted

of relevant interrogatories and control questions.^^

ADMINISTRATION OF THE TEST

During the course of the polygraph examination Jack Ruby an- swered the relevant questions as follows

Q. Did you know Oswald before November 22, 1963 ? A. No.33

Q. Did you assist Oswald in the assassination ? A. No.3*

Q. Are you now a member of the Communist Party ? 809

730-900 0-64—53
A. No.^^

Q. Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party ? A. No.^«

" Q. Are you now a member of any group that advocates the

violent overthrow of the United States Government ?

- A. No.^^

Q. Have you ever been a member of any group that advocates

violent overthrow of the United States Government ? A. No.^«

Q. Between the assassination and the shooting, did anybody

you know tell you they knew Oswald ? A. No.^^

Q. Aside from anything you.said to George Senator on Sunday

morning, did you ever tell anyone else that you intended to shoot

Oswald?

A. No.*« Q. Did vou shoot Oswald in order to silence him ? A. No.^^^ Q. Did you first decide to shoot Oswald on Friday night ? A. No.*2

Q. Did you first decide to shoot Oswald on Saturday morning ? A. No.*^

Q. Did you first decide to shoot Oswald on Saturday night?

A. No.**

Q. Did you first decide to shoot Oswald on Sunday Morning?

A. Yes.*^ Q. Were you on the sidewalk at the time Lieutenant Pierce's car stopped on the ramp exit ? A. Yes.*« Q. Did you enter the jail by walking through an alleyway?

A. No.*^

Q. Did you walk past the guard at the time Lieutenant Pierce's car was parked on the ramp exit ? A. Yes.*« Q. Did you talk with any Dallas police officers on Sunday,

November 24, prior to the shooting of Oswald ? A. No.*9

Q. Did you see the armored car before it entered the basement ? A. No.^«

Q. Did you enter the police department through a door at the rear of the east, side of the jail ? A. No.^i

Q. After talking to Little Lynn did you hear any announce- ment that Oswald was about to be moved ? A. No.^2 Q. Before you left your apartment Sunday morning, did any- one tell you the armored car was on the way to the police

department ? 810
A. No.=2

Q. Did you get a Wall Street Journal at the Southwestern

Drug Store during the week before the assassination ? A. No,^^

Q. Do you have any knowledge of a AYall Street Journal addressed to Mr. J. E. Bradshaw ? A. No.^^

Q. To your knowledge, did any of your friends or did you

telephone the FBI in Dallas between 2 or 3 a.m. Sunday morning?

A. No.^«

Q. Did you or any of your friends to your knowledge tele- phone the sheriff's office between 2 or 3 a.m. Sunday morning?

A. No.^^

Q. Did you go to the Dallas police station at any time on

Friday, November 22, 1963, before you went to the synagogue?

A. No.^«

Q. Did you go to the synagogue that Friday night ? A. Yes.^^ Q. Did you see Oswald in the Dallas jail on Friday night?

A. Yes.«« Q. Did you have a gun with you when you went to the Friday

midnight press conference at the jail ? A. No.«^

Q. Is everything you told the Warren Commission the entire

truth?

A. Yes.«2 Q. Have you ever knowingly attended any meetings of the

Communist Party or any other group that advocates violent

overthrow of the Government ? A. ISTo.^^ Q. Is any member of your immediate family or any close friend, a member of the Communist Party ? A. No.«*

Q. Is any member of your immediate family or any close friend a member of any group that advocates the violent over- throw of the Government ? A. No.«^

Q. Did any close friend or any member of your immediate

family ever attend a meeting of the Communist Party ? A. No.^«

Q. Did any close friend or any member of your immediate

family ever attend a meeting of any group that advocates the

violent overthrow of the Government?

A. No.«^

Q. Did you ever meet Oswald at your post office box ? A. No.^

Q. Did you use your post office mailbox to do any business

with Mexico or Cuba ? 811
A. No.69

Q. Did you do business with Castro-Cuba ? A. No/«

Q. Was your trip to Cuba solely for pleasure ? A. Yes.^i

Q. Have you now told us the truth concerning why you car- ried $2,200 in cash on you ? A. YesJ2

Q. Did any foreign influence cause you to shoot Oswald ? A. No/^

Q. Did you shoot Oswald l)ecause of any influence of the

miderworld ? A. No/*

Q. Did you shoot Oswald because of a labor union influence?

A. No/^

Q. Did any long-distance telephone calls which you made

before the assassination of the President have anything to do

with the assassination ? A. No/«

Q. Did any of your long-distance telephone calls concern the

shooting of Oswald ? A. No/^

Q. Did you shoot Oswald in order to save Mrs. Kennedy the

ordeal of a trial ? A. Yes."« Q. Did you know the Tippit that was killed ? A. No/^

Q. Did you tell the truth about relaying the message to Ray

Brantley to get McWillie a few guns ? A. Yes.«« Q. Did you go to the assembly room on Friday night to get

the telephone number of KLIF ? A. Yes.«i

Q. Did you ever meet with Oswald and Officer Tippit at your

club?

A. No.«2

Q. Were you at the Parkland Hospital at any time on Friday ? A. No.«3

Q. Did you say anytliing when you shot Oswald other than

what you've testified about?

A. No.«*

Q. Have members of your family been physically harmed be- cause of what you did ? A. ISTo.^^ Q. Do you think members of your family are now in danger

because of what you did ? (No response. )^^ Q. Is Mr. Fowler in danger because he is defending you ? (No response. )^^ 812
Q. Bid "Blackie" Hanson speak to you just before you shot

Oswald?

A. No.««INTERPRETATION OF THE TEST

A polygraph examination is designed to detect physiological re- sponses to stimuli in a carefully controlled interrogation. Such re- sponses may accompany and indicate deception.^^ The polygraph

instrument derives its name from the Greek derivative "poly'^ meaning many and the word "graph" meaning writings.®^ The polygraph

chart writings consist of three separate markings placed on a graph

reflecting three separate physiological reactions.^^ A rubber tube is placed around the subject's chest to record his breathing pattern on a pneumograph.®^ That device records the respiratory ratio of inhalation and exhalation strokes.®^ The second component is called a galvanic skin response which consists of electrodes placed on the examinee's fingers, through which a small amount of electrical current is passed to the skin.®* The galvanometer records the minute changes in electrical skin response.®^ The third component consists of a cardiograph which is a tracing obtained by attaching a pneumatic cuff around the left arm in a manner very similar to an apparatus which

takes blood pressure.®® When the cuff is inflated, that device records

relative blood pressures or change in the heart rate.®^ From those testing devices, it is possible to measure psychological or emotional stress.®^ This testing device is the product of observation

by psychologists and physiologists who noted certain physiological

responses when people lie.®® In about 1920 law enforcement officials with psychological and physiological training initiated the development of the instrument to serve as an investigative aid.^"^ The polygraph may record responses indicative of deception, but it must be carefully interpreted.^"^ The relevant questions, as to which

the interrogator is seeking to determine whether the subject is falsifying, are compared with control questions where the examiner obtains a known indication of deception or some expected emotional response.^"^

In evaluating the polygraph, due consideration must be given to the

fact that a physiological response may be caused by factors other than

deception, such as fear, anxiety, nervousness, dislike, and other emotions.^°^ There are no valid statistics as to the reliability of the polygraph.^°* FBI Agent Herndon testified that, notwithstanding the

absence of percentage indicators of reliability, an informed judgment

may be obtained from a well-qualified examiner on the indications of

deception in a normal person under appropriate standards of

administration.^''^

Ordinarily during a polygraph examination only the examiner and

the examinee are present.^"® It is the practice of the FBI, however,

to have a second agent present to take notes.^"^ It is normally undesirable to have other people present during the polygraph examina813
tion because the examinee may react emotionally to them.^^® Because

of the numerous interested parties involved in Ruby's polygraph ex- amination, there were present individuals representing the Commission

and the Dallas district attorney, as well as two defense counsel, two

FBI agents, the chief jailer, the psychiatrist, and the court reporter,

although the assistant district attorney and one defense counsel left when Ruby was actually responding to questions while the instrument was activated/^^ Ruby was placed in a position where there was a minimum of distraction for him during the test.^^° He faced a wall

and could not see anyone except possibly through secondary vision

from the side."^ Agent Herndon expressed the opinion that Ruby

was not affected by the presence of the people in the room.^^^

Answer by Ruby to certain irrelevant control questions suggested an

attempt to deceive on those questions. For example, Ruby answered

"No" to the question "While in the service did you receive any disciplinary action?" ^^^ His reaction suggested deception in his answer.^^'' Similarly, Ruby's negative answer to the query "Did you ever over- charge a customer?" was suggestive of deception.^^^ Ruby further

showed an emotional response to other control questions such as "Have

you ever been known by another name"^^^ "Are you married?" ^^^ "Have you ever served time in jail?" "® "Are your parents alive?" ^^^ "Other than what you told me, did you ever hit anyone with any kind

of a weapon ?" ^^^ Herndon concluded that the absence of any physiological response on the relevant questions indicated that there was no

deception.^2^

An accurate evaluation of Ruby's polygraph examination depends on whether he was psychotic. Since a psychotic is divorced

from reality, the polygraph tracings could not be logically interpreted on such an individual. A psychotic person might believe a false answer was true so he would not register an emotional response

characteristic of deception as a normal person would.^^^ If a person

is so mentally disturbed that he does not understand the nature of the

questions or the substance of his answers, then no validity can be

attached to the polygraph examination.^^^ Herndon stated that if a person, on the other hand, was in touch with reality, then the polygraph examination could be interpreted like any other such test.^^* Based on his previous contacts with Ruby and from observing him

during the entire polygraph proceeding, Dr. William R. Beavers testi- fied as follows

In the greater proportion of the time that he answered the

questions, I felt that he was aware of the questions and that he

understood them, and that he was giving answers based on an

appreciation of reality.^^s

Dr. Beavers further stated that he had previously diagnosed Ruby as a "psychotic depressive." ^^^ 814
Based on the assumption that Ruby was a "psychotic depressive,"

Herndon testified

:

There Avould be no validity to the polygraph examination, and

no significance should be placed upon the polygraph charts.^^^ Considering other phases of Dr. Beavers' testimony, Herndon stated

:

Well, based on the hypothesis that Ruby was mentally competent and sound, the charts could be interpreted, and if those

conditions are fact, the charts could be interpreted to indicate

that there was no area of deception present with regard to his

response to the relevant questions during the polygraph examination.^^^

In stating his opinion that Ruby was in touch with reality and understood the questions and answers. Dr. Beavers excepted two questions

where he concluded that Ruby's underlying delusional state took

hold.^^^ Those questions related to the safety of Ruby's family and

his defense coimsel.^^^ T\^iile in the preliminary session Ruby had

answered those questions by stating that he felt his family and defense

counsel were in danger, he did not answ^er either question when the

polygraph was activated.^^^ Dr. Beavers interpreted Ruby's failure to answer as a reflection of "internal struggle as to just what was

reality." ^^^ i^ addition, Dr. Beavers testified that the test w^as not

injurious to Ruby's mental or physical condition.^^^

Because Ruby not only volunteered but insisted upon taking a polygraph examination, the Commission agreed to the examination. FBI

Director J. Edgar Hoover commented on the examination as follows

:

It should be pointed out that the polygraph, often referred to as "lie detector" is not in fact such a device. The instrument is designed to record under proper stimuli emotional responses in

the form of physiological variations which may indicate and ac- company deception. The FBI feels that the polygraph technique

is not sufficiently precise to permit absolute judgements of deception or truth without qualifications. The polygraph technique

has a number of limitations, one of which relates to the mental

fitness and condition of the examinee to be tested. During the proceedings at Dallas, Texas, on July 18, 1964,

Dr. William R. Beavers, a psychiatrist, testified that he would

generally describe Jack Ruby as a "psychotic depressive." In

view of the serious question raised as to Ruby's mental condition, no significance should be placed on the polygraph examination

and it should be considered nonconclusive as the charts cannot

be relied upon.^^*

815
Having granted Ruby's request for the examination, the Commission

is publishing the transcript of the hearing at which the test was con- ducted ^^^ and the transcript of the deposition of the FBI polygraph

operator who administered the test/^^ The Commission did not rely on the results of this examination in reaching the conclusions stated

in this report.

816
APPENDIX XVIII NOTES TO PAGES IX-39

Footnotes

For references to the testimony of witnesses before the Commission,

the following citation form is used: number of volume, "H" (for

"Hearings before the President's Commission on the Assassination

of President Kennedy") , page number, and the name of the witness

in parentheses, e.g., 7 H 441 (O'Donnell). Commission exhibits are referred to by the capital letters "CE" and number ; deposition exhibits

by the name of the witness, the capital letters "DE," and the number

or letter of his exhibit, e.g., CE 705; Sorrels I)E 1. Keferences to audiovisual sources for one Dallas broadcasting station (WFAA)

are cited as follows : PKT for video tapes, PKF for films, and PKA.

for audio tapes. The video and audio reels and tapes of other stations are cited by number, e.g., WFAA-TV reel PKT 10; KELD-TV

reel 13. FOREWORD

1. Executive Order No. 11130 is set forth as app. I. 2. The White House press release is set forth as app. II. 3. Senate Joint Resolution 137 (Public Law 88-202) is set forth as app. III.

4. The names of all witnesses are set forth in app. V.

5. The procedures of the Commission are

set forth as app. VI.

CHAPTER II

1. 4.H 130 (Gov. John B. Connally, Jr.) ; 7 H 441 (Kenneth O'Donnell).

2. Id. at 441, 442.

3. Id. at 442-448.

4. Id. at 442.

5. Ibid.

6. 7 H 475 (Clifton C. Carter).

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. 4 H 145-146 (Connally).

10. Ibid. ; CE 1367.

11. 4 H 130 (Connally) ; CE 2960.

12. 7 H 442 (O'Donnell).

13. 4 H 146 (Connally).

14. Ibid. 15. 7 H 443 (O'Donnell).

16. Ibid. 17. 4 H 319-325 (Winston G. Lawson) ; 7 H 334-341 (Forrest V. Sorrels). Governor Connally testified that he was

not consulted about the security arrange- ments in Dallas, and that he did not

expect to be. 4 H 145 (Connally).

18. 4 H 319 (Lawson) ; 7 H 334

( Sorrels)

.

19. CE 769, p. 1; 4 H 320 (Lawson).

20. Details of the advance work done

by Agent Lawson are set forth in his contemporaneous miemoranda; CE 767, 768, 769.

21. 4 H 321-322 (Lawson) ; 2 H 107 (Roy H. Kellerman).

22. 4 H 322-324, 344-346 (Lawson).

23. CE 768, p. 9 ; see also 7 H 339

(Sorrels).

24. CE 770.

25. 4 H 323-324 (Lawson).

26. 7 H 334 (Sorrels).

27. See id. at 335 ; Sorrels DE 4, p. 1. 28. CE 769, p. 2. 29. CE 1360; 4 H 336^37 (Lawson).

30. CE 768, pp. 6-13 ; CE 769, p. 5 ; 4 H 338 (Lawson).

31. Id. at 325,. 32. Ibid. 33. CE 769, p. 34. CE 768, p. 35. Ibid. 36. CE 769, p.

7 H 337 (Sorrels).

37. 7 H 338 (Sorrels) ; 4 H 326 (Lawson) ; CE 1022, p. 2 ; CE 769, p. 3. 38. 4 H 341 (Lawson) ; CE 1022, p. 3. 39. 7 H 333 (Sorrels).

40. Id. at 337.

41. Ibid. 42. 4 H 326 (Lawson).

43. CE 876 is an aerial view of Dealey

Plaza and the Triple Underpass ; see also CE 2188.

44. 7 H 337 (Sorrels) ; CE 2114-2116.817
NOTES TO PAGES 39-^1

45. Ibid. 46. CE 2967 ; see 7 H 337 (Sorrels) ; 4 H

333 (Lawson).

47. Id. at 326.

48. CE 769, p. 4; 4 H 326 (Lawson).

49. Id. at 326-327.

50. 5 H 465-466 (James J. Rowley) ; 4 H 329, 333 (Lawson).

51. Id. at 327-329. The adequacy of these arrangements is considered in ch. VIII 447^49.

52. CE 3 022, p. 2. 53. CE 1361.

54. CE 1362.

-55. CE 1363.

56. CE 1364.

57. CE 1365.

58. CE 1366.

59. CE 1367, 1368.

60. CE 1369.

61. CE 1370.

62. CE 1371.

63. CE 1372, 1373.

64. Ibid. 65. CE 1374.

66. CE 1375, 1376.

67. 4 H 323 (Lawson) ; 7 H 339 (Sorrels) ; CE 769, p. 8. 68. CE 1377, 1378.

69. CE 1379.

70. CE 1380.

71. CE 996 ; see also 5 H 534 (Robert G. Klause). ,_ ^ ttt 72. CE 1031 ; 5 H 504 (Bernard W.

Weissman).

73. CE 1031.

74. 4 H 130 (Connally) ; 7 H 444-445

(O'Donnell).

75. Id. at 445.

76. 4 H 1,30 (Connally) ; 7 H 445

(O'Donnell).

77. 7 H 472 (David F. Powers).

78. Ibid. 79. 4 H 130 (Connally) ; 7 H 445

(O'Donnell). ^ ^

80. 2 H 63-64 (Kellerman) ; 7 H 459 (Lawrence F. O'Brien).

81. 7 H 443-444 (O'Donnell).

82. Id. at 456.

83. Ibid. 84. 4 H 349 (Lawson) ; 2 H 67 (Keller- man )

.

85. 5 H 561 (Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson) ; 4 H 130 (Connally) ; CE 2526.

86. 5 H 560! (Johnson) ; 7 H 474 (Clif- ton C. Carter) ; 2 H 146 (Rufus W.

Youngblood). _ ^^ ^^ , 87. 7 H 461 (O'Brien) ; 2 H 67 (Kel- lerman) ; 4 H 339, 350 (Lawson).

88. Id. at 350; CE 1024.

89. 4 H 339-340 (Lawson).

90. 5 H 560-561 (Johnson) ; CE 1024, statement of Rufus W. Youngblood.

91. 5 H 561 (Johnson) ; 2 H 115

(Greer).

92. See 4 H 335-336 (Lawson).

93. 4 H 132 (Connally) ; 2 H 135

(Clinton J. Hill) ; 2 H 70 (Kellerman) ; 4 H 326, 351 (Lawson).

94. 2 H 135-136 (Hill) ; 4 H 351 (Lawson).

95. CE 768, p. 5. 96. 2 H 67 (Kellerman) ; 4 H 327

(Lawson).

97. CE 768, p. 5; 2 H 67 (Kellerman).

98. Id. at 68 ; 4 H 327-328 (Lawson) ; 2 H 116 (Greer).

99. CE 344, 345, 346. 100. 2 H 65 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 114

(Greer).

101. 4 H 349 (Lawson) ; 2 H 66-67

(Kellerman).

102. Id. at 67. 103. Id. at 64-65.

104. CE 345.

105. 2 H 136-137 (Hill) ; CE 1025.

106. 4 H li30-131 (Connally) ; 2 H 68 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 115 (Greer).

107. Ibid. 108. Ibid. 109. 2 H 70 (Kellerman).

110. 4 H 338-339 (Lawson).

111. 2 H 135 (Hill). 112. Id. at 134.

113. Id. at 134-135.

114. 7 H 446 (O'Donnell) ; 7 H 473

(Powers).

115. 4 H 327, 329 (Lawson).

116. Ibid. ; 7 H 342 (Sorrels). 117. 4 H 327 (Lawson) ; 2 H 135-136

(Hill). 118. Id. at 136. 119. 2 H 147 (Youngblood).

120. Id. at 148. 121. Id. at 147; 5 H 561 (Johnson);

7 H 439 (Senator Ralph W. Yarborough).

122. 2 H 147 (Youngblood).

123. 7 H 474 (Carter) ; 2 H 69 (Kel- lerman).

124. CE 767, attachment 3 ; CE 1126.

125. 2 H 70 (Kellerman) ; 4 H 336 (Lawson).

126. CE 768, pp. 9-10.

127. 4 H 130-131 (Connally) ; 2 H 67, 70 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 115 (Greer).

128. 4 H 132 (Connally) ; 2 H 135

(Hill) ; 2 H 70 (Kellerman).

129. Ibid. ISO. 4 H 132 (Connally).

1131. 7 H 447 (O'DonnelJ) ; 7 H 473

(Powers) ; 4 H 131 (Connally).

132. 2 H 135-136 (Hill) ; CE 398 ; CE

1024, statement of Clinton J. Hill, p. 2. 133. 2 H 135 (Hill). 134. 2 H 71 (Kellerman).

135. 2 H 147 (Youngblood).

136. CE 876; 2 H 71 (Kellerman).

137. CE 878; 2 H 71-72 (Kellerman).

138. 5 H 561 (Johnson) ; 4 H 132

(Connally).

139. 7 H 447 (O'Donnell) ; 7 H 46)3 (O'Brien) ; 7 H 478 (Powers).

140. 4 H 147 (Mrs. John B. ConnaUy.

Jr.) ; 4 H 131 (Connally).

141. 2 H 151 (Youngblood).

142. 7 H 473 (Powers).

143. 2 H 120 (Greer).

144. CE 1974, p. 163.

145. 2 H 119 (Greer).

146. 4 H 134 (Connally) ; 4 H 149 (Mrs. Connally) ; 7 H 448 (O'Donnell) ; 7 H 473

(Powers) ; 7 H 474 (Carter) ; 2 H 73 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 139 (Hill) ; 3 H 245

(Baker).

147. 5 H 160-161 (Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt). 148. 5 H 179-180 (Mrs. John F. Kennedy).

149. 4 H 132-133 (Connally).

150. Id. at 135-136.

151. 4 H 147 (Mrs. Connally).

152. 2 H 73-74 (Kellerman).

153. 2 H 117 (Greer).

154. 2 H 74-77 (Kellerman).

155. 4 H 147 (Mrs. Connally).

156. 4 H 133 (Connally).

157. 4 H 147 (Mrs. Connally).

158. 4 H 133 (Connally).

159. Ibid. ; 4 H 147 (Mrs. Connally).

160. Ibid.; 4 H 133 (Connally).

161. 2 H 138 (Hill). 162. Ibid. 163. Id. at 138-139.

164. Ibid. 165. 7 H 473 (Powers).

166. 5 H 180 (Mrs. Kennedy).

167. CE 1024, statement of John D. Ready.

168. CE 1024, statement of George W.

Hickey, Jr. 818
NOTES TO PAGES 51-60

169. CE 1024, statement of Emory P. Roberts.

17U. Ibid. 171. 2 H 148-149 (Youngblood).

172. Id. at 149. 173. 5 H 561 (Johnson).

174. 7 H 475 (Carter).

175. 4 H 325 (Lawson).

176. 7 H 347 (Sorrels). 177. 2 H 74 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 120

(Greer) ; 2 H 141 (Hill) ; 2 H 149

(Youngblood).

178. 4 H 353-354 (Lawson).

179. 4 H 161 (Jesse E. Curry).

180. CE 1974, pp. 163-164.

181. Ibid. ; 2 H 151 (Youngblood) ; 2 H

141 (Hill) ; 7 H 450 (O'Donnell) ; 7 H

475 (Carter).

182. 2 H 151 (Youngblood) ; CE 1126,

p. 2. 183. 6 H 144 (Doris M. Nelson) ; 6 H 116 (Ruth J. Standridce).

184. 3 H 358 (Dr. Charles J. Carrico).

185. 6 H 344 (Nelson).

186. 3 H 363 (Carrico) ; 3 H 369-371

(Dr. Malcolm O. Perry).

187. 4 H 354 (Lawson) ; 6 H 135

(Diana H. Bowron).

188. 2 H 142 (Hill) ; 2 H 82 (Keller- man).

189. 4 H 143 (Connally).

190. 6 H 116 (Standridge).

191. 2 H 79 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 124

(Greer) ; 4 H 354 (Lawson).

192. 3 H 359 (Carrico) ; 6 H 141 (Margaret M. Henchliflfe) ; 6 H 136 (Bowron).

193. 3 H 358 (Carrico).

194. Ibid. 195. Id. at 359.

196. Ibid. 197. Id. at 361-362 : 6 H 3 (Carrico).

198. 3 H 361 (Carrico).

199. Id. at 359-360.

200. Ibid. 201. Id. at 360. 202. Ibid. ; 6 H 3 (Carrico).

203. 3 H 360 (Carrico) ; 3 H 368

(Perry).

204. Ibid. 205. Id. at 368-370.

206. Id. at 370.

207. Id. at 370, 372.

208. Id. at 370. 209. Id. at 371.

210. Id. at 370.

211. Id. at 371; 3 H 360 (Carrico).

212. 3 H 371 (Perry) ; 6 H 20 (Dr. Wil- liam Kemp Clark).

213. Ibid. 214. Id. at 25. 215. Id. at 20; 3 H 371 (Perry).

216. CE 1126, p. 3. 217. 6 H 20 (Clark) : 3 H 372 (Perry) ; 6 H 41 (Dr. Charles R. Baxter).

21«. 6 H 20 (Clark).

219. 3 H 372 (Ferry) ; 2 H 360 (Comdr. James J. Humes).

220. 3 H 359 (Carrico).

221. 3 H 363 (Carrico) ; S H 382

(Perry) ; 6 H 25 (Clark).

222. 6 H 3 (Carrico).

223. 3 H 382 (Perry) : 6 H 29 (Clark) ; 6 H 48-49 (Dr. Marion T. Jenkins).

224. 4 H 103-104 (Dr. Robert R. Shaw).

225. 3 H 358 (Carrico).

226. Ibid. ; 6 H 77-78 (Dr. Jackie H. Hunt) ; 6 H 74-75 (Dr. A. H. Giesecke,

Jr.) : 4 H 103 (Shaw).

227. Id. at 102-103.

228. Id. at 103.

229. Id. at 104-105 ; CE 392 ; 6 H 85, 87 (Shaw).

230. Id. at 88. 231. Id. at 85. 232. 4 H 135 (Connally).

233. 6 H 97 (Dr. Charles F. Gregory).

234. 4 H 126-127 (Gregory).

235. 6 H 105-106 (Dr. George T.

Shires).

236. Id. at 106. 237. 5 H 561 (Johnson) ; 2 H 149

(Youngblood).

238. Ibid. 239. Id. at 152: 7 H 475 (Carter).

240. 5 H 564-565 (Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson) ; 7 H 475 (Carter).

241. 5 H 561-562 (Johnson) ; 2 H 152 (Youngblood) ; 7 H 475 (Carter).

242. 2 H 152 (Youngblood).

243. 5 H 562 (Johnson) ; 7 H 451

(O'Donnell).

244. 2 H 154-155 (Youngblood).

245. Id. at 152; 7 H 451 (O'Donnell) ; 5 H 561 (.Johnson). 246. Ibid. 247. CE 1026; CE 1024, statement of Emory P. Roberts, p. 5. 248. 5 H 562 (Johnson) ; 2 H 153

(Youngblood).

249. Ibid. 250. 2 H 96 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 126

(Greer) ; CE 1026.

251. 2 H 80 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 142

(Hill). 252. 2 H 96 (Kellerman) ; CE 1024, statements of David B. Grant, Samuel E. Sulliman, Ernest E. Olsson, Jr.. John J. Howlett, Andrew E. Berger, Robert A.

Steuart. and Richard E. Johnsen.

258. CE 772. p. 3. 254. CE 2554. statements of Donald J. Lawton, Roger C. Warner, Henry J. Rybka, and William H. Patterson.

255. CE 2554, statement of Roger C. Warner, p. 2. 256. 2 H 153 (Youngblood).

257. 7 H 474 (Powers) ; 3 H 382

(Perry) ; CE 1126.

258. 7 H 452 (O'Donnell).

259. Ibid.; 2 H 142 (Hill). 260. 7 H 453-454 (O'Donnell) ; 7 H

468-470 (O'Brien).

261. 7 H 453 (O'Donnell) ; 2 H 96-97

(Kellerman).

262. 7 H 454 (O'Donnell).

263. 5 H 562-563 (Johnson).

264. 7 H 454 (O'Donnell) ; 2 H 154

(Youngblood).

265. 2 H 143 (Hill) ; 2 H 98 (Keller- man).

266. 5 H 563 (Johnson) ; 5 H 566 (Mrs. Johnson) ; 7 H 470 (O'Brien).

267. 2 H 143 (Hill) ; 2 H 98 (Keller- man).

268. 7 H 454 (O'Donnell) ; 7 H 471

(O'Brien).

269. 2 H 98 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 143

(Hill). 270. 2 H 98 (Kellerman).

271. 2 H 154 (Youngblood).

272. 7 H 454-455 (ODonnell).

273. 2 H 99 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 143

(Hill). 274. Ibid.; 7 H 455 (O'Donnell).

275. 2 H 143 (Hill). 276. CE 1024, statement of Clinton J. Hill, p. 5. 277. 2 H 349 (Comdr. James J. Humes).

278. Ibid. 279. CE 387. 280. 2 H 351 (Humes).

281. Id. at 354. 2R2. Id. at 353-354.

283. 5 H 73 (Robert A. Frazier).

284. 2 H 361-362 (Humes).

285. Id. at 349; 2 H 100 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 143-144 (Hill). 286. 7 H 455 (O'Donnell) ; 2 H 144

(Hill). 819
NOTES TO PAGES 63-81 CHAPTER III

I. 3 H 142-143 (Howard L. Brennan) ; CE 477, 478.

a. 3 H 149 (Brennan) ; C5E 1437.

8. CE 479.

4. 3 H 142 (Brennan).

5. See id. at 142-143.

6. Id. at 143.

7. Ibid.

8. Id. at 143-144.

9. Id. at 144.

10. Ibid. II. Ibid.

12. Id. at 145.

13. 2 H 204 (Amos Lee Euins).

14. Ibid. ; see CB 365, 366.

15. 2 H 204 (Euins).

16. 6 H 310-311 (D. V. Harkness) ; 6 H 170 (James R. Underwood).

17. 6 H 313 (Harkness).

18. Id. at 310 ; CE 1974, p. 165.

19. 6 H 313 (Harkness) (Euins' description of the man he saw is discussed in ch. IV, p. 147).

20. 2 H 157-158 (Robert H. Jackson).

21. Id. at 158-159.

22. Id. at 159.

23. 6 H 164 (Tom C. Dillard) ; 6 H 156-

157 (Malcolm D. Couch) ; 6 H 169 (Underwood).

24. 6 H 164 (Dillard).

25. Id. at 164-165 ; CE 480, 481, 482.

26. 6 H 156-157 (Couch).

27. Id. at 157.

28. 7 H 485-4^86 (Mrs. Earle Cabell).

29. Id. at 486.

30. Ibid. 31. Ibid. 32. Ibid. ; 7 H 478 (Earle Cabell).

33. '7 H 487 (Mrs. Cabell).

34. 6 H 172-173 (James N. Crawford).

35. Ibid. 36. Id. at 173.

37. Ibid. 38. 6 H 176 (Mary Ann Mitchell).

39. Ibid. 40. 3 H 202-203 (James Jarman, Jr.). 41. 3 H 190 (Harold Norman).

42. 3 H 169-173 (Bonnie R. Williams).

43. Id. at 173 ; 3 H 190 (Norman) ; 3 H 202, 203 (Jarman).

44. 3 H 195 (Norman).

45. Id. at 191.

46. 3 H 175 (Williams).

47. Ibid. 48. 3 H 204 (Jarman).

49. Ibid. 50. Ibid.

51. Id. at 204-205.

52. Id. at 211.

53. Ibid. 54. Id. at 207, 211.

55. 3 H 196 (Norman).

56. Id. at 195.

57. See, e.g., the statements of eye- witnesses in CE 1428, 1432, 1433, 1435,

1436, 2084.

58. See e.g. CE 1428, 1432, 2087, 2088,

209'8 2099

59! 6 h'249 (J. W. Foster) ; 6 H 254

(J. C. White).

60. 6 H 256-257 (Joe E. Murphy) ; Murphy DE A.

61. 6 H 257 (Murphy).

62. 6 H 250 (Foster) ; 6 H 255

(White) ; see 6 H 256 (Murphy).

63. Id. at 257.

64. 6 H 250 (Foster).

65. 6 H 241 (S. M. Holland).

66. See 6 H 224 (Austin L. Miller) ; 6 H 228 (Frank K Reilly) ; 6 H 236-^237 (Royce G. Skelton) ; 6 H 240-242 (Hol- land) ; CE 1416-1424 (statements of James L. Simmons, Walter Luke Winborn,

Nolan H. Potter, Curtis Freeman Bishop, Richard Calvin Dodd, Thomas J. Murphy, Clemon Earl Johnson, Ewell William

Cowsert, and George A. Davis).

67. 6 H 239-241 (Holland).

68. 6 H 253 (Foster).

69. 7 H 516 (James W. Altgens) ; 6 H

226 (Miller).

70. 6 H 284-285 (Lee H. Bowers, Jr.). 71. Id. at 285.

72. Id. at 285-286.

73. Id. at 287.

74. 6 H 229 (Reilly) ; 6 H 241-242

(Holland) ; 6 H 258 (Murphy) ; Murphy DB A.

75. 6 H 250 (Foster) ; see 6 H 229

(Reilly).

76. 4 H 351 (Winston G. Lawson) ; 7 H,346 (Forrest V. Sorrels).

77. 4 H 351 (Lawson).

78. See 6 H 258 (Murphy).

79. 6 H251 (Foster).

80. Id. at 251-252.

81. 6 H 225 (Miller).

82. 6 H 237-238 (Skelton).

83. 6 H 230 (Reilly).

84. 6 H 243-245 (Holland).

85. CE 1421.

86. 6 H 287 (Bowers).

87. See 6 H 251-252 (Foster).

88. 6 H 244 (Holland).

89. 6 H 225 (Miller) ; see also CE

1416, 1417.

90. 6 H 287-288 (Bowers) ; CE 1416-

1419, 1423.

91. 6 H 298 (Clyde A. Haygood).

92. 5 H 67 (Robert A. Frazier) ; 3 H

432 (Frazier) ; CE 567.

93. 5 H 67 (Frazier) ; 3 H 435 (Frazier) ; CE 569.

94. 5 H 66, 71 (Frazier) ; CE 840.

95. 5 H 68 (Frazier).

96. Ibid. ; CE 350 ; see 2 H 85-86, 87-89 (Roy H. Kellerman).

97. 5 H 70 (Frazier) ; CE 349.

98. 5 H 67-69, 72-74 (Frazier).

99. Ibid. 100. Id. at 68; 8 H 399 (Frazier).

101. 5 H 68 (Frazier).

102. 2 H 86 (Kellerman) ; CE 351.

103. 5 H 69 (Frazier).

104. 2 H 84-85 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 122

(William Robert Greer).

105. 5 H 70 (Frazier).

106. Ibid. 107. Ibid. 108. 4 H 204-205 (Jesse W. Fritz) ; 3 H

283-284 (Luke Mooney).

109. Id. at 284-285 } CE 508.

110. 3 H 285 (Mooney) ; CE 510, 1974,

p. 176.

111. 4 H 205 (Fritz). 112. S H 285 (Mooney).

113. 4 H 249-250 (J. C. Day) ; CE 715,

716.

114. 3 H 293-294 (Eugene Boone) ; 7 H 107 (Seymour Weitzman) ; CE 514, 515.

115. 3 H 293 (Boone) ; 4 H 205 (Fritz) ; 4 H 257 (Day) ; CE 718 ; see 7 H 161 (Richard M. Sims).

116. 4 H 258-259 (Day) ; 4 H 205

(Fritz) ; CE 141.

117. 4 H 260 (Day) ; 4 H 206 (Fritz). 118. 3 H 294 (Boone) ; 4 H 260 (Day) ; see 7 H 108-109 (Weitzman).

119. 6 H 116-117 (Ruth J. Standridge).

120. 6 H 121-122 (Jane C. Wester) ; 6 H 126 (R. J. Jimison).

121. 6 H 129-131 (Darrel C. Tomlinson).

122. Id. at 130. 820
NOTES TO PAGES 81-96

123. 3 H 363 (Dr. Charles J. Carrico) ; 6 H 137 (Diana H. Bowron).

124. Id. at 137-138 ; 6 H 141 (Margaret M. Henchcliffe) ; 6 H 145 (Doris M,

Nelson),

125. Id. at 145-146; 6 H 142 (Henchcliffe) ; 6 H 137-138 (Bowron).

126. 3 H 392-394 (Frazier) ; 4 H 260

(Day) ; CE 139.

127. 3 H 393-394 (Frazier) ; CE 541.

128. 3 H 392-393 (Frazier).

129. Id. at 392 ; CE 540.

1,30. 3 H 392-393 (Frazier).

131. 7 H 108-109 (Weitzman).

132. 3 H 395 (Frazier).

133. Ibid. 134. Id. at 395-396; 4 H 260 (Day).

135. 3 H 397 (Frazier).

136. Id. at 391. 137. Id. at 391, 421.

138. 3 H 496 (Joseph D. Nieol).

139. See generally 3 H 417-419, 429-430

(Frazier).

140. Id. at 424.

141. See app. X.

142. 3 H 429, 432, 435 (Frazier) ; 3 H

498, 500-502 (Nicol) ; CE 399, 567, 569.

143. 3 H 502 (Nicol) ; 3 H 434, 436

(Frazier).

144. 3 H 497 (Nicol) ; 3 H 435 (Frazier). 145. 5 H 73-74 (Frazier).

146. 3 H 415 (Frazier) ; 3 H 505

(Nicol) ; CE 543-545.

147. 3 H 440 (Frazier) ; 7 H 591 (Cort- landt Cunningham) ; 7 H 591 (Charles L.

Killion). 148. 2 H 352^353 (Comdr. James J. Humes) ; 2 H 377 (Comdr. J. Thornton

Boswell) ; 2 H 380 (Lt. Col. Pierre A. Finck).

149. 2 H 352 (Humes).

150. Id. at 357-359.

151. Id. at 359-361.

152. CE 400.

153. 2 H 379-380 (Finck).

154. 2 H 352 (Humes).

155. Ibid. 156. Ibid. 157. Ibid. ; 2 H 377 (Boswell) ; CE 388.

158. 5 H 75-77 (Dr. Alfred G. Olivier). 159. Id. at 89 ; CE 861, 862.

160. 5 H 87 (Olivier). 161. I^. at 89. 162. 2 H 361 (Humes) ; CE 387, 391.

163. 2 H S64 (Humes) ; 2 H 380

(Finck).

164. Ihid. ; 2 H 364 (Humes) ; 2 H 377

(Boswell).

165. 2 H 363 (Humes).

166. Id. at 367-368.

167. Id. at 364.

168. Ibid. : 2 H 380 (Finck) ; CE 385.

169. 2 H 368-369 (Humes).

170. Id. at 367.

171. Id. at 363.

172. Id. at 361-362.

173. 3 H 361 (Carrico).

174. 3 H 388 (Dr. Malcolm O. Perry) ; id. at 372.

175. 3 H 362 (Carrico).

176. 3 H 373 (Perry).

177. 3 H 362 (Carrico).

178. 3 H 373 (Perry).

179. 6 H 42-43 (Dr. Charles R. Baxter) ; 6 H 35 (Dr. Robert N. McClelland) ; 6 H

48-50 (Dr. Marion T. Jenkins) ; 6 H 55

(Dr. Ronald C. Jones).

180. 3 H 369 (Perry).

181. Id. at 375.

182. Id. at 375-376.

183. Id. at 375.

184. Id. at 368, 372, 375.

185. Id. at 375.

186. CE 1415, "The Doctors' Hard Ficht To Save Him," New York Herald Tribune, Nov. 23, 1963.

187. 5 H 76-78 (Olivier). 188. Id. at 78 ; CE 850.

189. See 3 H 362 (Carrico) ; 3 H 368

(Perry).

190. 2 H 364 (Humes) ; CE 385 ; see 5 H

60-61 (Frazier) ; CE 394.

191. 2 H 375 (Humes).

192. 5 H 77-78 (Olivier) ; CE 849.

193. 5 H 59-62 (Frazier) ; CE 393, 394, 395

194. 5 H 59-62 (Frazier).

195. Id. at 59. 196. Ibid. 197. Id. at 59-60.

198. Id. at 60. 199. Ibid. 200. Ibid. 201. Ibid. 202. Ibid. 203. Ibid. 204. Id. at 61. 205. Ibid. 206. CE 395.

207. 5 H 62 (Frazier).

208. Ibid. 209. 4 H 104 (Dr. Robert R. Shaw).

210. Id. at 104-105 ; CE 679, 680.

211. 4 H 104 (Shaw) ; 6 H 85 (Shaw).

212. 4 H 136-138 (Gov. John B. Connally, Jr.). 213. Id. at 135.

214. 4 H 118, 124 (Dr. Charles F. Gregory).

215. Id. at 118-119.

216. Id. at 119-120.

217. Id at 120-121.

218. Id at 124. 219. 6 H 89 (Shaw).

220. 4 H 109 (Shaw).

221. 4 H 138 (Connally) ; 6 H 106 (Dr. George T. Shires).

222. See 5 H 87 (Olivier) ; 6 H 106

(Shires). 223. Ibid. ; 4 H 125 (Gregory).

224. 6 H 106, 109 (Shires) ; 4 H 113 (Shaw) ; 4 H 125 (Gregory).

225. CE 684 ; 5 H 63 (Frazier).

226. Ibid. 227. Ibid. ; CE 683. 228. 5 H 64 (Frazier). 229. Id. at 63-64.

230. Id. at 64 ; CE 685.

231. 5 H 64 (Frazier).

232. Ibid. 233. Ibid. ; CE 686. 234. 5 H 64-65 (Frazier).

235. Ibid. 236. Id. at 65. 237. Ibid. 238. CE 687, 688 ; 5 H 65-66 (Frazier). 239. Ibid. 240. 5 H 93 (Dr. Arthur J. Dziemian).

241. Ibid. 242. Ibid. ; see 5 H 82-83 (Olivier). 243. Id. at 81. 244. Ibid. ; CE 854, 855. 245. 5 H 82 (Olivier) ; CE 856. 246. 5 H 82 (Olivier). 247. Id. at 82-83.

248. Ibid. 249. 4 H 121-122 (Gregory).

250. See id. at 124. 251. Spc 5 H 82 (Olivier). 252. Id. at 87 ; see id. at 82. 253. 3 H 430 (Frazier).

254. 6 H 98 (Gregory).

255. Id. at 98-99.

256. 6 H 91 (Shaw) ; 6 H 101-102

(Gregory) ; 6 H 109-110 (Shires).

257. 4 H 139-140 (Connally).

258. Id. at 138-139 ; CE 689.

259. 5 H 92 (Dziemian) ; see 5 H 84-

87 (Olivier) ; 5 H 95-97 (Dr. F. W. Light,

Jr.). 260. 2 H 71-73 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 116-

117 CGreer) ; 4 H 132-133 (Connally).

821
NOTES TO PAGES 9&-119

261. CE 347, 354, 699.

262. 5 H 137 (Leo J. Gauthier) ; CE

884 ; see 5 H 138-165 (Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt). 263. Id. at 139-141.

264. Id. at 153-154.

265. Id. at 142. 266. Id. at 153^154 ; 3 H 407 (Frazier). 267. See 5 H 93 (Dziemian).

268. 5 H 130-132 (Thomas J. Kelley) ; see CE 871-874.

269. 5 H 132-134 (Kelley). 270. 5 H 147 (Shaneyfelt).

271. Id. at 162. 272. 5 H 134 (Kelley) ; 5 H 167 (Frazier). 273. 5 H 139 (Shaneyfelt).

274. Id. at 149. 275. Id. at 147-148.

276. See id. at 145. 277. Id. at 147-149.

278. Id. at 149-150.

279. Id. at 150-151.

280. Id. at 152. 281. Id. at 151. 282. Id. at 151-152.

283. Id. at 152. 284. Id. at 157.

285. Id. at 153, 156-157.

286. 5 H 168-169 (Frazier).

287. Id. at 71, 169.

288. Id. at 70, 169 (Frazier) ; 5 H 77

(Olivier). 289. 5 H 70-71 (Frazier).

290. Ibid. 291. Ibid. 292. Id. at 174. 293. CE 697, 698.

294. 5 H 131-132 (Kelley).

295. 3 H 359 (Carrico) ; 4 H 147 (Mrs. John B. Connally, Jr.) ; see 4 H 138-140

(Connally).

296. 5 H 169-171 (Frazier).

297. Id. at 170; 4 H 145 (Connally).

298. 5 H 170 (Frazier). 299. Ibid. 300. Id. at 167.

301. 5 H 153 (Shaneyfelt) ; 5 H 137

(Gauthier).

302. 5 H 153, 162 (Shaneyfelt). S03. Ibid. 304. Id. at 162. 305. Id. at 162-163.

306. Id. at 163 ; CE 902, 903.

307. 5 H 133 (Kelley).

308. 5 H 163 (Shaneyfelt).

309. 4 H 137-138 (Connally).

310. See 4 H 104-105 (Shaw).

311. 5 H 164 (Shaneyfelt).

312. CE 385.

313. 5 H 78-80 (Olivier). 314. CE 399, 853; 5 H 80 (Olivier). 315. Id. at 80, 86. 316. Id. at 86. 317. Id. at 86-87; 5 H 91-92 (Dzie- mian).

318. Id. at 92 (Dziemian).

319. Ibid. ; 5 H 83-84 (Olivier).

320.. Id. at 86. 321. Id. at 80. 322. Id. at 84; 6 H 95 (Shaw).

323. 5 H 94, 97 (Light).

324. Id. at 97. 325. CE 389, 390, 885. 326. CE 388, 389. 327. See 5 H 159-160 (Shaneyfelt).

328. Ibid. 329. Ibid. 330. Id. at 145, 160. 331. Id. at 160. 332. E.g. 4 H 147 (Mrs. Connally) ; 2 H 76 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 118 (Greer) ; 2 H

149-150 (Rufus W. Youngblood) ; 7 H 448 (Kenneth O'Donnell) ; 7 H 440 (Senator Ralph W. Yarborough) ; see also the reports

of numerous eyewitnesses in CE 1416-1419.

1425, 1427, 1430-1432, 1434-1436, 2084,

2087, 2090, 2098-2107.

333. E.g. 2 H 139 (Clinton J. Hill) ; CE 1421, 1429.

334. E.g. 2 H 194 (James R. Worrell,

Jr.) ; 6 H 207 (Jean L. Hill) ; 6 H 238

(Skelton).

335. Hatcher, Jury & Weller, Firearms

Investigations^ Identification and Evidence, 418 (1957).

336. See supra at p. 85. 337. CE 1024, statement of Agent Glen

A. Bennett.

338. CE 2112.

339. 4 H 132-133 (Connally).

340. 4 H 147 (Mrs. Connally) ; 5 H 152

(Shaneyfelt).

341. 4 H 147 (Mrs. Connally).

342. 7 H 517, 520-521 (Altgens).

343. 5 H 158 (Shaneyfelt).

344. 7 H 493 (Phillip L. Willis) ; 15 H

696-697 (Shaneyfelt) ; Shaneyfelt DE 25. 345. 4 H 133, 135 (Connally).

346. 5 H 160 (Shaneyfelt).

347. Id. at 153-154 ; 3 H 407 (Frazier).

'348. For recollection that the second and third shots were closer together see

e.g. 2 H 73^74 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 118

(Greer) ; 2 H 150 (Youngblood) ; 2 H 159

(Jackson) ; CE 2084, 2098, 2100. For recollection that the shots were

evenly spaced see e.g. 7 H 495 (Willis). For recollection that the first and

second shots were closer together see the statement of Cecil Ault, CE 2103.

349. 7 H 518 (Altgens).

350. 7 H 560 (Emmett J. Hudson).

351. 5 H 180 (Mrs. John F. Kennedy).

352. 6 H 238 (Skelton).

353. Ibid. 354. 6 H 252 (J. W. Foster).

355. See CE 2111.

356. 7 H 553 (James T. Tague).

357. 7 H 546 (Eddy R. Walthers).

358. Ibid.; 7 H 553 (Tague).

359. Ibid. 360. Id. at 555. 361. CE 1974, p. 166; see 6 H 298 (Haygood).

362. 15 H 700 (Shaneyfelt).

363. Ibid. 364. Ibid. 365. E.g. 2 H 76 (Kellerman) ; 2 H 118

(Greer) ; 2 H 139 (Clinton J. Hill) ; 2 H

150 (Yoangblood) ; 2 H 182-183 (Arnold

L. Rowland) ; 2 H 160 (Jackson).

CHAPTER IV

1. See ch. III.

2. 11 H 207 (Albert Yeargan) ; 11 H 206

(J. Philip Lux) ; 7 H 364 (William Waldman).

3. 11 H 205 (Louis Feldsott).

4. 7 H 364-365 (Waldman) ; 7 H 370-

371 (Mitchell Scibor).

5. 7 H 420 (James Cadigan) ; 4 H 373 (Alwyn Cole).

6. 7 H 420 (Cadigan) ; 4 H 359-362

(Cole).

7. 7 H 365-368 (Waldman) ; Waldman

DE 7, 8. 9, 10 ; CE 773, 788.

8. CE 788, 789; 7 H 295 (Harry

822
NOTES TO PAGES 119-128 Holmes) ; 4 H 373 (Cole) ; 7 H 423 (Cadi- gan) ; Cadigan DE 11.

9. 7 H 366-368 (Waldman) ; Waldman

DE 7, 10 ; CE 2957.

10. 7 H 365-368 (Waldman) ; Wald- man DE 7. 8, 9, 10 ; CE 773, 788.

11. 7 H 361-364 (Waldman) ; Wald- man DE 1, 3, 4. 12. Waldman DE 7. 13. 3 H 393 (Robert Frazier) ; CE 1977.

14. Holmes DE 3 ; Cadigan DE 13 ; 7 H 295 (Holmes) ; CE 2011, p. 17 ; see also CE 791, 792.

15. 4 H 377-378 (Cole) ; CE 791, 792.

16. 4 H 379 (Cole) ; 7 H 425-426 (Cadi- gan) ; CE 793.

17. 2 H 457-459 (Ruth Paine) ; 1 H 18-

19 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 388 (Marina

Oswald).

18. Cadigan DE 13 ; CE 791 ; 7 H 527

(Holmes).

19. Id. at 528.

20. 3 H 300-301 (M. N. McDonald) : CE 143 ; 7 H 54 (Gerald Hill) ; 7 H 21-22

(Bob Carroll) ; Cadigan DE 12.

21. 7 H 376 (Heinz Michaelis) ; CE 135, 790 ; 7 H 594 (David Goldstein) ; Cadigan

DE 12. 22. 4 H 375 (Cole) ; 7 H 424 (Cadigan).

23. CE 801, 802 ; 7 H 187-188 (Richard

Stovall) ; 7 H 228 (Guy Rose) ; CE 1986,

1989, 1990 ; CE 2011, p. 20. 24. CE 2011, p. 21.

25. CE 795, 1986, 1989, 1990 ; 7 H 187-

188 (Stovall) ; 7 H 228 (Rose) ; CE 2011,

pp. 22-23.

26. Compare CE 801 with 795 ; For a

detailed description of additional steps in the creation of the forged card, see 4 H

386-387 (Cole).

27. CE 795, 800-801, 806-812 ; 4 H 380-

382, 385-387, 389-391 (Cole) ; 7 H 427

(Cadigan) ; 7 H 195 (Stovall).

28. CE 813. 2004; CE 2011, p. 2i5. 29. 4 H 394-396 (Cole).

30. CE 18?8, 2012.

31. 7 H 296 (Holmes).

32. CE 817 ; Cadigan DE 22 ; 7 H 296

(Holmes) ; CE 1799, p. 3 ; CE 2011, p. 19.

33. 4 H 397-398 (Cole) ; 7 H 431-432

(Cadigan),

34. 1 H 64 (Marina Oswald).

35. 5 H 401 (Marina Oswald).

36. See e.g., CE 819 ; CE 1413, pp. 19,

35.

37. 1 H 64 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 401, 403 (Marina Oswald).

38. Ibid ; 1 H 65 (Marina Oswald).

39. CE 1398.

40. CE 1945.

41. CE 2014.

42. 1 H 91 (Marina Oswald). When

translated from the Russian, the name

was spelled "Alec". Oswald himself

spelled the name "Alek" in correspondence.

See note 43, infra. 43. See, e.g., CE 38, 55-56.

44. 3 H 289 (Luke Mooney) ; 3 H 292-

293 (Eugene Boone).

45. 4 H 258 (J. C. Day) ; cf. 3 H 295

(Boone).

46. 4 H 259 (Day).

47. Id. at 261; 4 H 20 (Sebastian Latona).

48. Id. at 21. 49. Ibid.

50. Ibid. 51. Id. at 22, 29 ; see also 4 H 258-259

(Day).

52. Id. at 260-261.

53. 4 H 24 (Latona).

54. Ibid. 55. 4 H 261-262 (Day).

56. 4 H 23 (Latona) ; 4 H 261 (Day).

57. CE 2637.

58. 4 H 24 (Latona) ; CE 637-639.

59. 4 H 50 (Arthur Mandella) ; 15 H

745-746 (Mandella).

60. 4 H 47 (Latona) ; 7 H 590 (Ronald

Wittmus).

61. 4 H 30 (Latona) ; 4 H 54 (Mandella) ; 7 H 590 (Wittmus).

62. 4 H 2 (Latona) ; 4 H 262 (Day).

63. 4 H 260 (Day).

64. 4 H 82, 85 (Paul Stombaugh) ; CE

674.

65. 4 H 56, 74 (Stombaugh).

66. CE 150, 673-676; 3 H 302 (McDonald) ; see CE 2011, p. 13. 15 H 695

(Lyndal Shaneyfelt).

67. 4 H 83-87 (Stombaugh).

68. Id. at 88.

69. Id. at 87. 70. Id. at 87-88.

71. 1 H 121 (Marina Oswald).

72. 3 H 252 (T. L. Baker) ; 3 H 276

(Mrs. Robert Reid) ; 2 H 259 (William

Whaley).

73. 6 H 412-413 (Mrs. Mary Bledsoe).

74. 7 H 173 (Richard Sims) ; 2 H 287

(Cecil McWatters) ; 4 H 223 (J. W.

Fritz); CE 381, 381-A ; CE 2005, p. I 137-B.

75. Ibid. 76. 4 H 84 (Stombaugh).

77. Id. at 83.

78. 3 H 41 (Ruth Paine) ; see app. XIIL

79. See footnotes 107-114. infra.

80. See ch. VI, pp. 318-321.

81. See footnotes 107-114, infra.

82. CE 712, 713 ; 4 H 237, 241 (Fritz) ; 11 H 155-156 (M. Waldo Georce).

83. 1 H 15-16, 117-118 (Marina Os- wald) ; CE 134.

84. CE 133-A.

85. CE 748 ; 4 H 281 (Lyndal Shaneyfelt). 86. Ibid. 87. CE 1.S3-A, 133-B, 134 ; 1 H 117-

118 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 405, 410

(Marina Oswald) : CE 750.

88. CE 749 ; 7 H 194 (Stovall) ; 7 H 231

(Rose) ; CE 2011, p. 26. The recovered

negative was of the picture introduced as CE 133-B.

89. 4 H 284-288 (Shaneyfelt).

90. Id. at 284.

91. Id. at 289; 15 H 693 (Shaneyfelt).

92. 4 H 237, 241 (Fritz) ; CE 712, 713,

714.

93. 4 H 288 (Shaneyfelt).

94. Id. at 290-294 ; 15 H 687-690

(Shaneyfelt).

95. 4 H 292-294 (Shaneyfelt) ; 15 H

689-690 (Shaneyfelt) ; Shaneyfelt DE 13,

14, 18.

96. See footnote 4, 82, 83, supra.

97. CE 1406; 15 H 690-692 (Shaneyfelt) ; Shaneyfelt DE 20, 21, 22, 22-A.

98. 1 H 15, 118 (Marina Oswald) ; see

p. 182, infra. 99. Michaelis DE 5 ; Waldman DE 7. 100. 1 H 119 (Marina Oswald).

101. Id. at 14. 102. Id. at 21 ; CE 1403, p. 735.

103. 1 H 21-22, 54 (Marina Oswald) ; but see Id. at 65 ; contra CE 1403, p. 736.

104. 1 H 26 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 4-5,

7, 10-11, 19 (R. Paine).

105. 1 H 26 (Marina Oswald).

106. 3 H 20-21, 25 (R. Paine) ; 2 H

507-508 ^R. Pame).

107. 1 H 26, 52, 53, 61, 67-78, 74 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 2003. p. 46.

il08. 1 H 26. 52 (Marina Oswald).

109. 3 H 21-25 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 436-

443 (M. Paine).

110. 2 H 414-416 (M. Paine) ; 9 H 437-

440 (M. Paine).

111. 9 H 436 (M. Paine).

823
NOTES TO PAGES 128-140

112. 2 H 417 (M. Paine) ; 9 H 442-443

(M. Paine).

113. 7 H 229 (Rose) ; 7 H 548 (Eddy

Walthers).

114. 4 H 57-58 (Stombaugh).

115. 3 H 27-39 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 51 (Marina Oswald) ; 6 H 401-402 (Bledsoe) ; 10 H 293-294 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson) ; 6 H

436 (E. Roberts).

116. 2 H 212-213, 217 (Frazier) ; 1 H

51, 124 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 40, 67, 127

(R. Paine).

117. 1 H 51 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H

222 (Frazier) ; 3 H 40 (M. Paine) ; see 3 H 28-46 (M. Paine).

118. 2 H 222-223 (Frazier) ; CE 2003,

p. 25. 119. Ibid. 120. 2 H 247-248 (Mrs. Linnie Mae

Randle) ; 2 H 224 (Frazier).

121. 10 H 297 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson).

122. CE 2046.

123. 3 H 72-73 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 424 (R. Paine) ; R. Paine DE 275, 276 ; CE 449.

124. 3 H 75-76 (R. Faine).

125. 1 H 68-69 (Marina Oswald).

126. CE 2640.

127. 3 H 46. 56-57 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 65 (Marina Oswald).

128. 3 H 48, 59-61 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 418

(R. Paine) ; 1 H 71 (Marina Oswald).

129. 3 H 48, 52, 60 (R. Paine) ; 9 H

397, 418 (R. Paine) ; CE 430.

130. CE 429, 430, 434 : 3 H 29, 52-53

(R. Faine) ; 9 H 402 (R. Paine).

131. 9 H 408, 410 (R. Paine) ; 3 H 20-

22 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 26, 52-53, 67, 119 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 140 ; 2003, p. 46. 132. 3 H 47 (R. Paine).

133. Id. at 47, 62-63.

134. Id. at 48-49, 65. 135. 1 H 66-67 (Marina Oswald).

136. Ibid; 3 H 58-59, 67 (R. Paine).

137. Compare photos in CE 1305 and

1304.

Ii38. 2 H 252 (Cortlandt Cunningham).

139. 1 H 73-74 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H

68-69 (R. Paine).

140. Ibid ; 3 H 78-79 (R. Paine) ; 7 H

229-230 (Rose).

141. 1 H 119 (Marina Oswald).

142. 3 H 79 (R. Paine).

143. Ibid; 1 H 74 (Marina Oswald).

144. Ibid; 7 H 305 (Holmes) ; Holmes DE 4, p. 3^ ; see also 4 H 223, 229 (Fritz). 145. 1 H 72-7i3 (Marina Oswald) ; S H

68, 112 (R. Paine) ; 2 H 224-226 (Frazier), 146. 1 H 66, 72-73 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 68 (R. Paine).

147. 2 H 248 (Randle) ; CE 144. 446.

148. 2 H 251 (Randle) ; CE 144, 446.

149. 2 H 248-249 (Randle).

150. Id. at 249-250.

151. Id. at 249.

152. 2 H 225-226 (Frazier).

153. Id. at 226.

154. Ibid. 155. Ibid. 156. Id. at 228.

157. Id. at 220.

158. Id. at 228.

159. Id. at 230.

160. 6 H 376-377 (Jack Dougherty).

161. See e.g. 6 H 383 (Eddie Piper) : 3 H 164-165 (Bonnie Ray Williams) ; 3 H

188 (Harold Norman) ; 3 H 200 (James

Jarman, Jr.) : 3 H 218-219 (Roy Truly) ; 6 H 328 (William Shelley) : 6 H 348-^49

(Charles Glvens) ; 6 H 358-359 (Trov

West) ; 6 H 364-365 (Danny Arce) ; 6 H

337 (Billy Lovelady) ; CE 1381, pp. 2, 9, 12, 13, 18, 20, 25, 33-34, 37, 39, 43, 50,

58, 59, 67, 71. 77, 82. 86, 89, 96, 97, 105.

162. 2 H 226 (Frazier) ; 2 H 249-250

(Randle).

163. 3 H 395 (Frazier) ; CE 139.

164. CE 1304; 2 H 240 (Frazier).

165. Id. at 241.

166. Id. at 243.

167. CE 2009.

168. 2 H 249-250 (Randle).

169. 2 H 239 (Frazier).

170. 2 H 248-249 (Randle) ; see CE

2008.

171. Ibid. 172. 2 H 243 (Frazier).

173. Id. at 229.

174. See CE 142; 4 H 266 (Day).

175. 4 H 266-267 (Day) ; 7 H 143-145

(Robert Lee Studebaker) ; Studebaker DE

F; CE 1302.

176. 3 H 395 (Frazier) ; CE 142, 626.

177. CE 1301, 1302.

178. See CE 508, 723, 726 ; 4 H 265-

266 (Day) ; 3 H 285-286, 289 (Luke

Mooney).

179. 4 H 267 (Day).

180. See app. X, pp. 565-566 ; 4 H 3-8

(Latona).

181. Id. at 4-5, 8. 182. Id. at 7. 183. Id. at 47; 7 H 590 (Wittmus).

184. 4 H 50-51 (Mandella).

185. 4 H 5, 47 (Latona) ; 4 H 50-51

(Mandella) ; 15 H 745-746.

186. 4 H 44-45 (Latona).

187. Id. at 7; 2 H 228 (Frazier).

188. See CE 677 which indicates it was

picked up by R. L. Studebaker of the Dallas Police Force on November 22, 1963 ; 4 H 89-90 (Cadigan).

189. Id. at 93. 190. Id. at 95. 191. Id. at 93, 94, 97. 192. Id. at 93-94, 97, 99, 100.

193. CE 1077, 364; 4 H 93 (Cadigan).

194. Id. at 94-96, 99-100.

195. Ibid. 196. Id. at 96 ; CE 1965.

197. 3 H 215-218 (Truly).

198. 4 H 77-78 (Stombaugh).

199. Id. at 81. 200. Id. at 78. 201. Ibid. 202. Id. at 81. 203. Ibid. 204. 3 H 214 (Truly).

205. Id. at 214-215 ; 6 H 328 (Shelley). 206. Id. at 215; 6 H 328 (Shelley).

207. See infra, p. 143. 208. 4 H 269, 272, 277 (Day) ; CE 654,

733, 734; 7 H 147 (Studebaker) ; Stude- baker DE J ; CE 1309.

209. 4 H 269, 270-271, 277 (Day) ; CE

641, 733, 734; 7 H 141-143, 147 (Stude- baker) ; Studebaker DE A, B, C, D, E, J ; CE 1306, 1308.

210. 4 H 251, 277 (Day) : CE 481, 482,

653, 733, 734 ; 7 H 141-143, 147 (Stude- baker) ; Studebaker DE A, B, D, E, J. 211. 7 H 141 (Studebaker) ; 7 H 391

(Shelley) ; 3 H 232, 236 (Truly).

212. 7 H 149 (Studebaker).

213. CE 733; 734; 1312; 7 H 147

(Studebaker) ; Studebaker DE J. 214. CE 1302 ; see pp. 134-135 supra.

215. 4 H 31, 38, 42 (Latona).

216. Id. at 42. 217. Id. at 32, 34. 218. 3 H 231 (Truly) ; 7 H 391-392

(Shelley). 219. 3 H 232 (Truly) ; 7 H 149 (Stude- baker) ; 7 H 392 (Shelley).

220. 7 H 391 (Shelley) ; 3 H 236

(Truly).

221. 7 H 391-392 (Shelley). 222. 4 H 269 (Day) ; CE 1302.

223. 4 H 39 (Latona).

224. Id. at 38, 39 (Latona).

225. Id. at 39. 226. Ibid. 824
NOTES TO PAGES 141-152

227. Id. at 38-39.

228. 4 H 269-270 (Day) ; 4 H 31, 38-

39, 42 (Latona).

229. CE 313 ; pp. 17-18.

2S0. 4 H 51, 52, 54 (Mandella) ; 15 H

745-746 (Mandella) ; CE 662. 231. Id. at 47 ; 7 H 590 (Wittmus).

232. 4 H 42-44 (Latona) ; CE 1980, 3135.

233. 6 H 347, 349 (Givens).

234. Id. at 354.

235. Id. at 349. 236 Ibid. 237. Id. at 349-350, 353.

238. Id. at 350-351.

239. Id. at 351 ; 3 H 223 (Truly).

240. 6 H 351 (Givens).

241. CE 1381.

242. 6 H 342-345 (Frankie Kaiser) ; 6 H 332 (Shelley) ; 6 H 335 (Nat Pinkston) ; 3 H 2a3-235 (Truly) ; Kaiser DE

A; CE 506. 243. CE 1966, 3141, 6 H 344 (Kaiser) ; 6 H 335 (Pinkston).

244. 6 H 344 (Kaiser) ; 6 H ,^35 (Pinkston). 245. Ibid; 6 H 332-^33 (Shelley); 3 H 215 (Truly).

246. 6 H 332-333 (Shelley).

247. See eh. III. 248. 3 H 144-148 (Howard Brennan) ; 7 H 354 (Forrest Sorrels). 249. 3 H 141-144 (Brennan) ; CE

477-479.

250. 3 H 149-157 (Brennan) ; CE 479.

251. 3 H 142 (Brennan).

252. Id. at 143. 253. Id. at 143-144.

254. Id. at 145; 6 H 322-323 (J. Herbert Sawyer) ; 3 H 197 (Norman) ; 3 H

207 (Jarman) ; 7 H 349 (Sorrels) ; 7 H

540-544 (W. E. Barnett).

255. 6 H 321 (Sawyer) ; Sawyer DE

A; CE 1974, p. 24-25.

256. CE 2005.

257. 3 H 144 (Brennan). 258 CE 1991

259! CE 1945, 1950, 1951 ; CE 1944,

p. 3. 260. 11 H 471 (Francis Martello) ; CE

1413, pp. 19, 35. 261. CE 1981.

262. CE 1974, p. 59. 263. Id. at 181.

264. Id. at 74. 265. 3 H 144 (Brennan).

266. CE 481, 715, 733, 734.

267. CE 715, 733, 734. 268. See 5 H 167 (Frazier) ; CE 1301.

269. 3 H 144 (Brennan).

270. See e.g., CE 481, 482, 485.

271. 3 H 174 (Williams) ; 3 H 190-191 (Norman) ; 3 H 204 (Jarman) ; CE 485, 486, 494.

272. CE 485, 486, 494.

273. See CE 485, 486, 494, 715, 733,

734, 1312.

274. 3 H 146, 156 (Brennan) : 3 H 197 (Norman) ; but see, 7 H 349 (Sorrels). 275. 3 H 184-185 (Brennan).

276. 3 H 197 (Norman) ; 3 H 207 (Jar- man).

277. 3 H 197 (Norman).

278. 3 H 207 (Jarman).

279. 3 H 147-148 (Brennan) ; 7 H 355

(Sorrels). 280. 3 H 148 (Brennan) ; but see 7 H

354-^55 (Sorrels). 281. 3 H 155 (Brennan).

282. CE 2006; 3 H 155-156 (Brennan).

283. Id. at 155. 284. Id. at 148. 285. Ibid; see also id. at 155.

286. Id. at 148; 7 H 354 (Sorrels). 287. 6 H 193-194 (Ronald Fischer) ; 6 H 203-205 (Robert Edwards).

288. 6 H 192 (Fischer) ; 6 H 202-203

(Edwards).

289. 3 H 141 (Brennan).

290. 6 H 193 (Fischer). 291. Ibid. 292. Ibid. 293. Ibid. 294. Id. at 194. 295. Ibid. 296. Ibid. 297. Ibid. 298. Id. at 197-198.

299. Id. at 197.

300. Id. at 198.

3O1I. Ibid. 302. Id. at 198-199.

303. 6 H 203 (Edwards).

304. Id. at 203-204.

305. See ch. Ill, p. 64. 306. 2 H 203 (Amos Euins) ; CE 365.

307. 2 H 204-207 (Euins).

308. CE 367.

309. 6 H 170 (James Underwood).

3ia 2 H 208 (Euins).

311. 7 H 349 (Sorrels). 312. 7 H 519 (James Altgens).

313. Ibid ; CE 369, 203.

314. 5 H 158-159 (Shaneyfelt) ; 7 H 519

(Altgens) ; CE 900.

315. CE 1408.

316. 6 H 338-339 (Lovelady) ; CE 1407.

317. 2 H 233 (Frazier) ; 6 H 328 (Shelley). 318. Ibid ; CE 36&.

319. 3 H 244 (Baker).

320. Id. at 245.

321. Ibid. 322. Ibid. 323. Id. at 246.

324. Ibid. 325. Id. at 247.

326. Ibid. 327. Id. at 248. 328. Ibid. 329. Id. at 248-249.

330. Id. at 249.

331. CE 1118.

332. 3 H 249 (Baker).

333. Ibid. 334. 3 H 223 (Truly).

335. Ibid. 336. 3 H 249-250 (Baker).

337. Id. at 255-256 ; 3 H 222-223

(Truly).

338. CE 1118.

339. 7 H 591 (Truly).

340. 3 H 224 (Truly) ; 3 H 250

(Baker) ; CE 498.

341. 3 H 250, 255 (Baker).

342. Ibid. 343. Id. at 250: CE 1118.

344. 3 H 223-224 (Truly).

345. 3 H 255 (Baker).

346. Id. at 250. 347. Ibid. 348. Ibid. 349. Id. at 255.

350. Id. at 251.

351. 3 H 225 (Truly).

352. Ibid.: 3 H 251 (Baker).

353. 3 H 225 (Truly) ; 3 H 251 (Baker).

354. Id. at 252 (Baker).

355. 3 H 225 (Truly).

356. Ibid. 357. 3 H 247-248 (Baker).

358. 3 H 228 (Truly).

359. 3 H 252 (Baker).

360. Id. at 254; see also 3 H 240

(Truly).

361. 3 H 254 (Baker) ; Truly, however

stated that the second run was timed at

1 minute 15 seconds, 3 H 240 (Truly).

362. 7 H 592 (John Howlett).

363. 7 H 592-593 (Baker) ; 3 H 247-

248 (Baker).

364. Id. at 253.

730-900 0-64—54 825
NOTES TO PAGES 152-165

365. Id. at 252 ; accord, 3 H 228

(Truly).

366. Id. at 223.

367. Ibid. 368. 3 H 254 (Baker).

369. 3 H 226 (Truly) ; see also 3 H 254

(Baker).

370. 3 H 226-227 (Truly).

371. 6 H 379 (Dougherty) ; see also 3 H 229 (Truly).

372. 6 H 380 (Dougherty).

373. 6 H 382-386 (Piper).

374. 3 H 180 (Williams).

375. Ibid; 3 H 193 (Norman); 3 H

206 (Jarman) ; 3 H 231 (Truly) ; CE

490, 492.

376. 3 H 201-206 (Jarman) ; 3 H 89-97 (Norman) ; 3 H 171-176 (Williams).

377. 3 H 201-206 (Jarman) ; 3 H 89-

97 (Norman) ; 3 H 171-176 (Williams) ; 6 H 378 (Dougherty) ; CE 1381, pp. 27, 49, 70, 101-102.

378. 6 H 388 (Victoria Adams).

379. Ibid. 380. 6 H 329 (Shelley) ; 6 H 339 (Lovelady). 381. Ibid. ; 6 H 329 (Shelley). 382. 6 H 329 (Shelley). 383. Id. at 329-330; 6 H 338-340

(Lovelady).

384. Id. at 340.

385. 3 H 273 (Mrs. Reid).

386. Ibid. 387. Id. at 274.

388. Ibid. 389. Ibid. 390. Ibid. 391. Id. at 278 ; CE 1118.

392. 3 H 276 (Mrs. Reid).

393. I H 122 (Marina Oswald).

394. Ibid. 395. 6 H 345 (Kaiser).

396. 3 H 275 (Mrs. Reid).

397. Id. at 275, 279.

398. Id. at 279. 399. CE 1118.

400. 7 H 542-543 (Barnett).

401. See ch. Ill, p. 63. 402. 7 H 543 (Barnett).

403. Ibid. 404. 6 H 310 (D. V. Harkness) ; CE

1974, p. 165. 405. 6 H 311 (Harkness).

406. Id. at 312. 407. CE 1974, p. 165 ; 6 H 316-317

(Sawyer).

408. Id. at 317-318.

409. Id. at 320. 410. Id. at 318, 320.

411. Id. at 320. 412. 7 H 348 (Sorrels). 413. 3 H238 (Truly).

414. 3 H 230, 238 (Truly).

415. Id. at 230.

416. Id. at 239. 417. 4 H 206 (Fritz). 418. Id. at 211; 7 H 173 (Sims) ; CE

381

419. Compare CE 381-A and 372 ; 2 H

268 (McWatters).

420. 2 H 263-264, 286 (McWatters).

421. Id. at 271. 422. Id. at 264, 271. 423. Id. at 264-265.

424. Id. at 271. 425. Id. at 279-280, 282 ; CE 377. 426. 2 H 280-283 (McWatters).

427. CE 2641.

428. 2 H 270 (McWatters).

429. 6 H 401, 402 (Mrs. Bledsoe).

430. Id. at 406.

431. Ibid. 432. Id. at 408-409.

433. Id. at 409. 434. Ibid.

435. CE 150 ; 7 H 33-34 (Thomas Hutson) ; 1 H 121-122 (Marina Oswald) ; 15 H

695 (Shaneyfelt).

436. 6 H 412-413 (Mrs. Bledsoe).

437. CE 1985.

438. Ibid ; CE 1984.

439. 6 H 411 (Mrs. Bledsoe).

440. 2 H 275 (McWatters) ; CE 376. 441. 2 H 276 (McWatters).

442. Id. at 275-276.

443. 10 H 292-293 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson). 444. CE 2017.

445. 2 H 283 (McWatters).

446. CE 1987.

447. Ibid. 448. 6 H 266, 270 (Roger Craig) ; CE

1967, 1992, 1993.

449. Ibid.; 6 H 266-267 (Craig).

450. Ibid. 451. 6 H 270 (Craig).

452. Ibid. 453. 4 H 245 (Fritz). 454. Ibid., 7 H 404 (Fritz). 455. 2 H 260 (Whaley).

456. Ibid. 457. Id. at 260-261.

458. Id. at 261. 459. Ibid. 460. 2 H 260 (Whaley) ; 6 H 432 (Whaley) ; CE 2003, p. 293. 461. 2 H 294 (Whaley) ; 6 H 430, 432

(Whaley).

462. CE 1054, 2003, p. 293. 463. CE 370, 382. 464. 2 H 254 (Whaley).

465. Id. at 255.

466. Ibid. 467. Id. at 256. 468. Ibid. 469. Id. at 258, 371.

470. 2 H 258 (Whaley).

471. CE 1119-A.

472. 6 H 428-^29 (Whaley).

473. Id. at 429.

474. Ibid. 475. Id. at 434. 476. Ibid. 477. 2 H 260 (Whaley).

478. 6 H 345 (Kaiser).

479. 6 H 409 (Mrs. Bledsoe).

480. 2 H 259 (Whaley).

481. 2 H 256-257, 292 (Whaley).

482. CE 383-A, 2003, p. 289.

483. 4 H 214 (Fritz). 484. Id. at 211, 223 ; CE 2003, p. 289. 485. 4 H 223 (Fritz). 486. CE 1119-A.

487. 6 H 440 (Mrs. Roberts).

488. Id. at 435-436.

489. Id. at 436 ; 10 H 294-295 (Mrs. A.

C. Johnson) ; Mrs. A. C. Johnson DE A.

490. 6 H 438-440 (Mrs. Roberts) ; 7 H

439 (Mrs. Roberts) ; CE 2017.

491. CE 1119-A.

492. CE 1974, pp. 52-53.

49)3. CE 1995.

494. 4 H 177 (Jesse Curry).

495. 3 H 297 (McDonald) ; CE 1976,

p. 8; 522. 496. 7 H 77 (Rio Pierce) ; Sawyer DE B,

p. 1 ; CE 1974. p. 24. 497. 4 H 179 (Curry) ; CE 1974, p. 26. 498. CE 1974, pp. 36-37 ; Sawyer DE A ; 4 H 179, 184 (Curry) ; 7 H 75 (James

Putnam).

499. Id. at 76; 4 H 179 (Curry).

500. Ibid; CE 1974, pp. 24-25, 28, 37. 501. 4 H 179 (Curry) ; CE 1974, pp. 24-

25, 28, 37. 502. Ibid. 503. CE 1305.

504. 3 H 322-327 (William Scoggins) ; CE 1305.

505. 3H 333-334 (Scoggins) ; 7 H 265-

266 (James Leavelle) ; CE 2003, p. 293. 826
NOTES TO PAGES 166-178

506. 3 H 334-335 (Sco?gins).

5^^?. 6 H 446-449 (Domingo Benavides).

SOS. Id. at 449 : CE 1974, p. 52. 509. 6 H 450-451 (Benavides) ; 7 H

68 (J. M. Poe) ; CE 2011, pp. 7-8.

510. 6 H 451-452 (Benavides) ; 7 H

263-264 (Leavelle).

511. 3 H 306-307, 313 (Helen Markham).

512. Id. at 307.

513. Id. at 307-308, 313-316; 3 H 3^3

(Barbara Davis) ; 6 H 456-457 (Virginia

Davis).

514. 3 H 308 (Markham).

515. Id. at 308-309, 316, 321.

516. Id. at 309, 320. 517. 7 H 68 (Poe).

518. CE 1974, p. 58-59.

519. CE 2002 ; 3 H 310 (Markham).

520. Id. at 311 ; see 4 H 176 (Curry) ; 4 H 212 (Fritz) ; 7 H 253-254 (L. C. Graves) ; 7 H 263 (Leavelle) ; CE 2003,

p. 293.

521. 7 H 252 (Graves).

522. Id. at 254.

523. 3 H 311 (Markham).

524. 2 H 51 (Mark Lane).

525. Markham, DE 1. 526. Id. at 3-4, 8. 527. Id. at 3, 7. 528. 7 H 68 (Poe) ; CE 1974, p. 59. 529. 3 H 317 (Markham).

530. 7 H 500-506 (Markham).

531. 3 H 343-344 (B. Davis) ; 6 H 455-

458 (V. Davis).

532. 3 H 344-345 (B. Davis).

533. Id. at 345-346 ; 6 H 458, 460, 463-

464 (V. Davis) ; 7 H 153 (C. N. Dhority) ; CE 20-11, pp. 7-8.

534. CE 2003, p. 293; 6 H 461-462

(V. D'lvis) : 3 H 349 (B. Davis) ; 7 H

153-154 (Dhority) ; 7 H 250 (C. W.

Brown).

535. 3 H 348 (B. Davis).

536. Id. at 349.

537. 6 H 461 (V. Davis).

538. CE 2003, p. 293 ; 6 H 462 (V. Davis) ; 3 H 350 (B. Davis) ; 7 H 153-154

(Dhority) ; 7 H 250 (Brown).

539. 6 H 462 (V. Davis).

540. Ibid ; 3 H 350 (B. Davis).

541. Ibid ; 6 H 462 (V. Davis).

542. 7 H 83-84 (William Smith).

543. Id. at 84. 544. Id. at 84-85.

545. Id. at 85. 546. 3 H 351-352 (Ted Callaway) ; 7 H

395-396 (Sam Guinyard).

547. 3 H 352-353 (Callaway) ; 7 H 396-

397 (Guinyard).

548. 3 H 353-354 (Callaway).

549. 7 H 398 ^Guinvard).

550. Ibid ; 3 H 354 (Callaway).

551. Ibid. 552. Ibid; 3 H 332 (Scoggins).

553. 7 H 264 (Leavelle) ; 3 H 355 (Cal- laway) ; 7 H 399-400 (Guinyard) ; CE

2003, p. 293.

554. 3 H 355 (Callaway).

555. 7 H 400 (Guinyard).

556. Ibid.; 3 H 355 (Callaway).

557. CE 1054.

558. Ibid. ; 7 H 253 (Graves) ; 1 H

167-168 (Sims) ; 4 H 166, 175 (Curry) ; 7 H 262-266 (Leavelle).

559. CE 1305.

560. CE 2523 ; 11 H 434, 436-437. (Warren Reynolds).

561. 7 H 594 (Harold Russell).

562,. 15 H 744-745 (B. M. Patterson) ; B. M. Patterson DE A, B.

5''.3. 15 H 703 (L. J. Lewis) ; L. J. Lewis DE A.

564. CE 2523; 11 H 435 Reynolds) ; 15 H 744-745 (B. M. Patterson) ; B. M. Patterson DE A, B.

565. 7 H 594 (Russell). 566. 15 H 744-745 (B. M. Patterson) ; B. M. Patterson DE A, B. 567. CE 2523 ; 11 H 435-4.37 (Reynolds).

568. 15 H 703 (L. J. Lewis) ; L. J. Lewis DE A.

569. 3 H 300-301 (McDonald) ; 7 H

54-55 (Gerald Hill) ; 7 H 24-25 (Carroll).

570. 6 H 449-450 ^Benavides) ; 3 H 345-

346 (B. Davis) ; 6 H 463-464 (V. Davis).

571. 3 H 465-466, 468 (Cunningham).

572. Id. at 466.

573. 3 H 511 (Joseph Nicol).

574. CE 2011, p. 9. 575. 3 H 475-476 (Cunningham).

576. Id. at 475, 485 ; 3 H 512 (Nicol). 577. 3 H 475 (Cunningham).

578. Id. at 483.

579. CE 603.

580. 3 H 5-'2 (Nicol). 581. 3 H 465 (Cunningham).

582. 3 H 352 (Callaway).

583. 7 H 372-374 (Michaelis).

584. Id. at 373-375 ; Michaelis DE 1. 5«i5. 7 H 3^5 (Michaelis).

586. 7 H 376 (Michaelis) ; CE 135, 790.

587. 7 H 367-377 (Michaelis) ; CE 135,

790.588. 7 H 376-378 (Michaelis) ; Michaelis DE. 2-5.

589. 4 H 361, 375 (Cole) ; 7 H 424

(Cadigan).

590. 1 H 118 (Marina Oswald).

591. Id. at 120.

592. Id. at 118, 120 ; 11 H 405 (Edwin

Walker).

593. CE 144, 2003, p. 286 ; 7 H 213-214

(Henry Moore) ; Moore DE 1 ; 7 H 222-

223 (F. M. Turner), 7 H 197-199 (Walter

Potts) ; Potts DE A-1.

594. 1 H 120 (Marina Oswald).

595. 6 H 440 (Roberts) ; CE 1974, p. 52. 596. 6 H 439-440 (Roberts'). 597. Hill DE B ; 3 H 302 (MacDonald) ; 7 H 53 (Hill). 598. CE 705, pp. 10, 22, 82. 599. CE 1974, p. 59. 600. 7 H 68-70 (Poe).

601. 7 H 593 (Alvin Brock).

602. CE 1974, p. 60. 603. 7 H 116-118 (Capt. W. R. Westbrook).

604. Ibid. 605. Ibid. 606. Id. at 118.

607. CE 1843.

608. 6 H 345 (Kaiser) ; CE 163.

609. 1 H 122 (Marina Oswald).

610. Ibid; 7 H 117-118 (Westbrook).

611. 6 H 439 (Roberts).

612. 3 H 356 (Callaway).

613. 3 H 312 (Markham) ; 3 H 347 (B. Davis) ; 3 H 328 (Scoggins).

614. Ibid. 615. CE 1119-A. See pp. 168-169,

supra.

616. 7 H 2 (Johnny Brewer).

617. Id. at 3. 618. Ibid. 619. Ibid. 620. Id. at 4. 621. 7 H 10-11 (Mrs. Julia Postal).

622. Id. at 11. 623. Ibid. 624. Ib'd. 625. Ibid. 626. Ibid. 627. Ibid. 628. CE 1974, p. 83. 629. Id. at 83-84 ; 3 H 298-299 (McDonald) ; CE 2003. p. 75. 630. 3 H 299 (McDonald).

631. 7 H 19 (Carroll) ; 7 H 49 (HUl).

632. CE 2003, p. 77. 827
NOTES TO PAGES 178-189

633. 7 H 6 (Brewer) ; 3 H 299 (Mc- Donald) ; 7 H 30 (Hutson) ; 7 H 37 (C. T. Walker).

634. 7 H 5-6 (Brewer) ; 3 H 299 (McDonald) ; 7 H 37 (C. T. Walker).

635. Id. at 38. 636. 7 H 49 (Hill) ; 7 H 31 (Hutson).

637. 3 H 299 (McDonald).

638. Ibid. 639. Id. at 300.

640. Ibid. 641. Ibid. 642. Ibid. 643. Ibid. 644. Ibid. 645. Ibid; 7 H 93 (Ray Hawkins).

646. 3 H 300 (McDonald).

647. Ibid. 648. Id. at 300-301; 7 H 20 (Carroll). 649. 7 H 547-548, 551 (Walthers).

650. 7 H 89 (Walker) ; 7 H 93-94

(Hawkins).

651. 7 H 32 (Hutson) ; 7 H 39-40

(Walker) ; see also 7 H 94 (Hawkins).

652. 3 H 461 (Cunningham).

653. Id. at 464-465.

654. 7 H 87-88 (George Applin Jr.). 655. Id. at 88^90.

656. 7 H 547 (Walthers).

657. 7 H 94-95 (Hawkins).

658. 7 H 72 (John Gibson).

659. Id. at 73. 660. 7 H 6 (Brewer).

661. Ibid. 662. 7 H 40 (C. T. Walker) ; 7 H 52

(6. Hill) ; CE 1974, p. 181. 663. 3 H 301 (McDonald).

664. CE 1974, p. 88. 665. 4 H 206 (Fritz) ; 7 H 163 (Sims).

666. 7 H 59 (Hill). 667. Ibid. 668. Ibid. 669. 4 H 275-276 (Day).

670. 3 H 514 (Nicol) ; 3 H 495 (Cun- ningham).

671. Id. at 487.

672. For testimony relating to the inter- rogation sessions, see 4 H 152-153, 157

(Curry) ; 4 JI 207-211, 217, 221r-231, 239- 240 (Fritz) ; 4 H 355-i357 (Winston Lawson) ; 4 H 466-470 (James Hosty, Jr.) ; 7 H 123-127 (Elmer Boyd) ; 7 H 164-182

(Sims) ; 7 H 309-318 (James Bookhout) ; 7 H 320-321 (Manning Clements) ; 13 H

58-62 (Sorrels) ; 7 H 590 (Kelley) ; 7 H

296-306 (Holmes) ; CE 1982.

673. 4 H 214, 217, 230-231 (Fritz) ; 7 H 299 (Holmes).

674. 7 H 215 (Moore) ; 7 H 193-194

(Stovall) ; 7 H 231 (Rose) ; 7 H 203-205

(John Adamclk).

675. CE 1982 ; p. 137 ; 4 H 226 (Fritz) ; CE 2003, p. I 138-B, 138-C.

676. 4 H 226-231 (Fritz) ; CE 2003,

p. I 138-B, 138-C ; 7 H 298-299 (Holmes).

677. See pp. 126-127, supra.

678. 4 H 214 (Fritz). 679. Id. at 224, 230.

680. See pp. 172-173, supra.

681. CE 795, 1,986, 1989, 1990; 7 H

187-188 (Stovall) ; 7 H 228 (Rose) ; CE

2011, p. 20. 682. 4 H 222 (Fritz). 688. Ibid. 684. Ibid ; 7 H 299 (Holmes) ; Holmes DE 4. 685. Ibid; 7 H 299 (Holmes).

686. Ibid.

fi«7. 4 H 211 (Fritz) ; CE 2003, p. I 136-D; 7 H 311-312 (Bookhout).

688. Mrs. A, C. Johnson DE A ; see 10 H 294-295 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson).

689. CE 2003, p. 137-B.

690. 7 H 305 (Holmes).

691. 3 H 41 (R. Paine).

692. 7 H 305 (Holmes) ; Holmes DE 4, pp. 3-4; see also 4 H 223, 229 (Fritz).

693. Id. at 218, 223.

694. 2 H 220 (Frazier).

695. 4 H 467-468 (Hosty) ; see also 4 H 213-214 (Fritz) ; CE 2003, p. I 136-B,

136-C.

696. 6 H 328-329 (Shelley) ; see also 3 H 230 (Truly).

697. CE 1988; 4 H 224 (Fritz); CE

2005, p. I 137-C; Holmes DE 4, (Kelley).

698. 3 H 201 (Jarman) ; CE 1980.

699. 3 H 201 (Jarman).

700. 11 H 405 (Walker).

701. CE 2958.

702. 5 H 446 (Surrey).

703. CE 1997.

704. CE 1785, 2525 ; 9 H 393-394 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 18 (Marina Oswald).

705. CE 1; 1 H 17, 37 (Marina Os- wald).

706. 7 H 437 (Cadigan).

707. CE 1130.

708. 1 H 16 (Marina Oswald).

709. Ibid. 710. Id. at 17. 711. 11 H 155 (Waldo George).

712. 7 H 292 (Holmes).

713. CE 1979.

714. 1 H 16-17 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H

292-294 (Marina Oswald).

715. Ibid ; 1 H 18 (Marina Oswald).

716. Id. at 38; see CE 2, P-2 ; CE 3, P-1 ; CE 5. 717. CE 3, P-1 ; CE 5. 718. CE 1397.

719. CE 1006-1009, 1011-1012.

720. CE 2, P-2; see CE 1897.

721. CE 2001, p. 3. 722. CE 1351, p. 8. 723. Waldman DE 7. ,724. 15 H 692 (Shaneyfelt) ; Shaneyfelt DE 20. 725. CE 4, P-5; 1 H 39 (Marina Os- wald).

726. CE 1953, pp. 23-24, CE 4, P-5.

727. CE 1824-A, p. 385 ; 1953, pp. 24-

25 : CE 1953-A, P-1.

728. 1 H 16 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

1403, pp. 733-734.

729. CE 1953, pp. 2-4.

730. Id. at 4^5.

731. CE 2524, 2011, p. 5. 732. 3 H 439 (Frazier).

733. Id. at 434.

734. Id. at 440.

735. 3 H 503 (Nicol). 736. Ibid. 737. 1 H 17 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

1403, p. 733.

738. CE 1953, p. 14. 739. CE 2521, 1790.

740. CE 1953, pp. 27-31 ; CE 1979.

741. 1 H 334-335 (Robert Oswald) ; CE 323, p. 2i7. 742. 1 H 123 (Marina Oswald).

743. CE 1357.

744. 1 H 334^340 (Robert Oswald).

745. 5 H 892 (Marina Oswald).

746. Id. at 389-390.

747. Id. at 390.

748. Ibid. 749. Michaelis DE 2. 750. 1 H 18-19 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H 457-459 (R. Paine).

751. CE 1795, 1975.

752. CE 1973.

|753. CE 2522, 1795, 1975.

754. CE 1972.

755. 5 H 390 (Marina Oswald).

756. Id. at 897.

757. Ibid. 758. CE 1972.

759. 5 H 395 (Marina Oswald).

760. Id. at 389 (Marina Oswald).

761. 11 H 305-306 (Maj. Eugene D. Anderson).

828
NOTES TO PAGES 189-200

762. 11 H 305-306 (Anderson) ; 11 H

309 (Sgt. James A. Zahm).

763. 11 H 310 (Zahm).

764. 11 H 305-306 (Anderson).

765. 3 H 413 (Frazier).

766. 3 H 450 (Ronald Simmons).

767. 11 H 306-307 (Zahm).

768. Id. at 307.

769. Ibid. 770. Id. at 308.

771. Id. at 307, 309.

772. 11 H 310 (Zahm).

773. 11 H 302-303 (Anderson).

774. Ibid. 775. Ibid. 776. Ibid. 777. Id. at 304 ; Anderson DE 1. 778. Ibid; 3 H 304 (Anderson).

779. Id. at 305 ; Anderson DE 1. 780. Ibid. 781. 11 H 304 (Anderson).

782. Id. at 305.

783. 11 H 308 (Zahm).

784. Ibid. 785. 1 H 327 (Robert Oswald).

786. Id. at 325-327.

787. Ibid. 788. CE 1402, 2007 ; CE 1403, p. 731 ; 1 H 327-328 (R. Oswald) ; 1 H 96 (Marina

Oswald) ; 2 H 465-466 (R. Paine).

789. 1 H 327 (R. Oswald).

790. 1 H 14-15 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

1156, p. 442.

791. CE 1404, pp. 446-^48.

792. 9 H 249 (George De Mohrenschildt) ; 9 H 315-317 (Jeanne De Mohrenschildt). 793. 1 H 21-22, 53-54, 65 (Marina Os- wald) ; CE 1814, p. 736.

794. CE 2964.

795. See discussion, ch. Ill, p. 117, supra.

796. 3 H 399, 437-438 (R. A. Frazier) ; 3 H 449 (Simmons).

797. Id. at 444.

798. Id. at 445-447.

799. Id. at 445. SOO. Id. at 446.

801. Ibid. 802. Id. at 444 ; See discussion Chanter

III, p. 115, supra.

803. See ch. Ill, pp. 64-68, supra.

804. 3 H 446 (Simmons).

805. Id. at 447.

806. Id. at 447, 449.

807. Id. at 450 ; See also fn 794, supra.

808. 3 H 403-404 (R. A. Frazier).

809. Id. at 404.

810. Ibid. 811. Id. at 404-405.

812. Id. at 405-407.

813. Id. at 406-407.

814. Id. at 411, 443 (Simmons).

815. 3 H 413-414 (R. A. Frazier).

816. 11 H 309, 310 (Zahm) ; 11 H 305, 306 (Anderson).

817. 11 H 309 (Zahm).

818. Id. at 309-310.

CHAPTER V

1. 4 H 152 (Jesse E. Curry) ; CE 701, 2139 2140

2. '4 H 209 (J. W. Fritz) ; 7 H 22 (Bob

K. Carroll) ; 7 H 59-60 (Gerald Hill) ; 7 H 123 (Elmer L. Boyd) ; 7 H 164 (Rich- ard Sims).

3. 7 H 125 (Boyd) ; 7 H 166 (Sims).

4. 7 H 126 (Boyd) ; 7 H 173 (Sims).

5. 7 H 128 (Boyd) ; 7 H 168 (Sims).

6. 7 H 128-129 (Boyd) ; 7 H 169-170

(Sims) ; 7 H 264 (James R. Leavelle) ; 7 H 151 (C. N. Dhority).

7. 4 H 216-217 (Fritz) ; 7 H 129

(Boyd) ; CE 2003, p. 104 ; 15 H 506-508

(David L. Johnston) ; see also sources

cited in footnote 45.

8. 4 H 217 (Fritz) ; 7 H 130 (Boyd) ; 7 H 171-172 (Sims).

9. 4 H 218 (Fritz) ; 7 H 278-285 (W.

E. Barnes) ; 7 H 288-289 (J. B. Hicks) ; CE 2003, pp. 167, 206, 283.

10. CE 2003, p. 168 ; 15 H 507 (Johnston).

11. WFAA-TV reel PKT 11 ; see infra,

p. 208.

12. 7 H 132 (Boyd) ; 7 H 177 (Sims) ; CE 2OO13, pp. 238-239 ; 4 H 153 (Curry) ; see 4 H 21,9 (Fritz) ; 7 H 266 (Leavelle).

13. 4 H 153 (Curry) ; 12 H 96 (M. W.

Stevenson) ; 12 H 389-391 (Woodrow

Wiggins) ; 7 H 328 (H. Nichols).

14. 4 H 155 (Curry) ; 4 H 221 (Fritz) ; CE 2003, p. 104 ; 15 H 507-508 (Johnston).

15. 4 H 222, 226 (Fritz) ; 7 H 133

(Boyd).

16. Ibid. 17. CE 2003, pp. 207, 393 ; 1 H 77-79

(Marina Oswald) ; 1 H 149-150 (Marguerite Oswald).

18. CE 1999, 2187.

19. 4 H 227 (Fritz) ; 7 H 265 (Leavelle).

20. CE 2023.

21. CE 2003, pp. 207-208, 393; 1 H

461-462 (Robert Oswald).

22. 3 H 85-86 (Ruth Paine).

23. 7 H 328 (H. Nichols) ; CE 2165.

24. CE 2003, p. 142 ; 4 H 228 (Fritz) ; 7 H 178 (Sims).

25. 3 H 87-88 (R. Paine).

26. CE 2003, p. 142; 7 H 258 (L. C. Graves) ; 7 H 266 (Leavelle).

27. 4 H 230 (Fritz) ; CE 2003, p. 320.

28. CE 2003, p. 301.

29. CE 2024.

50. For testimony relating to the inter- rogation sessions, see 4 H 152-153, 157

(Curry) ; 4 H 207-211, 217. 222-231, 239-

240 (Fritz) ; 4 H 355h357 (Winston G. Lawson) ; 4 H 444-470 (James P. Hosty) ; 7 H 123-137 (Boyd) ; 7 H 164-182 (Sims) ; 7 H 309-318 (James W. Bookhout) : 7 H

320-321 (Manning C. Clements) : 13 H 58-

62 (Forrest V. Sorrels) ; 7 H 297-301 (Harry Holmes) ; CE 2003, pp. 136a-138b,

CE 2060, 2061.

31. CE 2003, pp. 141-142.

32. 4 H 207 (Fritz) ; CE 2003, p. 125.

33. CE 2003, pp. 136d-138e, 161 ; 5 H

218 (Henry Wade).

34. 4 H 215 (Fritz).

35. CE 2003, pp. 173, 184, 208.

36. 4 H 215 (Fritz) ; 7 H 318 (Bookhout).

37. 4 H 231-232, 246 (Fritz) ; 7 H 133, 135 (Boyd) ; 7 H 180-182 (Sims) ; 7 H

266-267, 269 (Leavelle) ; 7 H 259-260

(L. Graves).

38. 4 H 239 (Fritz).

39. 7 H 310 (Bookhout).

40. 4 H 152 (Curry) ; see also 4 H 232

(Fritz).

41. 4 H 238 (Fritz) ; 7 H 311 (Bookhout).

42. 4 H 153, 175-176 (Curry) ; 15 H

829
NOTES TO PAGES 200-212

129 (Curry) ; 4 H 238 (Fritz) ; 7 H 128, 134-135 (Boyd) ; 7 H 330 (Nichols) ; 7 H 311, 316-317 (Bookhout) ; 7 H S21

(Clements) ; 7 H 297 (Holmes) ; 15 H

512-513 (Johnston) ; see WFAA-TV reel PKT 21 ; KRLD-TV reel 20 ; WFAA-TV

reel PKT 25. 43. 7 H 59 (G. Hill) ; 7 H 21 (Carroll) ; 7 H 134-135 (Boyd) ; 7 H 330

(Nichols).

44. 4 H 216 (Fritz) ; 7 H 314, 316-

317 (Bookhout).

45. 4 H 216-217, 221 (Fritz) ; 15 H

506-508 (Johnston).

46. CE 2166.

47. See supra, p. 182.

48. 7 H 323 (Gregory L. Olds).

49. CE 2073, see CE 1999.

50. 3 H 88-89 (R. Paine) ; 10 H 116 (John J. Abt).

51. 7 H 325-332 (Nichols) ; 7 H 322-

325 (Olds) ; CE 2165.

52. 7 H 299-300 (Holmes).

53. 12 H 30 (Curry) ; Glen King DE 4, 5; 15 H 55 (King) ; NBC-TV reel 3. 54. CE 1359, p. 4. 55. 5 H 218 (Wade).

56. For testimony describing conditions on third floor see, e.g., 4 H 152, 153, 158, 160 (Curry) ; 4 H 231-232 (Fritz) ; 4 H 355 (Lawson) ; 4 H 462-463 (Hosty) ; 7 H 277 (Barnes) ; 7 H 318 vBookhout) ; 7 H 322 (Clements) ; 13 H 40 (Thomas D. McMillon) ; 13 H 58-59 (Sorrels) ; 15 H

54-55 (King) ; Seth Kantor DE 4 ; CE

1353; 7 H 157 (Dhority) ; 15 H 512

(Johnston) ; WFAA-TV reel PKT 21 ; WFAA-TV reel PKT 14 ; KRLD-TV reel

9. 57. 4 H 463 (Hosty).

58. 4 H 151 (Curry) ; 12 H 30 (Curry) ; 15 H 55 (King); Kantor DE 4; Leo

Sauvage, "The Oswald Aflfair," Commentary 64 (March 1964) ; CE 2176.

59. 12 H 30 (Curry).

60. 4 H 151 (Curry).

61. 4 H 355 (Lawson).

62. 7 H 157 (Dhority) : 4 H 151

(Curry) ; 12 H 30 (Curry) ; 5 H 218 (Wade) ; CE 1359.

63. 5 H 218 (Wade).

64. 4 H 355 (Lawson).

65. 2 H 260 (William W. Whaley).

66. King DE 5, p. 7 ; WFAA-TV reel PKF-5 ; WFAA-TV reel PKT-8.

67. 15 H 55 (King).

68. 7 H 269 (Leavelle).

69. 7 H 358-359 (Sorrels).

70. 12 H 96 (Stevenson) ; CE 1353.

71. 12 H 34 (Curry) ; CE 1353.

72. 15 H 54 (King) ; 12 H 112 (Cecil E. Talbert).

73. 15 H 54 (King) ; see 12 H 112

(Talbert).

74. 12 H 96 (Stevenson) ; 12 H 135-

138 (Charles O. Arnett) ; 15 H 590-591

(Thayer Waldo) ; CE 1757, 2037-2043, 2047-2059; John G. McCullough DE

2 ; CE 2062, 2066 ; Waldo DE 1 ; Icarus

N. Pappas DE 3. 75. 13 H 58-59 (Sorrels).

76. See, e.g., Waldo DE 1 ; CE 1757,

2044, 2048, 2052, 2053.

77. 13 H 40 (McMillon) ; 13 H 131 (Jimmy Turner) ; 15 H 591-592 (Waldo) : CE 2040, 2074; 15 H 373-377 (McCullough) ; WBAP-TV reel FW 2. 78. KRLD-TV reel 23.

79. CE 2074.

80. 7 H 64 (G. Hill) ; WFAA-TV reel PKT 24-27 :28 ; CE 2160.

81. CE 2003, pp. 125, 141-142, 293.

82. 4 H 232, 246 (Fritz) ; 12 H 33

(Curry).

83. For testimony describing Oswald's

passage through the third-floor corridor,

see, e.g., 12 H 33 (Curry) ; 4 H 231-232

(Fritz) ; 7 H 181 (Sims) ; 7 H 268-269

(Leavelle) ; Kantor DE 4, pp. 10-19 : WFAA-TV reel PKT 14. 84. For testimony describing the Friday

evening press conference, see 4 H 166-167

(Curry) ; 12 H 96 (Stevenson) : 5 H 221-

222 (Wade) ; 15 H 510-512 (Johnston) : 15 H 591-593 (Waldo) ; 13 H 115-116

(Robert L. Hankal) ; 7 H 132-133

(Boyd) ; 7 H 175-176 (Sims) : 7 H 322

(Clements) ; 7 H 323-324 (Olds) ; 4 H

219 (Fritz) ; 4 H 357-358 (Lawson) ; 13 H 189-192 (A. M. Eberhardt) ; CE 2173.

85. 12 H 32 (Curry) ; Waldo DE 1 ; CE

2040; 15 H 592 (Waldo) ; 15 H 510-511

(Johnston) ; CE 2052; 7 H 324 (Olds) ; WFAA-TV reel PKF 5 ; KRLD-TV reel 23.

86. 4 H 219 (Fritz).

87. CE 2173.

88. 12 H 34 (Curry) ; 7 H 132 (Boyd) ; 7 H 176 (Sims).

89. 4 H 219 (Fritz).

90. 4 H 167, 175 (Curry) ; 4 H 219

(Fritz).

91. 15 H 131 (Curry).

92. 4 H 175 (Curry) ; KRLD-TV reel 23.

93. 4 H 175 (Currv).

94. 12 H 44-46 (J. E. Decker) ; see also 4 H 180-181 (Curry) ; 12 H 35 (Curry) ; 15 H 116 (Charles O. Batchelor).

95. 12 H 2 (Batchelor).

96. 12 H 35 (Curry).

97. CE 2013, 2018. 2021 : W. B. Frazier DE 5087 ; Talbert DE 5065 ; 12 H 53-55

(W. B. Frazier).

98. 12 H 37 (Curry) ; 15 H 125

(Curry) ; 12 H 6-7 (Batchelor) ; 15 H

116-118 (Batchelor).

99. 12 H 36-37 (Curry) ; see 12 H 6-7

(Batchelor) ; 15 H 116 (Batchelor).

100. 12 H 7-8, 12 (Batchelor) ; 15 H 116-118 (Batchelor) ; 12 H 37 (Curry) ; 12 H 99-100 (Stevenson).

101. 12 H 35-36 (Curry) ; 15 H 128, 132 (Curry) ; 15 H 115, 122-123 (Batchelor) ; 15 H 134, 137 (Stevenson).

102. 13 H 17 (Leavelle).

103. Ibid. 104. 13 H 63 (Sorrels). 105. 12 H 91 (James M. Solomon) ; 12 H 138 (Amett) ; 12 H 292 (Logan W.

Mayo) ; 12 H 317-318 (Wm. J. Newman).

106. 12 H 112 (Talbert) ; 12 H 421-

422, 426 (Patrick T. Dean).

107. 12 H 208 (Wilbur J. Cutchshaw) ; R. L. Lowerv DE 5083 ; 12 H 307 (L. MlUer) ; 12 H 396 (Don R. Archer) ; 13 H 268 (Vernon S. Smart).

108. 12 H 47-49 (Deckfer). 109. 12 H 117 (Talbert) ; 15 H 184

(Talbert) ; 12 H 16 (Batchelor) ; 12 H

100 (Stevenson).

110. See, e.g., B. H. Combest DE 5100 ; Robert S. Huffaker DE 5333.

111. 12 H 113-117 (Talbert) ; 15 H

183-184 (Talbert) ; 12 H 141-143 (Arnett) ; 12 H 166 (Buford L. Beaty) ; 12 H

173-175 (Alvin R. Brock) ; 12 H 319 (Newman) ; 12 H 338-340 (R. Pierce) : 12 H 354 (D. F. Steele) : 12 H 384-386 (Gano G. Worley) ; 12 H 421-426

(Dean) ; 13 H 118 (Huffaker) : 13 H 85-88

(Fred A. Bieberdorf ) : 13 H 143 (Hal

Fuqua) : 13 H 146-147 (Edward Kelly) : 13 H 149-156 (Louis McKinzie) ; 13 H

166-175 (A. Riggs) ; 13 H 175-181 (John

O. Servance) ; 13 H 156-166 (E. Pierce) : James A. Putnam DE 5071 ; CE 2010, 2032, 2066. 830
NOTES TO PAGES 212-224

112. 13 H 159-160 (E. Pierce) ; 13 H

180 (J. O. Servance) ; 12 H 422-423

(Dean) ; 12 H 173-174 (Brock) ; 12 H

141-144 (Arnett).

113. CE 2027, 2062 ; KRLD-TV reel 13 ; but see CE 2029.

114. 12 H 67 (O. A. Jones) ; 12 H 112

(Talbert) : 13 H 131 (J. Turner) ; 12 H

335-336 (Bobby G. Patterson) : 12 H 183-

184 (Combest) ; 12 H 360 (Roy E. Vaughn) : 12 H 422 (Dean) : CE 2051, 2069 : Hankal DE 5337 : CE 2037. 2039,

2043, 2047, 2050, 2055, 2056, 2057.

115. 12 H 36 (Curry) ; 12 H 10-15

(Batchelor) ; 12 H 97-98 (Stevenson) : 15 H 134 (Stevenson) : 15 H 125-127

(Curry) : 15 H 115. 119 (Batchelor).

116. 12 H 164-168 (Beaty) ; 12 H 180

(Combest) : 12 H 313 (L. Miller) ; 12 H 409-411 (Barnard S. Clardy) ; 12 H

428 (Dean) ; 12 H 209 (Cutchshaw) ; CE

2028.

117. 13 H 43 (McMillon).

118. 12 H 66 (O. A. Jones) ; 12 H 191 (Kenneth H. Croy) ; 12 H 209-210

(Cutchshaw) ; 12 H 270 (Harry M.

Kriss) ; 15 H 119-120 (Batchelor) ; 15 H

135 (Stevenson).

119. In addition to the testimonv cited

in footnotes 114 and 115. see 12 H 119

(Talbert) ; 12 H 150-157 (Arnett) : 12 H 181 (Combest) : 12 H 189 (Croy) : 12 H 275-276 (Lowery) : 13 H 45 (McMillon) : 12 H 287 (Billv J. Maxev) : 12 H

345-346 (Putnam) : 12 H 17 (Batchelor) : 15 H 120 (Batchelor) : 12 H 102

(Stevenson) ; 15 H 135 (Stevenson) ; 13 H 8 (L. Graves) ; 13 H 109 (Ira J. Beers) : 13 H 121 (Huffaker) : 13 H 127

(George R. Phenix) : CE 2002; WFAATV reel PKT 17-38 :00-47 :18. 120. CE 2052, 2053.

121. 12 H 8. 15 (Batchelor) ; 12 H 426

(Dean) ; CE 2070. pp. 9. 10; KRLD-TV

reel 13 ; WBAP-TV reel FW 1. 122. 13 H 6 (L. Graves) ; 13 H 28 (L. D. Montgomery); CE 2054; 15 H 594-

596 (Waldo); CE 2052, 2053, 2059; Pappas DE 4. 123. 12 H 15 (Batchelor) ; 15 H 117

(Batchelor) ; 12 H 118 (Talbert) ; 12 H

167 (Beaty).

124. 4 H 188-189 (Curry) ; 12 H 37-

38 (Curry) ; 15 H 125 (Curry) : 4 H 233

(Fritz) : 12 H 100 (Stevenson) ; 15 H 136

(Stevenson) ; 13 H 61-63 (Sorrels).

125. 7 H 155-156 (Dhority) : 12 H 339

(R. Pierce)"; CE 2003. pp. 312. 314.

126. 12 H 16 (Batchelor) ; 12 H 68

(O. A. Jones) ; 12 H 100 (Stevenson).

127. 13 H 5 (L. Graves) : Leavelle DE

5088; 13 H 27 (Montgomery) ; CE 2064; CE 2003, pp. 220-221.

128. 15 H 137 (Stevenson) : CE 2003,

p. 171 ; CE 2060 12 H 391 (Wiggins) ; 13 H 28 (Montgomery).

129. 12 H 145-146 (Arnett) ; 12 H

287-288 (Maxey) : 12 H 339-340 (R. Pierce) : 12 H 345-347 (Putnam) ; 12 H

361-362 (Vaughn) ; 12 H 377 fJames G. Watson) ; 12 H 427-428 (Dean) ; 13 H

134-135 (J. Turner).

130. 7 H 155-156 (Dhoritv) ; CE 2003,

pp. 312. ."^14 ; WFAA-TV reel PKT 16. 131. WFAA-TV reel PKT 10 ; CE 2038,

2039. 2042.

132. CE 2039.

133. CE 2038. 2042. 2059, 2062.

134. McMillon DE 5018 ; see also 13 H 7

(L. Graves) : 13 H 16-17 (Leavelle).

135. See sources cited in footnote 129. WFAA-TV reel PKT-16 : WFVA-TV reel PKT-10 : NBC-TV reel 66 ; KRLD-TV reel

13.136. 13 H 29 (Montgomery) ; see reels cited in footnote 135.

137. 12 H 183 (Combest) ; see also 12 H 169 (Beaty) ; 12 H 376-377 (Watson) ; 13 H 7, (L. Graves) ; 13 H 115 (Hankal) ; CE 2052.

138. For testimony describing the final seconds culminating in the shooting of Oswald, see, e.g., 4 H 234-235, 243

(Fritz) : 13 H 137 (J. Turner) ; see also WFAA-TV reel PKF-10 ; KRLD-TV reel 13 ; NBC-TV reel 66. 139. 12 H 434-438 (Dean) ; 15 H 188-

189 (Talbert) : Dean DE 5009, p. 2; McMillon DE 5018 : see Sorrels DE 1. 140. 12 H 433 (Dean) ; 12 H 412

(Clardy).

141. C. R. Hall DE 2. 142. 13 H 71 (Sorrels) ; 5 H 181-213

(Jack Ruby) ; C. R. Hall DE 3, p. 11. 143. CE 2025 : 13 H 221-226 (D. Lane).

144. KRLD-TV reel 13. 145. 12 H 348-349 (Willie B. Slack) ; 12 H 392 (Wiggins) ; 13 H 90-91 (Frances Cason) ; 13 H 96 (Hardin) ; 13 H 101

(Hulse) ; 13 H 239-243 (Priddy) : Michael Hardin DE 5125, 5126. 5127 ; F. Cason DE 5135 ; CE 2022 ; see also reels cited in footnote 138.

146. CE 2002, pp. 112-113 ; CE 2026.

147. Compare Dean DE 5009, p. 2 and

12 H 228-234 (N. J. Daniels) with 12 H

434 (Dean) and 12 H 412 (Clardy). See

also 12 H .347 (Putnam) and KRLD-TV

reel 13 ; C. R. Hall DE 3, pp. 11, 12, which suggests that the Pierce car may

have passed Ruby before Putnam entered

the car, which would have been at the bottom, rather than the top, of the Main

Street ramp.

148. 13 H 135-137 (J. Turner).

149. 12 H 32.3-329, 332-334 (Newman) ; 12 H 192-193 (K. H. Croy). Cf. 12 H 262-

264 (Howard B. Holly) ; 12 H 89-90 (Solo- mon).

150. 12 H 232 (N. J. Daniels).

151. 12 H 228-234 (Daniels) ; Daniels DE 5325 ; Compare 12 H 362-363 (Vaughn) ; Vaughn DE 5335, p. 2. 152. N. J. Daniels DE 5325, pp. 1-2 ; 12 H 369 (Vaughn).

155. 12 H 359-362 (Vaughn) ; CE 2034, 2035, 2043. 2058.

154. 12 H 359-362 (R. Pierce) : 12 H

346-347 (Putnam) ; 12 H 287 (Maxey) ; see also CE 2035. 2063 : 15 H 681-685 (Harry T. Tasker).

155. 12 H 212, 215-216 : Cutchshaw) : Lowerv DE 5083.

156.' KRLD-TV reel 13. 157. 13 H 132-136 (J. Turner).

158. KRLD-T^' reel 13. 159. CE 2071.

160. KRLD-TV reel 13 ; 15 H 117-118

(Batchelor).

161. See sources in note 112.

162. CE 2003 pp. 260-261a: 13 H 49-

50 (McMillon) ; C. R. Hall DE 3, pp. 11, 12 ; CE 2182.

163. KLIF reel 75 (Duncan interview with Sergeant Dean). Nov. 24, 1963.

164. See sunra. p. 212.

165. CE 2030 ; Vaughn DE 5335 ; Put- nam DE 5071.

166. See sources in footnote 152. 12 H

190 (Croy).

167. CE 2002.

168. 5 H 198-199 (Jack Ruby) ; 14 H

545 (Jack Ruby).

169. See Commission Exhibits in foot- note 74. 170. See apn. XVI.

171. 14 H 167. 191-192 (Curry).

172. 12 H 427. 430 (Dean).

173. 12 H 156-157 (Arnett) : 12 H 192-

194 (Crov) ; 12 H 252-253 (Wm. J. Harrison) ; King DE 3. 174. KRLD-TV reel 13. 831
NOTES TO PAGES 224-246

175. E.g., 12 H 182-183 (Combest) ; 12 H 211 (Cutchshaw) ; 12 H 249, 251

(Harrison) ; 12 H 275-276 (Lowery) ; 12 H 399 (Archer) ; KRLD-TV reel 13. 176. See infra, pp. 353-354; CE 2019 ; 5 H 199 (J. Ruby) ; C. R. Hall DE 3. Cf. 13 H 244 (George Senator) ; Senator DE 5401.

177. 5 H 199 (J. Ruby) ; 13 H 244

(Senator) ; Senator DE 5401.

178. CE 2068.

179. CE 1982, 2072 ; 12 H 30 (Curry) ; 4 H 241 (Fritz) ; 12 H 94 (Stevenson).

180. Talbert DE 1 ; 12 H 112 (Talbert).

181. Talbert DE 2 ; 15 H 123 (Batchelor) ; King DE 4, p. 9. 182. 15 H 55 (King).

183. 12 H 39 (Curry). See also 15 H 54-

55 (King).

184. 15 H 55 (King).

185. 15 H 53 (King) ; Talbert DE 2. 186. King DE 4, p. 9 ; 15 H 55, 58 (King) ; 15 H 127 (Curry).

187. 4 H 152 (Curry).

188. See supra, pp. 202-206.

189. CE 1359, p. 4. 190. King DE 4, p. 10 ; 15 H 54 (King).

191. CE 1353 ; King DE 4, 5 ; KRLDTV reel 9 ; WFAA-TV reel PKT 21 ; CE

2052.

192. 15 H 55-56 (King).

193. See supra, p. 208.

194. See supra, 208 ; CE 2052.

195. 15 H 188-191 (Talbert) ; WFAATV PKT-30-35 -.01-36 :21 ; 15 H 128

(Curry).

196. CE 2018; 4 H 187-188 (Curry).

197. See supra, p. 212.

198. This judgment is shared by the

oflacials of the Dallas Police Department.

See, e.g., 15 H 127-128 (Curry) ; 15 H

122 (Batchelor).

199. King DE 4, pp. 8-9.

200. See supra, p. 201. 201. 15 H 125 (Curry) ; 15 H 120-121

(Batchelor).

202. 12 H 40 ; see also 4 H 186 (Curry).

203. 4 H 233 (Fritz).

204. 12 H 53-54 (W. B. Frazier) ; 15 H

153 (Fritz). 205. 13 H 17 (Leavelle) ; 13 H 63 (Sorrels). 206. 4 H 23.3 (Fritz) ; 12 H 35 (Curry) ; see sources cited in footnote 101. 207. 12 H 69 (O. A. Jones).

208. See supra, p. 213. 209. 12 H 155 (Arnett) ; 12 H 247

(Harrison) ; 12 H 281, 284 (Frank M.

Martin) ; 12 H 428 (Dean) ; CE 2031.

210. 4 H 187 (Curry) ; 12 H 35 (Curry) ; 12 H 9-10, 13 (Batchelor) ; 12 H 390

(Wiggins).

211. See sources in footnote 13.3. 212. See supra, p. 215. 213. 7 H 156 (Dhority) ; 4 H 233-234

(Fritz) ; WFAA-TV reel PKT-16 ; 13 H 17

(Leavelle) ; see supra, p. 216. 214. 1,3 H 17 (Leavelle).

215. 12 H 69 (O. A. Jones).

216. 15 H 53 (King).

217. CE 1353, p. 3. 218. 4 H 152, 181 (Curry) ; 12 H 30-31

(Curry) ; 5 H 218 (Wade).

219. See CE 2142 through 2152 and CE 2168 through 2173.

220. WFAA audio reel 2, Nov. 23, 1963 KRLD audio reel 33-1, -9, Nov. 23, 1963 WFAA-TV reels PKT 12 10 :16 ; PKT 7 PKT 21 48 :30 ; see also 4 H 160, 199-200

(Curry).

221. CE 2153, 2155.

222. CE 2157, 2159, 2160, 2162, 2163,

2164, 2167.

223. 5 H 238-239 (Wade).

224. 5 H 238-240 (Wade) : see, for instance, CE 2168 through 2173.

225. 5 H 223 (Wade) ; KRLD-TV reel 23 : CE 2169.

226. 5 H 227 (Wade) ; CE 2170.

227. 5 H 250 (Wade) ; CE 2169, 2172.

228. 7 H 108 (Weitzman).

229. 3 H 169 (B. R. Williams) : CE 2160.

230. CE 2146.

231. CE 2178.

232. 5 H 239 (Wade).

233. 5 H 228 (Wade) ; see sources cited

in footnote 219.

234. 5 H 115 (J. Edgar Hoover).

235. 5 H 115-116 (Hoover) ; 15 & 58

(King) ; CE 2072; cf. 15 H 129 (Curry).

236. CE 2148.

237. 5 H 237 (Wade).

238. 5 H 237-238 (Wade).

239. CE 2168; 5 H 237-2.38 (Wade).

240. See supra, pp. 165, 174. 241. CE 2180.

242. WBAP Fort Worth audio reel 12 "A." Nov. 24, 1963 : CE 2168.

243. 6 H 368-370 (Joe R. Molina) ; CE 2036. pp. 12-14.

244. CE 2146, 2147, 2162, 2181.

245. KRLD-TV audio reels 21 "B-ll.

22 "A"-5, 24 "A," 25 "A," Nov. 23. 1963 : 6 H 370 (Molina).

246. 6 H 372 (Molina).

247. CE 2186.

248. 6 H 370 (Molina) : CE 3132.

249. 6 H 371 (Molina) ; CE 2036, pp. 14-16, CE 2049, 2065, 1970.

250. 5 H 223 (Wade): CE 2169; see Vernon's (Tex.) Ann. C. P. art. 714. 251. CE 2144: see Wash})urn v. State, 165 Crim. Rep. 125. 318 S.W. 2d 627. 637

(Tex. Ct. Crim. App. 1958). certiorari denied. 359 U.S. 965 (1958).

252. CE 2168 : see supra, pp. 179-180.

253. CE 2153. 2172, 2152 ; see also WBAP-TV reel FW 2. 254. CE 2146, 2172 ; WBAP-TV reel FW 2. 255. CE 2183.

256. CE 2184.

257. 4 H 201 (Curry) ; see also 12 H

39 (Curry).

258. King DE 5. p. 5. 259. CE 1353, 2052 ; Waldo DE 1. 260. 4 H 153 (Curry).

261. See supra, p. 208. 262. 13 H 17 (Leavelle) ; 13 H 63 (Sorrels). 263. 4 H ]66 (Curry) ; King DE 4. 5. Felix McKnight, executive editor of the Dallas-Times-Herald, discussed this pres- sure in an address at Northwestern University in February 1964. See CE 2185.

264. King DE 5, p. 6. 265. Elgin E. Crull DE 1. 266. King DE 4 ; CE 1350.

CHAPTER VI

1. CE 2768, 2772, 2444, 3042, pp. 59, 65.

2. See pp. 31-40, supra.

3. 10 H 152 (Irving Statman) ; Helen Cunningham DE 1-A ; 11 H 477-478 (H. Cunningham).

4. See app. XIV. p. 745.

5. Burcham DE 1, p. 1 ; 11 H 473 (John

Burcham).

6. 3 H 37 (Ruth Paine) ; CE 401.

7. See footnote 3, supra. 832
NOTES TO PAGES 246-259

8. CE 1871 ; Gangl DE 1 ; 11 H 478-

479 (Theodore Gangl).

9. CE 427 ; 11 H 478-479 (Gangl).

10. Gangl DE 1 ; 11 H 478-479 (Gangl).

11. Ibid. 12. 3 H 33-34 (R. Paine) ; 2 H 246-247

(Linnie Mae Randle) ; see 1 H 29 (Marina

Oswald).

13. 2 H 246 (Randle).

14. 3 H 33-34 (R. Paine) ; 3 H 213 (Roy

Truly).

15. 3 H 34-35 (R. Paine).

16. 3 H 214 (Truly).

17. 10 H 132 (H. Cunningham) ; H. Cunningham DE 1-A.

18. 10 H 132 (H. Cunningham).

19. Ch. II, p. 31. 20. Ibid. 21. Id. at 40.

22. Ch. IV, p. 131-137.

23. 2 H 216 (Buell Wesley Frazier).

24. Ibid ; CE 3118.

25. 2 H 222 (B. W. Frazier).

26. Id. at 226.

27. 1 H 65 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 46

(R. Paine) ; see app. XIII, p. 740.

28. Ch. IV, pp. 130-131.

29. Id. at pp. 135-136.

30. 1 H 73 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 49

(R. Paine).

31. CE 142, 626 ; 1, 304.

32. See 3 H 232 (Truly).

33. Id. at 231 ; CE 483.

34. 3H231 (Truly).

35. Id. at 232.

36. Ibid, 37. Ch. IV, pp. 137-140.

38. CE 1131 ; 1301 ; see 3 H 231-232

(Truly).

39. 3 H 232, 236 (Truly) ; CE 1131.

40. See 3 H 232 (Truly).

41. Ch. IV, footnotes 217, 223 ; p. 140-

146.

42." Id. at footnote 215, p. 140.

43. CE 3135.

44. Ch. IV, footnote 232, p. 141.

t45. CE 3131, pp. 17-18.

46. Ibid. 47. See 4 H 2-3 (Sebastian Latona).

48. See CE 3155 representing the FBI

opinion based on Sebastian Latona's find- ings. 49. 6 H 349-351 (Charles Glvens).

50. Ibid. 51. 3 H 169-170 (Bonnie Ray Williams).

52. Id. at 169.

53. Id. at 170-171.

54. Id. at 169.

55. Id. at 169, 171.

56. Id. at 171-172.

57. Ch. IV, pp, 143-147.

58. Ibid. 59. 2 H 167-168 (Arnold Rowland) ; CE

354.

60. Id. at 169, 171.

61. Id. at 172.

62. Id. at 169, 182, 185 ; CE 357.

63. Id. at 175-176.

64. Id. at 188.

65. Id. at 178 ; CE 3'57. 66. 2 H 183-184 (A. Rowland).

67. Id. at 184 ; CE 2782.

68. 6 H 185-188 (Barbara Rowland).

69. Id. at 188.

70. CE 2783. This statement consti- tutes an amendment to the original testi- mony ; see 6 H 188 (B. Rowland).

71. Id. at 181-182, 185-186.

72. Id. at 190.

73. Compare 2 H 165, 166, 179, 188 (A. Rowland), with CE 2644.

74. 6 H 263-264 (Roger D. Craig).

75. Id. at 264.

76. Id. at 272.

77. CE 1381, pp. 74, 96. 78. CE 1381.

79. Id. at 5. 80. Ch. IV, pp. 156-164.

81. Id. at 155-163.

82. 7 H 543 (W. E. Barnett).

83. Ibid. 84. Ch. IV, pp. 149-156.

85. 2 H 195-196 (James Worrell).

86. 6 H 276 (George Rackley) ; 6 H 282 (James Romack).

87. Ch. IV, p. 160.

88. Id. at 163.

89. 6 H 443, 7 H 439 (Earlene Roberts).

90. Ibid. 91. Id. at 443-444.

92. CE 2781.

93. CE 2645.

94. Id. at 3 ; CE 2045.

95. 7 H 439 (E. Roberts).

96. See also CE 3106 and CE 3107.

97. 5 H 364-365 (Dean Rusk).

98. E.g., 9 H 242-243 (George De Mohrensehildt) ; 11 H 172-173 (William

Stuckey) ; 8 H 323 (Erwin Donald Lewis) ; 8 H 316-317 (Donald Camarata) ; 322-323

(Richard Call) ; 8 H 315-316 (James

Botelho) ; 8 H 320-321 (Henry Roussel,

Jr.) ; 8 H 319-320 (Paul Murphy) ; 8 H

319 (David Murray, Jr.) ; 8 H 321-322 (Mack Osborne). But see 8 H 285 (Daniel

Powers). For Oswald's Marine service, see app. XIII, pp. 681-689.

99. Priscilla Johnson DE 1, pp. 3, 7-8 ; CE 1385, p. 10 (Aline Mosby) ; CE 908.

100. 9 H 242-243 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

Wl. CE 1385, p. 7 (Mosby) ; Johnson DE 1, p. 11. 102. See e.g., 2 H 399 (Michael R. Paine) ; 11 H 172-173 (Stuckey).

103. CE 295, p. 4. 104. CE 2767.

105. CE 2716.

106. CE 2767; 1 H 203 (Marguerite

Oswald).

107. CE 3099.

108. CE 2673.

109. 11 H 444-446, 459-460 (P. Johnson) ; and P. Johnson DE 1, pp. 6, 8. 110. CE 24, entry for Nov. 17 to Dec.

30, 1959; see also CB 206, 202 (Oswald

running out of money) ; CE 24, entry for Nov. 17 to Dec. 30, 1959, in which Oswald

says he has only $28 left. 111. CE 1385, p. 11 ; see also P. Johnson DE 1, p. 3; 11 H 455 (P. Johnson).

112. E.g., 8 H 323 (Lewis) ; 8 H 316-

317 (Camarata) ; 8 H 322^323 (Call) ; 8 H 315-316 (Botelho) ; 8 H 320-321

(Roussel) ; 8 H 319-320 (Murphy) ; 8 H

319 (Murray) ; 8 H 321-322 (Osborne) ; but see 8 H 285 (Powers).

113. 8 H 307 (Allison Folsom) ; Folsom DE 1, p. 7. 114. 5 H 291 (Richard E. Snyder) ; 11 H 455-456 (P. Johnson).

115. CE 24, entry of Nov. 17 to Dec. 30, 1959.

116. CE 24, entry of Jan. 7 to Mar. 16, 1960; CE 93, p. 4 (reference to "Rosa Agafanova" probably should be to "Rosa

Kuznetsova.").

117. CE 1401, p. 277.

118. CE 2945 (Felkner).

119. Folsom DE 1, pp. 11, 28. 120. CE 2676, 2711 ; CE 946, p. 7. 121. CE 2677 ; app. XIII, p. 690.

122. See CE 946, p. 7. 123. CE 946, p. 9 (translated, CE 2776).

124. CE 946, p. 8 (translated, CE 2775) ; CE 2676.

125. CE 2769.

126. CE 2780.

127. Ibid. 128. CE 2773.

129. CE 908

130. CE 24. 131. E.g., CE 92, 101, 827. 132. E.g., CE 24, entry of Oct. 31, 1959, 833
NOTES TO PAGES 259-272

refers to a reporter named "Goldstene" whose name is A. I. Goldberg, see CE 2719 ; CE 24, entry for Nov. 15, 1959, records an interview with Aline Moshy which ap- peared in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

on Nov. 15, datelined Nov. 14 (CE 2716).

133. 1 H 30, 104-105 (Marina Oswald).

134. E.g., CE 18, 1438.

135. CE 2774, 3096.

136. E.g^, compare CE 931, 251-256

with V. T. Lee DE 1, 2, 4-7 and CE 2779.

137. CE 24. 138. The files have been assigned CD

1114, 1115.

139. 5 H 260-299 (Snyder) ; 5 H 299-

306, 318-326 (John A. McVickar).

140. CE 1385.

141. 11 H 442-460 (P. Johnson).

142. CE 985.

143. CE 24, entry of Oct. 16, 1959.

144. CE 24, entry of Oct. 21, 1959.

145. CE 24, entries of Oct. 20 and 21, 1959; 5 H 617; and CE 935, p. 2; CE

1438 and CE 827 indicate that Oswald was interviewed by "Leo Setyaev" (per- haps Lev Setyayev, an English-speaking commentator for Radio Moscow), a "Radio Moscow Reporter," probably also working

for the KGB on this occasion. The inter- view was apparently never broadcast. 2 H

274 (Richard E. Snyder) ; but see CE 25,

p. 3. 146. CE 2760.

147. CE 24, entry of Oct. 21, 1959.

148. CE 2778.

149. CE 985, doc. lC-2, lC-3.

150. CE 2776.

151. 1 H 91 (Marina Oswald).

152. E.g., 8 H 382, 384, 386 (Anna N. Meller) ; 9 H 240 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 9 H 1309, 311 (Jeanne De Mohrenschildt) ; 11 H 474 (Hilda Smith) ; and see com- ments of fellow Marines in app. XIII,

pp. 681-689, and discussion of his character in ch. VII ; see also 2 H 318 (Katherine Ford), relating an Incident in which Oswald reacted violently to a suggestion

that Marina Oswald may have contemplated suicide. 153. CE 908.

154. 5 H 270 (Snyder).

155. Id. at 262. 156. Id. at 295-296.

157. CE 908.

158. 5 H 290 (Snyder).

159. Id. at 289.

160. CE 913; 5 H 263 (Snyder).

161. CE 2774.

162. 5 H 280 (Snyder) ; but see 8 H

287-288 (Powers).

163. CE 908, p. 2. 164. CE 912. See app. XV, pp. 747-751,

for further details regarding Oswald's at- tempted expatriation.

165. 5 H 287-288 (Snyder) ; CE 941,

p. 3 ; 5 H 302-303 (McVickar).

166. 11 H 453-455 (P. Johnson) ; see also CE 1385i; CE 911, p. 1 (contempora- neous observation that Oswald used words as though he had learned them out

of a dictionary).

167. 5 H 279, 287, 290 (Snyder) ; CE

941, 958; 5 H 300-301 (McVickar); and see 11 H 447-460 (P. Johnson).

168. App. XIII, pp. 675, 679, 683, 685-

688 722.

169. See ch. VII, pp. 884, 388-390 ; app. XIII, pp. 679, 686-687.

170. See, e.g., CE 24, entry of Oct. 16, 1959; 5 H 616 (Marina Oswald).

171. See CE 1385, pp. 15-17 (Mosby) ; 5 H 272, 287-288 (Snyder) ; CE 908 (Snyder) ; CE 941, p. 3, 5 H 302-303 (McVickar) ; 11 H 453 (P. Johnson).

172. CE 24, entry of Oct. 31, 1959.

173. 5 H 287 (Snyder) ; but see 5 H 272

(Snyder).

174. P. Johnson DE 6, p. 1 ; 11 H 444

(P. Johnson).

175. Id. at 452.

176. CE 913. 177. CE 912.

178. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1481.

179. 5 H 269, 290 (Snyder).

180. See Johnson DE 5, passim, and

especially p. 13 ; 11 H 447, 456, 458-459

(Johnson).

181. CE 24, entries of Nov. 16, 1959, and Jan. 4, 1960.

182. CE 985, doc. Nos. lA, 2A, and 3A

(1).183. CE 1385, p. 4. 184. 11 H 456-457 (P. Johnson) ; P. Johnson DE 1, pp. 3—4.

185. CE 24, entry of Nov. 16, 1959.

186. CE 297.

187. CE 202; CE 206 ; 1 H 204 (Marguerite Oswald).

188. See also CE 297 (Oswald seemed

to associate acceptance by Soviet authorities with leaving the hotel in Moscow).

189. CE 3125.

190. P. Johnson DE 5, p. 7. 191. CE 985, doc. Nos. lA, 2A, and 3A

(1).192. CE 2762, p. 2. 193. CE 960, question 2. 194. CE 2762, p. 2. 195. CE 960, question 2. 196. CE 2760.

197. CE 24, entries of Oct. 28, 1959, and

Nov. 17 to Dec. 30, 1959.

198. CE 24. 199. CE 985.

200. M. Kramer DE 1, 2. 201. 11 H 213 (Rita Naman) ; 11 H 212 (Monica Kramer).

202. 11 H 211-212 (Katherine Mallory). 203. See generally app. XV.

204. E.g., CE 298, 315, 184. 205. E.g., CE 1392-1395.

206. E.g., 9 H 171, 229, 241-242 (G. de Mohrenschildt) ; see also 8 H 359

(George A. Bouhe) (conversation about

Leningrad, Marina's native city). 207. E.g., 1 H 92 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 2761, 104 ; CE 1401, pp. 275-276 ; CE

994, p. 1. 208. CE 2761.

209. CE 24, entries of Jan. 4, 5, 7, and

13, 1960, and see CE 25, pp. 1B-2B.

210. CE 24, entry of Jan. 8, 1960.

211. CE 24, entry of Mar. 16, 1960.

212. CE 24, entries of Jan. 11 and 13, 1960 ; CE 1109 (union membership booklet) and 1108 (workbook) ; CE 24, entry of Jan. 13, 1960 (700 rubles) ; CE 1110 (750- 850 rubles) ; CE 1401, p. 270 (800-900

rubles). 213. 1 H 95 (Marina Oswald).

214. CE 1401, p. 271.

215. CE 2720.

216. CE 24, entry of Jan. 13, 1960 ; CE

25, pp. 1B-2B ; see generally 5 H 293-294

(Snyder).

217. CE 24, entry of Jan. 4-31, 1961.

218. 1 H 93. 219. CE 2721 ; see also 5 H 293-294

(Snyder).

220. CE 2760.

221. 10 H 203 (Dennis Hyman Ofstein).

222. CE 25, pp. 1B-2B.

223. Ibid. 224. 5 H 407 (Marina Oswald).

225. 5 H 616 (Marina Oswald).

226. E.g., 8 H 360 (Bouhe) ; 9 H 145 (Paul Gregory) ; 9 H 79 (Gary E. Taylor) ; 2 H 339 (Peter Gregory).

884
NOTES TO PAGES 272-281

227. E.g., 8 H 350 (Max E. Clark) ; 2 H 397 (R. Paine).

228. CE 1401, p. 275 ; 1 H 93 (Marina

Oswald) ; 5 H 590 (Marina Oswald).

229. CE 985, doc. No. 8A.

230. 9 H 114 (Ilya Mamantov) ; but

see 8 H 362 (Bouhe) (commenting that

there is nothing unusual about hunting in Soviet Union).

231. CE 2670.

232. Ibid. 233. Ibid. 234. CE 2770.

235. 1 H 96 (Marina Oswald).

236. CE 1964, pp. 2-3, 5. 237. CE 24, entry of Apr. 30, 31 [sic], 1961.

238. 1 H 327-328 (Robert Oswald) ; 2 H

466 (R. Paine) ; 8 H 385 (Meller) ; 8 H

362 (Bouhe).

239. CE 2649.

240. CE 303.

241. CE 1964.

242. Id. at 6. 243. CE 2733.

244. CE 24, entry of Apr. 31 [sic], 1961 ; CE 1111.

245. CE 960, attachment 2, p. 2. 246. See, e.g., 1 H 25 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H 342 (Peter Gregory) ; 10 H 59 (Lt. Francis Martello).

247. CE 931.

248. 5 H 277 (Snyder).

249. CE 930.

250. CE 2757.

251. 5 H 276 (Snyder) ; moreover, it arrived too late to have prompted Oswald's

letter even if it had been delivered, see CE 2757 and date stamped on CE 2681.

252. CE 931. 253. CE 933.

254. CE 940.

255. CE 251, 252.

256. CE 1074.

257. 5 H 252-254 (Waterman) ; CE

970, 971 ; and see CE 934.

258. CE 24, entry of July 8, 1961 ; CE

935

259. CE 24, entry of July 9, 1961 ; 1 H

96-97 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1401, pp. 278,

280.260. CE 2762, p. 1. 261. CE 2762, p. 1. 262. Ibid. 263. CE 960. 264. CE 24, entry of July 8, 1961.

265. The factual and legal basis of this decision is set forth and evaluated in app. XV, pp. 747-751.

266. CE 935, p. 2. 267. CE 938, 946.

268. CE 935. 269. 5 H 318-319 (McVickar).

270. CE 946, 979. 271. CE 246-247, 249, 251-256, 931, 1083, 1093.

272. CE 2774.

273. E.g., V. T. Lee DE 1, 2, 4-7.

274. 5 H 287-288 (Snyder).

275. CE 2687, 2688; 5 H 280 (Snyder).

276. Id. at 278, 288 ; see also CE 2687,

2688.

277. CE 1401, pp. 277-278, 280.

278. CE 985, Docs. Nos. 1B-4B ; CE

1122. 279. CE 24. entry of Dec. 25, 1961 : CE 1403, p. 725.

280. 5 H 591, 604-605, 617-619 (Marina

Oswald).

281. CE 1403, p. 745.

282. CE 246, 255.

283. CE 29. 284. CE 316.

285. CE 824, p. 4. 286. 5 H 604, 617-618 (Marina Oswald).

287. CE 2722.

288. CE 960; 5 H 340 (Abram Chayes).

289. CE 2756.

290. CE 2762, p. 3 ; CE 2771.

291. CE 301.

292. CE 24, entry of July 15 to Aug. 20, 1961.

293. E.g., 9 H 147, 151 (Paul Gregory).

294. CE 1122.

295. 1 H 89-90, 97 (Marina Oswald).

296. Ibid. (Marina Oswald) ; but see 5 H 604-605 (Marina Oswald). (In a later interview, the official did not try to dis- courage her.) 297. 1 H 89-90, 97 (Matina Oswald) ; 5 H 608-609 (Marina Oswald) ; in an

earlier interview with the E^I Marina Os- wald said she was "thrown out" because she

failed to pick up her membership card, CE 1401, p. 276 ; this was probably only

the ostensible reason, however ; 5 H 608-

609 (Marina Oswald).

298. 9 H 147 (Paul Gregory).

299. 5 H 598, 604 (Marina Oswald).

300. See CE 960. 301. 1 H 7 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 358

(George H. Bouhe) ; 9 H 224-226 (George De Mohrenschildt) ; id. at 306-311 (Jeanne De Mohrenschildt) ; 2 H 297-299 (Katya

Ford) ; 2 H 323-324, 328-330 (Declan P. Ford) ; 8 H 344-345, 353 (Max E. Clark) ; 9 H 64-69 (Lydia Dymitruk) ; id. at 142-143 (Paul Gregory) ; 2 H 338-341

(Peter Gregory) ; 8 H 393-399 (Elena

Hall) ; id. at 407-409 (John R. HaU) ; 11 H 119-123 (Alexander Klelnlerer) ; 8 H 381-385 (Anna Meller) ; id. at 416-^19

(Valentina Ray) ; 9 H 77-78, 82^83 (Gary

E. Taylor) ; id. at 2(9-30 (Natalie Ray) ; id. at 22 (Paul M. Raigorodsky) ; id. at 39-^2 (Thomas M. Ray) ; id. at 46-48 (Samuel B. Ballen) ; id. at 107 (Ilya A. Mamantov) ; id. at 134-135 (Dorothy

Gravitis) ; id. at 161-162 (Helen Leslie) ; 8 H 435 (Mrs. Igor Vo«hinin) ; id. at 466-

468 (Igor Voshinin) ; CE 1858, pp. 12-13 ; 11 H 125-128, 130-133 (Alexandra De

Mohrenschildt Gibson) ; CE 1861 ; 10 H

16-17 (Everett D. Glover) ; 2 H 435-437

(R. Paine).

302. See e.g., 9 H 2 (Raigorodsky) ; id. at 46 (Ballen) ; id. at 103 (Mamantov) ; id. at 199, 202-203, 210. 280-2«2 (G. De

Mohrenschildt) ; 10 H 3, 13 (Glover).

303. 1 H 134r-lS5 (Marguerite Oswald) ; id. at 7 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 372-373

(Bouhe) ; id. at 345-346 (M. Clark) ; 9 H

228-231 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; id. at 306-310 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 2 H 299-

300 (K. Ford) ; id. at 329 (D. Ford) ; 9 H

64-65 (Dymitruk) ; id. at 144 (Paul Gregory) ; 8 H 393-395 (E. Hall) ; Id. at 407-

408, 411 (J. Hall) ; 11 H 118-123 (Kleinlerer) ; 8 H 382-384 (A. Meller) ; id. at 422-423 (V. Ray) ; 11 H 147-149 (A. Gib-

^°30*4. 8 H 373 (Bouhe) ; 9 H 228 (G. De

Mohrenschildt) ; id. at 306, 324 (J. De

Mohrenschildt) ; 8 H 387-.388 (A. Meller) ; 11 H 118-123 (A. Kleinlerer) ; 2 H

329 (D. Ford) ; 9 H 65-68 (Dymitruk) ; 11 H 125-128, 130-134, 135-139, 140, 143-

145, 147-149, 150-151 (A. Gibson).

305. 1 H 11-12, 31 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H 118-123 (Kleinlerer) ; 8 H 365

(Bouhe) ; id. at 394 (E. Hall) ; 9 H

82, 84 (G. Taylor) ; id. at 310 (J. De

Mohrenschildt) ; id. at 231-233 (G. De

Mohrenschildt) ; 2 H 298-299 (K. Ford) ; 2 H 325 (D. Ford) ; 9 H 64 (Dymitruk) ; 8 H 345 (M. Clark) ; id. at 394-395, 403 (E. Hall) ; id. at 407 (J. Hall) ; id. at 416-417 (V. Ray).

306. App. XIII, pp. 673-675.

307. CE 2692; 1 H 318, 372, 330-331, 380-381 (R. Oswald) ; id. at 131-132

(Marguerite Oswald) ; id. at 4 (Marina

Oswald).

308. 1 H 133, 135 (Marguerite Oswald) ; id. at 4-5 (Marina Oswald).

835
NOTES TO PAGES 281-285

309. 1 H 134 (Marguerite Oswald) ; id. at 5 (Marina Oswald).

310. See 1 H 7 (Marina Oswald) ; see the accounts of how members of the com- munity met Oswald in footnote 301, supra.

311. 8 H 344-345 (M. Clark) ; CE 1389 ; cf. 2 H 338 (Peter Gregory).

312. 8 H 344-345 (M. Clark).

313. 2 H 338, 340 (Peter Gregory) ; 9 H

142-144 (Paul Gregory).

314. 2 H 341 (Peter Gregory) : 8 H 358-

359, 372-373 (Bouhe) ; id. at 381-385 (A. Meller). 315. See e.g., 9 H 224-226 (G. De

Mohrenschildt) ; 2 H 297 (Katya Ford) ; see also footnote 301, supra.

316. Those testifying include G. Bouhe,

G. De Mohrenschildt, J. De Mohrenschildt,

K. Ford, D. Ford, M. Clark, L. Dymitruk, Paul Gregory, Peter Gregory, E. Hall., J. Hall, E. Glover, A. Meller, V. Ray, G. Taylor, N. Ray, P. Raigorodsky, T. Ray, S. Ballen, I. Mamantov, D. Gravitis, H. Leslie, Mrs. I. Voshinin, I. Voshinin. A. Gibson. See also e.g., CE 1857 (Mrs. Max Clark) ; CE 1858 (Mrs. Tatiana Biggers) ; CE 1860

(Charles Edward Harris, Jr.) ; CE 1861

(Mrs. Charles Edward Harris) ; CE 1865

(Leo Aronson) ; 11 H 118 (Kleinlerer).

317. E.g., 8 H 367, 377 (Bouhe) ; 2 H

309-310 (K. Ford) ; 9 H 238, 252-253 (G. .De Mohrenschildt) ; 1 H 34-35 (Marina

Oswald).

318. 1 H 11-12. 31 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 365-367 (Bouhe) ; 11 H 118-123

(Kleinlerer) ; 8 H 393-394 (E. Hall) ; 9 H 82-83 (G. Taylor) : id. at 310, 325

(J. De Mohrenschildt) t id. at 231-233 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 2 H 298-299, 304 (K. Ford) ; 2 H 325 (D. Ford) ; 8 H 345 (M.

Clark) ; id. at 394-395. 403 (E. Hall) ; id. at 412 (J. Hall) : id. at 386-388 (A. Meller) : id. at 416-417 (V. Ray).

319. 1 H 31 (Marina Osvald) ; 8 H 394-

395, 403 (E. Hall) : id. at 412 (J. Hall) ; 11 H 119-121 (Kleinlerer).

320. 1 H 11-12 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H

365 (Bouhe) : 2 H 208-299, 304 (K. Ford) ; 2 H 325 (D. Ford) : id. at 386-388

(A. Meller) ; id. at 416-417 (V. Ray) ; 9 H 310. 325 (J. De Mohrenschildt) : id. at 231-233 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; id. at 64 (Dymitruk).

321. 1 H 10 (Marina Oswald) ; see app. XIII, pp. 717-722.

322. 8 H 365-367 (Bouhe) ; 2 H 307

(K. Ford).

323. 2 H 307 (K. Ford) : see 8 H 367, 377 r Bouhe) ; 2 H 309-310 (K. Ford) : 9 H 252-253 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 1 H

34-35 (Marina Oswald).

324. 2 H 459-462, 468-469, 3 H 4-11, 28-30 (R. Paine) : 1 H 18-19. 23. 27-28, 46 rMarina Oswald) : 8 H 133-134, 139

(Lillian Murret) ; 8 H 184-186 (Charles Murret).

325. 9 H 273 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 2 H 473 (R. Paine) : 9 H 69 (Dvmitruk).

326. See e.g., 8 H 388-389 (A. Meller) ; id. at 401 (E. Hall) : id. at 419, 422 (V. Ray) : 2 H 305-310 (K. Ford) : 9 H 248, 250 (G. De Mohrenschildt) : id. at 317 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 8 H 410-411 (J. Hall).

327. CE 1781, pp. 546-547 ; CE 1929. pp. 192-193: 2 H 499 (R. Paine) ; CE 419-

421 : CE 409-B, p. 2. 328. See footnote 326, supra ; 9 H 106-

107 (Mamantov).

329. See 9 H 224-266. 309, 313 ^G. De

Mohrenschildt) ; 9 H 306-327 (J. De

Mohrenschildt) : 1 H 11 (Marina Oswald) ; 10 H 260-261 (M. F. Tobias) ; 10 H 245-

246 (Mrs. Tobias) ; 9 H 93 (G. Taylor).

330. 9 H 248-249 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; id. at 314-315 (J. De Mohrenschildt). 331. Id. at 315-317 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; see id. at 249-250 (G. De Mohrenschildt). 332. Id. at 317 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; see id. at 249 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

333. Id. at 249 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

334. 1 H 18 (Marina Oswald).

335. 9 H 249-250 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; see id. at 317 (J. De Mohrenschildt). 336. Id. at 248, 250 (G. Mohrenschildt) ; id. at 317 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

337. Id. at 299, 317-318 (J. De Mohrenschildt). 338. Id. at 318. 339. Id. at 272, 276 (G. De Mohrenschildt). 340. In addition to the testimony and

exhibits included in the record to this re- port, additional data relative to the back- ground of the De Mohrenschildts is in- cluded in the files of the Commission.

341. 9 H 168-179 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; CE 3100.

342. 9 H 179-180, 190-191 (G. De

Mohrenschildt).

343. Id. at 191-192, 195, 201-203, 211-

212 ; id. at 300-302 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

344. Id. at 213-216 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; id. at 302-303 (J. De Mohrenschildt). 345. Id. at 216 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

346. Id. at 276, 280-282, 217 (G. De

Mohrenschildt) ; see id. at 305 (J. De

Mohrenschildt).

347. Id. at 296-297 (J. De Mohrenschildt) : 8 H 352-353 (Max E. Clark) ; id. at 377 (Bouhe) ; id. at 431-433 (Mrs. Voshinin) : id. at 467-469 (Igor Voshinin) ; 9 H 99-100 (G. Taylor) ; id. at 120-

121 (Ilya Mamantov) ; id. at 164-165

(Helen Leslie) ; 10 H 10-12 (Everett

Glover).

348. 9 H 222 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; and see id. at 296 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

349. Id. at 285-286, 291-295.

350. CE 3116, 3117. See CE 869, foot- note 340, supra.

351. 2 H 433-436, 438-439 (R. Paine).

352. 10 H 16, 18-19, 24-26 (Glover) ; 9 H 25f>. 258 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

353. 2 H 440 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 435

(M. Paine). „ ^

354. 2 H 459-462, 468-469; 3 H 9

(R. Paine). „ -r. . x 355. 2 H 468-469 ; 3 H 9 (R. Paine).

356. CE 408, 409. 409-B, 410, 411, 412,

415, 416 ; 2 H 483-498 (R. Paine) ; cf. CE 422 : 2 H 501-502 (R. Paine).

357. 3 H 4-5, 9 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 26 (Marina Oswald) : CE 461.

358. See app. XIII, pp. 730-731.

359. See note 356, supra ; CE 421.

360. 3 H 10 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 23 (Marina Oswald).

361. 3 H 10 (R. Paine). ,^ „ , s 362 CE 4fil ; 9 H 345-346 (R. Paine).

363. 3 H 29-30 (R. Paine).

364. 1 H 37 (Marina Oswald).

365. 3 H 27-41, 84-85 (R. Paine).

366. Id. at 33-39; 9 H 345-346 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 46, 51-52, 63-65 (Marina

^T6\\^4 H 451-452 (Hosty) ; 3 H 38, 92, ^^368: 4^H \^52 (Hosty) ; 3 H 38, 96 (R. ^%Q9.'S H 97. (R. Paine) ; 4 H 450, 452

^^3^7l()?'cE 103: 2 H 405-406 (M. Paine) ; 3 H 13-18 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 395 (R. Faine). See Tip. 309-310 infra

o tr aar

371 3 H 13-18, 97 (R. Paine) ; 2 H 406 ^^V^^s'h'iS, 18, 100-102 (R. Paine).

373. 4 H 4.59 (Hosty).

374. 3 H 44-45 (R. Paine).

375. Id. at 44. 836
NOTES TO PAGES 285-295

376. 2 H 431 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 331-332, 339 (R. Paine) ; CB 1831, pp. 4-5.

377. Ibid. 378. 9 H 332 (R. Paine).

379. 2 H 4)32 (R. Paine) ; 3 H 133-134

(R. Paine).

380. 3 H 133-134 (R. Paine).

381. 2 H 3«7-388 (M. Paine).

382. 3 H 134 (R. Paine).

383. 2 H 387 (M. Paine) ; 9 H 338 (R. Paine) ; 3 H 135 (R. Paine).

384. Ibid. ; 9 H 338-339 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 134 (Gravitis). 385. 2 H 508 (R. Paine).

386. 2 H 385 (M. Paine) ; CE 1830,

pp. 4-5.

387. 2 H 390-392 (M. Paine) ; CE 1830,

pp. 4-5.

388. 2 H 389^390 (M. Faine) ; CE

1830, p. 6. 389. 2 H 389-392 (M. Paine).

390. Id. at 385, 386 ; 2 H 432 (R. Paine).

391. 2 H 385 (M. Paine) ; 4 H 448

(Hosty).

392. 2 H 387-388 (M. Paine).

393. Id. at 389. 394. 3 H 9-10, 93, 129 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 343 (R. Paine), see CE 429-440.

395. 3 H 15-18, 43^6, 9&-105 (R. Paine) ; 2 H 405-406 (M. Paine) ; CE

103.396. 3 H 21-25, 79, 81 (R. Paine) ; 9 H

393-394, 408-410 (R. Paine).

397. 3 H 17-18 (R. Paine) ; 4 H 462, 473 (Hosty).

398. Id. at 450-454 ; CB 830, p. 11. 399. R. Paine DE 277, 278, 278-A, 469 ; CE 404-424.

400. CE 401, 402.

401. E.g., 9 H 342 (R. Paine).

402. CE 3116, 3117; in addition to the testimony and exhibits included in the rec- ord to this report, additional data relative to the background of the Paines is included

in the files of the Commission.

403. CE 3116, 3117, 821-824, 826, 829,

830, 833, 836; 4 H 403-430 (John W.

Fain) ; 4 H 431^40 (John L. Quigley) ; 4 H 440-476 (James P. Hosty, Jr.). 404. CE 1172 ; cf. A. Johnson DE 1 ; see 9 H 455 (M. Paine) ; 3 H 118 (R. Paine) ; CE 1145, p. 1. 405. A. Johnson DE 1-3; 10 H 97-98, 100 (Arnold S. Johnson) ; CE 93 ; see also 10 H 209-210 (Dennis H. Ofstein) ; CE

1799 ; Oswald also subscribed to several Russian periodicals. CE 1147 ; 8 H 370-

371 (Bouhe).

406. A. Johnson DE 1, 3-4 ; 10 H 98-

100 (A. Johnson).

407. A Johnson DE 2 ; 10 H 99-100 (A. Johnson).

408. A. Johnson DE 6, 4-A.

409. A. Johnson DE 4, 4-A; cf. Johnson DE 3, 7. 410. A. Johnson DE T ; 10 H 103-104 (A. Johnson).

411. Weinstock DE 1 ; 11 H 207-208

(Louis Weinstock) ; A. Johnson DE 5, 5-A ; Tormey DE 1, 2 ; 10 H 107-108

(James J. Tormey).

412. See pp. 299-307, infra. 413. CE 2564.

414. See app. XIII, notes 1110-1119,

infra. When questioned by Mexican police shortly after the assassination, Sefiora Duran did not recall whether or not Oswald

had in fact told her he was a member of the Communist Party. CE 2120, p. 5. 415. See ch. V, p. 201, supra ; 10 H

116-117 (Abt).

416. Dobbs DB 9, 11 ; see also Dobbs DE

10, 13. 417. Dobbs DE 12; 10 H 113-114; 11 H 208-209 (Farrell Dobbs).

418. Dobbs DB 1-8 ; 10 H 109-110, 113

(Dobbs) ; CE 1799 ; see 3 H 119 (R. Paine).

419. Dobbs DE 13 ; 10 H 114-115 ; 11 H

209 (Dobbs).

420. CE 3153, 824, p. 7 ; CE 826, p. 12 ; CE 869, 2973, 3037, 3(^38, 3041 ; see also 5 H 28 (Alan H. Belmont) ; 4 H 411

(Fain) ; 4 H 302 (Robert I. Bouck).

421. 10 H 97, 102-105 (A. Johnson) ; 10 H 108 (Tormey) ; 10 H 110-111, 114-116

(Dobbs) ; 11 H 208-209 (Dobbs) ; 11 H

207-208 (Weinstock).

422. H. Twiford DE 1 ; 11 H 179 (Horace Twiford) ; CE 3085 ; CE 2335, pp. 6-7.

423. 11 H 179 (H. Twiford) ; 11 H 179-

180 (Estelle Twiford).

424. CE 3085.

425. Ibid., in 1956, when Os^^'ald was 16 years old, he apparently obtained information about the Socialist Party of America. Gray DE 1 ; 11 H 209-210 (V. Gray).

426. V. T. Lee DE 1 ; 10 H 87-88 (Vin- cent T. Lee).

427. Lee DE 2, 3; CB 828; 11 H 93

(Lee).

428. Lee DE 2. 429. Lee DE 3. 430. Lee DE 4; CE 1410, 1411, 2349.

2542, 2543, 2544, 1413, pp. 28-31 ; CE

2545

431. Lee DB 5-7. 432. Lee DE 5. 433. 10 H 37-42 (Bringuier) ; Pizzo DE

453-A, 453-B; CE 1413, pp. 19-30; CE

1412, 2548, 2546, 3029; 10 H 64-66

(Steele) ; Bringuier DE 1. See also 11 H

475 (Rachal) ; see app. XIII, pp. 728-729.

434. 10 H 37-39 (Bringuier) ; CE 1413,

pp. 19-30, 34, 42 ; CE 826, pp. 5-10 ; 10 H

53-57 (Martello) ; Lee DE 6 ; 1 H. 2;1 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1412, 2210, 2216,

2520, 2860, 2895, 30|32 ; CE 3119, pp. 12-

14; CE 826, pp. 9-10.

435. 10 H 35-37 (Bringuier) ; see app. XIII, p. 728. 436. CE 826, pp. 5-10 ; ID H 53-57

(Martello).

437. Lee DE 6, 7 ; Bringuier DE 1 ; 11 H 158-171 (Stuckey) ; 10 H 39-43

(Bringuier) ; Stuckey DE 2, 3 ; Pizzo DE

453-A, 453-B.

438. Holmes DE 1. 439. 10 H 90, 93 (Lee).

440. See pp. 407-412,, infra. 441. See CE 826, p. 7 ; CB 1413. p. 31 ; CE 1414 ; CE 3119, pp. 14-15 ; CE 3120. The Cuban Revolutionary Council, an anti- Castro organization, at one time did maintain an office at 544 Camp St., but it va- cated the building early in 1962, before Oswald had returned from the Soviet Union, CE 1414.

442. CE 1410, 1411, 2542-2544 ; 10 H

90 (Lee).

443. 5 H 401-402 (Marina Oswald).

444. 10 H 62-71 (C. Steele, Jr.) ; see 10 H 93-94 (Lee) ; cf. Lee DE 5. 445. CE 826, p. 12 ; CB 2952, p. 3 ; CE

2973. 3037; cf. 5lM 9 (Belmont); 4 H

444-4451 (Hosty) ; 4 H 432-436 (Quigley) ; compare, e.g.. CE 3029, 3128.

446. 2 H 403, 407 (M. Paine) ; CE 783. 2213 ; 7 H 325 (Gregory L. Olds).

447. 2 H 403, 407-408 (M. Paine) ; 9 H

462-464 (Raymond F. Krystinik).

448. 11 H 424-425 (Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker, Jr., Resigned, U.S. Army).

449. A. Johnson DE 7 ; 10 H 96, 10.3-104

(A. Johnson).

450. See pp. 182-187, supra.

451. In addition to the preceding discussion, see ch. VII, infra. 452. 5 H 489-500 (Bernard Weissman) ; CE 1811, pp. 4-15 ; CE 1815, pp. 710-714 ; CE 1034. 837
NOTES TO PAGES 295-S07

453. 5 H 496 (Weissman).

454. CE 1033, p. 1. 455. 5 H 497 (Weissman).

456. CE 1815, 1032, 1033, 1035, 1037,

1042, 1044, 1047, 1049; 5 H 498 (Weiss- man).

457. CE 1041, 1042 ; cf. CE 1049 ; see 5 H 526 (Weissman) ; see also note 458,

Infra. 458. CE 1032, 1033, 1037, 1038, 1040, 1044, 1047, 1049.

45,9. CE 1033, p. 2. 460. 5 H 491 (Weissman).

461. CE 1032 ; see CE 3112.

462. 5 H 490, 514, 519-520 (Weissman) ; CE 1811, pp. 6-7 ; CE 1813.

463. CE 1811, p. 8; CE 1878; 5 H

501, 505, 511, 519-520 (Weissman).

464. 5 H 506; 11 H 429 (Weissman) ; CE 1811, p. 9. 465. 5 H 505 (Weissman) ; see also CE

1815^ p. 711 ; CE 1811, p. 9. 466. Id. at 505-508 (Weissman) ; CE

1815, p. 2 ; CE 1878, p. 298 ; CE 1811, p. 9. 467. 5 H 507-508 (Weissman), CE 1031,

1811, p. 9. 468. 5 H 504 (Weissman) ; CE 1878,

1882, 1811, p. 10; CE 1815, p. 712. 469. 5 H 506, 509, 511 (Weissman) ; CE 1878, p. 298; CE 18S5, 1883, p. 306; CE 1884, p. 307. 470. CE 1882-1885.

471. 5 H 507-509 (Weissman).

472. 5 H 510-512 (Weissman) ; CE

1815, p. 712. 473. Ibid. ; CE 1882, pp. 1-2. 474. 5 H 509 (Weissman) ; CE 1811, p. 11 ; CE 1815, p. 711 ; CE 1878, p. 298. 475. Ibid. ; CE 1031.

476. 5 H 509 (Weissman).

477. 5 H 508-509 (Weissman) ; CE

1811, p. 11 ; CE 1815, p. 711. 478. 5 H 507 (Weissman).

479. Ibid. 480. Ibid. 481. Id. at 511, 517. 482. Id. at 511, 520; CE 1815, p. 713. 483. 5 H 511 (Weissman).

484. Ibid. 485. Ibid. 486. Id. at 515-516, 521-524 ; CE 1811,

p. 12 ; CE 1815, p. 713 ; 3139.

487. 2 H 60 (Mark Lane).

488. 5 H 553-555 (Lane) ; see CE 2510-

2518.

489. 5 H 522-524 (Weissman).

490. CE 996. 491. CE 2473, 247/4, 1837, 5 H 541 (Robert G. Klause). 492 CE 1835

493! 5 H 536^537, 539-544 (Klause) ; CE 1836, 2474, 1835.

494. 5 H 425-426, 429, 431 (Surrey) ; 11 H 412 (Walker).

495. 5 H 428 (Surrey). 496. Ibid. 497. Ibid. 498. CE 1835, p. 2 ; 5 H 537-539

(Klause).

499. Id. at 537 (Klause) ; CE 2473.

500. 5 H 536 (Klause).

(501. Id. at 537-538.

502. Id. at 539.

503. Id. at 537 ; CE 1836, p. 2. 504. 5 H 539 (Klause) ; CE 1836, p. 2. 505. 5 H 538 (Klause).

506. Id. at 538-539 (Klause) ; CE 1836,

p. 2 : CE 2473, pp. 1-2 ; CE 2474.

507. 5 H 539 (Klause) ; CE 1836, p. 2. 508. 5 H 539 (Klause) ; CE 1836, pp. 1-2 ; CE 2473, p. 1 ; CE 2474, p. 6. 509. 5 H 539-540 (Klause).

510. Id. at 546 ; CE 1836, p. 2. 511. CE 2473, p. 2. 512. Id. at p. 3. 513. CB 1836, p. 2. 514. CB 2473, p. 2.

515. 5 H 530-531 (Weissman).

516. CE 1835-1836, 2473-2474, 3103.

517. 5 H 531 (Weissman).

518. 5 H 542 (Klause) ; 5 H 447-448

(Surrey) ; U H 424-425 (Walker).

519. 1 H 23, 28, 45 (Marina Oswald).

520. Id. at 28t 45. 521. CE 2478.

522. 1 H 22-24, 44-47 (Marina Oswald). 523 Id at 45

524.' Id.' at 22-23; CE 1404, pp. 451-

453

525. 11 H 214-215 (Dr. and Mrs. John

B. McFarland) ; and see 11 H 179-180

(Estelle Twiford) (Oswald told her in Houston, Tex. that he was a member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and

on his way to Mexico.)

526. 1 H 23, 46-47 (Marina Oswald).

527. 1 H 24-25 (Marina Oswald) ; see also eh. VII, pp. 412^13; app. XIII, p. 730. (One purpose of Oswald's Fair Play

for Cuba activities was to get him into Cuba.)

528. See app. XIII, pp. 731-733, for time

of departure from New Orleans ; see CE

2121. p. 47 ; CE 2566, p. 2, for arrival

in Mexico City. 529. CE 2121, p. 39. 530. Ibid. 531. Ibid.

5.S2. See app. XIII, pp. 7130-731. 533. CE 2121, p. 39. . 534. 1 H 24-25 (Marina Oswald) ; and

see CE 2121, p. 89. 535. CE 2121, pp. 39-40.

536. See CE 2121, pp. 39-40 : CE 2564.

537. See app. XIII, pp. 734-736.

538. 1 H 27-28, 50 (Marina Oswald).

539. CE 2121, pp. 35-41.

540. CE 2120, pp. 4-6.

541. CE 2121, p. 42; CE 2120, p. 3. The official report of the Government of Mexico is set out in CE 2120 and CE 2123.

542. CE 2121, p. 38 (Silvia Duran).

543. CE 2123, attachment 5, p. 3. 544. Ibid. ; CE 2121, p. 85. 545. See app. XIII, pp. 730-731, for documents Oswald took with him ; CE

2121, pp. 39-40 (Silvia Duran's state- ment) ; 1 H 24-25 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

18, p. 54 (the "notation" of the address

Silvia Duran gave Oswald).

546. CE 2445.

547. CE 2564.

548. CE 2564.

549. E.g., compare CE 2564 with CE

1969.

550. CE 3127.

551. Compare 2564 with CE 155, 161.

552. CB 2121, pp. 26-28.

553. CE 2121, pp. 53, 58. 554. 11 H 214-15 (Dr. and Mrs. John B. McFarland) ; 11 H 217 (Pamela Mumford) ; CE 2121, pp. 72-78.

555. CE 2121, pp. 53-58.

556. CE 2121, pp. 57-58. The only wit- ness who places Oswald with anyone else during the trip was thoroughly discredited. See CE 2450, 2451, 2569, 2570, 2571, 2572,

2573. 2574, 2575, 3095.

557. CE 2450.

558. 11 H 217 (Mumford) ; CB 2195,

pp. 2-3, 40-42.

559. CE 2195, pp. 44^6. ^ _ ^

560. 11 H 220-221 (Mumford) ; 11 H

214 (McFarland) ; CE 2195, pp. 5-6.

561. CE 2195 passim.

562. CB 2121, p. 59, 563. Id. at 48-59 ; CB 3074.

564. CB 18. p. 54. 565. CB 2568.

566. CB 2567, p. 3. 567. This is the case of "D" treated at

55, infra. 568. CE 2949. 838
NOTES TO PAGES 307-319

569. CE 2948.

570. CE 2676.

571. CE 2950.

572. CE 2952, 2953, 2954, 2955, p. 5. 573. CE 2959.

574. E.g., CE 2951.

575. CE 2946.

576. CE 3047.

577. CE 2952, p. 2 ; CE 2955, pp. 1-4.

578. CE 3152, 1161.

579. 5 H 365 (Dean Rusk).

580. CE 986, pp. 1-3 ; CE 29. 581. CE 6 ; CE 986.

582. CE 8. 583. CE 986.

584. CE 2768, 2772, 2444, 3042, pp.

59. 65. 585. CE 15. 586. CE 16. 587. 8 H 13-18, 51-52 (R. Paine).

58S. 1 H 45 (Marina Oswald).

589. CE 2764.

590. CE 2764.

591. CE 3126.

592. 1 H 44, 49. 593. Oswald entered Mexico on Sept. 26 and his tourist card was good for 15 days thereafter ; CE 2478, reproduced

in report, p. 300.

594. CE 792 ; 7 H 295 (Harry Holmes) ; Holmes DE 3. 595. 7 H 527 (Holmes) ; see Holmes DE 1-A.

596. See pp. 118-122, 172-174, supra. 597 CE 1158

598.' CE 817 ; 7 H 296 (H. Holmes).

599. Holmes DE 1 : 7 H 292-293 (H. Holmes).

600. Holmes DE 4, pp. 1, 2 ; app. XIII,

pp. 713-730, 737-740.

601. 10 H 294 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson) • 6 H 435-437 (Earlene Roberts).

602. CE 1160, 1158, 1152, 1178.

603. CE 1799, p. 1. 604. See footnotes 594, 597, 599, supra.

605. CE 791 ; 11 H 136, 149 (Gibson).

606. CE 817 ; 8 H 91 (L. Murret).

607. Holmes DE 1 ; 10 H 292-293 (Mrs

A. C. Johnson).

..^^^o^oo^ ^ ^^^' 356, 392 (R. Oswald) ; CE 322 : Cunningham DE 3, 8-A ; Hunley

Po^ ^\ ^ = ^^^^1 I^E 1 ; Rachal DE 1 ; CE

427 : 10 H 198 (Dennis H. Ofstein) CE

1167, p. 489. See also, e.g.. Holmes DE 3-A : Arnold Johnson DE 5 ; V. T Lee DE 7, 8-A. 8-B, 8-C, 9 ; Dobbs DE 6. 9. 10 ; R. Watts DE 1, 4, 5.

•

• - 609. See pp. 121-122, supra. o.?i^c^^®: ^•^•' CE 1135, 2973. 2971-2972. 3113 ; Semingson DE 3001. .o^i^- ^^"^ CE 796, 815, 809, 806, 819.

^T^l^- l^-^^JS7-B88; 10 H 184-186 John J. Graef), 196-197 (Ofstein), 169

(Robert L. Stovall). 614. 10 H 186 (Graef), 198, 201 (Ofstein). 615. 4 H 378-389 (Cole).

616. 10 H 186-187 (Graef). 198 (Ofstein). 172 (Stovall).

^ 617. CE 800 : CE 115.

618. CE 2478.

619. CE 2539, p. 1. 620. CE 2121, p. 47 ; CE 2480

621. CE 2463: 11 H 217, 220 (Pamela

?l"f/"T2J^^ V.CE 2120, pp. 39-41 ; cf. 11 H 179-180 (Mrs. E. Twiford).

622. See footnote 601, supra.

623. 6 H 401 (Mary E. Bledsoe).

624. CE 1410, 1411.

AT-^?'"^-,?^ l^^' '^ H 377 (Heinz W. Miehaelis) : CE 3088.

626. CE 1398. CF ^7qoJl ^ 226-231 (Dial D. Ryder) ; CE 1333 ; Greener DE 1 ; CE 1334.

628. 11 H 226 (Ryder), 251 (Charles W. Greener) ; see p. 119, supra.

629. See pp. 118-122, 172-174, supra.

030. 11 H 231-233 (Ryder) ; CE 1334,

p. 4.631. CE 2454, p. 6 ; 7 H 224-225 (F. M. Turner) ; CE 1334, p. 24; 11 H 246-247

((rreener).

<^32. CE 1325; 11 H 227 (Ryder).

633. CE 1334, pp. 1-2, 13. 634. 11 H 226, 230-231, 234 (Ryder),

246, 251 (Greener).

i y" w,

635. 11 H 234, 226, 230-231 (Ryder) ; CE 1333, p. 2.

V ^ /

. 636. 11 H 225-226, 233, 235-2,38 (Ryder).

637. CE 1330, p. 2. 638. 11 H 241-242, 244, 237 (Schmidt), 464-467 (Lehrer).

639. CE 1334, pp. 14-20 ; CE 3030.

640. 11 H 254-259 (Gertrude Hunter) ; 11 H 263-275 (Edith Whitworth).

641. 11 H 261-262, 282, 284 (Mrs. Hunter), 11 H 272, 283 (Mrs. Whitworth).

642. 11 H 277, 300-301 : 5 H 399-400

(Marina Oawald).

648. CE 1337, 2974.

644. 11 H 226, 228-229 (Ryder); CE

2974.

645. 11 H 264, 274, 286-288 (Mrs. Wliitworth) ; 11 H 257 (Mrs. Hunter).

646. CE 1327.

647. 11 H 263, 265-266 (Mrs. Whit- worth) ; see CE 1327, 3089.

648. 11 H 254, 280, 289 (Mrs. Hunter).

649. 11 H 280 (Marina Oswald) ; see footnotes 707, 708, infra. 650. 11 H 256 (Mrs. Hunter) ; 11 H 266

(Mrs. Whitworth) ; CE 2454; 11 H 290-

292 (Marina Oswald), 11 H 155 (R. Paine).

651. 11 H 154 (R. Paine).

652. See ibid. ; 11 H 277 (Marina Os- wald).

653. 11 H 255, 280, 288 (Mrs. Hunter).

654. CE 2976.

655. CE 2976.

656. CE 2977.

657. CE 2975.

658. CE 2977, p. 3. 659. E.g., compare CE 2903 and CE 2446

with app. XIII, pp. 730-736 : compare CE

2944 with CE 2448, CE 3049, 3 H 214 (Roy Truly), and CE 2454; compare CE

2447 with CE 2904 and CE 3049 : see CE

2547; compare CE 3110 with CE 2925; compare CE 2926, 2i927, 2928 with CE

3049 ; see CE 2933, 2908 ; see also, e.g., 10 H 309-327 (Clifton M. Shasteen) ; CE

2209, 3130.

660. 10 H 372 (Malcolm H. Price, Jr.). 661. 10 H 380 (Garland G. Slack).

662. 10 H 392 (Sterling C. Wood), 10 H 385-390 (Homer Wood).

663. 10 H 375-376 (M. Price). 10 H

.383H384 (Slack), 10 H 388-389 (H. Wood), 10 H 394-395 (S. Wood).

664. CE 2i934, 2935.

665. 10 H 356-363 (Floyd G. Davis), 10 H 363-369 (Virginia Davis) ; CE 2916, 2919

666. CE 2915, 2917.

667. CE 2930, 2923, 2924, 2919. 2898,

2922. 2906, 3077; see 10 H 381 (Slack).

668. CE 2909, p. 238.

669. CE 2910,. 670. 10 H 370 (M. Price) ; see app. XIII.

pp. 730-736 infra. 671. 10 H 371 (M. Price). 10 H 880

(Slack). 10 H 361 (F. Davis).

672. 10 H 380 (Slack) ; but see 10 H 361

(F. Davis).

673. 11 H 154-155 (R. Paine) ; see also

2 H 515, 3 H 41 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 58, 62 (Marina Oswald).

674. 10 H 370 (M. Price), 10 H 365 (V. Davis).
NOTES TO PAGES 319-328

675. See footnotes 707, 708 infra ; cf. CB 2209.

676. 10 H 365 (V. Davis) ; CE 2941.

677. 10 H 393 (S. Wood), 10 H 381-382

(Slack) ; CE 2909; 10 H 358 (F. Davis).

678. Ibid.; 10 H 365-366 (V. Davis), 373 (M. Price) ; CE 2909, 3077.

679. CE 2897 ; CE 2898, pp. 116-117.

680. 10 H 373-374 (M. Price), 10 H 392. 395-397 (S. Wood), 10 H 381-383 (Slack) : CE 2913.

681. CE 139; 3 H 392-396 (Robert A. Frazier).

682. 10 H 370 (M. Price), 10 H 386 (H. Wood). 10 H 391-392 (S. Wood) ; cf. 10 H

380 (Slack).

683. 10 H 374 (M. Price), 10 H 382

(Slack) ; lOi H 392 (S. Wood) ; see also CE

2916, 2935, 2915.

684. 10 H 374 (M. Price), 10 H 382

(Slack).

685. ilO H 386 (H. Wood), 392 (S. Wood) ; CE 2924, 2915.

686. CE 139, 3133; 3 H 392-296 (Frazier), 154 (Howard L. Brennan).

687. 10 H 374 (M. Price), 10 H 382

(Slack) ; 4 H 257 (J. C. Day) ; CE 139;

10 H395 (S. Wood).

688. 10 H 374 (M. Price) ; 3 H 394

(Frazier) ; CE 541, pp. 3, 4. 689. 10 H 372-373 (M. Price).

690. See pp. 315-316, supra, ch IV. pp. 113—122

691. 10 H 395 (S. Wood), 10 H 382

(Slack).

692. 10 H 370-371 (M. Price), 10 H 391

(S. Wood), 10 H (F. Davis) ; but cf. CE

2910.

693. CE 2921, 2918, 2905, 2920, 3049.

694. See, e.g., 2 H 226-229, 241 (Buell W. Frazier) ; 10 H 297 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson) : 6 H 426 (Mary Bledsoe) : CE 2932.

695. See 10 H 352-356 (Albert Guv

Bogard )

.

696. In addition to the corroborating

evidence discussed in text, it is to be noted

that on Feb. 24, 1964, Mr. Bogard was in- terviewed by the FBI in regard to his al- legation with the use of a polygraph. No

significant emotional responses were re- corded by the polygraph when Bogard was

asked relevant questions concerning his report. The responses recorded were those normally expected of a person telling the

truth. CE 3031. However, because of the uncertain reliability of the results of poly- graph tests, see app. XVII, pp. 813-8l'6.

infra, the Commission has placed no reli- ance upon these results. 697. 10 H 342-345 (Frank Pizzo) ; CE

3078, p. 7. 698. CE 3091, 3092.

699. CE 3071, p. 365.

700. 10 H 344 (Pizzo) ; CE 3078, p. 7. 701. Ibid. 702. See 10 H 354 (Bogard) ; CE 3071, 2969.

70i8. 10 H 346, 350 (Pizzo) ; CE 3071

p. 2. 704. CE 3091.

705. 10 H 847-351 (Pizzo) ; CE 2970.

706. CE 3078, p. 7. 707. ] H 112-113, 5 H 402, 11 H 280

(Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 142-143 (L. Murret) ; id. at 185 (C. Murret) ; 2 H 292-293

(R. Oswald) ; 8 H 399 (E. Hall) ; 9 H 87

(G. Taylor) ; 10 H 126-127 (Cunning- ham) ; 11 H 56-57 (J. Pic). 708. 2 H 502-517, 11 H 153-154 (R. Paine).

709. 2 H 515, 3 H 41. 11 H 153-154

(R. Paine) ; 1 H 58, 62 (Marina Oswald).

710. 11 H 368-369, 373. 375, 377. 379

(Sylvia Odio).

711. Id. at 370-372.

712. Id. at 370'. 382.

713. Id. at 370-371.

714. Id. at 372.

715. Ibid. 716. Id. at 372-373, 377.

717. Id. at 373.

718. Id. at 382, 385.

719. CE 2907.

720. 11 H 370, 374 (S. Odio) ; CE 2942.

721. 1 H 26 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

3109. 2131, 10-14 ; CE

2124. p. 383 ; CE 405, 1156, pp. 44.3^44 ; CE 2125, pp. 475, 477 ; CE 2479 : 10 H

276-277 (Jesse J. Garner).

722. CE 2a31 ; 2939.

723. CE 2938, 2939, 2940, 2476.

724. CE 2131, 2939.

725. CE 2961, 2132. pp.

2.J33, 2962.

726. 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H

214 (McFarland) ; 179-180 (Estelle Twiford) : 11 H 179 (Horace E. Twiford )

.

727. CE 2191, pp. 5-7.

728. 11 H 214-215 (McFarland).

729. CE 2193, pp. 1-2 ; CE 2128. 2566,

pp. 2-3 ; CE 2534.

730. CE 2138, pp. 12-14 ; CE 3075. 3086. But see 11 H 179 (Estelle Twiford).

731. CE 3090.

732. CE 2534.

733. 11 H 214-215 (McFarland) ; CE 2534, 27.32.

7.34. 11 H 214-215 (McFariand) ; see also 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald).

735. 11 H 179-180 (E. Twiford).

736. CE 3045.

737. Ibid. ; see 11 H 372 (S. Odio).

738. See note 736, supra.

739. CE 3148.

740. Ibid. 741. Ibid.; 11 H 375 (S. Odio).

742. CE 2390.

743. CE 3147.

744. CE 3146.

745. Ibid. 746. Ibid. 747. 11 H 370 (S. Odio).

748. 11 H 341-346 (Rodriguez).

749. Compare 11 H 341-542 (Rodriguez) with 11 H 370. 382-383 (S. Odio).

750. 11 H 343 (Rodriguez).

751. 11 H 350-351 (Orest Pena).

752. CE 2,902. 753. Id. at 15 ; compare 11 H 355-356

(O. Pena).

754. 11 H 342 (Rodriguez) ; 351 (O. Pena) ; CE 2477, p. 10. 755. 1 H 35, 83. 100 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H 487 (R. Paine) ; 8 H 389 (A. Meller) ; 9 H 244 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 11 H 150

(D. Gibson).

756. 11 H 325-339 (Dean Andrews).

757. Id. at 331 ; CE 3094 ; CD 2899.

758. CE 2900, 2901, 3104.

759. 1 H 142, 191-193, 195-196, 200

(Marguerite Oswald) ; but see e.g., 1 H

20, 83 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 108 (R. Paine).

760. CE 1138, p. 3 ; 1 H 206 (Marguerite Oswald).

761. CE 821 ; 4 H 408-409 (John W.

Fain).

762. 1 H 214 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see generally footnote 865. 763. CE 2580 p. 4 ; 2581.

764. 8 H 341 (Pauline Bates).

765. Ibid. 766. 5 H 120-121 (John A. McCone) ; 5 H 121-122 (Richard M. Helms) ; see also CE 3138 (Department of Defense).

767. CE 870.

768. 5 H 105-106 (J. Edgar Hoover) ; 5 H 14-15, 26-27 (Alan H. Belmont) ; 4 H 429 (Fain) ; 4 H 440 (John L. Quigley) ; 4 H 469 (James P. Hosty).

769. CE 825.

770. CE 835.

771. CE 18, address book, p. 76. 840
NOTES TO PAGES 328-335

772. 4 H 451 (James P. Hosty) ; 3 H 18. 103-104 (Ruth Paine).

773. 1 H 48 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 3 8. 99 (R. Paine).

774. 1 H 48 (Marina Oswald).

775. Ibid. 776. See generally CE 1135, 1141, 1150.

1152, 1158, 1159, 1160, 1161, 1162, 1163.

1164, 1165, 1166, 1167, see CE 1169.

777. 1 H 82-83 (Marina Oswald).

778. CE 1148, 1149, 1155.

779. CE 1169, 1 H 62 (Marina Oswald).

780. 10 H 230 (Chester A. Riggs, Jr.) ; CE 1160 ; 10 H 237-241 (Mrs. Mahlon

Tobias); CE 1133, 1134; 11 H 155

(M. Waldo George) ; 10 H 265 (Mrs. Jesse Garner) ; CE 1139 ; see 1 H 10 (Marina Os- wald) see CE 1160.

781. 11 H 140-141 (Mrs. Donald Gib-

.son) ; 2 H 470-472 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 225-

226 (G. De Mohrenschildt), 308 (J. De

Mohrenschildt), 77 (Gary E. Taylor) ; 1 H

134-135 (Marquerite Oswald).

782. See app. XIII, pp. 713-715.

783. 1 H 7-8 (Marina Oswald): 8 H

394-395 (Elena Hall) : 11 H 120 (Alex- ander Kleinlerer).

784. 2 H 299, 304 (Katherine Ford) : 8 H 386-387 (Anna N. Meller) ; 1 H 11-12 (Marina 0.sAvald) ; 8 H 416 (Valentina

Ray).

785. 10 H 288-290 (Colin Barnhorst) : id. at 281-283 (Richard L. Hulen) ; CE

1160, p. 3 ; 10 H 307 (A. C. Johnson) ; 6 H

401-402 (Mary Bledsoe) ; of. CE 1166. p. 3. 786. 8 H 133-135, 138-139 (Lillian Murret) ; 2 H 459-46S (R. Paine),

787. 3 H 9, 12-13, 18, .32, 39-41 (R. Paine) : 1 H 26, 51, 53-55, 79 (Marina

Oswald) ; 2 H 217 (Buell W. Frazier).

788. 1 H 8 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 394

(E. Hall) ; 2 H 299 (Katherine Ford) : 3 H

9 (R. Paine).

789. 3 H 93 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 62, 69, 70 (Marina Oswald) ; 1 H 134 (Marguerite

Oswald) : see e.g., 1 H 134 (Marguerite

Oswald) ; 1 H 6 (Marina Oswald) ; see also note 304, supra. Oswald purchased

a TV set on credit, but it Avas returned without any payment having l)een made

on it; CE 1165, pp. 17-21 ; CE 1167, pp. 490-495 : 11 H 210 (Albert F. Staples) : 9 H 360, 361, 362, 363 (R. Paine).

790. 1 H 135-136 (Marguerite Oswald) : S H 372-373 (Bouhe), 382 (Meller). 394

(E. Hall) ; 9 H 324-325 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 11 H 119 (Kleinlerer) : see also 9 H 66-68 (Dymitruk) ; 8 H 416 (V. Rav).

791. 2 H 487 (R. Paine) : 1 H 35 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 153 (L. Murret) : 8 H

418 (V. Ray).

792. E.g., 1 H 5, 5 H 416 (Marina Os- wald).

793. 1 H 134 (Marguerite Oswald).

794. 2 H 217 (B. W. Frazier).

795. 11 H 171 (William K. Stuckev) : 8 H 133, 135, 148 (L. Murret), 193

(John Murret) ; CE 146, 148. 149. 150.

151, 152. 153, 154. 155, 157, 158. 159. 160. 161, 162, 163.

796. H 144 (Paul Gregory).

797. 1 H 134-135 (Marguerite Oswald) : 1 H 7 ; 8 H 382-385 (A. Meller) ; 8 H 393-

394 (E. Hall) ; 8 H 416 (V. Ray) ; 8 H

372-373 (Bouhe) ; see 9 H 144 (Paul Gregory) ; cf. 8 H 369 (Bouhe) ; id. at 387

(Meller).

798. 1 H 69-70 (Marina Oswald).

799. 1 H 318 (R. Oswald).

800. CE 1138, pp. 11-12.

801. 1 H 30 (Marina Oswald).

802. 7 H 376 (Heinz W. Miehaelis) : Miehaelis DE 2 ; CE 1137 ; see app. XIV,

p. 743.

803. CE 1410, 1411.

804. 10 H 64-66 (C. Steele, Jr.). It is not known w^hether the second person who

assisted Oswald was also paid by him. CE

2216 ; see generally, note 434, supra.

805. See app. XIV, p. 744. 806. 2 H 408-469 ; 9 H 343 (R. Paine) : 1 H 19 (Marina Oswald).

807. 3 H 9-12 (R. Paine).

80S. 8 H 186-187 (Charles Murret).

809. 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald) : CE 2131, 2476 ; see app. XIII, p. 731.

810. See app. XIII, pp. 730-736 ; app. XIV, p. 745.

811. 10 H 334-336, 340 (Leonard A. Hutchison).

812. CE 3121 ; CE 1165, pp. 5-0 ; 1 H

58 (Marina Oswald), CB 3129, p. 4

813. 10 H 328-333, 340 (Hutchison).

814. 11 H 155 (R. Paine), 290-291" (Marina Oswald) ; 10 H 296 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson) ; 6 H 404-405 (Mary Bledsoe) ; CE 2454, pp. 2-4.

815. CE 2789, pp. 630-631.

816. 10 H .328-329, 336-338 (Hutchison) ; but see CE 2789, pp. 629-630.

817. Note 814, supra ; 2 H 213, 222-

225 (B. W. Frazier) ; 10 H 328 (Hutchison) ; see CE 3129, p. 6. 81 s. 10 H 328, 338 (Hutchison).

819. CE 3129, p. 1 ; see also 1 H 58

r:\rarina Oswald).

820. Compare. 10 H 338 (Hutchison)

with CE 1132; 1 H 348 (R. Oswald).

S21. 10 H 414-415, 422-423 (L. Wil- cox )

.

822. 11 H 315-318 (Robert G. Fenley). 311-312 (C. A. Hamblen) ; Wilcox DE

3005. Hamblen repeated the story to a second journalist the following djiv. 11 H

316 (Fenley).

823. Wilcox DE 3005 : see also Wilcox DE 3007: 11 H 312 (Hamblen); 10 H

415-417 (L. Wilcox).

824. 11 H 311-314 (Hamblen).

825. n H 318-325 (A. Lewis) : Wilcox DE 3006 ; 10 H 417-421 (L. AVilcox). 826. Wilcox DE 3008 ; 10 H 412-413

(Sf'uiingsen), 423 (L. Wilcox).

827. 10 H 419-425 (L. Wilcox), 407-413

(Semingsen) : Semingsen DE 3001.

828. 11 H 313 (Hamblen) ; 10 H 424

(L. Wilcox), 413 (Semingsen).

829. 10 H 424 (L. Wilcox), 412-413

( Semingsen).

830. See 13 H 436 (Curtis LaVerne

Crafard).

831. Crafard DE 5226, p. 150 ; CE 2319.

832. Crafard DE 5226, pp. 147-148, 150 : l)ut see CE 2322.

833. CE 2270, 2291.

834. CE 1669.

835. CE 2265.

836. CE 2251.

837. CE 2269. 2288 ; see also CE 2319.

838. CE 2245.

839. Newnam DE 2 : see also CE 2265.

840. Crafard DE 5226, p. 150 ; 15 H 323 (Eya L. Grant) : 15 H 283 (Eileen Kaminsky).

841. 15 H 626, 628 (Lawrence V. Meyers), CE 1606, 2267.

842. CE 2259. 2274; 14 H 153 (Ralph

Paul) : C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 3 ; 5 H 183

(Jack Ruby) ; CE 2405, p. 26. 843. CE 2434, 2435.

844. 15 H 629 (Meyers) ; CE 2268.

845. Id. at 627 ; 15 H 667 (Paul) ; see also CE 2266, 13 H 326 (Armstrong).

846. 15 H 183 (J. Ruby) ; C. Ray Hall DE 3. p. 3. 847. Crafard DE 5226. p. 150.

S48. Ibid. 849. 5 H 183 (J. Ruby) ; 13 H 330 (Armstrong); C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 4; CE 2436 ; see also 15 H 539 (John W. Newnam) ; CE 2438.

730-900 0-64—55 841
NOTES TO PAGES 335-343

850. C. Ray Hall DE 8, p. 4 : see also

<'E 1479, 2321.

851. 5 H 183 (J. Ruby).

852. CE 2405, pp. 17-18 ; CE 2436.

853. 15 H 183 (J. Ruby) ; CE 2405, p.

2(i ; CE 243G ; .see also 13 H 319-320

(Armstroug) ; 15 H 219-220 (Joseph Weldon Johnson, Jr.). 854. CE 2405, pp. 24, 26 ; CE 2436 ; cf. 5 H 184 (J. Ruby).

855. 15 H 535-539 (Newnam) ; Newnani

DE 4 ; CE 2405, pp. 17-20 ; see also CE 3050.

856. CE 1031; 15 H 544-545 (Newiiani) : 5 H 184 (J. Ruby).

857. 15 H 323 (Grant).

858. 15 H 540-541 (Newnam).

859. Id. at 541.

860. 5 H 184 (J. Ruby).

861. Ibid.; 15 H 541 (Newnani) : 15 H

575 (Billy A. Kea) ; CE 2264.

862. 15 II 579-580 (Ricliard L. Saunders). 863. 15 H 580-581 (Saunders).

864. Id. at 581; see also 15 H 575

(Reu) ; CE 2408. p. 49 ; CE 2264.

865. 13 H 330 (Armstrong).

866. 15 H 542. 545 (Newnam) : see 15 H

324 (Grant).

867. 5 H 184 (J. Ruby).

868. Id. at 184-185.

869. 14 H 542-544 (Newnam): 15 H

583-584 (Saunders) : see also CE 2408. p. 49; CE 2264.

870. 15 II 79-81 (Seth Kantor) : see also 15 H 388-396 (Wilma May Tice).

871. See 15 H 38S-396 (Tice) : CE

2290 ; CE 2293 ; CE 2437.

872. 14 H 561-563 (J. Ruby) : 5 H 185

(J. Ruby).

873. See KRLD-TV Reel 5 : compare

15 H 81 (Kantor).

874. CE 2303, p. 27; 13 H 331-332

(Armstrong) ; 13 H 208-209 (Karen B. Carlin) : see also 5 H 185 (Ruby) : but see 13 11 452 (Crafard).

875. 15 H 75-76 (Kantor) : CE 2301.

876. 15 H 76-82 (Kantor).

877. CE 2303, p. 27; 13 H 333-335

(Armstrong) ; 13 H 208-209 (K. Carlin).

878. CE 2068.

879. 15 H 579 (Saunders) ; 15 H 419 (Nancv M. Powell).

880. See pp. 340-342, infra. 881. 15 H 81-82 (Kantor).

882. 15 H 79, 81-82. 87-88 (Kantor) : pp. 342-343, infra : see CE 2441. 2442.

883. 5 H 185 (Ruby) ; 13 H 333-335

(Armstrong) ; see 14 H 85 (Crafard) : see

also 15 H 195 (Marjorie R. Riehey).

884. 13 II 452-453 (Crafard) ; 14 H 42

(Crafard) ; 13 H 331-335 (Armstrong) : see CE 2414.

885. 14 H 151 (Paul) ; 5 H 185 (J. Ruby): CE 2303, p. 27; 13 H 331-332

(Armstrong).

886. CE 2303, p. 27 : 15 H 282-283

(Eileen Kaminsky) ; 14 H 123 (Alice R. Nichols).

887. Ibid.: see also 13 H 331 (Armstrong).

888. 14 H 123-124 (A. Nichols) ; 15 H

283 (Kaminsky).

889. 14 H 113-115. 123-124 (A. Nichols).

890. CE 2243: 2303. p. 27: CE 2284.

891. CE 2284; 5 H 185 (J. Ruby) : see also 13 H 423-424 (Crafard).

892. 5 H 185 (J. Ruby) ; CE 2284.

893. CE 2303. p. 27; 14 H 151-152

(Paul).

894. 15 H 325 (Grant) ; CE 2296 ; 13 H

333 (Armstrong) ; see also 13 S 454 (Cra- fard) cf. 14 H 318-319 (Senator).

895. 13 H 455-457 (Crafard) ; see also CE 2427. 2273: 14 H 433 (Grant) : 13 H

336 (Armstrong) ; but see 14 H 86-87

(Crafard).

896. 15 H 325 (Grant) ; 13 11 45«; H i.i- fard).

897. 5 H 186 (J. Ruby) ; CB 2260. 2296.

898. 15 H 325-331 (Grant) : 5 II 186

(J. Ruby).

899. Ibid. 900. 15 H 327 (Grant) : CE 2262.

901. CE 2261, 15 H 330 (Grant).

902. 5 H 18(3-187 (J. Ruby) ; 15 II 3.30 (Grant) ; se.. also CE 2242. 2275.

903. 14 H 124-125 (Nichols) : Nichols DE 5356; 15 H .330 (Grant).

904. 13 H 457 (Crafard) : but .^-e 14 H

86 (Crafard).

905. 15 H 332 (Grant).

906. 5 H 186-187 (J. Ruby).

907. 13 H 187 (Augustus M. Eber- hardt) : 15 H 612 (Roy G. Standifer) : 15 H (>01-()02 (Ronald L. Jenkins) ; CE 2254.

pp. 424-425: compare CE 2410. p. 106. with CE 2249. p. 13: (omi.are 15 H 351-

352 (Victor F. Robertson. Jr.) ; CE 2439

with 15 H 599 (Clyde F. (;<»odson) ; CE

2439 : see CE 2423 ; pji. 342-343, 347 : KRLD TV reel 23, 45 : 16-23 ; see also CE

22S9 : 15 H 375-376 (John G. McCullougli) : 15 II 455 (Dave L. Miller) ; 1.3 H

:',35-33(» (Armstrong).

908. Compare 15 H 601-603 (Jenkins) ; 15 II 375-376. 380-381 (McCullough):

with CE 2790. 2415. 2423. 2424. 2439.

909. 15 H 351-352 (Robertson).

910. 15 H 588-599 (Goodson) ; CE

22S9 : see also CE 2440 ; but cf. CE 2423,

2439.

911. 13 H 187 (Eberhardt) ; CE 2410.

pp. 106-108; 15 II 617 (Standifer): but

see 5 H 188 (J. Ruby) ; see also. pp. 342-

343. infra. 912. 5 H 188 (J. Ruby) ; see .ilso 15

II ;;27 (<irant). 913. 14 H 152 (Paul) : CE 2302. p. 14. 914. CE 2302. p. 14 : CE 2300.

915. 15 H 31-32 (Hyman Rubenstein).

91(;. 5 H 1S7 (J. Ruby) ; CE 2281.

917. CE 2281 ; see also CE 2282.

9 IS. CE 2281.

919. CE 2282. 2283.

920. 5 H 187 (J. Ruby).

921. Ibid. 922. CE 2252.

923. 5 H 187 (J. Ruby) : CE 2248.

924. 5 H 187-188 (J. Ruby) ; see also 14 II 434 (Grant).

925. CE 2247, 2277. 2278. 2279. 22g«.

926. CE 2252.

927. 5 H ISS (J. Ruby).

928. KRLD-TV reel 23 :00-0 :19 ; CE

2423. 2439 ; see 5 H 188 (J. Ruby) ; C. Ray

Ilnll DE 3, p. 5. 929. CE 2410. pp. 104-105 : see CE 2424 ; 5 H 188 (J. Ruby).

930. 13 H 187-189 (Augustus M.

Eberhardt) ; see CE 2424.

931. KRLD-TV reel 23, 0:00-3:00; CE

2423. 2439; 5 H 188 (J. Ruby).

932. Ibid. ; KRLD-TV ; reel 23 : WFAATV, PKT 11 6:50-6:55; see C. Ray Hall DE 2 p. 13-14.

933. CE 2424: 13 H 189-190 (Eber- hardt) ; 5 H 223 (Wade) : 15 H 616-617

(Standifer): CE 2244. 2249. 2256. 2257,

2272, 2276. see also McMillon DE 5017.

p. 3 : CE 2258.

934. CE 2424. 5 H 188-195 (J. Ruby) ; 13 H 189-190 (Eberhardt).

935. KRLD-TV reel 23. CE 2169: NBC-TV reel 43. 936. KRLD-TV reel 23 : NBC-TV reel 43: 5 n 189 (J. Ruby); 5 H 223-224 (Wade) : CE 2295.

937. 5 H 223-224 (Wade) ; KRLD-TV

reel 2i3. 45:16-23; CE 2439. 2441. 2442.

5 H 189 (.L Ruby). ^ ^^ ^^ ^

938. 15 H 505-506. 508-509 (Johnston) : CE 2272. 842
NOTES TO PAGES 343-350

939. 15 H 346 (Icarus M. Pampas) ; see also CE 2257 ; 15 H 588-589 (Thayer

Waldo).

940. CE 2257 ; see also CE 2256.

941. 15 H 531-532 (Danny Patrick McCurdy) ; 15 H 485 (William G. Duncan.

Jr.) ; see also CE 2295.

942. 15 H 364-365 (Pappas) ; 5 H 224 (Wade).

943. 15 H 485-486 (Duncan) ; 15 H 254

(Russell Lee Moore, also known as Russell Knight).

944. Id. at 254-255, 267.

945. 15 H 483 (Duncan) ; see also 15 H

256-259 (Knight) ; 15 H 532 (McCurdy).

946. 15 H 257 (Knight) ; CE 2294 ; see also 14 H 318 (Senator).

947. 15 H 530-531 (McCurdy) ; 1.' H

259 (Knight).

948. 15 H 530-531 (McCurdy).

949. 15 H 487-488 (Duncan).

950. 15 H 25&-260 (Knight) ; 15 H

224-225, 228 (Edward J. Pullman) : CE

2285; see also 15 H 339 (Grant).

951. CE 2285.

952. 15 H 260, 264-265 (Knight).

953. Ibid. 954. 5 H 191 (J. Ruby) ; see also CE

2318; 14 H 631 (Harry N. Olsen) ; 14 H

647 (Kay Helen Olsen).

955. C. Ray Hall DE 1, 2, 3. 956. 5 H 191 (J. Ruby).

957. 14 H 632 (H. Olsen) ; 14 H 648

(K. Olsen).

958. 14 H 632 (H. Olsen) ; 14 H 647 (K. Olsen).

959. Ibid. 960. 15 H 555-559 (Roy A. Pryor) ; see

also 5 H 194 (J. Ruby).

961. 15 H 558-562 (Pryor) ; CE 2297 ; see also 5 H 206-207 (J. Ruby).

962. 15 H 566-568 (Arthur W. Wather- wax) ; see CE 2297 ; CE 2816. pp. 1508-

1509.

963. CE 2816. p. 1509.

964. CE 2816, p. 1506 ; 5 H 194 (J. Rubv>: 15 H 569-570 (Watherwax) : CE

2791.

965. App. XVI, at p. 800, infra : 13 H

437-448 (Crafard) : CE 2791.

966. 15 H 570 (Watherwax).

967. 5 H 193-194 (J. Ruby).

968. CE 2816, p. 1510.

969. 5 H 203 (J. Ruby) : 15 H 569 <Watherwax) ; see also 14 H 218 (Senator) ; 14 H 87 (Crafard).

970. 15 H 568 (Watherwax) ; CE 2816,

pp. 1507-1508 ; CE 2297.

971. 14 H 219-220 (Senator).

972. Id. at 218-219; 13 H 463 (Cra- fard).

973. 5 H 203 (J. Ruby) ; 13 H 463

(Crafard).

974. 5 H 203 (J. Ruby) ; CE 2286; see also 14 H 90 (Crafard) ; 13 H 464-466

(Crafard) ; 14 H 219 (Senator).

975. 14 H 222 (Senator) ; see also 13 H

503-504 (Crafard) ; but see 14 H 567-568

(J. Ruby).

976. 5 H 203 (J. Ruby) ; 14 H 220

(Senator) ; 15 H 336 (Grant).

I 977. 14 H 220-224 (Senator).

978. C. Ray Hall DE 3. p. 9 ; 14 H 224

I (Senator) ; see also 13 H 466 (Crafard).

! 979. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 9 ; 13 H 466-

468 (Crafard).

980. Ibid. ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 9. 981. 13 H 337-339 (Armstrong) ; 13 H

468-469 (Crafard).

982. 5 H 198 (J. Ruby) ; C. Ray Hall DE 2, p. 14, DE 3, p. 12. 983. 5 H 198 (J. Ruby).

984. 15 H 196 (Mariorie R. Richey).

985. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 9 : CE 2324, 2413, p. 83 ; see also CE 2330, 2340.

986. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 9 ; CE 2324.

987. CE 2413, pp. 82-83, 89, 92 ; CE

3039, see CE 2324 ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 9. 988. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 9. 980. CE 2341; see 15 H 490 (Garnett Claud Hallmark).

990. 15 H 489-490 (Hallmark) ; G. C. Hallmark DE 1, p. 1. 991. 15 H 491 (Hallmark).

092. Ibid. 993. 15 H 434 (Kenneth L. Dowe) ; Dowe DE 2, p. 2 ; see 15 H 491 (Hallmark).

994. Id. at 492-493.

995. 15 H 587-588 (Thayer Waldo) ; 15 H 355-357 (Frederic Rheinstein) ; CE

2276, 2326, 2327.

996. CE 2327; see also 15 H 82-83

(Seth Kantor).

997. 15 H 587-589 (Waldo) ; see also CE 2276.

998. 15 H 357 (Rheinstein).

999. CE 2276 ; 2326.

1000. 15 H 386-387 (Abraham Klein- man) ; see also C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 9. 1001. 15 H 468-469 (Frank Bellochio) ; 15 H 383^386 (Kleinman) ; CE 3043, 3044,

3045, 3046 ; see also 15 H 610-613 (Speedy

Johnson).

1002. 15 H 470 (Bellochio) ; 5 H 203-

204 (J. Ruby) ; 15 H 336 (Grant).

1003. 15 H 470 (Bellochio). 1004. Id. at 470-471.

1005. Id. at 471. 1006. Ibid. 1007. Id. at 470-472 ; CE 3043, -3044. 1008. Id. at 472. 1009. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 9 ; 15 H 519

(Stanley M. Kaufman) ; see al^o 15 H 337-

338 (Grant).

1010. 15 H 520 (Kaufman).

1011. 15 H 519-520 (Kaufman) ; see also 15 H 337-338 (Grant).

1012. 15 H 337 (Grant).

1013. C. Ray Hall DE 3, pp. 9-10.

1014. CE 2329.

1015. 13 H 339-340 (Armstrong) ; see 15 H 454 (Dave L. Miller). 1016. 15 H 338-3.39 (Grant).

1017. 15 H 262 (Knight) ; cf. 14 H 222

(Senator) ; but see 15 H 337 (Grant).

1018. 15 H 339, 341 (Grant).

1019. CE 2325, 2407.

1020. 13 H 209-210 (Karen B. Carlin) ; 15 H 421-423 (Nancy M. Powell) ; see 15 H 342 (Grant) ; compare 15 H 474 (John Henrv Branch) with Branch DE 1 : 15 H

334 (Grant) ; CE 23,36. 1021. 15 H 421-423 (Powell) ; 15 H

647, 652 (Bruce R. Carlin) ; 13 H 209

(K. Carlin). 1022. 13 H 209-210 (K. Carlin) ; see

C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 10 ; 15 H 69-70 (C. Ray Hall) ; 13 H 204-205 (B. Carlin). 1023. 13 H 210 (K. Carlin). 1024. 15 H 342 (Grant).

1025. 15 H 626-635 (Meyers) ; see p. 334, supra. 1026. 15 H 631-634 (Meyers).

1027. Id. at 633-635 ; see 14 H 265

(Senator).

1028. 15 H 632 (Meyers).

1029. 13 H 210 (K. Carlin) ; 13 H 203-

204 (B. Carlin). 1030. Id. at 204 ; see also 13 H 210 (K. Carlin). 1031. 13 H 204 (B. Carlin). 1032. 15 H 422 (Powell).

1033. 13 H 211 (K. Carlin) ; see 13 H

205 (B. Carlin) ; 15 H 423-424 (N. Powell )

.

1034. 13 H 246-247 (Huey Reeves) : CE

1476. 2334; 13 H 210-211 (K. Carlin). 1035. 15 H 336, 339, 342-343 (Grant).

1036. CE 2300, 2306 ; see also CE 2310.

1037. CE 2300.

1038. 15 H 339 (Grant).

1039. 14 H 153 (Paul) ; 15 H 671, 673

(Paul). 843
NOTES TO PAGES 350-360

1040. 15 H 397. 399 (Wanda Y. H^l- mick) ; CE 2834.

1041. 15 H 399 (Helmick).

1042. Id. at 400, but see 15 H 672. 678-

079 (Paul) ; CE 2339.

1043. 15 H 671-672. 675. 678-679

(Paul).

1044. 15 H 399 (Helmick) ; 14 H 15:: (Paul) : 15 H 071-672 (Paul).

1045. 13 H 247 (Reeves) ; see C. Rav

Hall DE 3, p. 10 : see CE 1476.

1046. 14 H 635 (H. Olsen) : 14 H 649

(K. Olsen).

1047. CE 2307.

1048. Ibid. 1049. Ibid. 1050. Ibid.: 14 H 605 (Breck Wall).

1051. CE 2.307. 1052. 14 H 532-533. 543, 559. 564 (J. Ruby) : 5 H 197 (J. Rubv I : see also C. Rav Hall DE 3. p. 12. 1053. Paul DE 5319. p. 7. 1054. 14 H 153 (Paul) : 15 H 671-673

796-797. 805 (Paul).

1055. 14 H 605-607 (Wall).

1056. See app. XVI. pp. 796-797. 805 : CE 2344.

1057. CE 2302. p. 14 : CE 2303. p. 26 ; 2328. 2331, 23.33. 1058. 14 H 605-606 (Wall).

10.59. CE 2068.

1060. CE 2337.

lOCl. C. Ray Hall DE 3. p. 10; 15 H

552 (Robert L. Norton) ; 5 H 198 (.7. Rubv).

1002. 15 H 552-553 (Norton).

1063. Id. at 553 : see 5 H 198 (J. Ruby) : see CE 2836.

1064. 5 H 198 (.1. Ruby) : see 15 H 551 (Norton) : CE 2^36.

1065. 14 H 529 (J. Ruby) : 5 H 198

(.1. Rubv).

10«G6. 14 H 236 (Senator).

1067. 15 H 643 (Grant).

1068. 14 H 236 (Senator).

1069. 5 H 199 (.7. Ruby) : 14 H 2.36- 240 (Senator).

1070. 13 H 256-261 (Warren E. Ricbev) : 13 H 279-283 (John A. Smith) : 13 H 292-294 (Ira N. Walker).

1071. 13 H 256-258 (W. Richey) : 13 H

279-282 (J. A. Smith) ; 13 H 291-294

(I. Walker).

1072. 13 H 250-258 (W. Richey) : 13 H

278-282 (.7. A. Smith) : 13 H 292 (I. Walker).

1073. 13 H 283 (.7. A. Smith).

1074. 13 H 257 (W. Richey).

1075. 13 H 283 (J. A. Smith) ; see also 13 H 257 (W. Richey).

1076. App. XYI. pp. 787. 792 ; CE 2424. 1478: see 15 H 523 (Kaufman) ; see also 15 H 332 (E. Grant).

1077. 14 H 236, 238-239 (Senator) : Pappas DE 1. 1078. 13 H 257 (W. Richey).

1079. CE 2790, 2415 : Pappas DE 1 : but

see 15 H 508 (Johnston) ; 15 H 603 (Ronald L. Jenkins).

1080. Compare 13 H 292-293 (I. Walker) with 13 H 278-280 (J. A. Smith).

1081. 13 H 292 (Walker) : 13 H 278-

281. 283 (J. A. Smith).

1082. KRLD-TV reel 13 ; CE 3072.

1083. 14 H 236 (Senator) : Senator DE

5402. p. 4. 1084. 13 H 232-233 (Elnora Pitts) : see 14 H 239-240 (Senator).

1085. 13 H 231-232 (Pitts). 1086. Id. at 230-232.

1087. 18 H 197-198. 200 (Sidnev Evans.

Jr.) ; see al'so 13 H 263-264 (Malcolm R. Slaughter).

1088. 14 H 232-283 (Senator) : see also Senator DE 5402.

1089. 14 H 286-239 (Senator) : CE

2298.

1090. 13 H 210-211 (K. Carlln). 1091. Id. at 210-212.

1092. 14 H 239 (Senator).

1093. 14 H 236 (Senator) : see aI»*o 14 H 532 (J. Ruby;.

1094. 5 H 198-199 (J. Ruby);. see 14 H 532 (J. Ruby) ; see also 13 H 502 (Cra- fard) : 14 H 207 (Senator).

1095. 14 H 2Ht 211. 24(> (Senator) : ('. Ray Hall DE 2, p. 15 ; 5 H 198-199 (J. Uiibv). 1096. C. Ray Hall DE 2. p. 15 : 5 H 199

(J. Ruby) ; 14 H X3-K5 (Crafard) : 13 11 311-312 (Armstrong) ; 14 H 147 (Paul) : 14 H 211. 312 (Senator).

1097. C. Ray Hall DE 3, pp. 10-11:

5 H 199 (Paul).

109S. CE 206.S : KRLD-TV reel 12. 3s : 20 : WHAP-TV reel FW No. 2. 1099. 13 H 272-274 (Smart) : Smart DE

5021 : CE 1322. pp. 732, 747-751 ; see 13 H 501 (Crafard) : 14 H 329-330 (Senator). 1100. C. Ray Hall DE 2. p. 15; CE

1322. pp. 726-731 ; 15 H 199 (J. Ruby) : see also 14 H 327 (Senator).

1101. 13 H 226 (Doyle E. Lane).

1102. Id. at 224: D. Lane DE 511S. 5119 : CE 2420. 2421. 1322. p. 726. 1103. Id. at 225. 1104. Ch. V at pp. 216-225: KRLD-T\

reel No. 13 : KRLD-TV reel Nn. .59 : WH.VP-TV reel FW No. 1. 1105. See 15 H 369-371 (Pappas) : Pappas DE 1, 2 ; CD. 1314-A (tape record- ing in Commission files) ; J. R. Leavelle DE 5088. 5089; 13 H 8-9 (L. C. Graves! : 12 H .308. 313-314 (Louis D. Miller) : L. D. Miller DE 5013. 5014: 13 H 29 ( L. D. Montjromerv) : McMillon DE 5016; 12 H

179 (li. H. Combest) : Combest DE 5101. p. 3 ; Kantor DE 3, pp. 3S. 3T ; W. J. Harrison

1)1-: 5029. i»p. 2-3 : CE 2002. p. 45 : NBC-TV

reel No. 66. Nov. 24. 1963. But see CE

2409. p. 300: 5 H 199 (J. Ruby) ; 14 11 562 (J. Ruby).

1106. KRLD-TV reel 13: CE 3072.

1107. See app. XVI at 787. 788-7N9. 793-795. 798-799 : see 15 H 258 (Knight) : 15 H 636 (Mevers).

1108. 13 H 469 (Crafard).

1109. 14 H 39-40 (Crafard): see Crafard DE 5226. p. 147. 1110. CE 2429.

1111. Crafard DE 5226. p. 152 ; see also 13 H 469 (Crafard).

1112. CE 2793 : Crafard DE 5227.

1113. 14 H 92-93 (Crafard).

1114. Crafard DE 5226. pp. 148-149;

13 H 420-422 (Crafard) ; see 14 H 23-25

(Crafard).

1115. 13 H 466-468 (Crafard) : C. Ray

Hall DE 3. p. 9. 1116. CE 2429 : see 13 H 471-472 (Crafard) : see also CE 2792.

1117. 18 H 404-408 (Crafard).

1118. Id. at 407-410. 413-416.

1119. Id. at 470 (Crafard) ; see 14 H

38-39 (Crafard).

1120. CE 2302. 2303. 2307 ; 14 H 152-

153 (Paul) : 15 H 665. 670-678 (Paul) : app. XVI at 795. 1121. 14 H 153-154 (Paul) ; 15 H 672-

673 (Paul).

1122. CE 2311. 2816.

1123. CE 3026. 29S0. 3034 : 15 H 677

(PiUili : CE 2817.

1124. CE 2823: 15 H 401-402 (Hel- mick).

1125. Id. at 401 : CE 2338.

1126. CE 2338. 2389.

1127. CE 2431 : 15 H 399 (Helmick).

112S. 14 H 605-606 (Wall) : see 15 H

671-672. 675, 678-679 (Paul) ; 14 H 532-

533. 543. 559. 564 (J. Ruby) ; 5 H 197

(J. Ruby).

1129. CE 2300. 844
NOTES TO PAGES 360-368

1130. CE 2314.

1131. CE 2317.

1132. CE 2306, 2433.

1133. 7 H 28G (W. E. Barnes) ; see ch. V,

pp. 210, 224. 230. 1134. See, e.g.. CE 2794, 2795, 2797.

271)8, 2799, 2804. 280G. 2808. 2809, 2810,

2822, 1481, 2824, 2826, 2875, 2814: 15 H

48-51 (William S. Biggio). 1135. See, e.g.. CE 2796, 2800, 2801.

2802, 2803, 2813. 2818. 2819, 2821. 2825.

2829, 2878. 181S, 2383.

1136. See, e.g.. CE 2805, 2812, 2827.

2828. 2874. 2877. 2879.

1137. CE 2830, 2884.

1138. CE 2830.

1139. CE 2884. 2885, 2880.

1140. Crafard DE 5226, p. 149. n41. 3 H 595 (Paine) : see also CE

1949. p. 5 ; app. I at notes 1253-1255.

1142. Crowe DE 2 : 15 H 97-100 (Wil- liam D. CroTve. Jr.) : see also CE 2372.

1143. 15 H 104-105 (Crowe).

1144. Id., at 106. 1145. Id. at 105 ; CE 2983.

1146. 15 H 106 (Crowe) ; see KULDTV reel 43-a.

1147. 15 H 106 (Crowe).

1148. Crafard DE 5205, 5206 ; CE 2991.

1149. 15 H 113 (Crowe).

1150. Id. at 107-109 ; CE 2995. pp. 207-

209.1151. 15 H 107-109 (Crowe).

1152. CE 2995. p. 212. 1153. CE 2367.

1154. CE 2370, 2432.

1155. 2 H 515 (R. Paine) : 3 H 41 (R. Paine).

1156. CE 2414.

1157. CE 2998: 15 H 658 (K. Carlin). 1158. See, e.g.. CE 1479. 1623, 1652.

2362, 2380, 2401, 2403 : Armstrong DE

5310-A ; Crafard DE 5226, p. 152. 1159. 14 H 102. 104-106 (Wilbryn Waldon Litchfield II). 1160. Compare CE 3149, 2991. 2243,

2284.

1161. CE 3149, p. 270. 1162. Pizzo DE 453-C : Shaneyfelt DE

24 : see also CE 3002.

1163. CE 3149. p. 271. 1164. 14 H 96-97 (Litchfield). 1165. Id. at 102-104.

1166. Id. at 102. 1167. CE 2889 ; see also CE 3194. p. 267. 1168. CE 2999, 369. 1169. CE 3004, 3005 : see also CE 3003.

1170. CE 2807, 2820, 3010, 3027 : see also CE 2876, 2877. 2880.

1171. 3 H 214 (R. Truly) : see also CE

1949.

1172. CE 2302; 13 H 421 (Crafard) : 14 H 192. 216 (Senator).

1173. CE 371, 3150.

1174. See p. 321 supra ; app. XIII, footnote 1224 infra. 1175. See CE 371, 376, 1979.

1176. 6 n 437 (E. Roberts) : see 6 H

404-406 (Bledsoe) : see also CE 2833.

1177. See app. XIII at pp. 737-740 : CE

2833.

1178. CE 2303 : see Crafard DE 5220.

pp. 148, 150 : CE 2319.

1179. CE 3000, 3001, 3000. 3009.

1180. CE 3001, 3000. 3009.

1181. 4 H 240 (Fritz) ; CE 1490. 1491.

3020. .3021. 3022.

1182. Holmes DE 1 : see pp. 312-314,

supra : app XIII, p. 739. infra. 1183. CE 1322, p. 727 : CE 3140, 2791, 1567: 14 H 560 (Ruby).

1184. CE 2882.

1185. CE 2883.

1180. 13 H 383, 385-389, 400-401

(Bertha Cheek) : Cheek DE 5353.

1187. CE 2380, 3011.

11.S8. CE 1509 : 14 H 91-92 (Crafard) ; 15 II 237-238 (Joseph Rossi). 1189. Cheek DE 5353 ; CE 2990, 2997.

1190. CE 2831.

1191. CE 2832, 2S02, 2881.

1192. 14 H 203, 312-313 (Senator) ; CE 3012: 14 H 158 (Paul) ; 13 H 322 (Armstrong) : app. XVI at pp. 803-804 : 8 H 265 (Delgado) : 8 H 300 (Donovan) ; sc«^ also 13 H 438-440 (Crafard) : 8 H

270-271 (Powers) : 8 H 319 (Murray) ; CE 1339.

1193. See CE .3013 ; 15 H 246 (Wright).

1194. 1 H 152-154, 237-238 (Marguerite

Oswald).

1195. Id. at 237-238: CE 3028, 237. 1196. 11 H 468 (Bardwell D. Odum) : 11 11 469 (Richard Helms) : Odum DE 1. 1197. CE 237: Compare Odum DE 1:

see 11 H 409 (Malley) ; 11 H 408 (Odum) : 11 H 409 (Helms).

1198. Compare CE 237 : Odum DE 1 ; with CE 2422. 2425.

1199. 11 H 470 (Helms) : 5 H 208 (J. Ruby) : see p. 373, infra. 1200. CE 2243 ; CE 1237, p. 5 ; 15 H 10 (Rubenstein) : cf. app. XVI, p. 783-784.

1201. App. XVI, pp. 792, 794-795, 802-

803.1202. Id. at pp. 784-785, 780-790, 791-

792. 794-795, 799-800.

1203. Id. at pp. 794-795, 802-803 : 14 H

143 (Paul) ; 14 H 383 (E. Ruby).

1204. App. XVI at 797-799.

1205. 14 H 396^407 (Earl Ruby) : 14 H

47.3-476, 483 (Grant) : 15 H 35-36 (Hy- man Rubenstein) : see CE 3070.

1206. 15 H 11-14, 4,3-44 (Rubenstein) ; Rossi DE 1 : CE 3052.

1207. CE 1322. p. 763. 1208. See 15 H 229 (Pullman) ; 14 II 209 (Senator).

1209. E.g., 14 H 206-210 (Senator) : 15 H 241 (Rossi) : 15 H 492 (Hallmark) ; CE 1512. 1515, p. 554: CE 1500, 1621,

1748. 2414.

1210. App. XVI, at 791. 1211. CE 1485.

1212. 5 H 206, 209 (J. Ruby) : 14 H 567-

568 (J. Ruby) : 14 H 408. 484 (Grant) : 15 II 024 (L. Meyers) : C. Ray Hall DE 2,

p. 14 : CE 3053 : CE 1515, p. 554 : CE 2161 ; 1508, 1540, 1542, 1711, 2392, 3052, 3142,

3143, 3144.

1213. 14 H 437-439 (Grant) ; 15 H 16-

17 (Rubenstein).

1214. CE 3033 : see also CE 2980, 2863,

2864, 2866. 2867, 2868, 2869, 2870, 2871,

2872. 2873 : cf. Cumulative Index, 1938-

1954. Committee on Un-American Activities, U.S. House of Representatives, p. 730.1215. CE .3034. 1210. 15 H 306-308 (George W. Fehrenbach) : CE 2837, 2838, 284,3. 1217. CE 2848, 2849 : see CE 2850, 2851,

2856.

1218. CE 2853, 2854; see CE 2855.

1219. Compare 15 H 308 (Fehrenbach) and CE 2838, with CE 1189.

1220. Compare 15 H 307 (Fehrenbach)

with app. XVI, pp. 787-790, 791-792.

1221. 15 H 301^303 (Fehrenbach) : CE

2838. 2835.

1222. CE 2835.

1223. 15 H 311, 316. 319 (Fehrenbach).

1224. CE 2835, pp. 1-2 : see also CE

2861. 3008.

1225. CE 2839, 2840 : see also CE 2844,

2845, 2846.

1220. CE 3151. p. 10-14 : CE 2847, 2852,

2841.

1227. CE 2842, 2845, 2835, pp. 4-6; CE 2858. 2859. 2800.

1228. 15 H 303-304 (Fehrenbach).

1229. 15 H 225 (Pullman) : CE 1322,

p. 734 : CE 2285. 845
NOTES TO PAGES 368-377

^2:W. 15 H 2r)9-2Gl, 2G4-2t)5 (Knijjht).

12;',1. CE 2270, 2888.

12:;2. CE 2890, 2981, pp. 1. 3, 8; CE

2982 : sec also CE 305).

1233. 2 II 57-58, 60 (M. Lane).

1234. 14 H G9 (Ciafard) ; CE 2984, cf. 13 II 353 (Armstrong) ; 15 H 662 (Mrs.

("arlin). 1235. 14 H 559-561 (Ruby) ; 5 H 515-

516, 522-525 (Weissman) ; CE 2985, p. 7 ; CE 3115.

1236. CE 1620; 14 H 559-560 (J. Ruby) ; see CE 2430; compare id. at 3. 1237. CE 2430.

1238. Ibid. 1239. Ibid. 1240. Ibid. 1241. See pp. 335, 347-348, «upra.

1242. See pp. 344-345, supra. 1243. CE 2985. pp. 7, 9, 10, 12. 14 ; cf. CE 2986. 1244. See CE 2985, pp. 6-7. 1245. CE 2987.

1246. CE 2985, p. 10. 1247. Id. at 6-7. 1248. CE 2985, pp. 15-17.

1249. See ch. IV at 163-164.

1250. Sawver DE A; 4 H 179. 184

(.lesse E. Cnrry) ; 7 H 75-76 (James Put- nam) ; see oh. IV at 163-164.

1251. Compare ch. IV at 143-144 with

(^E 3002.

1252. CE 3054, 3055. 3056. 3057 ; 14 H

3.'.0-364 (Nancy Perrin Rich) ; Nancy

Perrin Rich DE 1-4 ; CE 3058. 3059, 3060.

3061, 3062. 3063. 3064, ••'.065. 1688. 1689, 3067, 3068.

1253. 5 H 202 (.7. Ruby) ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 15 ; CE 1688. 1689. 3069 ; see also 14 H 506 (J. Ruby) ; CE 2414.

1254. CE 2988, 3069 : see CE 1748.

1752. 1255. CE 2303. p. 19. 1256. See CE 2988, 3069.

1257. CE 2989.

1258. See 5 II 200-201 (.T. Rnbv) : CE

1697, 1545. 1600. 1691.

1259. CE 2993, 2994. 1697. 1546.

1260. CE 2978, pp. 4-5. 1261. 14 H 384-385 (Earl Rnbv).

1262. See app. XVI at 803. 1263. CE 2080. 2979, pp. 13-14.

1264. CE 2428.

1265. CE 2980.

1266. See app. XVI at p. 801 ; CE 2988.

1267. See app. XVI at pp. 785, 790, 801.

1268. 14 H 565-566 (J. Ruby) ; 5 H

103 (J. Edgar Hoover) ; CE 1353, 162K

1760 : cf. CE 2332. 2333. 3012. 2328. 2331

1697. 1221. 1500.

1269. 14 H 165-168 (Senator).

1270. 14 H 16K-172. 181-182. 185-1S-; (Senator).

1271. 14 II 175-178, 181-184. 304-30.' 3(19-310 (Senator).

1272. Senator DE 5400. p. 297; CE

.3027; 14 H 165-210. 310-311 (Senator); CE 3014. 3026, 3028.

1273. 14 H 249-250 (Senator).

1274. See 14 H 244-245, 302-303 (Senator) ; Senator DE 5400. 5401. 5402. 5403

1275. Ibid. 1276. CE 2419.

1277. See 14 H 217-218. 230-235. 261-

262, 299-300. 314-315 (Senator).

1278. CE 3015.

1279. 14 H 216. 314-315 (Senator).

1280. 14 H 532 (J. Ruby).

1281. Ibid. 1282. CE 2419; Senator DE 5401; see 14 II 245-246. 302-304. 316-317 (Senarnri. 1283. CE 3023, pp. 17-18: 14 H 245

(Senator) ; see Senator DE 5401.

1284. CE 3023 ; Senator DE 5401 ; but compare CE 2419: 14 H 245-246, 252-253.

30:;-;^,04 (Seiuitor).

12185. CE 3024 ; see also CE 3015. p. 196.1286. 14 H 246-251. 253 (Senator) ; CE

3024.

1287. CE 2344. 2302. 2303. 2345.

1288. Ibid. 1289. See. e.g.. CE 3036, .see also 5 H

208 (.1. Ruby).

1200. 14 H 150 (Paul); C. Ray Hall DK 3, pp. 15-16.

1291. CE 2344. 3018. 1695, 3019. 1567.

1292. CE 1561. p. 302: 15 H 248-249

( Wrifrht ). 120:;. 14 H 21«;-217 (Senator i ; 13 H

447 {('r.ifardl. 1294. See CE 1322. pp. 733-751.

12!»5. See app. XVI at pp. 794, 796-797,

804-806.

1296. 5 H 372 (Dean Rusk) ; CE 3025

(Robert F. Kennedy); 5 H 585-586 (C. Douglas Dillon) : CE 3138 (Robert S. Mc- Xamara) ; 5 H 103 (J. Edgar Hoover) : CE 2980 (.John A. McCone) : 5 H 485

(.Tames J. Rowley).

CHAPTER VII

1. 5 H 394 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H 400

(Michael Paine) ; 10 H 56 (Francis L. Martello) ; see discussion of Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities, infra.

2. 1 H 91 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 394, 408 (Marina Oswald) ; 9 H 145 (Paul R. Gregory) ; 10 H 56 (Martello).

3. 1 H 10-12, 21-22, 66 (Marina

Oswald).

4. Id. at 22 ; see authority at notes 125 and 314. infra.

5. 8 H 150 (Lillian Murret) ; see authority at notes 125 and 314, infra.

6. 1 H 22 (Marina Oswald).

7. Id. at 22-23; see 11 H 100 (Kerrv

Thornley) ; 11 H 402 (Michael Paine).

8. See 8 H 272 (Daniel P. Powers) ; 11 H 96-97 (Thornley) and discussion, infra.

9. 11 H 96. 99 ; authoritv at note 151.

infra.

10. 11 H 170 (William Kirk Stuckev) ; Stuckey DE 2, p. 2 ; CE 1385. p. 7. 11. 1 H 96. 123 (Marina Oswald) ; 10 H

97 (Arnold Johnson) ; CE 100 ; CE 2564.

12. 1 H 225 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see

8 H 104-105 (L. Murret).

13. 11 H 4. 10. 20 (John Edward Pic) ; 1 H 253 (Marguerite Oswald).

14. Id. at 25.3-254: 1 H 94 (Marina

Oswald) : 11 H 12. 74 (J. Pic) ; 8 H 48

(Mvrtle Evans) : 1 H 271 (Robert Oswald).

15. 11 H 12 (J. Pic) ; J. Pic DE 3, 5. 16. 1 H 254 (Marguerite Oswald) : 8 H

47-48. 63-64 (M. Evans i : 8 H 36. 37 (Anne Boudreaux) ; 8 H 112 (L. Murret).

17. J. Pic DE 2-A ; 1 H 255 (Marguerite

Oswald).

18. J. Pic DE 2. p. 4 : 1 H 272 (R. Os- wald) ; 11 H 15. 22 (J. Pic).

19. 11 H 23 (J. Pic) ; 8 H 53 (M.

Evan,'^) ; 1 H 255 (Marguerite Oswald) : see CE 1960 A. p. 1. 20. 1 H 275-277 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H

23-25. 28-30 (J. Pic) : 11 H 472 (Mrs. J. U. Allen).

21. 8 H 51 (M. Evans) : 8 H 68-69

(Julian Evans) ; 8 H 117 (L. Murret) : see 1 H 277-278 (R. Oswald).

846
NOTES TO PAGES 378-388

22. 11 H 27 (J. Pic).

23. 1 H 250-252 (Marguerite Oswald) : 11 H 27-29 (J. Pic) ; CE 1960-C.

24. n H 75 (J. Pic).

25. Id. at 30-32.

26. Id. at 82.

27. Id. at 32-34.

28. Id. at 33. 29. Id. at 73-74.

30. 1 H 29S (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 31-32

(J. Pic) : see 1 H 253-254 (Marguerite

Oswald).

31. 1 H 29.S (K. Oswald) ; Evelvn Strick- man Siegel DE 1, p. 1.

.12. 8 H 119. 121 (L. Murret) : 11 H 31

(J. IMc) : S H S7 (Hiram Conway).

3:5. 8 H 121-122 (L. Murret) : J. Pio

I>E 9. 34. 11 H 17, 28, 31 (J. Pic) : J. Pic DE 23 : Siegel DE 2, p. 1. 35. 1 H 225-226 (Marguerite Oswald) : 11 H 37 (T. Pic).

36. 1 H 226. 229 (Marguerite Oswald) : 11 H 37—11 (T. Pic).

37. 1 H 227 (Marguerite Oswald) : 11

IT 37 (J. Pic).

38. Id. at 38. 39. 42 : CE 1382, p. 1 : see John Carro DE 1, p. 1 : Siegel DE 2,

p. 2.39. 11 H 38-39 (J. Pic) ; see CE 1382.

40. 1 H 227 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see CE 1384.

41. See 8 H 208 (Carro) : Carro DE 1.

' 42. Carro DE 1, p. 2 ; Siegel DE 1. p. 1. 43. 1 H 227 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see

Siegel DE 1, i». 2. 44. Carro DE 1. p. 1. 45. Ibid.; see 8 H 218 (Renatus Ha r togs).

46. Carro DE 1, pp. 1, 5. 47. Hartogs DE 1 ; Carro DE 1 ; Siegel DE 1. 48. 1 H 228 (Marguerite Oswald).

49. Ibid. 50. Ibid. 51. Ibid. 52. Carro DE 1, p. 3. 53. Siegel DE 2, p. 3. 54. "Oswald : Evolution of an Assassin,"

Life, Feb. 21, 1964. p. 72.

55. Hartogs DE 1, p. 1. 56. Ibid. 57. Ibid. 58. Id. at 2. 59. Ibid. 60. Siegel DE 1, p. 1. 61. Ibid. 62. Ibid. 63. Siegel DE 1, p. 2. 64. Siegel DE 2, p. 2. 65. Siegel DE 1, pp. 2, 3. 66. CE 1339.

67. Ibid.

68. Ibid. 69. Ibid. 70. Carro DE 1, p. 2. 71. See Carro DE 1, pp. 3, 6 : Siegel DE 1, p. 3. 72. Siegel DE 1, pp. 2, 3. 73. Id. at 3. 6. 74. Hartogs DE 1, pp. 1-2.

75. Carro DE 1, p. 2. 76. 11 H 75 (Pic).

77. Compare Carro DE l", Hartogs DE 1, and Siegel DE 1. 78. Carro DE 1. p. 4 : see 8 H 206. 210

(Carro).

79. Id. at 212.

80. Siegel DE 1. p. 6. 81. See Carro DE 1, pp. 6-8.

82. CE 1413, pp. 14-15 : 1 H 190-197. 198-199 (Marguerite Oswald).

S3. Allison G. Folsom DE 1, pp. 2. 3. 84. 8 H 124 (L. Murret) : see 8 H 159

(Marilyn Murret).

85. Id. at 124, 128.

86. Ibid. : see 1 H 196-197 (Marguerite

(»swald).

87. See e.g., 8 H 55, 56, 65 (M, Evans) ; s H 70, 71 (J. Evans) : 8 H 159 (M.

.Murret).

ss. s H 125, 131 (L. :Murret).

S9. Id. at 131 : see 1 H 199 (Marguerite

Osw.ild^ : 8 H 15 (Edward Voebel).

!»(). Ibid. 91. Id. at 5: see 8 H 159 (M. Murret) ; S H 124 (L. Murret).

92. Ibid. 93. S H 2-3 (A'oebel).

94. Id. at 5. 9-10.

95. CE 1352 ; CE 1387 : CE 1413, p. 10. 96. CE 3134.

97. 1 H 19S (Marguerite Oswald) ; CE

1386 : CB 1385, pp. 5-6 ; CE 93. p. 3. 98. CE 1386.

99. Ibid. 1U0. s H IS (William E. Wulf).

1(H. 1 IT 196-198 (Marguerite Oswald).

102. CK 199: see 1 TT 19()-197 (Marguerite Oswald).

103. Id. at 197-198.

104. 1 H 375-376 (R. Oswald).

105. 1 H 19S. 200 (.Marguerite Oswald i. IOC). Id. at 198.

107. 11 H 4 (J. Pic).

l(»s. See 8 11 22-23 (Bennicrita Smith) : s II 6-7 (Voebel).

109. See note 97, supra.

110. 11 H 95, 106 (Thornley).

111. 8 H 270 (Powers).

112. 8 H 258 (Nelson Delgado) ; 8. H

315 (.Tames A. P.otelho) : 8 H 316 (Donald

P. Camarata).

113. CE 1383 ; Folsom DE 1, p. 1. 114. 11 H 89, 101 (Thornley) ; 8 H

31S (All(>ii D. Graf) ; 8 H 318 (John Rene

lleindell) : s H 321 (Mack Osborne).

115. Folsom DE 1, p. 5. 116. See 8 H 292-293 (John E. Donovan).

117. Id. at 295.

118. Id. at 292-293, 297 : see 11 H 105-

106 (Thorniev).

119. 8 H 293 (Donovan).

120. 8 H 265 (Delgado).

121. 11 H 89 (Thornley).

122. Id. at 90. 123. Id. at 100. 124. Ibid. 125. 8 H 270 (Powers).

126. Id. at 272.

127. Id. at 287.

128. Id. at 270.

129. Id. at 277.

130. Id. at 278.

131. Id. at 283.

132. Id. at 285-286.

133. Id. at 275.

134. Id. at 283.

135. See Folsom DE 1, pp. 9, 31-34.

136. Ibid.; 8 H 308 (Folsom).

137. See Folsom DE 1, pp. 4, 10, 17, 23, and 30. 138. See id. at pp. 77-104.

139. See id. at pp. 10, 14-16, 18-22, 38-

43, 48, 50-55, 61, 67-79.

140. Id. at 65. 141. Id. at 63. 142. See 1 H 22. 31. 70-72, 123 (Marina

Oswald) : 1 H 450 (R. Oswald) : 8 H 374 (George Bouhe) : 9 H 148-;149, 158 (Paul

Gregory). ,,^ ^ ^ 143. 1 H 71 (Marina Oswald) ; .but see

5 H 605 (Marina Oswald).

144. Id. at 72. 145. 1 H 385-386, 450 (R. Oswald) : 11 H 79 (J. Pic). _ ^

146 See 1 H 220-222 (Marguerite Os- wnld) ; Folsom DE 1, pp. 19, 21. 147. Id. at pp. 38-39, 45-47.

148. 5 H 605 (Marina Oswald).

149. See discussion in ch. Ill, supra.847
NOTES TO PAGES 388^04

150. Ibid. 151. 1 H 198 (Marguerite Oswald) ; CE

i;^85, pp. 5-6 ; CE 1386 ; see 8 H 18 (Wulf).

152. CE 1885, p. 5. 153. 8 H 321 (Henry J. Roussel, Jr.). 154. 8 H 323 (Ricliard Dennis Call) ; 8

II 315 (Botellio). 155. 8 H 323 (Call). 156. 8 H 319 (David Christie Murray) ; 8 H 315 (Botelho) ; 8 H 321 (Osborne) ; 8 H 323 (Erwin Donald Lewis).

15i7. 8 H 315 (Botelho) ; 8 H 321

(Osborne).

158. 11 H 93-94 (Thornley).

159. Id. at 99. 160. Id. at 95. 161. Ibid. 162. 8 H 2,92-293 (Donovan).

1(>3. 8 H 233, 240 (Delffado). 164. 11 H 97-98 (Thornley).

1(55. Id. at 98.

16(). See 8 H 18 (Wulf) ; 8 H 81 (Philip

E. Vinson) ; 1 H 94 (Marina Oswald).

1()7. 11 H 172-173 (Stuckey).

168. 2 H 308 (Mrs. Katherine Ford).

169. CE 295, pp. 4, 7, 8. 170. CE 294, p. 1. 171. See discussion supra pp. 256-257.

172. CE 295, p. 1. 173. Id. at 2-3, 4. 174. Id. at 6-7.

175. See CE 24. pp. 1-2 ; note 178, infra. 176. Ibid. 177. Id. at 2. 178. CE 985, doc. 1 C 3 ; CE 24. pp. 1-2.

179. 5 H 263 (Richard E. Snyder).

ISO. CE 913.

181. CE 908, p. 2. 182. Ibid. 183. Ibid. 184. Ibid. 185. Ibid. 186. Ibid. 187. CE 24, p. 4. 188. See id. at pp. 4, 5. 189. See id. at 5-6 ; CE 985, doc. 9A.

190. CE 72 ; 5 H 589 (Marina Oswald) : see 9 H 147 (Paul Gregory).

191. CE 24, p. 6 ; see CE 25, p. IB.

192. See CE 24. p. 6 ; 5 H 407-408

(Marina Oswald).

193. See CE 24, p. 6 ; 1 H 93 (Marina

Oswald).

194. Ibid ; see discussion at pp. 269,

195. 1 H 93 (Marina Oswald).

196. 10 H 56 (Martello) ; 9 H 145 (Paul Gregory) ; see 5 H 408 (Marina Oswald).

197. 1 H 95, 100 (Marina Oswald).

198. 2 H 302 (Mrs. Ford).

199. 9 H 312 (Jeanne De Mohrenschildt).

200. 9 H 234 (George De Mohrenschildt).

201. CE 24, p. 7. 202. Ibid. 203. Id. at 9. 204. See ibid. ; CE 245.

205. 1 H 10 (Marina Oswald).

206. Id. at 10-11.

207. CE 994, p. 25. 208. CE 92 ; see also CE 94 (earlier manuscript) ; 8 H 333 (Pauline V. Bates).

209. CE 94, p. 1. 210. Compare CE 92 and CE 94 with CE 25, CE 97, CE 98. 211. CE 25, p. 3. 212. Ibid. 213. CE 97, p. 8. 214. See CE 98. 215. CE 25, p. 3A.

216. Id. at lA.

217. Id. at 2A.

218. Id. at 2A-3A.

219. Id. at 3A.

220. CE 97, p. 3. 221. Ibid. 222. Id. at 5. 223. Ibid.

224. Id. at 6. 225. Arnold Johnson DE 4, p. 3. 226. CE 97, p. 1. 227. Id. at 1-2.

228. CE 25, p. 1. 229. CE 100, p. 1. 230. Id. at 3. 231. Id. at 1. 232. Id. at 4. 233. Id. at 2. 234. See id. at 4. 235. CE 986, p. 6. 236. 10 H 209-210 (Denis H. Ofstein) : CE 1147.

237. See CE 7, 9 ; CE 986. pp. 1-2, 6 : 1 H 35 (Marina Oswald).

238. See CE 12 : CE 13. 239. 10 H 56 (Martello).

240. See CE 2464, pp. 4-6.

241. CE 15. 242. 1 H 11 (Marina Oswald) ; see 8 H 377 (Bouhe).

243. 9 H (Paul M. Raigorodskv) : see 9 H 166-284 passim (G. De Mohrenschildt).

244. (^E 1389, p. .'.

: but .see 2 H 338

(Peter P. Gregory).

245. 8 H 383-385 (Anna Meller) ; see

id. at 372-373, 376 (Bouhe) ; 9 H 309

(.1. De Mohrenschildt).

246. 1 H 10-11 (Marina Oswald).

247. See 8 H 376 (Bouhe) ; 8 H 384

(Meller) : 1 H 11 (Marina Oswald).

248. 9 H 309 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

249. Ibid. 250. 9 H 240 (G. De .Alohrenschildt)

.

251. Id. at 232. 252. Ibid. 253. Id. at 233.

254. See 1 H 11 (Marina Oswald) : 2 H

305 (Mrs. Ford).

255. 9 H 252-253 (G. De Mohrenschildt) : 2 H 307. 309 (Mrs. Ford).

256. 1 H 133. 141 (Marguerite Oswald) : 1 H 312. 387 (R. Oswald).

257. CE 295. p. 7 : CE 908. p. 2 ; CE 909, p. 2. 258. 1 H 94-95 (Marina Oswald).

259. 1 H 312, 314 (R. Oswald).

260. 1 H 134-136 (Marguerite Oswald).

261. Id. at 136. 262. 1 H 6 (Marina Oswald) : 2 H 300

(Mrs. Ford).

263. 1 H 140-141 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see 8 H 394-395 (Elena Hall) : discussion

in appendix XIII.

264. 8 H 135-136 (L. Murret).

265. 8 H 165-166 (M. Murret).

266. Priscilla Johnson DE 6. 267. See 9 H 47 (Samuel B. Ballen).

268. CE 1861. p. 3. 269. See, e.g. Helen P. Cunningham DE.

1-A : John Rachal DE 1. 2 : CE 1398.

270. 10 H 163, 165 (Tommv Bargas).

271. See 1 H 5-7 (Marina Oswald) ; 10 H 166 (Bargas) : CE 1405.

272. 10 H 144 (Donald Brooks).

273. 10 H 121 (Cunningham) : Cunningham DE 1-A.

274. 10 H 121-124. 127 (Cunningham).

275. Cunningham DE 1-A. p. 3 : see 10 H 126 (Cunningham).

276. 11 H 478 (Cunningham).

277. Ibid.; see 10 H. 177 (John G. Graef).

278. 10 H 176 (Graef) : CE 427.

279. 1 H 68 (Marina Oswald).

280. 10 H 172 (Robert Stovall) ; 10 H

186-187 (Graef).

281. See id. at 187-189.

282. See id. at 188. 283. See id. at 187, 189.

2i84. Id. at 189; see 10 H 170-171

(Stovall). 285. 2 H 457-459. 468-469, 271 (R. Paine).

286. 11 H 474 (Emmett C. Barbe, Jr.) ; CE 1398. 848
NOTES TO PAGES 404-417

2S7. 2 H 4GS-469 (K. Paine).

2SS. Id. at 517.

2S9. 11 H 474 (Barbe).

21M). Ibid. : 10 H 220. 225-226 (Adrian

Alba).

291. ;! H (K. Paine).

292. See 10 H 53 (Martello) : 10 H 37-

38 (Carlos Brini^ruier) : discussion FPCC

activities, infi-a. 293. 11 H 476 (Radial).

294. 10 H 170-171 (Stovall).

295. 11 H 479 (Theodore R. Gangl).

296. See 3 H 216, 218 (Roy S. Truly).

297. See CE 1351, pp. 7-8.

298. 1 H 16 (Marina Oswald).

299. See id. at 17 : 11 H 292 (Marina

Oswald).

300. 1 H 17 (Marina Oswald).

301. Id. at 15-16, 117-118: 11 H 296 (Marina Oswald).

302. See Pp] 133 ; CE 134 : CE 1406.

303. 1 H 15-16 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H 296 (Marina Oswald).

304. See discussion in ch. IV, supra.

305. 1 H 16 (Marina Oswald) : see CE 1. 306. Id. at 17-18.

307. Id. at 18.

.".08. U H 294 (Marina Oswald).

309. Id. at 292-294, 295-296.

310. See 1 H 37-39 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H 294-295 (Marina Oswald).

311. 11 H 293 (Marina Oswald).

312. See. e.g. Life, Feb. 21, 1964.

313. See 1 H 22-23 (Marina Oswald) : S H 354 (Max E. Clark) ; 9 H 150, 155

(Paul Gregory) ; 11 H 97-98 (Thornley).

314. See e.g. 8 H 376-377 (Bouhe) ; 8 H 390 (Mrs. Meller) : 8 H 405 (Elena

Hall) ; 8 H 411 (John R. Hall).

315. 1 H 16 (Marina Oswald) ; see 2 H 315 (Mrs. Ford).

316. See CE 1409 ; Vincent T. Lee DE 1. 317. See CE 1410 ; CE 1411.

318. CE 1412.

319. See 10 H 37-39 (Bringuier).

320. CE 1413: 10 H 53 (Martello) ; see discussion in ch. VIII, infra. 321. 11 H 165-166 (Stuckey).

322. Ibid.

32i3. 10 H 35-36 (Bringuier).

324. 1 H 24 (Marina Oswald) : see 10 H 57 (Martello) : 10 H 90, 94 (Lee).

325. Id. at 64-65 ; see CE 820.

326. See discussion in ch, IV, supra.

327. 5 H 401 (Marina Oswald) : see 1 H 64 (Marina Oswald).

328. 5 H 401 (Marina Oswald).

329. 10 H 90, 94 (Lee).

330. 10 H 54 (Martello).

331. Lee DE 5. 332. Ibid. 333. Ibid. 334. Ibid. 335. CE 1413, p. 19. 336. See 10 H 32-51 (Bringuier).

337. See CE 1412: CE 1413, pp. 19-35.

338. Lee DE 6. 339. CE 1414.

340. CE 1410 ; see Lee DE 4, p. 2 ; Lee DE 5, p. 2 : 10 H 87-89 (Lee) : Lee DE 5. 341. Lee DE 7. 342. 11 H 471 (John Corporon).

343. 11 H 162, 165 (Stuckey).

344. 10 H 41 (Bringuier) ; see 1 H 25 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H 268-270 (Mrs.

Jesse J. Garner),

345. Stuckey DE 3, p. 2 ; see 11 H 167

(Stuckey).

346. See 11 H 168 (Stuckey).

347. Stuckey DE 3, p. 8. 348. 11 H 171 (Stuckey).

349. Ibid. 350. Id. at 162. 351. Ibid. 352. Id. at 171. 353. Arnold Johnson DE 4.

354. See Louis Weinstock DE 1 ; Ar- nold Johnson DE 5-A.

355. Weinstock DE 1. 356. Arnold Johnson DE 5. 357. Arnold Johnson DE 1 and 3. 35<S. Arnold Johnson DE 2. 359. 1 H 23 (Marina Oswald).

360. Ibid. 361. Arnold Johnson DE 4, p. 1. 362. Id. at 1-2. 363. Id. at 2-3.

364. Arnold Johnson DE 4-A.

365. 1 H 20 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H 474

(Barbe).

366. See CE 409 : CE 415 : 2 H 490. 49;: (R. Paine).

367. 1 H 24 (Marina Oswald).

368. 10 H 91 (Lee) ; see Lee DE 3. 369. Lee DE 4-7.

370. Lee DE 8-A, 8-B, 8-C.

371. CE 781. 372 1 H 21. 68 (Marina Oswald).

373. Id. at 21. 374. Ibid. ; see CE 7, 12. 375. CE 12. 376. CE 13. 377. See 1 H 23 (Marina Oswald).

378. Id. at 47. 379. Id. at 24. 380. Id. at 25. 381. Id. at 22, 23. 382. Id. at 21-22, 54 : but see 5 H 605 (Marina Oswald).

3S3. 1 H 49-50 CMarina Oswald) see CE 17. 384. 3 H 5 (R. Paine).

385. See id. at 3-4.

386. 2 H 507 (R. Paine) ; see 3 H 9

(R. Paine).

387. 1 H 23 (Marina Oswald).

388. 3 H 10, 27 (R. Paine) ; see id. at 29. 389. See CE 2464. p. 2 : CE 2121. p. 39. 390. Ibid. 891. Id. at 40. 392. 1 H 50 (Marina Oswald).

393. CE 2695.

394. See Farrell Dobbs DE 1, 2 : 11 H

39S (R. Paine).

395. See CEs 1340-1347 : discussion of Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities, supra : CE 25, p. 5 : 9 H 249 (G. De

Mohrenschildt) : Arnold Johnson DE 5-A.

396. CE 1343, p. 1. 397. CE 1350: CE 1172: 11 H 398 (R. Paine).

398. 2 H 418 (M. Paine) : see 9 H 455

(M. Paine).

399. Stuckey DE 3, p. 9. 400. 9 H 465 (Raymond F. Krvstinik).

401. 1 H 50 (Marina Oswald).

402. See app. XIV: 1 H 69 (Marina OsAvald). 403. See e.g. CE 2647 : CE 2696 : CE

L'697 : CE 2698 : CE 2699.

404. See CE 1031 : CE 996 ; discussion

in ch. VI, supra.

405. Arnold Johnson DE 7, pp. 2-3. 406. 11 H 424 (Ma.i. Gen. Edwin A. Walker).

407. 1 H 51-58, 63 (Marina Oswald) : 3 H 138-139 (R. Paine).

408. Id. at 50. 409. Ibid. : see id. at 54. 410. Id. at 68. 411. CE 24, p. 10 : see id. at 9 ; 2 H

302 (Mrs. Ford) : 1 H 90-91 (Marina Os- wald).

412. See e.g. 2 H 302 (Mrs. Ford) ; 8 H

362 (Bouhe) : 8 H 386 (Mrs. Meller) ; 8 H 422 (Mrs. Frank Ray) : but see 9 H 153

(Paul Gregory) : see also CE 1401, p. 260. 413. 1 H 10 (Marina Oswald).

414. 2 H 413-414 (R. Paine) ; CE 410.

415. CE 415.

416. 1 H 12 (Marina Oswald).

417. Id. at 10, 12. 849
NOTES TO PAGES 417^33

418. See CE 415; 1 H 06 (Miiiinu Os- wald).

419. Ibid. 420. See 8 H 150 (L. Murret) ; U H .-^1.3 (.f. I)e Mohrt'iischildt). 421. 1 H 25 (Marina Oswald).

422. 2 H ;^,42 (Peter Gre^'ory ). 423. 10 H 50 (Martello).

424. 1 H 33 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 59(5 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H 303-304 (Mrs. Ford) ; 8 H 365 (Bouhe) : 8 H 387 (Mrs.

Meller).

425. See 1 II 35 (Marina Oswald) ; 9 H

259 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 9 H 311

(J. De Mohrenschildt).

426. See 2 H 422 (M. Paine).

427. 2 H 300 (Mrs. Ford).

428. Ibid.: see also 5 H 597 (Marina

Oswald).

429. 1 H 33 (Marina Oswald).

430. See ibid. 431. Ibid. 432. Id. at 12. 433. 5 H 593-594 (Marina Oswald) ; 9 H 233 (G. De Mohrenschildt) : see 9 II 309

(J. De Mohrenschildt) : 1 H 66 (Marina

Oswald).

434. 9 II 233 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

435. Ibid.; see also 9 H 311. 313 (.1. De Mohrenschildt).

436. See 8 H 396 (Mrs. Hall).

437. 11 H 396 (R. Paine).

438. 1 H 23 (Marina Oswald).

439. Ibid. 440. Id. at 22 (Marina Oswald).

441. 9 H 314 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

442. Id. at 313. 443. Id. at 309. 444. Id. at 312. 445. Ibid. 446. Ibid. 447. See 2 H 422 (M. Paine).

448. 1 H 54. 63 (Marina Oswald).

449. 2 H 515-516 (R. Paine) : 3 H 41

(R. Paine).

450. See ibid. ; 3 H 43-i4 (R. Paine).

451. 10 H 294 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson).

452. See 1 H 65 (Marina Oswald).

453. Id. at 63. 454. Id. at 46. 455. Ibid.

456. Stuckey DE 3, p. 2 ; see 11 H 167 (Stuckey ). 457. See 1 H 20, 49 (Marina Oswald) : 3 H 18. 102 (R. Paine) ; see discussion of cmidoynient relations, supra; ch. VIII.

infra. 458. 1 H 48 (Marina Oswald) ; see also discussion in r-h. VIII. infra. 459. CE 15. 460. See discussion in ch. VIII. infra. 461. See CE 15: 1 H 48-49 (Marina

Oswald) : 3 H 15-16 (Ruth Paine).

462. See CE 15; 1 H 49 (Marina

Oswald).

463. Ibid. 464. Id. at 48: discussion in ch. VIII.

infra. 465. See discussion at footnote 347. supra.

466. 1 H 63 (Marina Oswald).

4«)7. Ibid.

4 OS. Id. at 65. 469. Id. at 65-66.

470. Id. at 66. 471. Id. at 73. 472. See app. XIV.

473. 2 H 226. 228 (Buell Wesley Frazier) ; 2 H 248 (Linnie Mae Randle).

474. 2 II 222 (Frazier).

475. CE 2743.

476. CE 1361.

477. CE 1362: CE 1363; CE 1364: CE

1365 ; see discussion at footnote 52, ch. III. supra.

478. 5 H 595 (Marina Oswald) : .see 1 H. 54 (Marina Oswald) : 2 H 341 (Peter Gregory) ; 10 H 311 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

47;t. 1 II 28 (Marina Oswald).

480. 1 H 65 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 46.

Of, (K. Paine) : 11 H 392 (R. Paine).

4S1. :; II 300 (M. N. McDonald) ; 7 H

5.11 (Eddy Raymond Walthcrs).

482. 4 H 217 (J. W. Fritz) : 7 H 353, 357 (Forrest V. Sorrels).

483. See discussion in ch. IV. s\ipra. 454. See 4 H 240 (Fritz) ; 7 H 321 (Mauninj; C. Clements) ; 7 H 310 (James W. Hookhout).

455. See discussion in ch. IV. supra.

CHAPTER VIII

1. See app. VII for a fuller discussion

of prior assassination attempts.

2. C. Rossiter. "The American Presi- dency" 18 (1960).

3. 30 "Writings of George Washington"

496 (Fitzpatrick ed. 1939).

4. Rossiter at 17. 92-93.

5. M. Smith. "A President Is Manv

Men" 232 (1948).

6. 7 H 442 (Kenneth O'Donnell ) : see

7 H 460 (Lawrence F. O'Brien).

7. CE 806: see 5 H 106-107, 116-119

(J. Edgar Hoover).

8. See app. VII.

9. 4 H 295-297 (Robert I. Bouck).

10. CE 761 : 4 H 299 (Bouck). n. Id. at 3tH.

12. Statistical data set forth in CE

762, p. 1. 13. Ibid. 14. 4 H :{(»3 (Bonck).

15. CE 763.

16. See 4 H 3(i2 (Bouck).

17. CE 1021. p. 1. 18. 4 H 307 (Bouck).

19. Id. at 310-311.

20. Id. at 307-308.

21. CE 762.

22. Ibid. 23. 4 H 306 (Bouck).

24. Id. at 309.

25. Ibid. 26. Ibid. 27. Id. at 310.

28. Ibid. 29. Ibid. 30. Ibid. 31. Id. at 309 : see CE 765.

32. 4 H 308-309 (Bouck) ; see IS U.S.C.

sec. 871. The Secret Service prepared for the Commission al)stracts of several cases

illustrating the achievement of the goal

of eliminating risks l)y imprisonment or hospitalization, CE 706.

33. 5 H 466 (James J. Rowley).

34. See p. 30 supra.

35. 4 H 304 (Bouck).

36. Ibid. 37. Id. at 303-304.

38. CE 836. attachment 2. 39. See CE 1354, p. 1. 40. See CE 1355.

41. 4 H 304 (Bouck).

42. Id. at 316.

43. CE 836, p. 2. 44. CE 1356. 850
NOTES TO PAGES 433^48

45. 4 H 403 (John W. Fain) ; 4 H 431 (John L. Quigley) ; 4 H 440 (James P. Hosty, Jr.) ; 5 H 97 (Hoover) ; 5 H 1 (Alan H. Belmont).

46. 5 H 120 (John A. McCone) ; 5 H 121 (Richard M. Helms).

47. CE 834 is a list of each item in the FBI's file on Oswald from the opening

of the file until the assassination.

48. CE 833, p. 1. 49. Ibid. 50. Id. at pp. 1-2 of attachment : see also CE 821 ; 4 H 405-409 (Fain).

51. CE 822, 834.

52. CE 833, p. 1, p. 2 of attachment.

63. 4 H 428 (Fain) : id. at 441-442

of the text of Oswald's letter appears at

p. 463 infra.. 54. 4 H 415 (Fain).

55. Id. at 417.

56. CE 823, p. 13 ; 4 H 410-417 (Fain).

57. Id. at 419.

58. CE 824 ; 4 H 418-424 (Fain).

59. 1 H 20 (Marina Oswald).

60. 4 H 422 (Fain) ; CE 824. p. 6. 61. 4 H 423-426 (Fain).

62. Id. at 424 ; relevant administrative procedures are described at 5 H 2-6 (Bel- mont).

63. 4 H 428 (Fain) ; Id. at 441-442

(Hosty).

64. Ibid. 65. CE 829, pp. 1-2 ; 4 H 441-442

(Hosty).

66. Id. at 442.

67. Id. at 441-442.

68. See id. at 444.

69. Ibid. 70. Ibid.

71. Id. at 444-445 : see pp. 400-407

supra, where the possibility that Oswald

had been distributing pamphlets in Dallas

for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee is discussed.

72. 4 H 442 (Hosty).

73. Id. at 443.

74. CE 853, p. 6. 75. Id. at 9. 76. Details regarding the issuance of the passport are set forth in app. XV.

77. CE 833, p. 13. 78. Ibid.

79. 4 H 432 (Quigley).

SO. Ibid. 81. Id. at 435.

82. Ibid. 83. Id. at 438 ; Agent Quigley's memnrandum of his interview with Oswald

appears at' pp. 6-10 of the report on Os- wald of Agent Milton R. Kaack. CE 820.

84. See CE 838. p. 8. 85. 4 H 434 (Quigley).

86. Id. at 437.

87. CE 833. p. 8. 88. Ibid; CE 826, p. 11.

89. See 4 H 435-438 (Quigley) ; see also 5 H 9-10 (Belmont).

90. Id. at 9. 91. CE 834. p. 7. 92. CE 820, p. 12.

93. CE 8.34, p. 7 ; 4 H 445-440 (Hostv).

94. CE 833, p. 12. 95. Ibid: 4 H 446-447 (Hosty).

96. Ibid. 97. Ibid. 98. CE 834. p. 8. 99. 4 H 447 (Hosty) : CE 833, pp. 12-

13.100. Id. at 13. 101. CE 952. 2075; 11 H 203 (Carroll H. Seeley. Jr.). 102. Id. at 203-204; 11 TI 192-193

T James L. Ritchie) ; CE 948. "Question

10." See app. XV at p. 777.

103. CE 820, p. 2. 104. 4 H 448 (Hosty).

105. Id. at 448-449.

106. Id. at 450.

107. Ibid; see also CE 830.

108. 4 H 450 (Hosty).

109. Ibid. 110. Id. at 451.

111. Id. at 450.

112. Id. at 452.

113. Ibid. 114. Id. at 453-454 (Hosty).

115. Id. at 453.

116. 3 H 95-109 (Ruth Paine).

117. CE 826.

118. 4 H 459 (Hosty).

119. Ibid. 120. Ibid. 121. See CE 834, pp. 9-10.

122. 4 H 459 (Hosty).

123. 4 H 311-314 (Bouck).

124. Id. at 312-313.

125. Ibid. 126. 4 H 460 (Hosty).

127. Id. at 459-461.

128. Id. at 460.

129. Id. at 473-474.

130. Id. at 473.

131. Id. at 472-473.

132. Id. at 461-462.

133. Id. at 462.

134. Agent Hosty's testimony appears

at 4 H 463-465 ; Lieutenant Revill's at 5 H 34-39.

135. Id. at 34-35.

136. Id. at 35. 137. CE 709.

138. 7 H 405 (Mary Jane Robertson).

139. 4 H 194 (Jesse E. Curry) ; 5 H 210 (Henrv Wade).

140. CE 831 ; 4 H 403-464 (Hosty).

141. 5H 58 (V. J. Brian).

142. 5 H 112 (Hoover).

143. Id. at 104.

144. Id. at 111 ; 5'H 10 (Belmont).

145. Id. at 28-29.

140. See pp. 747-749, 778 infra (regard- ing his dealings with officials at the Embassy in Moscow) ; pp. 710-711 infra supra

(regarding protests of his discharge from

the Marine Corps Reserve) ; pp. 434—435

supra (regarding his antipathy for the FBI).

147. CE 833.

148. CE 836, attachment 2. 149. See p. 441 supra.

150. See pp. 401-402 infra. 151. CE 830, pp. 3-4 ; CE 1021, p. 4. 152. CE 830, attachment 4. 153. See p. 30 supra.

154. See pp. 29. 31 supra.

155. 4 H 329 (Winston G. Lawson )

.

150. Agent Lawson's interim and final reports on the Dallas trip are CE 767 and

768.

157. See 4 H 346-347 (Lawson).

158. CE 1021, p. 5 ; see also 4 H 348-

349 (Lawson).

159. 7 H 333-334 (Forrest V. Sorrels).

160. CE 768, p. 11. 161. Ibid. 162. For the Commission's recommendations on this point, see pp. 465-466 infra. 163. 12 H 22-23 (Charles Batchelor) ; H 250-251 (J. W. Foster) ; 4 H 327 (Lawson). See the discussion in ch. Ill at pp. 71-72.

104. 12 H 22 (Batchelor).

105. 4 H 329 (Lawson).

100. Id. at 333.

107. 5 H 407 (Rowley).

108. See ch. II at p. 42, supra.

109. 7 H 338 (Sorrels). 170. 5 H 578 (C. Douglas Dillon).

171. 4 H 329 (Lawson) ; 5 H 459 (Rowley). 172. 4 H 328 (Lawson).

851
NOTES TO PAGES 448^67

173. WFAA-TV reel PKT 24. 174. CE 1358, p. 1. 175. Id., attachment 2. 176. Ibid. 177. 7 H 580-581, 584 (P. W. La^vrence).

178. 7 H 532-535 (J. M. Smith) ; 540-

541 (W. E. Barnett) ; 566-567 (E. L. Smith, Jr.). 179. 7 H 343 (Sorrels).

180. Id. at 342.

181. 4 H 330 (Lawson).

182. Ibid. 183. 2 H 110-111 (Kellerman).

184. 5 H 451 (Rowley).

185. CE 1020. This exhibit covers the complete invcsti^'ation by the Secret Service, and includes statements of each

agent involved, statements by their supervisors, statements and voluntary reports

l)y witnesses, and the final report of the

investigation. In addition to furnishing

the Commission the results of the investi- gation, the Secret Service responded to the Commission's retpiest for information about this occurrence in its letter of May

5, 1964. CE 1019. Chief James J. Rowley, the head of the Secret Service, gave

testimony before the Commission concerning this incident., 5 H. 451-4(52 (Rowley).

186. CE 1020, tab E. 187. CE 1020, tab F (statement of Richard J. Mackie).

188. CE 1020. tabs B and E ; see CE

1020, tab G, which explains liquor practices at the Cellar Coffee House.

189. CE 1020. tab E. 190. See 5 H 460-401 (Rowley).

191. Ibid. 192. CE 1020. tab E (statement of Paul

A. Burns).

193. 5 H 400 (Rowley).

104. CE 1(120. tab D.

195. 5 H 452-453, 459-460 (Rowley).

196. CE 1020, tab D.

197. 5 H 452-453 (Rowley).

198. CE 1018.

199. Ibid. 200. 5 H 453-454 (Rowley).

201. 'i'estimony and other evidence re- garding Love Field arrangements appear

at 4 H 339-341 (Lawson) ; CE 768. pp. 4-5 : CE 709. 202. Television tapes of the arrival at Love Field furnished to the Commission by

Dallas television stations provide a good

record of the securitv measures at Love

Field. See KRLD-TV reels 1 and 8

:

WFAA-TV reel PKT 4. 203. See p. 46 supra.

204. See p. 43 supra.

205. CE 1021, p. 5. 206. CE 2067: 5 H 579 (Dillon). J. Edgar Hoover. Director of the FBI. has recommended that the President never ride

in an open car, 5 H 107, 117 (Hoover) ; CE 866.

207. CE 1021. p. 6. 208. See pp. 51-52 supra.

209. 15 H 099 (Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt).

210. Ibid. 211. CE 1021, p. 7. 212. IS U.S.C, sec. 372.

213. IS U.S.C. sec. 871.

214. IS U.S.C. sec. 2385.

215. IS U.S.C. sec. 1114.

216. IS U.S.C. sec. 3056: liiitcd States

V. Shcbn Bracch'ts, Inc., 248 F. 2d 134 (2d

Cir. 1957), cert, denied, 355 U.S. 904.

217. CE 1030. pp. 4-5.

218. IS U.S.C. sees. 3052. 3053.

219. S. 3653. 57th Cong.. 1st sess. (1902) ; H.K. 103S6, 57th Cong., 1st sess. (1901) : H.R. 3S96, 73d Cong., 1st sess. (1933).

220. 36 Cong. Rec. 2961-2964 (1902).

221. E.g.. S. 2330, 8Sth Cong., 1st sess. (1903). (Introduced by all members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary).

222. Even in the failure of the House

and the Senate to agree, in 1902, as to whether this "line of duty" element was a constitutional requisite to covering officers in the line of succession, there was agree- ment in conference that this test need not be applied in the case of the President or Vice President, 36 Cong. Rec. 2407 (1902).

223. See "Report on Bills To Make Assassination of the President a Federal Crime," The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Reports of Committees

Concerned With Federal Legislation, vol.

3. Bulletin No. 2. pp. 54-55 (July 1964).

224. 35 Cong. Rec. 2431 (1902).

225. See CE 1030.

22(i. 5 H 115 (Hoover).

227. See id. at 115-116.

22S. 50 U.S.C. sec. 4(J2. 229. See 5 H 583 (Dillon). 230. See generally the discussion in app.

VII. ^

231. Id. at 514.

232. CE 1021. pp. 9-11.

2;'.;;. id. at p. lo. 234. 5 H 481 (Rowley).

235. See pp. 420-433 supra.

236. 5 H 464-4(;9. 478 (Rowley).

237. See id. at 466 ; see also 5 H 580

(Dillon). 238. The planning document is CE

1053A and the transmittal letter to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget is 105315. 239. CE S36. attachment 5. p. 2. 240. 5 H 18 (Belmont).

241. Ibid. 242. 5 H 465 (Rowlev).

243. 5 H 12, 21 (Belmont).

244. 5 H 113-114 (Hoover) : 5 H lS-21

(Belmont).

245. 5 H 4()5 (Rowlev).

246. CE 1023.

247. Ibid. 24S. 5 H 465-469 (R(.wley).

249. Id. at 4(;9 (Rowley).

250. Folsom DE 1. p. 65. 251. See 5 H 467-469 (Rowley).

252. See app. VII.

253. 5 H 464-466 (Rowlev) : 5 H 585

(Dillon). 254. Id. at 581. 255. Id. at 577. 256. Ibid : CE 1053A. pp. 6-7. 257. CE 1053C.

258. CE 1053A. p. 5 : see 5 H 576-577

(Dillon). 259. CE 1053A, pp. 7-8. 260. CE 1027, p. 4. 261. CE 1053A. pp. 3-4. 262. 5 H 480-481 (Rowley).

263. Ibid. 264. See p. 447 supra.

265. CE 1027, p. 5. 266. 5 H 57S (Dillon). 267. Ibid: CE 1027. p. 1. 268. 5 H 482 (Rowley). 269 5 H 24-25 (Belmont i. 270. 5 H 483 (Rowley).

271. CE 1027. p. 5 : 5 H 47S (Rowley).

272. CE 2765.

273. 5 H 475-478 (Rowley).

274. CB 1053A, 1053B.

275. E.g.. hearings before Subcouiniiti*-*' of the House Committee on Appropriations. Treasury Department Appropriations for 1963, 87th Cong.. 2d sess., p. 448

(1962).

276. CE 1027. p. 1 : 5 H 473 (Rowley).

277. CE 1027, p. 1. 278. CE 836, p. 5. 279. 5 H 24-25 (Belmont). 862
NOTES TO PAGES 467-^15

280. 5 H 579 (Dillon). 281. 5 H 24-25 (Belmont)

pp. 1-2.

282. See 5 H 474-475 (Rowley)

CE 1027, 283. See id. at 475-476.

284. CE 1053D.

APPENDIX VII

1. N. Schachner, "Thomas Jefferson" 661 (1957) ; CE 2549, p. 22.

2. S. P. Bemis, "John Quincy Adams

and the Union" 120-121 (1956) ; CE 2549,

p. 23.

3. M. James, "Andrew Jackson" 636-

637 (1938) : CE 2549, p. 23.

4. James at 684-688.

5. M. Smith. "A President Is Many

Men" 225 (1948) ; C. M. Green, "Washington : Village and Capitol, 1800-1878"

160 (1962) ; CE 2549, p. 25.

6. B. P. Thomas, "Abraham Lincoln" 242-244 (1952) ; G. S. Bryan, "The Great American Myth" 13-18, 20-48 (1940).

7. Thomas at 245 : Bryan at 54.

8. Bryan at 55-73.

9. Id. at 60-69.

10. Thomas at 454-455, 474-475 ; L. Lewis, "Myths After Lincoln" 167-173. 293-294 (1941).

11. Thomas at 519 ; Bryan at 114-125, 138-144 ; Lewis at 167-173.

12. Thomas at 519 ; Bryan at 149-155,

165-166, 221.

13. Thomas at 520-521 ; Bryan at 173-

184 188—189

14. Bryan at 262-266, 268 ; B. Pitman, "The Assassination of President Lincoln and the Trial of the Conspirators" 242-249

(facsimile ed. 1954).

15. H.R. Kept. No. 104, 39th Cong., 1st

sess. (1865) ; R. G. Tugwell "The Enlargement of the Presidency" 265 footnote

5 (1960).

16. W. B. Hesseltine, "Ulysses S. Grant"

301 (1935) : CE 2550, p. 37.

17. Ogilvie, "Life and Death of James

A. Garfield," 100-131 (1881) ; R. J. Donovan, "The Assassins," 17, 35-42 (1952).

18. Ogilvie at 30-31, 45, 47 ; R. G. Caldwell, "James A. Garfield" 350-351 (1931) ; Donovan at 42-44, 58-61.

19. New York Tribune, July 3, 1881.

20. M. Smith at 229 (1948).

21. CE 2550, pp. 36-37.

22. 13 Stat. 351 : Holverstott. "Pre- liminary Inventory of the Records of the United States Secret Service in the National Archives" 4-19 (1949) ; Bowen,

"United States Secret Service, a Chronicle"

4, unpublished manuscript in the files of the Secret Service.

23. E.g., 20 Stat. 384 ; 22 Stat. 313.

24. CE 2550, pp. 36-37.

25. New York Evening Post, Sept. 7, 1901.

26. M. Leech, "In the Days of McKinley" 231-232, 559-562 (1959).

27. Id. at 559-561 : C. Dawes, "A Journal of the McKlnley Years" 239-240

(1950).

28. Leech at 594-596.

29. Id. at 592-594; Donovan at 88-89.

30. Donovan at 85, 107.

31. Id. at 85-«8.

32. See supra, p. 455 for a discussion

of such legislation.

33. "Hearings Before the Subcommittee

of House Committee on Appropriations in Charge of Sundry Civil Appropriations

Bill for 1911," 61st Cong., 2d sess. at 176

(1910) ; Records of U.S. Secret Service, Record Group 87, Daily Reports of Agents

on White House detail, 1902-36, National Archives ; W. S. Bowen and H. E. Neal, "The United States Secret Service" 11, 126 (1960).

34. 2 "Selections From the Correspondence of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry

Cabot Lodge, 1884-1918" 224 (1925).

35. Donovan at 142-147.

36. Id. at 128-129, 146-147.

37. 34 Stat. 708 (1906) ; "Hearings Before Subcommittee of House Committee on

Appropriations in Charge of Sundry Civil Appropriations Bill for 1910," 61st Cong.,

1st sess. at 225-226 (1909).

38. 38 Stat. 23 (1913).

39. 39 Stat. 919, now 18 U.S.C. 871.

40. 40 Stat. 120.

41. 2 J. B. Bishop, "Theodore Roosevelt and His Times" 451-453 (1920).

42. E. W. Starling, "Starling of the White House" 117 (1946).

43. Donovan at 153-157.

44. Id. at 158-163.

45. Id. at 164-168.

46. S. Rept. No. 760, 67th Cong., 2d sess. (1922) ; CE 2550, p. 37. 47. 42 Stat. 841.

48. 46 Stat. 328.

49. 76 Stat. 95.

50. CE 2553.

51. Starling at 42 ; CE 1029.

52. Baughman, "Secret Service Chief" 54-69 (1961) ; Bowen and Neal at 132-

133. The functions of Protective Research Section are discussed supra at

pp. 429-433.

53. CE 2549, pp. 113, 115 ; Donovan at

201.

54. Donovan at 202-207; CE 2551,

p. 116.

55. 65 Stat. 122, 18 U.S.C. 3056.

56. 76 Stat. 956, 18 U.S.C. 3056 (Cum.

Supp. 1962) ; S. Rept. No. 836, 87th Cong.

1st sess. (1961). 57 18 use 871

58] 35 Stat. '328; 42 Cong., Rec. 5553-

5560, 60th Cong., 2d sess. (1908) ; 35 Stat. 986; 41 Stat. 174 (1919).

59. CE 2551.

60. 36 Stat. 748 (1910) ; CE 867.

61. 5 H 102, 119 (J. Edgar Hoover) ; CE 2552.

62. Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government

[hereafter cited as Hoover Commission] "Task Force Report on Fiscal, Budgeting, and Accounting Activities" [app. F] 2, 17 (January 1949).

63. Hoover Commission "Treasury De- partment" (1949).

64. Hoover Commission transcript of meeting at 39 (Dec. 20, 1948) in Record Group 264, Box 29, National Archives.

65. 18 U.S.C. 3056.

66. "Hearings on Treasury—Post Office Departments and Executive Office Appropriations Before the Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations" 88th

Cong., 2d sess. 434, 449 (1964). 853
NOTES TO PAGES 547-566 APPENDIX X

1. 3 H 390-391 (Robert A. Frazier) ; 3 H 452 (Cortlandt Cunningham) ; 3 H 496

(Joseph D. Nieol).

2. 3 H 390-441 (Frazier) ; 3 H 451-496 (Cunningham) ; 3 H 49e-515 (Nieol). Frazier and Ronald Simmons of the U.S. Army Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch also testified on rifle capability. This subject is discussed on pp. 188-194.

3. 3 H 390-5(15, passim ; Hatcher, Jury & Weller, "Firearms Identification, Investigation, and Evidence," chs. 13-14 (1957).

4. 3 H 415-419 (Frazier).

5. Id. at 429-430.

6. Id. at 421-422, 424.

7. CE 139 ; 3 H 289 (Joseph A. Mooney) ; 3 H 292-293 (Eugene Boone) ; 3 H 392, 395 (Frazier).

8. CE 139, 541 ; 3 H 393-394 (Frazier).

9. CE 139; 3 H 395-396 (Frazier).

10. CE 139, 541; 3 H 397 (Frazier).

11. Ibid. 12. Ibid.

13. Id. at 392, 396.

14. Id. at 392.

15. Ibid. ; CE 540.

16. 3 H 392 (Frazier).

17. CE 1977 ; 3 H 393-394 (Frazier).

18. Id. at 392-393; W. H. B. Smith, "Small Arms of the World" (6th ed. 1960).

19. 3 H 416 (Frazier).

20. Id. at 397-398 (Frazier) ; W. H. B. Smith, "The Book of Rifles," 298-307 (3d

ed. 1963) ; W. H. R Smith, "Mannlicher

Rifles and Pistols" (1947)., pp. 84-87.

21. 3 H 397-398 (Frazier).

22. Ibid. 23. 4 H 205 (John Will Fritz) ; 4 H 258

(J. C. Day).

24. CE 575 ; 3 H 398 (Frazier).

25. Ibid. 26. CE 141 ; 4 H 205-206 (Fritz) ; 4 H

258 (Day).

27. 3 H 399 (Frazier).

28. Id. at 400.

29. Id. at 437-438 ; 3 H 443, 449 (Ronald Simmons).

30. 3 H 400, 416 (Frazier).

31. Id. at 400-401.

32. CE 512 ; 3 H 284 (Mooney).

33 CE 510.

34. 3 H 414-428 (Frazier) ; 3 H 505-507

(Nieol).

35. 3 H 401-402 (Frazier) ; CE 2724.

36. CE 546, 547 ; 3 H 401-402 (Frazier).

37. CE 547: 3 H 401-402 (Frazier).

38. Id. at 402.

39. Ibid. 40. CE 399, 567, 569, 2011. pp. 2-4;

6 H 129-130 (Darrell C. Tomlinson).

41. 3 H 430 (Frazier).

42. Ibid. 43. Id. at 432, 435.

44. Id. at 432.

45. Id. at 435.

46. Id. at 435, 437 ; 3 H 497 (Nieol).

47. 3 H 430, 432, 434. 436-437 (Frazier).

48. Id. at 428-437; 3 H 497-502

(Nieol)'. 49. CE 143; 3 H 300-301 (M. N. McDonald) ; 7 H 45-55 (Gerald Hill) ; 7 H

24-25 (Bob K. Carroll) ; 3 H 453 (Cun- ningham).

50. Id. at 458.

51. Id. at 453.

52. Id. at 456.

53. Id. at 455.

54. Ibid.

55. Ibid. 56. Id. at 455-456.

57. Id. at 456.

58. Id. at 457.

59. Ibid.

60. Ibid. 61. Id. at 458.

62. Id. at 459.

63. CE 145, 518 ; 3 H 301 (McDonald) ; 7 H 26 (Carroll) ; 7 H 55 (Hill). 64. 3 H 459 (Cunningham).

65. CE 592; 7 H 126 (Elmer L. Boyd).

66. 3 H 459 (Cunningham).

67. Id. at 453-454.

68. CE 594; 3 H 345 (Barbara Jeannette Davis) ; 6 H 463-464 (Virginia

Davis) ; 6 H 449-451 (Domingo Benavides).

69. 3 H 465-466 (Cunningham).

70. Id. at 466-473 (Cunningham) ; 3 H

511 (Nieol).

71. CE 602-605, 2011, p. 9. 72. 3 H 511-513 (Nieol).

73. 3 H 474-475, 482-483 (Cunningham).

74. Ibid. 75. Id. at 475, 482.

76. Id. at 475-476, 482.

77. Id. at 475-476, 489-491.

78. Id. at 476-478.

79. Id. at 479, 481.

80. CE 2003, pp. 92-93. This was an afll- davit, the substance of which was repeated

in the testimony of Oflicer McDonald, id. at 300-301.

»1. 3 H 461, 46-3 (Cunningham).

82. Id. at 463-464.

83. Ibid. 84. Id. at 464.

85. Id. at 46,3. 86. Id. at 465.

87. 4 H 275-276 (Day).

88. 3 H 486 (Cunningham).

89. Id. at 486, 495 ; 3 H 514 (Nieol).

90. 3 H 486-487, 494-495 (Cunningham) ; 3 H 514 (Nieol).

91. 3 H 492-493 (Cunningham).

92. Id. at 492.

93. Id. at 487.

94. Id. at 487-489.

95. Id. at 494; 15 H 747-748 (Gal- lagher).

96. CE 2455.

97. Gallagher DE 1 ; 15 H 748-751

(Gallagher).

98. CE 573 ; CE 2011, p. 6. 99. 3 H 452 (Cunningham).

100. '3 H 439^40 (Frazier).

101. 3 H 502-503 (Nieol). 102. 4 H 1-48 (Sebastian F. Latona).

103. 4 H 48-56 ; 15 H 745-746 (Arthur

Mandella).

104. 4 H 1-2 (Latona) ; 4 H 48-49

(Mandella).

105. 4 H 1-56, passim ; see generally

Bridges, Burtis C. ; "Practical Fingerprinting," revised by Charles F. O'Hara (1963) ; Cummins and Midlow "Fingerprints,

Palms, and Soles," 2d.ed. (1961).

106. 4 H 2-14 (Latona).

107. Id. at 13-14; 4 H 53 (Mandella).

108. 4 H 2-3, 44-45 (Latona).

109. Id. at 3-5.

110. Id. at 22, 39-40.

111. 4 H 251, 269, 272 (Day) ; CE 733,

734, 1301, 2011, p. 16 (see ch. IV, pp. 122^- 123, 134-135, 137. 140).

112. 4 H 269 (Day) ; 7 H 145 (Stude- baker) ; CE 733, 734, 1302.

113. 4 H i3-20 (Latona) ; 4 H 50-51

(Mandella).

114. 4 H 22, 29 (Latona).

115. 4 H 259-261 (Day) ; 4 H 20-21, 23-24 (Latona).

116. Ibid. IW. 4 H 23-27 (Latona), 4 H 50 (Mandella). 118. Id. at 31. 854
NOTES TO PAGES 566-579

119. 4 H 30-37 (Latona) ; 4 H 51-52

(Mandella).

120. Ibid. 121. Ibid. 122. 4 H 41-43 (Latona).

128. CB 3131, pp. 17-18.

124. 4 H 41-42 (Latona) ; CE 3131, p. 18. 125. 4 H 37-38 (Latona) ; 4 H 267-268

(Day).

126. 4 H 37-41 (Latona) ; 4 H 52 (Mandella). 127. 4 H 30 (Latona).

128. Id. at 38; 4 H 55 (Mandella).

129. 4 H 89 (Latona).

130. Id. at 39. 131. 4 H 55 (Mandella).

132. 4 H 23 (Latona) ; 4 H 253-258

(Day) ; CE 2011, pp. 1, 5. 133. 4 H 358-403 ; 15 H 703-709.

134. 7 H 418-438 (James C. Cadigan).

135. 4 H 359 (Alwyn Cole) ; 7 H 419

(Cadigan).

136. 7 H 364-366 (Waldman) ; CE

733 ; Cadigan DE 1 ; CE 788. 137. 7 H 375-378 (Heinz Michaelis) ; CE 135.

138. CE 791, 793, 817, 2342, 2727.

139. 7 H 187-188 (Stovall) ; 7 H 228 (Guy F. Rose) ; CE 795,. 806, 1986, 1989,

1990, 2011, pp. 22, 23. 140. 7 H 197-199 (Walter Potts) ; 7 H

222 (F. M. Turner) ; 213-215 (Henry

Moore) ; Moore DE 1 ; CE 813, 2003, p. 281 ; CE 2011, p. 25. 141. CE 819, 820, 2011, p. 24. 142. 1 H 16 (Marina Oswald).

143. 4 H 266-267 (Day) ; CE 142.

144. 4 H 358-403, 7 H 418-438, passim ; see also Osborne, Questioned Documents

(2d ed., 1940).

145. 4 H 364 (Cole). 146. Ibid. 147. 4 H 366 (Cole).

148. Id. at 368-370.

149. Id. at 364-372.

150. Id. at 372 ; 7 H 436-437 (Cadigan).

151. 4 H 363 (Cole).

152. CE 774-783; Cadigan DE 2-3;

4 H 360^361 (Cole) ; 7 H 419-420 (Cadi- gan). 153 CE 3137

154.' 4 H 373 (Cole) ; 7 H 420 (Cadigan).

155. 4 H 361-370 (Cole) ; 7 H 420-422

(Cadigan).

156. 7 H 293-295 (Harry D. Holmes).

157. 4 H 373-375 (Cole) ; 7 H 423-424

(Cadigan).

158. 4 H 366-370 (Cole) ; 7 H 420-422

(Cadigan).

159. 4 H 366-368 (Cole) ; 7 H 421-422

(Cadigan).

160. 4 H 369-370 (Cole) ; 7 H 422 (Cadi- gan).

161. Ibid. 162. 4 H 371 (Cole). 163. Ibid. 164. CE 135. 165. 4 H 375-377 (Cole) ; 7 H 424

(Cadigan).

166. 7 H 537 (Holmes).

167. Ibid. 168. 4 H 377-378 (Cole) ; 7 H 424-425

(Cadigan).

169. 4 H 377 (Cole) ; 7 H 527 (Holmes).

170. 7 H 527 (Holmes) : CE 2342, 2727.

171. CE 793; 4 H 379-380 (Cole);

7 H 425-426 (Cadigan) ; CE 2342, 2727.

172. CE 817.

173. 4 H 397-398 (Cole) ; 7 H 431-432

(Cadigan).

174. CE 795, 866, 801, 802 ; Cole DE 1 ; CE 1986, 1989, 1990, 2079, 2483, 2011,

pp. 20-24; 7 H 187-188 (Richard S. Stovall) ; 7 H 228 (Rose).

175. 4 H 380-381, 389 (Cole) ; 7 H 427-

429 (Cadigan).

176. OE 2077, 2011, p. 26; 7 H 195

(Stovall). 177. 7 H 195 (Stovall). 178. CE 795.

179. CE 801.

180. CE 803.

181. CE 805.

182. 4H387 (Cole).

183. CE 804; 4 H 385-387 (Cole) ; 7 H

427-429 (Cadigan).

184. 4 H 381 (Cole) ; 7 H 427-428

(Cadigan).

185. Id. at 381-382.

186. Ibid. 187. Id. at 382.

188. Ibid; 7 H 427-428 (Cadigan).

189. 4 H 382 (Cole).

190. 4 H 383, 390-391 (Cole). 191. CE 798 ; 4 H 382-383 (Cadigan).

192. Ibid. 193. Ibid. 194. 4 H 391-392 (Cole) ; 15 H 707

(Cole).

195. 15 H 707 (Cole).

196. 15 H 707-708 (Cole). 197. 4 H 392-393 (Cole) ; CE 3105.

198. 4 H 392-393 (Cole).

199. CE 795. 200. 7 H 427-428 (Cadigan) ; 15 H 703-

705 : CE 803, 804 ; Cole DE 5, 6. 201. 7 H 428-429 (Cadigan) ; 15 H 70.S- 705 (Cole) ; CE 801, 795, 803, 804, 805.

202. CE 795, 802, 811 ; 7 H 427 (Cadi- gan) ; 4 H 384 (Cole). 203. Ibid. 204. CE 802, 795; 15 H 708 (Cole).

,205. Ibid. 206. CE 799; 4 H 382 (Cole). 207. Cole DE 1. 208. CE 812.

209. 7 H 430 (Cadigan) ; 15 H 706-707

(Cole). 210. CE 809; 4 H 390 (Cole). 211. 15 H 707 (Cole). 212. Ibid. 213. Ibid. 214. CE 808; 4 H 389-390 (Cole). 215. CE 810: 4 H 390 (Cole). 216. Id. at 387.

217. Id. at 387-388.

218. Id. at 388. 219. CE 813.

220. CE 3097, 2003, p. 281 ; CE 2011,

p. 25. 221. CE 813, 814, 815. 222. 4 H 395-396 (Cole). 228. 7 H 432-433 (Cadigan).

224. CE 115 ; 1 H 113 (Marina Oswald).

225. CE 816 ; 4 H 396 (Cole). 226. 4 H 396 (Cole). 227. CE 3105, 3136.

228. 4 H 397 (Cole).

22«). Ibid. 230. Id. at 399 ; 7 H 436 (Cadigan).

231. Ibid.; 4 H 399 (Cole). 232. 7 H 436 (Cadigan).

233. 4 H 390 (Cole). 234. Id. at 399-400.

235. Ibid. 236. 5 H 401 (Marina Oswald).

237. CE 2726. 238. 7 H 437-438 (Cadigan).

239. Ibid. 240. CE 2723.

241. Ibid. 242. CE 677 ; 4 H 89-90 (Cadigan).

243. Id. at 90, 92-93.

244. Id. at 90. 245. Id. at 93. 246. Ibid. 247. Id. at 95-97.

248. Id. at 97. 249. Id. at 93, 97, 100-101.

250. Id. at 98. 251. CE 364 ; 4 H 93-94 (Cadigan).

855
NOTES TO PAGES 579-593

252. CE 677 ; 4 H 75-76 (Paul Morgan

Stombaugh).

253. Ibid. 254. 4 H 90-92 (Cadigan).

255. 5 H 74 (Dr. Alfred G. Olivier) ; 5 H 91 (Dr. Arthur J. Dziemian).

256. 5 H 74 (Dr. Olivier) ; 5 H 91 (Dr. Dziemian) ; 5 H 94 (Dr. Frederick W.

Light, Jr.). 257. 5 H 75 (Dr. Olivier) ; 5 H 94 (Dr. Light).

258. 5 H 91 (Dr. Dziemian).

259. Ibid. 260. 5 H 94 (Dr. Light).

261. Ibid. 262. 5 H 76, 78-79, 81 (Dr. Olivier). 263. Id. at 78 ; 5 H 96 (Dr. Light).

264. Ibid. 265. 5 H 75 (Dr. Olivier). 266. Ibid. 267. Ibid. 268. Id. at 75, 78. 269. Id. at 75. 270. Id. at 78. 271. Id. at 76. 272. Ibid. 273. Ibid. 274. Id. at 78. 275. Id. at 76. 276. Id. at 76-77.

277. Id. at 77. 278. Ibid.: 5 H 164 (Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt) ; CE 893, 895. 279. 5 H 75, 77 (Dr. Olivier). 280. Id. at 77. 281. Ibid. 282. Ibid. 283. Ibid. 284. Id. at 78. 285. Ibid. 286. Ibid. 287. Id. at 79-80.

288. 5 H 164 (Shaneyfelt) ; CE 893,

895i289. 5 H80 (Dr. Olivier). 290. Id. at 79. 291. Id. at 78-79.

292. Id. at 79. 293. Ibid. 294. Ibid. 295. 5 H 80 (Dr. Olivier). 296. Ibid. 297. Ibid. 298. Ibid. 299. Ibid. 300. Id. at 86. 301. Id. at 81. 302. Ibid. 303. Ibid. 304. Id. at 82. 305. Ibid. 306. Ibid. 307. Ibid. 308. Id. at 82-83.

309. Id. at 82. 310. Id. at 83-87 ; 5 H 92-93 (Dr. Dzi- emian).

311. 5 H86 (Dr. Olivier). 312. 6 H 90-91 (Dr. Robert R. Shaw) ; 6 H 101-102 (Dr. Charles F. Gregory) ; 6 H 109-110 (Dr. George T. Shires). 313. 5 H 83-87 (Dr. Olivier) ; 5 H 92-

93 (Dr. Dziemian).

314. 5 H86 (Dr. Olivi&r). 315. Id. at 83. 316. Id. at 86. 317. Ibid. 318. Id. at 84; 5 H 93 (Dr. Dziemian).

319. 5H95 (Dr. Light).

320. Ibid. 321. 5H87 (Dr. Olivier). 322. Id. at 89. 323. Id. at 87-88.

324. 5 H 160 (Shaneyfelt) ; CE 902.

825. 5H 89 (Dr. Olivier).

326. Ibid. ; 2 H 351 (Comdr. Jame.s J. Humes).

327. 5 H 89 (Dr. Olivier). 328. Ibid. 329. Ibid. 330. 5 H 67 (Frazier).

331. 5 H 88 (Dr. Olivier). 332. Ibid. 333. Ibid. 334. Id. at 89. 335. Ibid. 336. Id. at 87. 337. Ibid. 338. Ibid. 339. 2 H 356 (Comdr. Humes) ; 2 H

380-381 (Lt. Col. Pierre A. Finck).

340. 5 H 89 (Dr. Olivier). 341. Id. at 90; 5 H 93 (Dr. Dziemian).

342. 4 H 56-88 (Stombaugh).

343. Id. at 56. 344. Id. at 61-64, 69-70.

345. Id. at 60-61, 78-80, 87 ; 15 H 702 (Stombaugh).

346. 4 H 57 (Stombaugh).

347. Id. at 60. 348. Id. at 78, 15 H 702 (Stombaugh).

349. 4 H 79-80 (Stombaugh)

350. CE 663; 4 H 57-58 (Stombaugh).

351. Ibid. 352. 4 H 58 (Stombaugh).

353. Id. at 57-58.

3.54. Id. at 58. 355. Ibid. 356. Id. at 84. 357. Id. at 59. 358. Ibid. 359. Id. at 61. 360. Id. at 61, 68, 72. 361. Id. at 61, 64, 67, 68; CE 2011, p. 14 ; CE 2404.

362. 4 H 64-67 (Stombaugh).

363. Id. at 67-68.

364. Id. at 68. 365. Id. at 75. 366. Id. at 76-77.

367. Ibid. 368. Id. at 77-78.

369. Id. at 7&-80; 15 H 702 (Stombaugh).

370. 4 H 74 (Stombaugh).

371. Ibid. 372. Id. at 85-87 ; 15 H 702 (Stombaugh).

373. Ibid. 374. 4 H 81 (Stombaugh).

375. Ibid. 376. Id. at 82. 377. Id. at 82-83, 85. 378. Id. at 82. 379. Id. at 83. 380. Id. at 83-84.

381. Id. at 85-87; 15 H 702 (Stombaugh )

.

382. 4 H 87-88 (Stombaugh).

383. CE 135-A, 135-B ; CE 2011, p. 27 ; 7 H 209 (John P. Adamcik) ; 7 H 231

(Rose).

384. CE 3, 5, 749, 2011, p. 26 ; 7 H 194

(Stovall) : 7 H 231 (Rose).

385. CE 750.

386. 1 H 117-118 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 406 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 2083.

387. 4 H 279-294 (Shaneyfelt) : 7 H

410-418 (Shaneyfelt) ; 15 H 686-702

(Shaneyfelt).

388. 4 H 279 (Shaneyfelt).

389. CE 133-A, 133-B ; 4 H 289 (Shaneyfelt) . 390. CE 746 A-E ; 4 H 279-280 (Shaneyfelt). 391. CE 747, 748 ; 4 H 280-281 (Shaneyfelt). 392. Id. at 281. 393. Id. at 289.

394. H?id. 856
NOTES TO PAGES 593-663

395. Id. at 283.

396. Ibid. 397. Id. at 284.

398. Ibid. 399. Id. at 285-286, 289.

400. Id. at 285.

401. Id. at 286.

402. Id. at 284-288.

403. Id. at 289 ; 15 H 692-

felt). 404. 4 H 226 (Fritz).

-693 (Shaney405. 4 H 288 ( Shaneyfelt )

.

406. Id. at 293.

407. Id. at 288-289.

408. Id. at 293. 409. Shaneyfelt DE 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 15 H 689-690 (Shaneyfelt).

410. 4 H 290-293 (Shaneyfelt) ; 7 H

410-418 (Shaneyfelt).

411. Ibid. 412. 15 H 687-689 (Shaneyfelt).

413. Id. at 687, 689-690.

APPENDIX XII

1. See supra, pp. 61-71.

2. See supra, pp. 71-72.

3. See supra, pp. 72-73.

(4. See supra, p. 79.

5. CE 2582, p. 2; 6 H 210-216 (Jean

L. Hill) ; CE 2594.

6. See supra, p. 76.

7. See supra, pp. 110-117.

8. See supra, pp. 76-77, 79-80.

9. See supra, pp. 79-80.

10. 7 H 550 (Eddy R. Walthers) ; CE

2580, p. 2. 11. See supra, p. 50.

12. See supra, p. 77. 13. See supra, pp. 87-91.

14. See supra, pp. 55-56.

15. See supra, pp. 96-109.

16. See supra, p. 140.

17. Ibid. 18. See supra, pp. 32, 40.

19. See supra, pp. 32, 39. 20. See supra, p. 130.

21. See supra, pp. 141-142.

22. See supra, p. 250.

23. Ibid. 24. CE 2585, p. 3; 2591, p. 6. 25. See supra, p. 147.

26. See supra, pp. 312-315.

27. See supra, pp. 49. 189-190, 194.

28. See supra, p. 117.

29. See supra, pp. 188-195.

30. See supra, pp. 79, 553-554 ; CE 2585,

p. 4.31. See supra, pp. 79, 81. 32. See supra, pp. 71-72, 76, 79, 248-

251.

33. See supra, pp. 315-318.

34. See supra, p. 555.

35. See supra, pp. 123-124 ; CE 2584.

36. See supra, p. 123.

37. CE 2584, 3087.

38. See supra, pp. 15, 128 ; 3 H 79, 81-82 (Ruth Paine) ; CE 2580, p. 3 ; CE 2003,

p. 137a.

39. See supra, pp. 125-128 ; Lyndal

Shaneyfelt DE 10, 11, 12,, 16, 17. 40. See supra, p. 127.

41. See supra, pp. 151-153.

42. See supra, p. 151 ; CE 3035, 3076.

43. See supra, pp. 155-156.

44. See supra, pp. 143-144 ; CE 2580,

p. 3. 45. See supra, pp. 156-163.

46. See supra, pp. 155-156.

47. See supra, pp. 161-163.

48. See supra, pp. 162-163 ; CE 2592.

49. See supra, pp. 359-365.

50. See supra, p. 163.

51. See supra, pp. 163-164.

52. CE 1974, pp. 8, 20, 21.

53. CE 2583.

154. See supra, pp. 144, 165.

55. See supra, p. 369.

56. See supra, pp. 166-167.

57. See supra, pp. 165-168.

58. See supra, p. 167.

59. See supra, pp. 166-167 ; Helen Markham DE 1, pp. 295-299.

60. See supra, pp. 166-168 ; CE 2593.

61. See supra, pp. 168-169, 174.

62. See supra, pp. 174-175.

63. Ibid; WFAA-TV reels PKT 5—

56 :05 and PKP 10—8 :43, 9 :47. 64. 10 H 297 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson).

65. See supra, p. 128.

66. See supra, p. 174 ; 10 H 297 (Johnson).

67. See supra, p. 174.

68. See supra, p. 176.

69. See supra, pp. 178-179.

70. See supra, p. 179.

71. See supra, pp. 178-179, 200.

72. See supra, p. 198.

,73. See supra, p. 182 ; see app. XI.

74. See supra, pp. 200-201.

75. See infra, pp. 685-687.

76. See infra, pp. 257, 685.

77. See supra, pp. 256-257.

78. See supra, pp. 257-258.

79. See supra, pp. 267, 269, 272, 274.

80. See supra, pp. 272, 274.

,81. See supra, pp. 703, 708.

82. See supra, pp. 274. 280.

83. See supra, pp. 272-280.

84. See supra, pp. 278^279.

85. See supra, p. 278.

86. See infra, pp. 773-774; CE 952, 2754.

87. CE 2785.

88. See supra, p. 331 ; app. XIV.

89. See supra, p. 305 ; see infra, 731-

733. 736.

90. See supra, p. 305.

91. See supra, pp. 307-309.

92. See supra, p. 307 ; CE 2952, 2953,

2954.

93. 1 H 191 (Marguerite Oswald).

94. See supra, pp. 325-327.

95. CE 2580, p. 3 ; CE 2581.

96. See supra, pp. 327, 437-440.

97. See supra, pp. 438-439 ; CE 2582,

p. 5. 98. CE 2583.

99. See supra, pp. 438-439 ; CE 2582,

p. 5. 100. See supra, pp. 118-122.

101. See supra, pp. 436-440.

102. CE 2585, p. 6. 103. See supra, pp. 328-333 ; see app. XIV.

104. See supra, p. 359.

105. CE 2585, p. 10. 106. See supra, pp. 359-362.

107. CE 2585, p. 10; 11 H 416 (E. Walker).

108. See supra, pp. 297-298.

109. See supra, p. 369 : CE 2585, p. 6. 110. See supra, pp. 370-371 ; see infra,

p. 801.

111. 11 H 434-442 (Warren A. Reynolds) ; 8 H 2579, 2587, 2588. 857

730-900 0-64—56
NOTES TO PAGES 664-671

112. 8 H 316 (Donald P. Camarata) ; 8 H 281 (Daniel P. Powers) ; CE 2586, pp. 2-12.

113. See supra, pp. 246-247 ; CE 2585,

p. 8. 114. See supra, pp. 447-449 ; CE 2583.

115. CE 705, p. 27. 116. CE 2583, pp. 2-3.

117. See supra, pp. 192, 318-320.

118. See supra, pp. 320-321.

119. 10 H 424 (Laurance R. Wilcox).

120. See supra, pp. 332-333.

121. See infra, pp. 736-737 ; Dallas Morning News, Nov. 28, 1963, p. 20, cols. 1-2.

122u See supra, p. 254.

123. See supra, p. 328.

124. 7 H 549-559 (Walthers) ; CE 2003,

pp. 295-299.

125. 1 H 45, 109-110 (Marina Oswald) ; 1 H 247-249 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 3 H

13-17, 51-52 (Ruth Paine) ; 4 H 365, 369. 402 (Alwyn Cole). 126. CE 2578 ; CE 2579, pp. 171-180.

127. 1 H 59-60; 125-126 (Marina

Oswald).

128. See supra, pp. 364-365.

129. CE 3122.

130. Revilo P. Oliver DE 8 ; 15 H 738-

740 (Oliver). 131. CE 2711.

APPENDIX XIII

1. Allison G. Folsom, Jr., DE 1, p. 98 ; see CE 2205, p. 569.

2. 1 H 252 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H

92 (Lillian Murret).

3. 1 H 252-253 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H 95-96 (L. Murret).

4. 1 H 252 (Marguerite Oswald).

5. 8 H 98 (L. Murret).

6. CE 2207, p. 50.

7. 8 H 97 (L. Murret).

8. 1 H 252 (Marguerite Oswald).

9. Id. at 252-253; see 8 H 93 (L. Murret )

.

10. John Pic DE 1. 11. 8 H 197-198 (Edward John Pic

Jr.) ; see 8 H 92-93 (L. Murret). Mrs. Murret described Pic at that time as "a person who did not talk unless you spoke to him" ; id. at 93.

12. 1 H 253 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see 8 H 95, 99 (L. Murret).

13. 8 H 95, 99 (L. Murret), 162-168

(Marilyn Dorothea Murret) : 11 H 5 (J. Pic) cf. 8 H 46 (Myrtle Evans). For

Mrs. Oswald's testimony to the same effect before the Commission, see 1 H 253.

14. 8 H 198; 11 H 82 (E. Pic).

15. 11 H 2 (J. Pic) ; CE 2208 ; see 8 H

198 (E. Pic).

16. 8 H 201 (E. Pic) ; see 8 H 47 (M. Evans), 101 (L. Murret) ; 11 H 5 (J. Pic).

17. Compare 8 H 199 (E. Pic) with 1 H

253 (Marguerite Oswald) ; cf. 8 H 47 (M. Evans).

18. 8 H 104 (L. Murret) ; 11 H 5 (J. Pie) ; see 1 H 253 (Marguerite Oswald).

19. Ibid. 20. CE 1958.

21. CE 1959.

22. CB 2000; 1 H 253 (Mlarguerite

Oswald) ; 8 H 104 (L. Murret).

23. 1 H 253 (Marguerite Oswald).

24. CE 2208 ; 1 H 267 (Robert Edward

Lee Oswald).

25. 1 H 253 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H

105 (L. Murret).

26. CE 2197, p. 79. 27. 11 H 12 (J. Pic) ; see 8 H 105 (L. Murret) ; see generally CE 2198, pp. 65-67,

28. 1 H 269 (R. Oswald) ; 8 H 105 (L. Murret).

29. CE 2199 ; 8 H 269-270 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 7 (J. Pic).

30. CE 2211, p. 618-1 ; see 1 H 225

(Marguerite Oswald), 268 (R. Oswald) ; 8 H 47 (M. Evans).

31. 1 H 225 (Marguerite Oswald) ; Fol- som DE 1, p. 123.

S2. 1 H 225 (Marguerite Oswald).

33. See 8 H 47 (M. Evans), 106 (L. Murret).

34. CE 2200.

35. Ibid. 86. CE 2197, p. 79 ; see CE 2207, p. 51.

37. CE 2197, p. 79.

38. See CE 2201, p. 63 ; CE 2202.

39. 1 H 270 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 7, 8-9, 11 (J. Pic) ; cf. 8 H 107 (L. Murret).

40. Ibid. ; 11 H 7 (J. Pic) ; but see id., at 17. 41. Id. at 9; cf. 8 H 107 (L. Murret).

42. See CB 2199, 2203.

43. 8 H 40 (Viola Peterman).

44. CE 2197.

45. 11 H 12 (J. Pic).

46. 8 H 43 (Peterman).

47. Ibid. ; 11 H 11, 12 (J. Pic) ; see 8 H 48 (M. Evans).

48. 11 H 11 (J. Pic).

49. Id. at 12.

50. CE 2197, p. 80.

51. Pic DE 5. The record contains also a separate application for the admission

of Robert, dated Jan. 3, 1942 ; J. Pic DE 3. 52. J. Pic DE 2, p. 3 ; see 1 H 272 (R. Oswald )

.

53. J. Pic DE 2, p. 4. 54. CE 2201, p. 63; see 8 H 35-36 (Anne Boudreaux).

55. J. Pic DE 2, p. 1. 56. 8 H 46, 51 (M. Evans) ; 11 H 18

(J. Pic).

57. 8 H 106-107 (L. Murret).

58. 8 H 36-37 (Boudreaux) ; see CE

2204.

59. 8 H 37 (Boudreaux).

60. 1 H 254 (Marguerite Oswald) ; cf. 8 H 47, 63 (M. Evans).

61. 8 H 36 (Boudreaux).

62. J. Pic DE 2, p. 1 ; 11 H 13, 14 (J. Pic).

63. See J. Pic DE 2, p. 2. 64. See 8 H 112-113 (L. Murret).

65. J. Pic DE 2, p. 4. 66. Id. at 1. 67. 11 H 15 (J. Pic).

68. 11 H 17, 20 (J. Pic) ; see 1 H 271

(R. Oswald) cf. id. at 273.

69. 11 H 20 (J. Pic) ; see 1 H 271 (R. Oswald) ; 8 H 108-109 (L. Murret).

70. 1 H 271 (R. Oswald). ^ ^

71. 1 H 254 (Marguerite Oswald), 272, 273 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 20-21 (J. Pic).^^

72. 1 H 272, 273 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 18, 20 (J. Pic).

73. CE 2213, p. 27.

74. 1 H 255 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see also 11 H 18 (J. Pic) ("Princess Hosiery") ; 8 H 48, 51 (M. Evans) ("Jean's Hosiery Shop"), 109 (L. Murret) ("Jeans

868
NOTES TO PAGES 671-675

Hosiery Shop"). It is unclear whether all these references are to the same job or to

different jobs.

75. CE 2213, p. 27.

76. Ibid. 77. For descriptions of Ekdahl, see 1 H

250 (Marguerite Oswald), 274 (R. Os- wald) ; 8 H 66-67 (Julian Evans), 110-

111 (L. Murret) ; 11 H 21-22 (J. Pic). Marguerite testified that she was working

at a hosiery shop when she met Ekdahl

;

I H 255 ; cf. CE 2213, p. 27 ; but cf. 11 H

18 (J. Pic).

78. See 11 H 21 (J. Pic) ; but see 1 H

274 (R. Oswald).

79. 11 H 21 (J. Pic) ; see 8 H 66 (J. Evans).

80. 1 H 255 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see II H 21 (J. Pic).

81. Pic DE 2-A.

82. 1 H 255 (Marguerite Oswald).

83. Ibid. The home's rules did not permit children with two living parents to remain there ; see 11 H 21 (J. Pic) ; cf. 8 H

107 (L. Murret).

84. 1 H 255 (Marguerite Oswald).

85. Ibid.; 8 H 50 (M. Evans), 110 (L. Murret).

86. 1 H 255 (Marguerite Oswald).

87. See p. 670, supra.

88. CE 1963, f). 543; 1 H 255 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see J. Pic DE 4, p. 1. 89. 1 H 269 (R. Oswald) ; 8 H 49-50

(M. Evans) ; 11 H 22, 23 (J. Pic).

90. J. Pie DE 2, p. 4; 1 H 272, 273

(R. Oswald) ; 11 H 21, 22 (J. Pic).

91. 1 H 274 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 23 (J. Pic).

92. 1 H 2)55 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see

1 H 275 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 22 (J. Pic). Robert believed, apparently incorrectly, that Ekdahl was already living In Dallas when the family moved there ; 1 H 274 (R. Oswald).

93. (See 1 H 250, 251 (Marguerite

Oswald) ; 8 H 113 (L. Murret).

94. 8 H 53 (M. Evans), 110 (L. Murret).

95. J. Pic DE 4. 96. CE 2211, p. 618-1 ; 11 H 23 (J. Pic).

97. Ibid. 98. 1 H 281 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 27 (J. Pic) ; see id. at 21, 24.

99. Id. at 27. 100. 1 H 275 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 23-24

(J. Pic) ; see 1 H 255 (Marguerite

Oswald).

101. Ibid. ; 1 H 276 (R. Oswald) ; see

8 H 50-51 (M. Evans), 111 (L. Murret) ; see p. 670, supra.

102. 1 H 277 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 23-30

(J. Pic).

103. 1 H 277-278 (R. Oswald) ; 8 K 50-

51 (M. Evans), 68-69 (J. Evans), 111

(L. Murret).

104. 8 H 45, 49 (M. Evans).

105. Id. at 50-51.

106. CE 2218; 11 H 25 (J. Pic). Robert testified that his recollection is that

the family did not move to Benbrook until after Christmas 1945, which he and John

spent with school friends because the Ekdahls (and Lee) were in Boston. 1 H

278.

107. Ibid. 11 H 25 (J. Pic).

108. CE 1874, pp. 5-6.

109. CE 2218.

110. Ibid. 111. CE 1413, p. 10. 112. Folsom DE 1, p. 1. 113. See 11 H 24-25 (J. Pie).

114. 1 H 251 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H 111 (L. Murret) ; cf. 8 H 50-51 (M. Evans).

115. 1 H 251 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see 11 H 73 (J. Pic).

116. 1 H 251 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 11 H 25-26 (J. Pic).

117. CE 1963, pp. 543-544 ; CE 1413.

p. 18 ; CE 2217.

118. 8 H 52 (M. Evans).

119. CE 1413, p. 18. a20. CE 1874, p. 6. 121. CE 1413, p. 18. 122. Ibid. 123. 11 H 26 (J. Pic) ; CE 2206 ; see 1 H 251 (Marguerite Oswald) ; CE 2211, p. 618-6.

124. Ibid. 125. Id. at 618-5.

126. 11 H 27 (J. Pic) ; compare 1 H

251 (Marguerite Oswald).

127. Ibid. 128. Id. at 250.

129. Id. at 250-251 ; 11 H 27-28 (J. Pic) ; see 8 H 112 (L. Murret).

130. See CE 1960-A, p. 1 ; 11 H 28 (J. Pic) ; cf. 1 H 251 (Marguerite Oswald) ; for one explanation of Mrs. Oswald's conduct, see 8 H 112 (L. Murret).

131. CE 1960-A, p. 3. 132. CE 1960-A.

133. Id. at 1-4. 134. CE 1960-B; see 1 H 251-252

(Marguerite Oswald).

135. 11 H 29 (J. Pic) ; see 1 H 252

(Marguerite Oswald).

136. CE 1960-C, p. 2. 137. Id. at 3-5.

138. CE 1963, p. 544 ; CE 2212 ; 11 H

28 (J. Pic). 139. Ibid. 140. CE 2211, p. 618-6.

141. Id. at 618-5.

142. 8 H 78 (Philip Eugene Vinson).

143. Id. at 77. 144. Id. at 77-78, 79. 145. CE 1874, p. 6 : CE 2219 ; see 1 H

279 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H 29 (J. Pic).

146. Ibid. 147. Id. at 30-31.

148. CE 2219.

149. CE 1874, p. 7. 150. Id. at 6-7.

151. 11 H30 (J. Pic). 152. CE 1873-D ; 1 H 292 (R. Oswald) ; 8 H 85 (Hiram Conway) ; 11 H 30 (J. Pic). 153. Ibid. 154. Ibid. 155. 1 H296 (R. Oswald).

156. CE 1873-D.

157. Ibid. 158. CE 1873-E, -F, -G ; Robert Oswald testified that Ridglea West was

newly built, which probably explains the

transfer ; 1 H 297.

159. CE 1873-D; see CE 1873-E, -F, -G.

160. CE 1873-D.

161. See p. 6,87, infra, but see p. 733

infra. 162. CE 1873-D.

163. 1 H 297, 298 (R. Oswald)

(insurance agent) ; 11 H 31, 32 (J. Pic) (department stores) ; CE 2213. pp. 25-26

(assistant store manager, Lerner Shops

;

department store sales representative. Literary Guild).

164. 1 H 225 (Marguerite Oswald).

165. . 8 H 119 (L. Murret) ; 11 H 31

(J. Pic) ; see 8 H 163 (M. Murret).

166. CE 2220, p. 241.

167. CE 2221.

168. CE 2220, p. 241.

169. 1 H 281 (R. Oswald) ; 11 H ,31, 34,

40, 80 (J. Pic).

170. 8 H 87 (Conway) ; 11 H 30-31

(J. Pic). 171. See id. at 31. 172. Ibid. ; see 1 H 225 (Marguerite Os- wald) ; 8 H 163 (M. Murret). 859
NOTES TO PAGES 675-681

173. 1 H 225 (Mar^erite Oswald) ; 11 H 81 (J. Pic). Hiram Conway testified that he taught the game of chess to John

and another boy, from whom Lee learned

it. 8 H 90. 174. 8 H 122 (L. Murret).

175. Ibid. 176. « H 86 (Conway) ; see id. at 89-90.

177. 11 H80 (J. Pic). 178. Id. at 32-33.

179. Id. at 34. 180. 1 H 297-298 (R. Oswald).

181. Id. at 298-299.

182. 1 H 225-226 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 11 H 36-37 (J. Pic).

183. 1 H 225-226 (Marguerite Oswald).

184. 11H37 (J. Pic). 185. Ibid. 186. 1 H 226 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 11 H 37-39 (J. Pic).

187. Id. at 38. 188. Id. at 38-39.

189. Marguerite and John gave different accounts of the origins of the quarrel. Compare 1 H 226-227 (Marguerite Os- wald) with 11 H 38-39 (J. Pic). 190. Id. at 39. 191. Id. at 38, 39. 192. Id. at 39-40.

193. 1 H 227 (Marguerite Oswald).

194. CE 1384 ; CE 2205, p. 570 ; CE

2222.

195. CE 1384.

196. Ibid. 197. CE 2213, p. 25. 198. CE 1384, 2224, p. 4. 199. CE 2213, p. 25. 200. John Carro DE 1, p. 1. 201. CE 2213, p. 28. 202. CE 1384.

203. See CE 2224, p. 4. 204. CE 1384.

205. Ibid. 206. Ibid. ; cf. CE 2224, p. 4. 207. CE 2225.

208. CE 1384, 2226.

209. Id. at 7. 2ia CE 2224, p. 4. 211. Ibid. 212. Id. at 5. 213. 11 H 42, 43-44, (J. Pic). 214. Carro DE 1, p. 1. Concerning this and subsequent truancy proceedings, see generally 8 H 202-214 (Carro).

215. Carro DE 1, p. 1. 216. CE 1384.

217. Carro DE 1, p. 1 ; see 1 H 227

(Marguerite Oswald).

218. Youth House is described by members of its staff at the time Lee was sent

there at 8 H 215-218 (Dr. Renatus Hartogs), 225-226 (Evelyn Grace Strickman

Siegel )

.

219. Carro DE 1, pp. 1-4 ; Siegel DE 1. p. 2 : see generally ch, VII, pp. 379-382,

supra.

220. 1 H 228 (Marguerite Oswald).

221. Hartogs DE 1, p. 2. Dr. Hartogs' recommendations are discussed more fullv

in ch. VII, pp. 379-380.

222. Carro DE 1, p. 5. 223. Ibid. 224. CE 2224, p. 7. 225. Ibid. 226. Carro DE 1, p. 5 ; see CE 2213, p. 18.227. CE 1384.

228. Ibid. 229. Ibid. 230. 1 H 301-302 (R. Oswald). John

places this visit much earlier, probably

in October or November of 1952 ; 11 H 40

(J. Pic). 231. 1 H 308-309 (R. Oswald).

232. Id. at 309-310.

233. CE 1384.

234. Carro DE 1, p. 5. 235. Id. at 6. 236. Ibid. 237. Ibid. 238. Ibid. 239. CE 1384.

240. Carro DE 1, pp. 6-7.

241. CE 2223, p. 4. 242. Ibid. 243. Carro DE 1, p. 7 ; CE 2223, p. 5. 244. Ibid. 245. See ibid. 246. Ibid ; see Carro DE 1, p. 7. 247. Id. at 8. 24«. 1 H 231 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H 122-123 (L. Murret). The address was

later changed to 809 French Street ; id, at 122.

249. CE 1413, pp. 12, 14. 250. Id. at 3-5, p. 14. 251. Id. at 6-8, 13, 14. 252. Id. at 17. 253. Id. at 9-10 ; see ch, VII, p. 383. 254. See 8 H 6-7, 12^13 (Edward Voebel), 63, 65 (M. Evans), 71 (J. Evans),

131 (L. Murret), 159-160 (M. Murret) ; CE 2233, 2235, 2236.

255. 1 H 199-200 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H 14 (Voebel), 28-29 (Frederick S. O'Sullivan), 151 (L. Murret). Lillian Murret testified that Lee belonged to the Sea Scouts also, probably a confusion with

the Civil Air Patrol; Cf 8 H 131, 151

(L. MuiTet).

256. 8 H 16-19 (William E. Wulf ). 257. 8H 3-4, 6, 8 (Voebel).

258. 1 H 198 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H 70-71 (J. Evans) ; cf. 8 H 18 (Wulf). Edward Voebel, who thought Lee was not

a "great reader," didn't see him read any- thing except "comic books and the normal

things that kids read"; 8 H 12 (Voebel).

259. 8 H 125, 131 (L. Murret).

260. 8 H 2-3, 5 (Voebel), 22-25 (Bennierita Smith), 124 (L. Murret), 159-160

(M. Murret) ; cf. CE 2232, 2234.

261. 8 H 2-3 (Voebel).

262. 8 H 55-57 (M. Evans), 70 (J. Evans) ; cf. 8 H 10-11 (Voebel).

263. CE 2201, p. 63. 264. CE 2238, p. 2. 265. Ibid. 266. Ibid. ; see 1 H 198 (Marguerite Os- wald) : CE 1413, p. 9. 267. Ibid. 268. CE 2238, p. 2. 269. 8 H 53-54. 56-57 (M. Evans) ; see 8 H 123 (L. Murret).

270. See 8 H 56-57 (M. Evans).

271. 1 H 197 (Marguerite Oswald) ; see 8 H 57 (M. Evans), 123 (L. Murret), 158-159 (M. Murret) ; CE 2231.

272. CE 1413, p. 9. 273. 8 H 56 (M. Evans) ; 8 H 151 (L. Murret).

274. 1 H 310-311 (R. Oswald).

275. CE 1413, p. 15 ; see CE 1873-1, -J.

276. CE 1413, p. 11 : see generally 1 H

196-197 (Marguerite Oswald).

277. CE 1413, p. 15 : see CE 1873-H.

278. 1 H 196-198 (Marguerite Oswald) : 8 H 130-131 (L. Murret).

279. 11 H32 (J. Pic). 280. 1 H 200 (Marguerite Oswald) : see 8 H 64-65 (M. Evans).

281. CE 2227, 2237 ; see 1 H 198-199

(Marguerite Oswald).

282. CE 2227.

283. CE 2228 ; see 1 H 224 (Marguerite

Oswald).

284. CE 1386, p. 251 ; CE 2229, 2230 ; see 1 H 198-199 (Marguerite Oswald).

285. Folsom DE 1, p. 7. 286. 1 H 199 (Marguerite Oswald).

287. CE 2205, p. 571 ; CE 2239 ; CE

1873-1, -K. 860
NOTES TO PAGES 681-687

288. CE 1873-J, -K.

289. Ibid. 290. CE 2240, p. 2. 291. Id. at 2-3.

292. Folsom DE 1, p. 123. 293. Id. at 3. The abbreviations used on the official record to designate Lee's

units and duty stations are explained in CE 1961, pp. 3-5. 294. Folsom DE 1, p. 1 ; see 8 H 304

(Folsom).

295. Folsom DE 1, p. 7 ; see 8 H 307-308

(Folsom).

296. Folsom DE 1, p. 7. 297. See CE 239 ; 8 H 310-311 (Fol- som).

298. CE 239 ; see 8 H 311 (Folsom).

299. Folsom DE 1, p. 6 ; see 8 H 311 (Folsom) ; see generally 11 H 104 (Kerry Wendell Thornley).

,300. Folsom DE 1, p. 6 ; see generally

8 H 233, 234-236 (Nelson Delgado).

301. Folsom DE 1, p. 6. 302. Id. at 3; see 8 H 305 (Folsom).

303. Folsom DE 1, p. 8. 304. Ibid. 305. CE 1962, p. 3. 306. Id. at 4. 307. Folsom DE 1, p. S6.

808. See CE 1963, p. 546.

309. Folsom DE 1, p. 3. 310. CE 1961, pp. 1-2. 311. See id., at 2-3. 312. Folsom DE 1, p. 10. 813. Id. at 120. 314. Id. at 118.

315. Id. at 3. 316. Ibid. ; see 8 H 305 (Folsom) ; of. 8 H 268 (Daniel Patrick Powers).

317. Folsom DE 1, p. 119 ; 8 H 267-268

(Powers).

318. CE 1961, p. 2; see 8 H 269

(Powers).

319. Id. at 267.

320. Id. at 268. 321. Ibid. 323. Id. at 270. 323. Id. at 277-278, 279; see generally

id., at 269-271.

324. Id. at 272-273.

325. Folsom DB 1, p. 116.

326. Id. at 7. 3217. Id. at 3, 36. 328. See 8 H 274 (Powers) ; CE 1963,

p. 546 ; see note 308, supra.

329. Folsom DE 1, p. 3. 330. 8 H 274 (Powers).

331. Folsom DE 1, p. 3. 332. Ibid. 333. Id. at 13. 334. 8 H 277 (Powers).

335. Ibid. 336. Folsom DB 1, p. 13. 337. Id. at 3 ; CE 1961, p. 4. 338. 8 H 278-279 (Powers).

339. Id. at 279.

340. Ibid. 341. Folsom DE 1, p. 111. 342. 8 H 320 (Paul Edward Murphy).

343. Folsom DB 1, p. 3 ; CE 1961, p. 4. 344. Folsom DE 1, pp. 111-112.

345. Id. at 8. 346. Ibid. 347. CE 1961, p. 4. 348. 8 H 279-280 (Powers).

349. Folsom DE 1, p. 5. 350. Id. at 3. 351. CE 1961, p. 4. 352. Ibid. 353. Folsom DB 1, p. 9. 354. Id. at 32 ; see 8 H 322 (Mack Os- borne) ; 11 H 84, 85 (Thornlev).

355. Folsom DE 1, p. 32. 356. Id. at 9. 357. Id. at 8; see 8 H 308 (Folsom).

358. Folsom DE 1, p. 3. 359. Id. at 10.

360. Id. at 3. 361. CB 1961, p. 5. 362. Folsom DE 1, p. 3. 363. CB 1961, p. 5 ; see generally 8 H

313-314 (George Donabedian).

364. Folsom DE 1, p. 3. 365. 8 H 317 (Peter Francis Connor), 318 (John Rene Heindel), 320 (Murphy).

366. See authorities cited in note 365

supra.

367. 8 H 320 (Murphy) ; cf. 8 H 285

(Powers).

368. Id. at 275, 283.

369. Folsom DE 1, p. 13 ; CE 1961, p. 5. 370. Folsom DB 1, p. 36. 371. Id. at 3 ; CE 1961, p. 5. 372. 8 H 290 (John E. Donovan) ; see generally 8 H 231-232 (Delgado).

373. 8 H 297-298 (Donovan) ; but see CE 1961, p. 3. 374. 8 H 316 (James Anthony Botelho) ; 11 H 84 (Thornley).

375. 8 H 316 (Botelho) ; 11 H 84-85

(Thornley).

376. See CE 1961,, p. 3 ; Folsom DE 1, p. 10. 377. 11 H 84 (Thornley).

378. 8 H 291, 292 (Donovan).

379. Id. at 298-299.

380. See 8 H 233-234, 258, 262 (Del- gado), 316 (Botelho). 318 (Allen D. Graf), 319 (David Christie Murray, Jr.), 320

(Murphy), 321-322 (Osborne), 323 (Rich- ard Dennis Call) ; 11 H 85, 89-91, 100-

101 (Thornley).

381. 8 H 233 (Delgado) ; see 8 H 291 (Donovan).

382. See 8 H 245 (Delgado), 297 (Donovan), 316 (Botelho), 319 (Murray), 321 (Henry J. Roussel, Jr.) ; 11 H 92 (Thornley) ; but see 8 H 320 (Murphy).

383. 8 H 317 (Donald Camarata),, 322

(Osborne), 323 (Call). 384. 8 H 265 (Delgado), 292-293, 297 (Donovan) ; 11 H 106-107 (Thornley) ; but see 8 H 322 (Call). 385. Folsom DE 1, p. 7 ; see 8 H 307.

386. 8 H 244 (Delgado), 292 (Donovan), 315 (Botelho), 316 (Camarata), 319 (Murray), 320 (Murphy), 321 (Roussel), 321 (Osborne), 322 (Call), 323 (Erwin

Lewis) ; 11 H 87 (Thornley).

387. 8 H 321 (Roussel).

388. CB 2015.

389. 8 H 293 (Donovan).

390. 8 H 242 (Delgado)., 292 (Donovan), 315 (Botelho), 317 (Camarata), 11 H 87-88 (Thornley) ; cf. id. at 320 (Murphy).

391. 8 H 315 (Botelho), 323 (Call) ; but

see 8 H 257-258 (Delgado).

392. 8 H 316 (Camarata).

393. Ibid. ; see 8 H 321 (Roussel).

394. 8 H 319 (Murray).

395. 8 H 315 (Botelho).

396. 8 H 257-258 (Delgado), 321 (Roussel).397. 8 H 323 (Call). 398. 8 H 317 (Camarata), 317 (Connor), 318 (Graf), 321 (Roussel), 322 (Os- borne), 322-323 (Call). 399. 8 H 290 (Donovan).

400. Id. at 297. 401. Id. at 292. 402. Id. at 295.

40i3. Id. at 293.

404. Ibid. 405. Id. at 292. 406. Id. at 293. 407. 11 H 85 (Thornley).

408. Id. at 97. 409. Id. at 87. 410. Ibid. 411. Id. at 93. 412. Id. at 94-95.

413. Id. at 98. 414. Id. at 94, 98. 861
NOTES TO PAGES 687-694

415. 8 H 232 (Delgado).

416. Id. at 233, 241, 246-248.

417. Id. at 233. 418. See id. at 240-241, 243-244, 255. 419. Id. at 240. 420. Id. at 241. 421. Id. at 241-243.

422. See 8 H 233, 240-241, 243-244,

246, 254-255 (Delgado), 292-295, 297, 300 (Donovan), 315 (Botelho), 320 (Murphy),

322-323 (Call) ; 11 H 86-87, 90-95, 105-

108 (Thornley).

423. 11 H 108 (Thornley) ; see 8 H 320 (Murphy) ("Harvey" after "Harvey the Rabbit").

424. 8 H 234, 264 (Delgado), 300 (Donovan), 317 (Camarata), 318 (Graf), 319

(Murray).

425. 8 H 244, 254 (Delgado) ; 11 H 90

(Thornley) ; see id. at 105 ("something

* * * by Dostoievsky").

426. 8 H300 (Donovan), ?16 (Botelho), 319 (Murray), 320 (Murpny), 322 (Os- borne), 322-323 (Call). 427. Id. at 323. 428. 8 H 251 (Delgado), 315-316

(Botelho).

429. 8 H 251 (Delgado), 295 (Donovan).

430. Id. at 295-296.

431. 8 H 252 (Delgado).

432. 8 H 295 (Donovan) ; cf. 8 H 251

(Delgado).

433. See id. at 241, 251 (Delgado), 316 (Camarata), 320 (Murphy), 322 (Os- borne), 323 (Call). 434. 8 H 241 (Delgado).

435. Id. at 253-254; cf. 8 H 301 (Donovan).

436. Folsom DE 1, p. 3. 437. Ibid. 438. Id. at 105. 439. Id. at 106; see 8 H 309 (Folsom).

440. CE 228, p. 1. 441. Ibid. ; see id. at 3. 442. Id. at 2. 443. Ibid. 444. Ibid. 445. Ibid. 446. Id. at 3. 447. See CE 229, 232. 448. CE 234.

449. 8 H 243 (Delgado).

450. 8 H 323 (Call). 451. Folsom DE 1, pp. 27, 79 ; see 8 H

304 (Folsom).

452. Folsom DE 1, p. 84. 453. Id. at 86-91 ; cf. CE 2241.

454. Id. at 6, 75, 76, 83. 455. Id. at 79-80.

456. Id. at 10, 78. 457. Id. at 4. 458. Ibid. ; id. at 28.

4i59. Ibid. 460. Id. at 10. 461. CE 2016, p. 11-13. 462. CE 1114.

463. CE 946. 464. 1 H 201-202 (Marguerite Oswald) ; CE 1135, p. 172. 465. 1 H 201-202, 212 (Marguerite Os- wald) ; CE 1396, p. 6. 466. Ibid. 467. 1 H 201-202, 212 (Marguerite

O.swald).

468. CE 1135, p. 172. 469. 1 H 329 (R. Oswald) ; 1 H 212

(Marguerite Oswald).

470. 1 H 203 (Marguerite Oswald).

471. CE 2673, 2665, p. 305.

472. CE 2712.

473. CE 2665, p. 305. 474. CE 200. 475. CE 2665. p. 305 ; see CE 2674.

476. CE 2675, p. 2.

477. Id. at 2-3 ; 11 H 116 (George B. Church, Jr.), 117 (Mrs. George B. Church,

Jr.).478. CE 2711, p. 39; CE 946, p. 7; CE 2676, p. 1. 479. Id. at 1, 3. 480. CE 2677. Oswald could have ar- rived at 5 :05 p.m., flying via Copenhagen,

or at 5 :35 p.m., via Stockholm. See Offi- cial Airline Guide, North American Edition, October 1959, p. C-721. But he would have been too late to visit the Russian consulate that dav. See CE 2714.

481. CE 946, p. 9. 482. Priscilla Johnson DE 1, p. 8

;

P. Johnson DE 5, p. 8. 483. CE 946, p. 8 ; CE 24, entry of Oct. 16, 1959 ; CE 985, document No. lA.

484. CE 24, entry of Oct. 16, 1959.

485. CE 3124.

486. CE 24, entry of Oct. 16, 1959.

487. CE 24. 488. CE 18 ; see, e.g., pp. 3, 7, 22, 23,

27, 29, 81, 35, 61, 81 ; see also CE 827 ; 1 H 30, 104 (Marina Oswald).

489. CE 24, entry of Oct. 16, 1959.

490. CE 24, entry of Oct. 17, 1959.

491. CE 24, entries of Oct. 17-21, 1959.

492. CE 24, entry of Oct. 17, 1959.

493. CE 24, entry of Oct. 18, 1959.

494. CE 1399.

495. 5 H 617 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 935,

827, 1438 (name misspelled by Oswald).

496. CE 2760 : cf. CE 25, pp. 1B-2B.

497. 5 H 274 (Richard Edward Snvder).

498. CE 24, entrj' of Oct. 20, 1959.

499. CE 24, entry of Oct. 21, 1959.

500. Ibid. 501. Ibid, see ch. VII, p. 392.

502. CE 985, documents lC-1—lC-4.

503. CE 985, document lC-3, p. 10. 504. Id. at 11. 505. Id. at 10. 506. CE 24, entry of Oct. 23, 1959.

507. CE 24, entry of Oct. 21, 1959.

508. CE 24, entry of Oct. 23, 1959.

509. CE 24, entry of Oct. 23-26, 1959.

510. CE 985, document lC-2, pp. 1, 8-9.

511. CE 24, entry of Oct. 28, 1959.

512. CE 3123.

513. CE 24, entry of Oct. 28, 1959.

514. Ibid. 515. Ibid. 516. CE 24, entries of Oct. 29-31, 1959.

517. CE 24, entry of Oct. 31, 1959.

518. See CE 908, p. 1 ; CE 909, p. 1 ; 5 H 260-261 (Snyder).

519. See generally 5 H 262-265, 269-

270. 287-291 (Snyder) ; 300-304, 322-324

(John A. McVickar) ; CE 908, 909, 910.

520. CE 913.

521. 8 use sec. 1481 (1958) ; CE 101, 941, 958. ^^^

522. 5 H 269 (Snyder) ; see CE 101, 941.

523. CE 24, entry of Oct. 31, 1959.

524. Ibid. : CE 2719. ^_ ^_

525. CE 24, entry of Oct. 31, 1959 ; CE

3098

526. CE 24, entry of Oct. 31, 1959 ; CE

3098.

527. 1 H 201, 203 (Marguerite Oswald) ; CE 1396, pp. 8-9. 528. CE 24. entry of Nov. 1. 19o9.

529. CE 2672 ; P. Johnson DE 5, p. 15. 530. 1 H 323 (R. Oswald) ; see 11 H 458

(P. Johnson). „ „^^

531. CE 2715, p. 61 ; CE 2684 ; 1 H 322

(R. Oswald). ^ ^^

532. CE 2683, p. 29 ; CE 2672 : CE 24, entry of Nov. 1, 1959; see 1 H 323 (R. Oswald).

533. CE 2715 ; 1 H 323 (R. Oswald).

534. CE 2715, p. 61. ^. . „

535. CE 912 ; see CE 919, 920 ; o H

267-269 (Snyder).

536. CE 912. 862
NOTES TO PAGES 694-702

537. CE 919.

538. CE 24, entry of Nov. 2-15, 1959. 559 CE 294.

540.' CE 24, entry of Nov. 16, 1959.

541. CE 24, entry of Jan. 4, 1960; CE

985, documents lA, 2A.

542. CE 942, 943, 2683, p. 29 ; 5 H 302

(McVickar).

543. See Fort Worth Star Telegram,

Nov. 15, 1959, "Fort Worth Defector Confirms Red Beliefs" ; CE 24, entry of Nov.

15, 1959 ; CE 1385 ; see also CE 1438.

544. CE 1385, p. 2. 545. Id. at 1-12.

546. CE 2717 ; CE 24, entry for Nov. 15, 1959.

547. CE 1385. p. 16. 548. CE 24, entry of Nov. 16, 1959.

549. Ibid. 550. 11 H 446-447 (P. Johnson).

551. The interview is described in P. Johnson DE 1, 5, 6 ; 11 H 444-460. Oswald

told Aline Mosby that he had read the Communist Manifesto. CE 1385, p. 6. 552. P. Johnson DE 1, p. 6. 553. 11 H 447, 459 (P. Johnson) ; CE

911.

554. CE 24, entries of Nov. 17-Dec. 30, Dec. 31, 1959; 5 H 616 (Marina Oswald).

555. CE 295. 556 CE 297

557! CE 202," 206 ; 1 H 204 (Marguerite

Oswald).

558. CE 24, entry of Jan. 4, 1960 ; cf. CE

985. documents lA, 2A, 3A (1) ; CE 935.

559. CE 24, entry of Jan. 4, 1960.

560. In 1963, the population of Minsk was about 650,0,00. 561. CE 24, entry of Jan. 4, 1960.

562. CE 24, entry of Jan. 4-5, 1960 ; 5 H

292-293 (Snyder).

563. CE 24, entries of Jan. 5 and 7, 1960.

564. CE 24, entry of Jan. 7, 1960.

565. CE 24, entry of Oct. 18. 1&60.

566. CE 24, entry of Jan. 8, 1960.

567. CE 1108.

568. CE 24, entries of Jan. 11 and 13, 1960; CE 33. 569. CE 92, p. 3 ; see CE 2669.

570. CE 1128, p. 1 ; CE 1109, p. 2. 571. 5 H 616 (Marina Oswald) ; see 8 H

360 (George A. Bouhe) ; 9 H 145 (Paul Roderick Gregory) ; 9 H 79-80 (Gary E. Taylor) ; 2 H 339 (Peter Paul Gregory) ; CE 2669.

572. CE 1108.

573. CE 92. pp. 8-9.

574. 5 H 590 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 347, 350 (Max Clark) ; 9 H 81 (Taylor), 147

(Paul Gregory) ; see P. Johnson DE 1, pp.

1, 6 ; P. Johnson DE 5, p. 7 ; CE 1385, p. 16. 575. 8 H 360 (Bouhe) (900 rubles), 385 (Anna N. Meller) (800 rubles) ; 5 H 407-

408 (Marina Oswald) (800 rubles) ; CE

1401, p. 271 (800-900 rubles) ; CE 1110 (700-850 rubles) ; CE 1128 ; CE 24, entry

of Jan. 13, 1960 (700 rubles) ; 2 H 339

(Peter Gregory) (800 rubles) ; 8 H 348

(Clark) (800-900 rubles). 576. CE 2720 ; see CE 1401, p. 271.

577. 1 H 95 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1401,

p. 275.

578. CE 24, entry of Jan. 13, 1960.

579. CE 1109.

580. CE 1110, 1128. i^^?^- ^o£L^2-93 (Marina Oswald); CE

1401. p. 275.

582. CE 24, entry of Mar. 16, 1960;

cf. 1 H 92 (Marina Oswald).

583. CE 24, entry of Mar. 16, 1960 ; see

also 1 H 92 (Marina Oswald).

584. See id. at 93. 585. CE 2721 ; CE 25, pp. 1B-2B.

586. CE 24, entries Jan. 7 to Mar. 17, 1960 : see CE 93. p. 4 (erroneously referring

to "Roza Agafonava").

587. CE 24, entry of Jan. 13, 1960.

588. CE 24, entry of Mar. 17, 1960 ; CE

2693.

589. CE 1403, p. 729 ; CE 42, 79. 590. Ibid. 591. CE 24, entry of June-July 1960.

592. 1 H 91 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 993,

p. 5. 593. 1 H 96 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H

396-397 (M. Paine) ; 5 H 405-406

(Marina Oswald) : 8 H 362 (Bouhe) ; CE

2678, pp. 13-14 ; CE 2679.

594. CE 2759 ; CE 24, entry of Jan. 1, 1961.

595. CE 24, entry of May 1, 1960.

596. CE 24, entry of June-July 1960.

597. CE 24, entry of Aug.-Sept. 1960.

598. CE 24, entries of Jan. 1, Jan. 2, 1961.

599. CE 24, entry of Jan. 3, 1961.

600. CE 24, entry of May 1, 1961.

601. CE 2759.

602. 11 H 142 (Mrs. Donald Gibson) ; 9 H 79 (Taylor).

603. Ibid. 604. 11 H 142 (Gibson).

605. 9 H 79 (Taylor).

606. 10 H 203 (Dennis Hyman Ofstein).

607. 8 H 348 (Clark).

608. 9 H 80 (Taylor) ; 5 H 590 (Marina

Oswald).

609. Ibid. ; see 8 H 348 (Clark).

610. 11 H 142 (Gibson) ; 8 H 60 (M. Evans) ; 5 H 590 (Marina Oswald).

611. 9 H 145, 151 (Paul Gregory).

612. Id. at 145, 154, 156.

613. 1 H 30 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 92,

94.614. 8 H 330-332 (Pauline Virginia Bates).

615. CE 92, p. 1. 616. Id. at 5. 617. Ibid. 618. Id. at 6-7.

619. 5 H 407 (Marina Oswald), but see CE 25, p. 3. 620. CE 92, pp. 7-8.

621. Id. at 12. 622. Id., passim.

623. CE 985, documents .3A (l)-(2) ; cf. CE 24, entry of Jan. 4, 1961.

624. Ibid. 625. 5 H 277 (Snyder).

626. Id. at 276-277 ; CE 931.

627. 5 H 277 (Snyder) ; CE 24, entries

of Feb. 1-Mar. 6, 1961.

628. CE 933, 1084.

629. CE 930, 2681.

630. CE 2666.

631. CE 940.

632. CE 24, entry of Mar. 1-16, 1961.

633. 5 H 278 (Snyder) ; CE 1403, P. 727.634. CE 25, pp. 1B-2B ; see 5 H 407-408

(Marina Oswald).

635. CE 940.

636. Ibid. ; CE 1085.

637. CE 970, 971 ; 5 H 352-354 (Bernice

Waterman).

638. 11 H 210-212 (Katherine Mallory).

639. CE 24, entry of Mar. 17, 1961. Marina thought that the date was Mar. 4. 1 H 90 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 994, p. 1. 640. CE 1401, p. 260.

641. Ibid. 642. CE 24, entry of Mar. 17. 1961.

643. 1 H 90-91 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

1401, p. 267 ; CE 994, p. 7. 644. CE 24, entries of Mar. 17, 18-31, Apr. 1-30, 1961.

645. This and the succeeding para- graphs about Marina's life before she met

Oswald are based primarily on CE 1401,

pp. 256-261. Additional sources are indi- cated where appropriate.

646. See also 1 H 84 (Marina Oswald).
NOTES TO PAGES 702-711

647. See id. at 84-85.

648. Marina is unclear about her age at the time of this move; cf. 1 H 84 (Marina

Oswald) ("approximately five"), with CE

1401, p. 256 ("about seven").

649. CE 49. 650. 1 H 84 (Marina Oswald).

651w Id. at 85. 652. Id. at 87 ; CE 49. 653. CE 21 ; see 1 H 89 (Marina Os- wald).

654. Id. at 85. 655. Ibid. 656. Id. at 87. 657. See CE 51, 57. 658. 1 H 89 (Marina Oswald).

659. Ibid. 660. Id. at 87-89.

661. Id. at 89; 5 H 608-609 (Marina

Oswald) ; 5 H 305 (McVickar).

662. 1 H 88, 89 (Marina Oswald).

663. CE 1401. p. 261 ; CE 994, p. 5. 664. 1 H 91 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1401,

pp. 267-268 ; CE 993, p. 7. 665. Cf. ibid, with CE 1401.

666. 1 H 91 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1401,

p. 268.

667. CE 985, document lC-1, p- 1. 668. 1 H 91 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1401,

p. 269.

669. Ibid. 670. CE 994, pp. 8-9 ; 2 H 302 (Katherine Ford).

671. CE 1401, p. 270; cf. CE 994, p. 9. 672. CE 985, document lC-1, pp. 19^20.

673. CE 1401, p. 269.

674. Id. at 269-270.

675. CE 24, entry of Apr. 1-30, 1961.

676. CE 1401, p. 269 ; but see 2 H 302

(K. Ford).

677. CE 1111 ; CE 24, entry of Apr. 31

[sic], 1961.

678. Ibid. 679. CE 1401, p. 274. 680. CE 24, entry of May 1, 1961.

681. CE 24, entry of May 1961.

* 682. CE 24, entry of June 1961.

683. Ibid. 684. CE 252.

685. CE 1401, p. 277 ; CE 1403, p. 725. 686. CE 1401, pp. 274-276.

687. Id. at 274.

688. Id. at 276 ; CE 993, p. 12. 689. CE 1401, p. 277.

690. 1 H 101 (Marina Oswald).

.691. CE 72. 692. 5 H 590 (Marina Oswald).

693. CE 298.

694. CE 299.

695. CE 180. 696. CE 252.

697. CE 936.

698. CE 1403, p. 727.

699. CE 24, entry of July 8, 1961 ; CE

24, entry of July 1961.

700. See app. XV, p. 754, infra. 701. CE 24, entry of July 9, 1961 : see

I H 96-97 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1401,

p. 280.

702. Id at 290 ; CE 1403, p. 726.

703. CE 1401, p. 278.

704. CE 935. 705. CE 24. entries of Oct. 16, 1959, through Jan. 4, 1960 ; CE 908. 706. CE 1385, p. 4 ; P. Johnson DE 1, pp. 3, 6, 14 ; P. Johnson DE 2, pp. 1-2 ; II H 456 (P. Johnson) ; CE 985, docu- ment lC-2, p. 6. 707. CE 1109, 1110, 1128.

708. CE 909, 935, p. 2. 709. Id. at 3. 710. CE 946, p. 2-3 ; 5 H 284 (Snyder).

711. CE 935, p. 2. 712. CE 938.

713. 5 H 284 (Snyder) ; CE 946, p. 6. 714. 5 H 319 (McVickar) ; CE 1401, pp. 278-279.

715. 5 H 319 (McVickar).

716. CE 944; 5 H 304-306, 318-319

(McVickar) ; CE 959.

717. CE 24, entry of July 14, 1961 ; CE

301.

718. Ibid. 719. CE 935, p. 1 ; CE 985, documents

IB, 2B, 3B, 4B ; see CE 1401, pp. 277-278,

280.

720. CE 24, entry of July 16-Aug. 20, 1961.

721. CE 1122, p. 1. 722. CE 24, entry of Aug. 21-Sept. 1, 1961.

723. CE 24, entry of Sept.-Oct. 18, 1961.

724. 1 H 90, 97 (Marina Oswald) ; but

see CE 1401, p. 276. 725. 1 H 97 (Marina Oswald).

726. Ibid. ; 5 H 591-592 (Marina Os- wald )

.

727. 9 H 147 (Paul Gregory) ; see also CE 301 ; CE 24, entry of July 15-Aug. 20, 1961.

728. CE 1122, pp. 2-3.

729. Ibid. 730. 1 H 97 (Marina Oswald).

731. CE 1087.

732. 1 H 98 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1403,

p. 740.

733. CE 306. 734. CE 55 ; but see 1 H 98 (Marina

Oswald).

735. CE 24, entry of Nov.-Dec. 1961;

see also CE 1401, p. 269.

736. CE 24, entry of Sept.-Oct. 18, 1961

;

see CE 66(1).

737. CE 24, entry of Sept.-Oct. 18, 1961.

738. CE 56, 306, CE 1315, pp. 1-2.

739. CE 24, entry of Nov. 12, 1961.

740. 5 H 591, 618 (Marina Oswald).

741. CE 1403, p. 745 ; 5 H 592 (Marina

Oswald).

742. Id. at 591-592, 604-605, 617-619

(Marina Oswald).

743. €E 181, 182, 183, 184, 185 (letters to Marguerite Oswald) ; CE 303, 305,

306, 307, 308, 309 (letters to R. Oswald).

744. CE 253.

745. CE 1076.

746. CE 1058.

747. CE 24, entry of Dec. 25i, 1961 ; 5 H

592, 598, 604-605 (Marina Oswald) ; see also CE 1403, p. 725.

748. CE 1401, p. 267.

749. CE 24, entry for "New Years" 1962; CE 313.

750. CE 189.

751. CE 2731 ; cf. CE 2660.

752. CE 2680, pp. 7-8.

753. Id., at 3-4.

754. CE 246.

755. CE 1078.

756. CE 256.

757. CE 1079.

758. CE 2692.

759. CE 247.

760. Ibid. 761. CE 190. 762. CE 1080, p. 2 ; CE 1101.

763. CE 314.

764. Folsom DE 1, p. 10 ; see p. 689, supra.

765. CE 314.

766. Folsom DE 1, p. 65. 767. Id. at 63. 768. Id. at 61. 769. Id. at 45-46.

770. CE 2658.

771. CE 2661.

772. CE 222.

773. CE 192. 774. CE 1082, 1102.

775. CE 193. 864
NOTES TO PAGES 711-717

776. CE 24, entry of Feb. 15, 1962 ; CE

993, pp. 15-16 ; CE 1112.

777. CE 994, p. 16. 778. Ibid. ; but see CE 60, 61, 64. 779. CE 24, entry of Feb. 23, 1962.

780. CE 40, 52, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 104.

781. CE 24, entries of Feb. 28-29, 1962 ; 1 H 95 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 316.

782. CE 59, 61. 783. CE 24, entry of Feb. 23, 1961.

784. CE 316.

785. CE 195.

786. CE 316.

787. CE 1093, 2682.

788. CE 1086.

789. CE 1095.

790. CE 249, 1103.

791. CE 196, 2653.

792. CE 2656 ; see app. XV, p. 762, infra. 793. CE 24, entry of Mar. 24, 1962 ; CE

22.794. CE 249, 1083, 1088, 2687, 2688.

795. CE 317.

796. CE 1313.

797. CE 985, document 9A ; CE 1108,

1314.

798. CE 1108, 1109, 1128, p. 3. 799. CE 1401, p. 275 ; 1 H 93 (Marina

Oswald) ; see also 5 H 590 (Marina

Oswald).

800. CE 985, document 8A.

801. CE 946, p. 11. 802. 5 H 604, 617-618 (Marina Os- wald) ; CE 2722.

S03. CE 318.

804. CE 946, pp. 11, 15; see CE 1401,

p. 280. 805. CE 2654, 2662, 2690, 2704.

806. CE 2656.

807. CE 34.

80!8. CE 1098. After his return to the United States, Oswald repaid the loan in

full. See app. XV, p. 773, infra. 800. CE 1099, 1401, p. 280u

810. CE 57. 811. CE 29, 946, 1099.

812i. 1 H lOil (Marina Oswald).

813. CE 25. 814. CE 100. 815. CE 946, p. 15. 816. CE 2655.

817. CE 1060, p. 10 ; CE 2656, 2718,

pp. 2-3.

818. CE 2655 ; CE 2657.

819. CE 2213, pp. 19-20 ; CE 2657.

820. CE 2655, 2657.

821. CE 2213, pp. 18-24.

822. Ibid. : CE 2657.

823. CE 2213, p. 24. 824. CE 2692.

825. 1 H 372 (R. Oswald).

820. Martin Isaacs DE 1. 827. 1 H 331 (R. Oswald) ; 1 H 4 (Marina Oswald).

828. 1 H 330-331 (R. Oswald).

829. Id. at 331 : see id. at 464.

830. Jbid. ; 2 H .843 (Peter Gregory) ; 1 H 30 (Marina Oswald) ; 4 H 415 (.John W. Fain).

831. CE 2189, p. 1 ; 1 H 331 (R. Oswald )

.

832. Id. at 330.

833. 1 H 4 (Marina Oswald) ; 312 (R. Oswald).

834. Ibid. 835. Ibid. 836. Id. at 385-386.

837. Id. at 313-314.

838. 1 H 4 (Marina Oswald).

839. Ibid. 840. 8 H 331-332 (Bates).

841. Id. at 332-333 ; see pp. 700-701,

supra.

842. 8 H 332-333 (Bates).

843. Id. at 334-336.

844. Id. at 336.

845. Ibid. 846. Ibid. 847. See 2 H 338 (Peter Gregory) ; CE

384.

848. 2; H 337-338 (Peter Gregory).

840. Id. at 338 ; CE 384.

850. 2 H 338-339 (Peter Gregory).

851. See id. at 342, 343.

852. Id. at 339-340; 9 H 143 (Paul

Gregory).

853. CE 823, p. 11 ; 1 H 315 (R. Oswald) ; 4 H 415 (Fain).

854. Id. at 418.

855. CE 823, p. 11. 856. Id, at 12; see CE 29. 857. Id. at 13. 858. 1 H 315, 389 (R. Oswald).

859. See 1 H 133 (Marguerite Oswald),

CE 1943, 2189, p. 2 ; 1 H 4 (Marina Os- wald) ; 312 (R. Oswald).

860. 1 H 132-133 (Marguerite Oswald).

861. CE 2189, p. 2 ; 1 H 133-135 (Marguerite Oswald).

862. 1 H 131-132 (Marguerite Oswald).

S63. Id. at 133.

864. Ibid. 865. 1 H 5 (Marina Oswald).

866. CE 2189, pp. 2, 18. 867. See 4 H 419 (Fain) ; CE 2189,

pp. 2, 18; see 1 H 4-5 (Marina Oswald) ; 1 H 135 (Marguerite Oswald).

868. CE 2189, pp. 2-3; 1 H 5 (Marina

Oswald), 134-135 (Marguerite Oswald);

10 H 230 (Chester Allen Riggs, Jr.). 869. Graves DE 1 ; CE 2189, p. 12 ; 10 H 163 (Tommy Bargas).

870. 10 H 161 (Bargas).

871. CE 1943 ; 10 H 162-163 (Bargas).

872. CE 1943.

873. Graves DE 1. 874. 1 H 5 (Marina Oswald).

875. 1(0 H 165 (Bargas) ; CE 2189,

p. 13. 876. Ibid. ; 10 H 165-166 (Bargas).

877. Id. at 165.

878. 1 H 136 (Marguerite Oswald).

879. See 1 H 6 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H

300 (K. Ford).

880. 1 H 141 (Marguerite Oswald).

881. 9 H 226 (George De Mohrenschildt) ; see 9 H 77 (Taylor), 308 (J. De

Mohrenschildt).

882. 10 H 2.30 (Riggs).

883. 11 H 119 (Alexander Kleinlerer) ; 8 H 384 (Meller), 393 (Elena A. Hall) ; 2 H

341 (Peter Gregory) ; 9 H 225-226 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; cf. 5 H. 419 (Marina Oswald )

.

884. CE 824, pp. 4-6; 4 H 419-424

(Fain).

885. 1 H 20 (Marina Oswald).

886. 8 H 357-358 (Bouhe), 452-455

(Igor Vladimir Voshinin) ; see generally

9 H 4-12 (Paul M. Raigorodsky) ; 8 H

354-355 (Clark) ; 9 H .305-306 (J. De

Mohrenschildt).

887. 9 H 14.3-144, 158 (Paul Gregory).

888. See id. at 144-151, 157. 889. See 8 H 358-359 (Bouhe), 2 H 341

(Peter Gregory).

890. Ibid; 8 H 358 (Bouhe), 379, 381-

382 (Meller).

891. 2 H 297 (K. Ford), 323 (Declan

P. Ford) ; 8 H 392-393 (E. Hall) ; 1 H 7 (Mai'ina Oswald). • 892. 11 H 119 (Kleinlerer).

893. 8 H 344-346 (Clark).

894. 9 H 168. 217, 281 (G. De Mohren-

.schildt). 895. Id at 224-226 ; see 1 H 7 (Marina

Oswald).

896. See 9 H 308 (J. De Mohrenschildt) : 9 H 76-77 (Taylor) ; 11 H 125-127

(Gibson).

897. 9 H 236 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; see 8 H 359, 371-372 (Bouhe).

865
NOTES TO PAGES 717-721

898. Id. at 368-369 (Bouhe) ; 8 H 351-

352, 354-355 (Clark) ; 11 H 122 (Kleinlerer) ; see 8 H, 383 (Meller), 404 (E. Hall), 435-436 (Mrs. Voshinin).

899. 8 H 371-373 (Bouhe), 383-385

(Meller), 393-395 (E. Hall), 422^423

(Valentina Ray) ; 11 H 119 (Kleinlerer) ; 9 H 307, 324-325 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

900. See 1 H 7 (Marina Oswald) ; 9 H

231 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 11 H 119

(Kleinlerer).

901. E.g., 9 H 309, 311 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 8 H 366, 372 (Bouhe), 382, 384

(Meller), 394 (E. Hall).

902. See 8 H 384 (Meller) ; see also 8 H 394 (E. Hall).

90,3. 9 H 309 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 2 H 300 (K. Ford).

904. 1 H 10-11 (Marina Oswald).

905. See, e.g., 8 H 445 (Mrs. Voshinin), 376 (Bouhe).

906. 11 H 123 (Kleinlerer).

907. E.g., 2 H 308 (K. Ford) ; 8 H 374

(Bouhe), 1381 (Meller).

908. 11 H 123 (Kleinlerer).

909. E.g., 9 H 77 (Taylor) ; 8 H 366

(Bouhe), 407 (John Hall) ; 1 H 137-138

(Marguerite Oswald).

910. 8 H 366 (Bouhe) ; see 8 H 407

(J. Hall):

911. Ibid, 9 H 230 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; see 1 H 6 (Marina Oswald).

912. 11 H 120 (Kleinlerer) ; 8 H 394

(E. Hall) ; see 8 H 366 (Bouhe).

913. Helen Cunningham DE 1-A ; 10 H

120 (Cunningham).

914. 1 H 5 (Marina Oswald) ; see also 9 H 230 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 10 H 135 (Cunningham).

915. 8 H 366 (Bouhe).

916. CE 820-A; see 10 H 166 (Bargas).

917. 1 H 141 (Marguerite Oswald).

918. 8 H 345-346 (Clark), 364-365

(Bouhe).

919. 1 H 140 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H

365 (Bouhe), 383 (Meller).

920. 1 H 140 (Marguerite Oswald) ; 8 H

365 (Bouhe), 383 (Meller).

921. 8 H 395-396 (E. Hall), 365 (Bouhe) ; see 2 H 300 (K. Ford).

922. E.g., 11 H 119-120 (Kleinlerer).

923. CE 994, p. 25. 924. 1 H 10 (Marina Oswald) ; see id. at 32, 34. 925. 1 H 32 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H

296 (Marina Oswald).

926. 1 H 7-8, 31 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 394-395 (E. Hall) ; 9 H ,324 (J. De

Mohrenschildt).

927. 9 H 324, 327 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; Albert Staples DE 1. 928. 8 H 373 (Bouhe) ; 9 H 306, 324-

325 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

929. See 8 H 407 (J. Hall).

930. 9 H 46-47 (Samuel B. Ballen), 230

(G. De Mohrenschildt).

931. 8 H 1388 (Meller), 366 (Bouhe) ; 10 H 119 (Cunningham).

932. 10 H 120-130 (Cunningham) ; Cunningham DE 1, 1-A, 2, 2-A, 4 ; 11 H

477-478 (Cunningham) ; 10 H 144-146

(Donald E. Brooks) ; 150 (Irving Stat- man).

933. 11 H 477 (Cunningham) ; Cun- ningham DE 4 ; 10 H 175-177 'John G. Graef).

934. 10 H 181 (Graef), 172 (Robert

Stovall) ; CE 1144, p. 13. 935. 1 H 8 (Marina Oswald).

936. 10 H 281-282 (Richard Leroy

Hulen), 290 (Colin Barnhorst).

937. Cunningham DE 2, 4 ; 11 H 124, 149

(Gibson).

938. CE 792; 7 H 295 (Harry D. Holmes) ; CE 1152.

939. CE 1390, p. 177. 940. CE 994, p. 26. 941. 11 H 143-144 (Gibson) ; 8 H 399

(E. Hall) ; 1 H 33 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1957-A.

942. 8 H 394-395 (E. Hall) ; 11 H 120-

121 (Kleinlerer) ; 8 H 345-346 (Clark).

943. 1 H 8, 32 (Marina Oswald) ; 9 H

88-89 (Taylor).

944. Ibid; 11 H 138-139 (Gibson).

945. 1 H 8 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H 120

(Kleinlerer), 137 (Gibson).

946. 8 H 395 (E. Hall) ; 11 H 120-121

(Kleinlerer) ; 10 H 232, 234, 237-238

(Mrs. Mahlon F. Tobias) ; see also 1 H 8 (Marina Oswald).

947. 10 H 237-238 (Mrs. Tobias) ; CE

1160, p. 2 ; see also 1 H 8 (Marina Oswald).

948. 9 H 89-91 (Taylor) ; 11 H 470

(Taylor), 120-121 (Kleinlerer), 139-140

(Gibson) ; 1 H 8 (Marina Oswald).

949. 11 H 120-121 (Kleinlerer).

950. Id. at 120. 951. 9 H 244 (G. De Mohrenschildt), 313 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 1 H 35 (Marina Oswald).

952. 5 H 415 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

994, p. 26; 10 H 242-243 (Mrs. Tobias). 258 (M. F. Tobias).

953. 2 H 309-310 (K. Ford) ; 8 H 375-

376 (Bouhe), 382 (Meller) ; see 9 H 226 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; CE 994, p. 22. 954. 2 H 309-310 (K. Ford) ; 9 H 240

(G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 11 H 128

(Gibson).

955. 9 H 233, 252 (G. De Mohrenschildt),

311, 313 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 8 H 396

(E. Hall).

956. 9 H 231-232 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

957. 1 H 32 (Marina Oswald).

958. Id. at 33. 959. Ibid. 960. 11 H 298 (Marina Oswald) ; 9 H

240 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

961. Id. at 232-233 (G. De Mohrenschildt), 310 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 8 H

386 (Meller) ; 10 H 245-246 (Mrs. Tobias) ; 1 H 11 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 416 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H 296 (Marina Os- wald) ; CE 1817.

962. 8 H 388 (Meller).

963. 1 H 11 (Marina Oswald) ; 11 H 297 (Marina Oswald).

964. 1 H 11-12 (Marina Oswald), cf. 11 H 297-298 (Marina Oswald).

965. 1 H 11-12 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H

299-300 (K. Ford) ; 8 H 388 (Meller), 365 (Bouhe) ; 11 H 296 (Marina Oswald).

966. 2 H 299 (K. Ford) ; but see CE 994, p. 27. 067. 2 H 299 (K. Ford).

968. 8 H 416 (V. Ray) ; 2 H 304 (K. Ford), S25 (D. Ford) ; 1 H 11-12 (Marina

Oswald).

969. CE 994, p. 27-28.

970. 11 H 299 (Marina Oswald).

971. 2 H 304 (K. Ford), 325 (D. Ford) ; 8 H 4.16 (V. Ray), see 1 H 11 (Marina

Oswald).

972. 11 H 298 (Marina Oswald) ; see

also 2 H 307 (K. Ford) ; 9 H 252 (G. De

Mohrenschildt).

973. 9 H 238, 266 (G. De MohrenschUdt).

974. 8 H 372 (Bouhe) ; 9 H 238, 266

(G. De Monrenschildt) ; 1 H 35 (Marina

Oswald).

975. 5 H 419 (Marina Oswald) ; 9 H

266 (G. De Mohrenschildt) ; 1 H 34-35 (Marina Oswald).

976. 9 H 65-69 (Lvdia Dymitruk) ; 5 H 419 (Marina Oswald) ; 10 H 247-248

(Mrs. Tobias).

977. 2 H 318 (K. Ford).

978. 11 H 299 (Marina Oswald).

979. 1 H 386-389 (R. Oswald) ; CE

320; 11 H 52-60 (J. Pic).
NOTES TO PAGES 721-728

980. Id. at 53-54, 81. Accord, 2 H 341

(Peter Gregory) ; 8 H 423 (V. Ray) ; 9 H 311 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 1 H 36 (Marina Oswald).

981. 9 H 143-144 (Paul Gregory) ; 11 H 58-59 (J. Pic) ; 1 H 389 (R. Oswald).

982. Id. at 389-391 ; CE 322, 324.

983. CE 986, p. 2748-A.

984. See e.g., CE 93, p. 3; 1147; 8 H

370-371 (Bouhe).

985. CE 986, p. 2757-A.

986. E.g., CE 31, ,32, SS, 57. 987. CE 1172.

988. Farreli Dobbs DE 1, 9, 10, 11 ; 3 H

118 (R. Paine).

989. James J. Tormey DE 1 ; Arnold Johnson DE 5 ; Dobbs DE 12. 990. 1 H 5 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 2642.

991. 8 H 371 (Bouhe) ; see id. at 382

(Meller) ; 9 H 150 (Paul Gregory).

992. 1 H 5 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 392-

393, 416 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1404, p. 456 ; CE 2652.

/993. 9 H 243, 253 (G. De Mohrenschildt) : 2 H 326 (D. Ford) ; 305-307 (K. Ford) ; 9 H 29-33 (Natalie Ray), 39-41 (Thomas Ray).

994. 9 H 245-246 (G. De Mohrenschildt), 319-320 (J. De Mohrenschildt) ; 2 H 306, 308 (K. Ford), 329 (D. Ford) ; 8 H 369-370 (Bouhe). 389 (Meller). 995. CE 1866, p. 573. 996. 2 H 307 (K. Ford) ; 8 H 389-390

(Meller), 370 (Bouhe) ; 9 H 33' (Natalie Ray).

997. See 9 H 256 (G. De Mohrenschildt).

998. 10 H 19-20 (Everett D. Glover).

999. Id. at 21-25.

1000. Id. at 24-29 ; 2 H 435-444 (R. Paine).

1001. Ibid. ; 2 H 385-386 (M. Paine) ; 1 H 35-36 (Marina Oswald).

1002. Id. at 36 ; 2 H 443-445 (R. Paine) ; CE 404.

;1003. 11 H 155-156 (M. Waldo George) ; see CE 1133, 1134, 1167, pp. 465-467.

1004. 10 H 241 (Mrs. Tobias), 258-259

(M. F. Tobias).

1005. 1 H 10 (Marina Oswald) ; see 9 H

94 (Taylor).

1006. 8 H 370 (Bouhe).

1007. CE 2699; 1130; 1 H 9 (Marina Oswald) ; 9 H 94 (Taylor).

1008. 2 H 445-457 (R. Paine).

1009. CE 994, p. 32. 1010. See ch. IV, pp. 118-120, 172-174,

supra. 1011. See ch. IV, p. 121. supra : app. X,

pp. 571-577, supra ; 10 H 198-199, 201

(Ofstein). 1012. 7 H 365 (William J. Waldman),

376-377 (Heinz W. Michaelis). 1013. 5 H 396 (Marina Oswald).

1014. 1 H 13 (Marina Oswald).

1015. Id. at 14-15, 98-94; 5 H 396-

.398 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1156, p. 442 ; CE 2694.

1016. 1 H 15-16 (Marina Oswald).

1017. See ch. IV, pp. 184-185, supra. 1018. 1 H 17-18, 38 (Marina Oswald).

1019. Id. at 16-17.

1020. Ibid. ; 11 H 404-405 (Edwin A. Walker).

1,021. 1 H 16-18 (Marina Oswald).

1022. Id. at 18; 9 H 249-250 (G. De

Mohrenschildt), 317 (J. De Mohrenschildt).

1023. 10 H 187-189 (Graef), 198-199, 204-205 (Ofstein), 172-173 (Stovall) ; 11 H 479 (Theodore F. Gangl).

1024. 10 H 189 (Graef) ; 11 H 479

(Gangl) ; Gangl DE 1. 1025. 8 H 409 (John Hall). 1026. 1 H 18 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H

517 (R. Paine).

1027. Cunningham DE 1-A ; 11 H 478 (Cunningham).

1028. John W, Burcham DE 1. 1029. Ibid. 1080. 1 H 10 (Marina Oswald).

1031. 11 H 155-156 (George) ; 2 H 470, 472 (R. Paine).

1032. Id. at 447, 472.' 1083. 11 H 155-156 (George).

1084. 1 H 10 (Marina Oswald).

1085. CE 7, 9, 986. 1036. 1 H 35, 68 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H

448 (R. Paine).

1037. Id. at 457-458 ; 1 H 18 (Marina

Oswald).

1038. Id. at 18-19.

1039. 2 H 459 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 19 (Marina Oswald).

1040. 8 H 133-134 (Lillian Murret),

164 (Marilyn Murret).

1041. 8 H 135-136 (L. Murret), 165-

166 (M. Murret) ; CE 1919.

1042. ill H 474-476 (John Rachal) ; Rachal DE 1. 1043. Ibid. ; Rachal DE 2 ; 8 H 135 (L. Murret) ; CE 1898, 1946, 1951 ; Bobb Hunley DE 3. 1044. 8 H 135 (L. Murret).

1045. Burcham DE 1. 1046. CE 1911. 1047. CE 68-A.

1048. CE 69-A.

1049. CE 1398; 11 H 473-474 (Emmett

Charles Barbe, Jr.). 1050. 10 H 214-219 (Charles Joseph

LeBlanc) ; 11 H 473-474 (Barbe).

1051. 8 H 187 (L. Murret).

1052. 2H 517 (R. Paine).

1053. 8 H 58 (M. Evans), 72-73 (J. Evans), 186 (Charles Murret) ; 10 H 265-

266 (Mrs. Jesse Garner).

1054. 2 H 468-469, 475-477, 484-485

(R. Paine) ; 8 H 139-141 (L. Murret), 186

(C. Murret) ; 1 H 19 (Marina Oswald).

1055. Id. at 25. 1056. 8 H 172 (M. Murret).

1057. 1 H 25 (Marina Oswald).

1058. 2 H 499-500 (R. Paine) ; 3 H 5, 8-9 (R. Paine) ; CE 421, 1929.

1059. 11 H 473-474 (Barbe) ; 10 H 214-

219 (LeBlanc), 220-229 (Adrian Alba).

1060. Burcham DE 1 ; Rachal DE 1 ; Hunley DE 2, 5 ; CE 421, 1911.

1061. CE 1781, p. 550. 1062. Folsom DE 1, pp. 38-41.

1063. CE 1969.

1064. 1 H 10, 68 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H

448 (R. Paine) ; CE 408. 1065. CE 12. 1066. CE 13. 1067. 1 H 44 (Marina Oswald).

1068. Id. at 47. 1069. CE 994, pp. 34-35 ; see also CE

415 ; but see CE 408. 1070. 1 H 68 (Marina Oswald).

1071. CE 408. 1072. 2 H 470-472 (R. Paine).

1073. 2 H 449, 491-496 (R. Paine) ; CE

410, 411, 412. 1074. CE 415. 1075. CE 416. 1076. CE 2649 ; 8 H 147-148 (L. Murret) ; 8 H 186-187 (C. Murret) ; CE 421, 2648.

1077. CE 2649 ; 8 H 186, 187 (C. Murret) ; CE 2648.

1078. Lee DE 2, 4 ; CE 1410, 1411, 1413,

pp. 28-31 ; CE 2542, 2543, 2544, 2545.

1079. 10 H .34-37 (Bringuier).

1080. Id. at 87-38 ; CE 1413, pp. 19-27. He had probably passed out such leaflets on

another occasion in June, near a U.S. naval

vessel. CE 1412.

1081. CE 826. pp. 5-10 ; 10 H 53-57

(Francis L. Martello). 867
NOTES TO PAGES 729-736

1082. 10 H 90 (Vincent T. Lee) ; 1 H

64-65 (Marina Oswald) ; 5 H 402-403

(Marina Oswald).

1083. CE 1413, pp. 19, 21, 34 ; Lee DE

6; 10 H 38-39 (Bringuier).

1084. 1 H 24 (Marina Oswald).

1085. 10 H 39-41 (Bringuier), 64-66

(Charles Hall Steele, Jr.) ; Garner DE 1; Frank Pizzo DE 453A, 453B ; Bringuier

DE 1, 2. 1086. 11 H 474-476 (Rachal).

1087. 10 H 41-42 (Bringuier) ; 1 H 25 (Marina Oswald).

1088. 11 H 158-165 (William Kirk

Stuckey).

1089. Id. at ,166-169 ; 10 H 42-4,3 (Bringuier).

1090. 11 H 169-171 (Stuckey) ; Stuckey

DE 3 ; Bringuier DE 3, 4. 1091. 11 H 171 (Stuckey).

1092. 11 H 162, 168-171 (Stuckey).

1093. Lee DE 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7. 1094. Arnold Johnson DE 4. 1095. Arnold Johnson DE 4-A.

1096. Lee DE 4, 5, 6, 7. 1097. 3 H 4-7 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 26 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1929, p. 193. 1098. 1 H 26 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 9

(R. Paine).

1099. 1 H 22-23, 37. 46-47 (Marina

Oswald) ; CE 1404. pp. 451-453.

1100. CE 2478 ; CE 1143, p. 1 ; CE 2119.

pp. 20-21 ; CE 2120 ; CE 2563, p. 1. 1101. See ch. VI, p. 314, supra. 1102. See CE 2481, 2478 ; app. XIV, p. 745, infra. 1103. CE 2124, p. 383 ; CE 2125, pp. 475, 477-478 ; CE 2479 ; cf. 10 H 276-277

(Jesse J. Garner),

1104. 1 H 37, 45 (Marina Oswald).

1105. Id. at 23. CE 1156, p. 444.

110,6. ,10 H 276 (Jesse J. Garner), 274

(Mrs. Jesse Garner).

1107. 11 H 460-464 (Eric Rogers).

1108. CE 2126.

1109. 10 H 276 (Jesse J. Garner).

1110. CE 116. 1111. CE 18. 1112. CE 1969; CE 946; 11 H 217 (Pamela Mumford) ; CE 2121, p. 39. 1113. CE 93, 986. 2121, p. 39 ; CE 2564.

1114. CE 2121, p. 39. 1115. 1 H 25 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

2121, p. 39 ; CE 93. 1116. 1 H 24-25 (Marina Oswald).

1117. CE 2121, p. 39. 1118. Ibid. 1119. CE 93. 1120. CE 126

1121. Rogers DE 1. 1122. 11 H 214 (John Bryan and

Meryl McFarland), 221-222 (Mumford) ; CE 2127, p. 1 ; CE 2128, 2121. pp. 8, 9, 55. 119 ; CE 2129, pp. 18-19 ; CE 2532, pp. 12-

13; 2460, p. 5: but see 11 H 462-463

(Rogers).

1123. When he picked up the check, he

apparently also filed a change of mailing

address. CE 2131, 2476.

1124. App. XIV, p. 745, infra ; but cf. CE

2481.

1125. 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald).

1126. CE 2533. 1127. 11 H 179-180 (Estelle Twiford), 179 (Horace E. Twiford) ; CE 2533 ; CE

2961, 2962.

1128. 11 H 179 (H. Twiford), 179-180

(E. Twiford).

1129. Ibid. 1130. CE 2134.

1131. 11 H 179-180 (E. Twiford), 179

(H. Twiford).

1132. Ibid. ; 11 H 179-180 (E. Twiford).

1183. CE 2137, pp. 8-12; CE 2138, p. 15.1134. CE 2137, pp. 14-15, 17 ; CE 2138,

p. 3.1135. Id. at 12-14.

1136. 11 H 214 (McFarland).

1137. Ibid. ; CE 1143, p. 4 ; CE 2191,

pp. 5-7 ; CE 2534.

1138. 11 H 214-215 (McFarland) ; CE

2534.

1139. CE 2193, pp. 1-2 ; CE 2123, 2566,

pp. 2-3. 1140. CE 2463, pp. 10-12 ; CE 2566, p. 2. 1141. 11 H 214-215 (McFarland), 215-

224 (Mumford).

1142. Id. at 220. 1143. CE 2195.

1144. 11 H 217-218 (Mumford) ; CE

2121, pp. 114-115.

1145. 11 H 219 (Mumford) ; CE 116. 1146. CE 2566, p. 2. 1147. 11 H 220 (Mumford), 214-215

(McFarland).

1148. CE 2121, p. 54; CE 2120, 3073,

p. 7. 1149. CE 1400, 2121, pp. 46, 54, 59 ; CE

2488.

1150. CE 2121, p. 59. 1151. Id. at 47 ; CE 2444, p. 53 ; CE 2480

1152. CE 2121, pp. 47. 54. 1153. CE 2568.

1154. CE 1969, 2121, p. 1. 1155. CE 18, p. 54 ; CE 2567.

1156. CE 2121, p. 39 ; CE 3073, p. 7. 1157. CE 2564 ; see CE 93. 1158. CE 2445, p. 2. 1159. CE 2121, p. 39. 1160. 'CE 2764, 3073, p. 6 ; see 1 H 28 (Marina Oswald).

1161. CE 2764.

1162. CE 15. He appears to have at- tempted to record Kostikov's name in his guide book. CE 2486.

1163. 1 H 28 (Marina Oswald).

1164. CE 2121, p. 39 ; CE 2449. 1165. CE 2121, p. 39. 1166. Id. at 39-40; CE 2120; cf. CE

2445.

1167. CE 2121, p. 40; CE 2465 ; CE 18,

p. 54 ; CE 2445. p. 2 ; CE 2120.

1168. CE 2121, p. 39. 1169. CE 2445, p. 3 ; CE 2121, p. 40. 1170. Confidential information.

1171. 1 H 27-28, 50 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1156. p. 445. 1172. 3 H 13-18, 51-52 (R. Paine) ; 9 H

395 (R. Paine).

1173. CE 15. 1174. CE 2121. pp. 55, 57. 1175. Id. at 57. 1176. Id. at 54-55, 57. One Juarez has

said he saw Oswald talking to some Cubans,

but an intensive investigation indicates that this is a case of mistaken identity. CE 2450, 2451, 2569, 2570, 2571, 2572, 2573. 2574, 2575, 2787, 3095.

1177. CE 245(

1178. CE 1400. Oswald marked them

on his map of Mexico City. CE 2488. p. 5. 1179. See CE 1166, pp. 6-8 ; CE 2489 ; 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 3073, p. 8. 1180. Ibid. Oswald marked several museums, art galleries, and parks on his guide map, CE 2488, pp. 1.-2 ; see CE 1166, pp. 9-10 ; CE 2576, 3073, pp. 1, 6, 10. 1181. 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

3073, p. 10. 1182. CE 2486. 3073, pp. 4-5. 1183. CE 116, 2488, p. 2 ; CE 3073, pp.

1, 6. 1184. CE 2121. pp. 116-118.

1185. CE 2190 ; see CE 1166, p. 13. 1186. CE 2484.

1187. 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

3042, p. 59 ; CE 2484, 2121, pp. 124-128.
NOTES TO PAGES 736-741

11«8. Ibid. 1189. CE 2467, pp. 152, 156-157; see

also 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald).

1190. Ibid; CE 116. 1191. See CE 1400.

1192. CE 2530, 2531, 2537, 2536, 2458,

2121, pp. 64-69 ; CE 1166, pp. 2-3 ; CE

2469, pp. 1-2; CE 2538, 2532, p. 5 ; CE

2638, 3073. pp. 2, 3. 1193. CE 2639, 2539, p. 1. 1194. CE 2452, 2121, pp. 99-103; CE

2470, 2471, pp. 1-2 ; CE 2527.

1195. CE 2121, pp. 99-105 ; CE 2535,

pp. 1-2 ; CE 1143, p. 3. 1196. CE 2540, p. 9. 1197. CE 2121, pp. 56, 119. 1198. Id. at 72-78: CE 2459, 2460.

2535, pp. 10-11.

1199. CE 2121, pp. 61, 76; CE 2456,

p. 3 ; CE 2459, pp. 2-3 ; CE 2460, p. 6

;

CE 2532 D 9 1200. CE 2121, p. 61 ; CE 2456, p. 4. 1201. 1 H 70 (Marina Oswald).

1202. CE 2456, p. 5. 1203. CE 2461.

1204. CE 2129, p. 6 ; CE 2121, pp. 8, 60. 75-77.

1205. CE 2577, 2121, pp. 61, 77-78 ; CE

2130, 2456, p. 6. 1206. CE 2129, p. 2 ; CE 2130, 2577.

1207. Burcham DE 1. 1208. Cunningham DE 1-A ; 11 H 478 (Cunningham).

1209. Hulen DE 7, 11 ; 10 H 281-283

(Hulen), 285-290 (Barnhorst) ; 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald).

1210. 11 H 479 (Gangl) ; Gangl DE 1. 1211. 3 H 26, 28-29 (R. Paine) ; 1 H

27 (Marina Oswald).

1212. 3 H 26-31, 33 (R. Paine) ; 1 H

27-28, 50 (Marina Oswald).

1213. Id. at 50. 1214. Id. at 28. 1215. 3 H 30-31 (R. Paine).

1216. Id at 31. 1217. 10 H 293 (Gladys J. Johnson).

1218. 6 H 401-402 (Mary E. Bledsoe).

1219. Id. at 404: 10 H 139-140 (R. L. Adams) ; 11 H 480-481 (R. L. Adams).

1220. 6 H 404-406 (Bledsoe). 1221. Id. at 404 ; 3 H 45 (R. Paine) ; CE 1401 p. 262. 1222. CE 994, p. 38. 1223. 6 H 405-406 (Bledsoe). 1224. 3 H 12, 32, 35 (R. Paine).

1225. Id. at 5, 33-34.

1226. 3 H 32 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 428-429

(R. Paine).

1227. 6 H 407 (Bledsoe).

1228. 10 H 294 (G. Johnson) ; 6 H 436-

437 (E. Roberts).

1229. 3 H 38-39 (R. Paine) ; 10 H 294

(G. Johnson).

1230. 6 H 437 (Roberts).

1231. CE 2642.

1232. 2 H 418-419 (M. Paine) ; 3 H

117-lin (R. Paine) ; 9 H 455 (M. Paine) ; 7 H 203 (Holmes).

1233. 3 H 3.3-34 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 29 (Marina Oswald) : CE 994, p. 38. 1234. 3 H .34 (R. Paine) ; CE 994. p. 38 ; 3 H 213 (Rov S. Truly).

1235. 3 H 34-35 (R. Paine) ; CE 994,

p. 38. 1236. 3 H 214, 216 (Truly) ; CE 1949,

p. 4. 1237. 3 H 37 (R. Paine) ; CE 994, p. 38. 1238. 3 H 214-216 (Truly).

1239. 1 H 68 (Marina Oswald).

1240. 3 H 214-216 (Truly) ; 6 H 328

(William II. Shelley). 1241. 3 H 217-218 (Truly) ; 6 H 375

(Jack E. Dougherty), 394 (Geneva L. Hine), 382-383 (Eddie Piper) ; 2 H 219

(Buell W. Frazier).

1242. Id. at 216. 1243. Id. at 217. 1244. 3 H 40 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 52 (Marina Oswald) : CE 994, p. 40. 1245. 3 H 39 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 54 (Marina Oswald).

1246. 3 H 39-40 (R. Paine) ; CE 994,

p. 40. 1247. Ibid. 1248. 3 H 40 (R. Paine).

1249. Arnold Johnson DE 7. 1250. 1 H 55 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H

407-408 (M. Paine) ; 9 H 462-468 (Raymond F. Krystinik).

1251. Ibid ; 2 H 407-412 (M. Paine).

1252. 9 H 465 (Krystinik).

1253. 1 H 54-55 (Marina 0.swald) ; 3 H 40-41 (R. Paine).

1254. Holmes DE 1. 1255. 3 H 41 (R. Paine).

1256. 4 H 441-448 (James A. Hosty), 432-440 (John L. Quigley) ; see CE 834,

p. 8 ; see generally ch. VIII, pp. 434-440.

supra. 1257. 4 H 449-454 (Hostv) ; 1 H 48, 56-57 (Marina Oswald) ; 3 H 92, 96-104

(R. Paine).

1258. 1 H 48 (Marina Oswald).

1259. 3 H 101-102 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 57 (Marina Oswald).

1260. 3 H 102 (R. Paine).

1261. CE 15. 1262. 1 H 48-49 (Marina Oswald).

1263. 2 H 217 (Frazier). 1264. 2 H 514 (R. Faine) ; 3 H 41 (R. Paine) ; 11 H 153-154 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 62 (Marina Oswald).

1265. Id. at 54, 63 ; 2 H 515-516 (R. Paine) ; 3 H 41 (R. Paine).

1266. 1 H 53, 54, 63. 65-66 (Marina Os- wald) ; 3 H 43-46 (R. Paine). Mrs. Paine thought she had placed the call to Oswald

on Monday, November 18. Id. at 43. 1267. 3 H 4.5-46 (R. Paine).

1268. 2 H 222-223 (Frazier). 1269. 2 H 508 (R. Paine) ; 3 H 46, 56-

57 (R. Paine) ; 9 H 414 (R. Paine) ; 1 H

65 (Marina Oswald).

1270. 2 H 508 (R. Paine) ; 3 H 46 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 64-65 (Marina Oswald).

,1271. Id. at 65. 1272. 3 H 46^7, 56-60 (R. Paine) ; 1

IT 65 (Marina Oswald).

1273. Id. at 65-66 ; but see 3 H 47 (R.

'1274". 1 H 66 (Marina Oswald) ; 8 H 60

(R. Paine) ; 9 H 418 (R. Paine).

1275. 3 H 47-49 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 66 (Marina Oswald).

APPENDIX XIV

1. Martin Isaacs DE 1, but see foot- note 9. 2. Ibid., 1 H 318 (Robert Oswald).

3. 1 H 132 (Marguerite Oswald).

4. Isaacs DE 1 : CE 1159.

5. Isaacs DE 1 ; CE 1159.

6. CE 1159: 1 H 3 (Marina Oswald).

7. Isaacs DE 1. 8. 8 H 336 (Pauline Bates).

9. 1 H 318 (R. Oswald). Robert Os- wald testified that Lee paid him back a

little less than $100 upon Lee's arrival.
NOTES TO PAGES 747-745

If this is so, Lee Harvej- Oswald had more money than he reported to the Welfare Department when he arrived in New

York. The $30 fifjure is an estimate based upon reported funds available to Lee Harvey Oswald when he arrived in Fort Worth and upon Robert Oswald's state- ment as to later payments.

10. CE 1165, 1173.

11. 1 H 818 (R. Oswald).

12. CE 1170, 1171, see footnote 56. There is no record of initial subscription. This represents an estimate of cost based on subscription rates in July 1962.

13. CE 1165, 1173.

14. CE 1120.

15. 1 H 318 (R. Oswald).

16. 10 H 230 (Chester Riggs).

17. CE 1172.

18. Estimate based on approximate

time Oswalds resided on Mercedes Ave., Fort Worth in August. 4 H 419 (John W.

Fain) ; 1 H 134 (Marguerite Oswald).

19. CE 1165, 1173.

20. 9 H 144 (Paul R. Gregory) ; 2 H

340 (Peter P. Gregory) ; 5 H 419 (Marina

Oswald).

21. 10 H 230 (C. Riggs) ; CE 1160.

22. CE 1120.

23. 1 H 318 (R. Oswald).

24. CE 1147.

25. CE 1165, 1167, 1173, 1174.

26. 8 H 372 (George H. Bouhe).

27. CE 1120.

28. 10 H 288 (Colin Barnhorst) ; 10 H

281 (Richard L. Hulen) ; CE 1160.

29. CE 1160.

30. 1 H 318 (R. Oswald).

31. Marina Oswald lived at the Hall's for part of the month. 1 H 7, 31 (Marina Oswald). She also received assist- ance from other people. See e.g. 11 H

119-120 (A. Kleinlerer) ; 8 H 345-346

(Clark) ; 5 H 419 (Marina Oswald) ; 1 H

8 (Marina Oswald).

32. CE 1167, 1174.

33. 10 H 238-240 (Mrs. Mahlon F. Tobias) (included $5 key deposit which was

never returned).

34. 11 H 470 (Taylor).

35. CE 1120.

36. 9 H 143 (Paul R. Gregory) ; 1 H

387 (R. Oswald) ; CE 1168.

37. Marina Oswald lived with the

Mellers. the Fords, and the Rays during

part of this month. 2 H 299 (Ford) ; 8 H 386-387 (Meller) ; 8 H 416-417 (Ray) ; 1 H 11-12 (Marina Oswald).

38. CE 1167, 1174.

39. 10 H 240 (Tobias).

40. CE 1160.

41. CE 1120.

42. Farrell Dobbs DE 1 ; 3 H 118 (Ruth

Paine).

43. CE 1167, 1174.

44. 10 H 2,40 (Tobias) ; CE 1160.

45. CE 1120.

46. 7 H 376 (Heinz W. Michaelis) ; Michaelis DE 2 ; CE 1137.

47. CE 1130.

48. CE 1147.

49. CE 1167, 1174.

50. 10 H 240 (Tobias) ; CE 1160.

51. 2 H 418, 9 H 455 (Michael Paine) ; 3 H 118 (R. Paine) ; CE 1145, 1172.

52. CE 1167, 1174.

53. CE 1133, 1134, 1160; 11 H 155

(M. Waldo George).

54. CE 1160.

55. CE 1136; William J. Waldman DE

7. 56. CE 1152, 1170, 1171.

57. 7 H 376-378 (Michaelis) ; Michaelis DE 5 ; CE 1137.

58. CE 1167, 1174.

59. CE 1165.

60. 11 H 155 (George) ; CE 1134.

61. 2 H 459 (R. Paine) ; CE 1168.

62. Although Oswald spent part of this month at the Murrets, 8 H 133, 139 (Lil- lian Murret), and Marina Oswald spent

part of the time at Ruth Paine's, 2 H 457-

461 (R. I'aine), he left money with his wife, 3 H 9 (R. Paine).

63. CE 1161, 1175.

64. CE 1157. 1161.

65. 10 H 265, 274, 276 (Mrs. Jesse Garner) ; CE 1139.

60. Dobbs DE 2. Oswald received copies of the Militant after September

1963. but there is no record he paid for a subscription, 3 H 118, 119 (R. Paine).

67. 10 H 93 (Vincent T. Lee) ; V, T. Lee DE 3-4 ; CE 1140, 1410,

68. Although Oswald spent part of the time at the Murrets, 8 H 139 (L. Murret), and his wife spent part of the time at Ruth Paine's, 2 H 4G8 (R. Paine), this would be offset l)y the fact that Ruth

Paine and her children spent time at the Oswald apartment, and the expenses in- volved in moving into an apartment in another city, 9 H 343 (R. Paine).

69. CE 1161, 1175.

70. See footnote 65. 71. CE 1158.

72. CE 1410, 1411.

73. CE 1176.

74. CE 1161, 1175.

75. See footnote 65.

76. CE 1411.

77. CE 1157, 1161.

78. See footnote 65.

79. CE 1177 ; V. T. Lee DE 6. 80. 10 H 64-66 (Charles H. Steele, Jr.) There is evidence that two people were

handing out literature, but it is not known

if l)oth were paid $2. 81. CE 1157, 1161.

82. Although Oswald left for Mexico and his wife stayed with Ruth Paine dur- ing the latter part of the month, this

is offset by additional expenses incurred

in preparing for the Mexican trip. 83. Marina Oswald testified that just before she left New Orleans, her husband had told her that he had a little over $100 which would be sufficient for his Mexican trip, 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald).

Later she stated he told her he had between

$160-$180, CE 1156. Oswald received $33

in unemployment compensation after his wife left New Orleans. Oswald failed

to pay his rent for September 9. 10 H 274-

275 (Mrs. Jesse Garner).

84. CE 1146, 1166; 1 H 27 (Marina

Oswald).

85. CE 1166.

86. CE 1156 ; 1 H 27 (Marina Oswald) ; CE 1166.

87. Marina Oswald testified that her husband returned from Mexico with about $50 or $70, 1 H 51 (Marina Oswald) ; CE

1156. She later said he had about $70.

88. CE 1157, 1165.

89. CE 1129.

90. 10 H 283 (Hulen) ; 10 H 290 (Barnhorst) ; 6 H 401 (Mary L. Bledsoe) ; 10 H 294 (Mrs. A. C. Johnson).

91. During this time Marina Oswald was living with Ruth Paine. Oswald spent weekends there also, 9 H 344 (R. Paine) ; 1 H 69-70 (Marina Oswald) ; 2 H 216, 219 (Buell W. Frazier).

92. CE 1129.

93. 10 H 294 (Mrs. Johnson).

94. CE 1152, 1178.

95. CE 1151.

96. 2 H 256 (William W. Whaley) ; 2 H 268 (Cecil J. McWatters) ; CE 1168.

97. See footnote 91.

98. CE 1148, 1155. 870
NOTES TO PAGES 746-758 APPENDIX XV

1. CE 1114.

2. He had made out his application for admission on Mar. 19, 1959. See CE 228,

p. 1.3. CE 1114.

4. CE 946.

5. 5 H 262 (Richard E. Snyder).

6. 5 H 295-296.

7. 5 H 262, 288-289.

8. CE 101.

9. Oswald's appearance at the Embassy

has been reconstructed from the testimony

of Richard E. Snyder, 5 H 262-265, 269-

270, and 287-291, and of John A. McVickar,

5 H 300-304 and 322-324, from memoranda

and communications made at the time, CE

908, 909, 910, 941. and 958 and from

Oswald's own notes, CE 24 and 101,

10. 5 H 300 (McVickar) ; 5 H 289

(Snyder).

11. 5 H 262 (Snyder).

12. 5 H 263 (Snyder).

13. 5 H 263 (Snyder).

14. 5 H 289 (Snyder).

15. 5 H 270 (Snyder) ; CE 101.

16. 5 H 263 ; 289-290 (Snyder).

17. 5 H 289 (Snyder) ; CE 908, p. 1; CE 101.

18. 5 H 289 (Snyder) ; see passport, CE

946, p. 1. 19. 5 H 263 (Snyder).

20. CE 913 ; 5 H 263, 289 (Snyder).

21. CE 908, p. 2. 22. CE 946, pp. 8-9 ; CE 908, p. 2. 23. CE 908, p. 2. 24. CE 908, p. 1. 25. CE 908. p. 2. 26. CE 908, p. 2. 27. Ibid. 28. Ibid. 29. 5 H 290 (Snyder) ; see CE 908, p. 3. 30. 5 H 264, 290-291 (Snyder).

31. CE 908, p. 2 : CE 909, pp. 2-3 ; 5 H 264, 290-291 (Snvder).

32. 5 H 291 (Snyder) ; see CE 910.

33. 5 H 266-267 (Snyder) ; CE 910.

34. CE 908, p. 2. 35. CE 950, p. 3; 5 H 341 (Abram

Chayes).

36. CE 910.

37. CE 2750 (see stamp) ; CE 834, p. 1. 88. CE 2752 : and see CE 2750.

39. CE 908.

40. Id. at p. 3. 41. CE 2749 (see stamp) ; CE 834, p. 2 (FBI) ; CE 2752 and enclosure.

42. CE 910. 43 CE 916 961

44.' Ibid.: 5' H 347-348 (Waterman).

45. CE 909, p. 3 ; CE 911, p. 2 : CE 920.

46. CE 919, 920.

47. CE 912.

48. CE 920.

49. CE 919.

50. CE 942, 943, 2683, 2684, 2715.

51. Ibid.

52. 11 H 444 (.Tohnson).

53. CE 911.

54. CE 911, p. 2: 11 H 446-447, 450-

451 (Priscilla Johnson).

55. CE 921.

56. CE 24, entry of Jan. 4, 1960.

57. CE 985, Doc. Nos. 1(A), 2(A) and

3(A)(1).

58. CE 921 ; 5 H 274 (Snyder).

59. CE 923.

60. CE 927.

61. Ibid.

62. CE 928.

03. CE 925.

64. CE 926.

65. 5 H 348-349 (Bernice Waterman).

66. 5 H 349 (Waterman) ; CE 948, question No. 12, pp. 1-2, and regulations attached thereto.

67. CE 950, pt. 2, pp. 204 ; 5 H 317

(Chayes).

68. 5 H 80 (Knight) ; CE 950, pt. 2, pp. 3-4 ; and see CE 948, question No. 12 and all attachments thereto for a general

description of the lookout card procedure.

69. CE 948, question No. 12, pp. 1-2 and regulations attached thereto.

70. CE 962; 5 H 348-349 (Waterman).

71. CE 963 ; 5 H 349 (Waterman).

72. CE 963, 929.

73. CE 948, question No. 13, pp. 2-3 ; 5 H 313 (Chayes).

74. CE 948, question No. 13, p. 1. 75. 5 H 349-351.

76. Passport Office Instruction No.

2300.3 (reproduced in CE 948, question No. 12).

77. 5 H 380 (Frances Knight) ; CE 948, Question 12, p. 3 ; CE 3111.

78. CE 2748.

79. CE 930.

80. See date stamped on CE 2681 and

see CE 2757.

81. 5 H 276 (Snyder).

82. CE 931; 5 H 276-277 (Snyder).

83. 5 H 277 (Snyder).

84. CE 24, entry of Feb. 1, 1961.

85. CE 933.

86. CE 251, 940.

87. CE 932.

88. CE 940.

89. CE 1085.

90. 5 H 352-354 (Waterman).

91. Ibid ; CE 970,. See CE 934.

92. CE 971, 5 H 353-354 (Waterman).

93. CE 1111; CE 24, entry of Apr. 31

[sic], 1961.

94. CE 936.

95. CE 252.

96. CE 937.

97. 5 H 281 (Snyder) ; CE 24, entry of July 8, 1961.

98. CE 24, entry of July 8, 1961 : and see

1 H 96-97 (Marina Oswald), and CE 1401.

99. CE 935, p. 3 100. CE 935. pp. 1-2. 101. 5 H 281 (Snyder) ; CE 938.

102. CE 946; 5 H 284 (Snyder).

103. 5 H 283 (Snyder).

104. 5 H 283 (Snyder).

105. CE 947; 5 H 282-283, 286

(Snyder).

106. CE 938.

107. 5 H 283 (Snyder).

108. 5 H 359-360 (Waterman).

109. CE 938, pp. 3-4.

110. CE 946, p. 6: 5 H 284 (Snyder).

111. CE 935: 5 H 283-285 (Snyder).

112. CE 935, p. 3. 113. CE 935, p. 2. 114. 5 H 318-319 (McVickar).

115. CE 1122 (letter of July 15, 1961).

116. CE 979; 5 H 357-358 (Water- man) ; 11 H 198 (Carroll Hamilton Seeley,

Jr.).117. CE 939.

118. CE 2747.

119. CE 981 ; 5 H 361-362 (Waterman).

120. CE 253-255, 246. 249, 256, 247, 1083, and 1093 (Oswald to Embassy, from Embassy files) ; CE 1076-1082. 1086, 1088 (Embassy to Oswald, from Embassy files) ; CE 1085, 1087, 1094, 1124 ; and 1100-

1106 (Embassy to Oswald, found among

his effects). 121. CE 946.

122. CE 1061, 1098.

123. 5 H 283 (Snyder).

124. CE 979 : 5 H 347, 357 (Waterman) ; CE 948, question No. 11, pp. 1-2. 871
NOTES TO PAGES 758-770

125. 5 H i362 (Waterman) ; 5 H 286

(Snyder).

126. CB 989 ; 5 H 372-376 (Knight) ; 5 H 308-312 (Chayes).

127. Fourteenth amendment ; United

States V. Wong Kim Ark 169 U.S. 649

(1898).

128. 12 U.S.C, see. 1481(a)(1).

129. See pp. 1, 2>, 7, 9-12, supra.

130. 12 U.S.C, sec. 1481(a)(6).

131. 22 CFR, sees. 50.1-50.2 ; 8 Foreign

Affairs Manual sec. 225.6. 132. CE 955; 5 H 263-265 (Snyder).

133. See pp. 2-A, supra.

134. 12 U.S.C, sec. 1481(a)(2).

135. CE 91,3.

1.36. CE 244, 913.

137. Ill Hackworth, "Digest of Inter- national Law," 219-220 (1942) ; see Jalhuena v. Dulles, 254 F. 2d 379, 381

footnote 2 (3d Clr. 1958).

138. In re Bautista, 183 f. Supp. 271, 274 (D.C Guam, 1960) ; see also. De- partment of State to consul at Guadalajara, May 27, 1937, at 218 ; Department

of State consular oflScial in charge at Birmingham, May 10, 1938 ; Director of Consular Service to Counsel Glazbrooke,

Oct. 30, 1914 ; Department of State to consul general in Berlin, Mar. 21, 1934 ; Roche, "The Loss of American Nationality—The Development of Statutory

Expatriation," 99 U. Pa. L. Rev. 25. 33

(1950) ; III HackM^orth, op. cit. supra, footnote 138, at 218-219.

139. Ill Hackworth, op. cit. supra, foot- note at 138 at 218 ; In the Matter of L., 1 Dec. Imm. & Nat. Laws 317, 320, (B.I.A., 1942).

140. See e.g. CE 913.

141. 12 U.S.C, 1481(a)(4).

142. 5 H 310 (Chaves).

143. Cf. Fletes-Mora v. Rogers, 160 F. Supp. 215 (S.D. Cal. 1958) ; Kenji Kamada

V. Dulles, 145 F. Supp. 457, 459 (N.D. Cal. 1956) (both arising under sec. 401 of the Nationality Act of 1940) ; Roche, supra, footnote 138, at 51. 144. Insogna v. Dulles 116 F. Supp. 473 (D.D.C 1953) ; Stipa v. Dulles, 233 F. 2d 551 (3d Cir. 1956).

145. 5 H 304-i306, 318-319 (McVickar).

146. CE 944, 959.

147. CE 944.

148. CE 945 ; 5 H 305 (McVickar).

149. CE 944 ; 5 H 305 (McVickar).

loCk. 1 H 89-90, 97; 5 H 607-608

(Marina Oswald).

151. CE 944.

152. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1155 (1953).

153. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1182(a) (28) (C) ; 8 U.S.C, sec. 1182(a) (28) (I) (1953).

154. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1182(a) (15) (1953).

155. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1253(g).

156. CE 950, pt. IV, pp. 3-5 ; 5 H 339-

340 (Chayes).

157. CE 944.

158. See CE 2746.

159. 11 H 184-185 (Virginia James) ; CE 2745 (code phrase used).

160. CE 190, 193, 247, 256, 1081, 1093,

1100, 1101, 1102. 1104, 1124; CE 2692.

161. CE 2740, 2742, 2743, 2744.

162. CE 1095, pp. 1-2.

163. CE 2653 (taken from the Immigration and Naturalization Service file on Marina Oswald, p. 17 of CD 363) ; CE 196. 164. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1155; 8 CFR, sec. 9.5 a, b. 165. CE 1073.

166. CE 1072.

167. CE 1073.

168. CE 1071.

169. CE 1069, 1070, 2751.

170. CE 1070, pp. 3-4.

171. CE 1070, p. 3. 172. CE 1070.

173. CE 1068.

174. Ibid. 175. Ibid. 176. CE 1067.

177. Ibid. 178. CE 1121.

179. CE 1066.

180. CE 1055, 1066, and see also 11 H

185-188 (James).

181. CE 1065.

182. Ibid. 183. CE 1064.

184. CE 249 ; see also CE 1103 (the notice itself). 185. CE 2735.

186. CE 1095.

187. CE 1096.

188. See CE 1095, p. 1, and CE 2734.

189. 11 H 186 (James). 190 CE 1123, p. 1. 191. CE 2741.

192. CE 1123, p. 2. 193. James DE 6. 194. CE 1777 ; James DE 4. 195. James DE 5. 196. James DE 7. 197. CE 2653, 2654, 2689, 2690, 2702,

2704, 2705.

198. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1155.

199. CE 1070, pp. 3-4.

200. See CE 1073.

201. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1182(a) (15).

202. 22 CFR, sec. 42.91 (a) (15) (1963

Supp.).

203. 8 U.S.C, sec. 1182(a) (28) (I) (1953).

204. CE 944 ; 5 H 607-608.

205. CE 950, pt. 4, pp. 203. 206. 1 H 89-90, 97 ; 5 H 607-608 H

(Marina Oswald).

207. 5 H 321 (McVickar) ; Cf. aalvan v. Press, 347 U.S. 522, 527 (1954) ; Rowoldt

v. Perfetto, 355 U.S. 115, 120 (1957) (cases arising under sec. 22 of the Internal Security Act of 1950 as amended in 1951).

208. Immigration and Nationality Act,

sec. 212(a) (19); 8 U.S.C, sec. 1182(a)

(19) (1953).

209. See generally, Gordon and Rosenfield, "Immigration Law and Procedure,"

229, 424-427 (1959) ; Appleman, "Misrepresentation in Immigration Law : Materiality." 22 Fed. B.J. 267 (1962).

210. Langhammer v. Hamilton, 295 F. 2d 642, 648 (1st Cir. 1961) ; see also Chaunt v. United States, 364 U.S. 350, 355

(1960) (denaturalization proceeding).

211. E.g., Calvillo v. Robinson, 271 F. 2d 249 (7th Cir. 1959).

212. Visa Office Bulletin 90, Mar. 2, 1962.

213. CE 950, pt. 4, p. 4. 214. Ibid. 215. Operation Instructions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service

205.3. (This revised instruction was effec- tive Feb. 15, 1962-June 30, 1962. Other

versions which may have been considered during Oswald's case were different only

in irrelevant respects.) 216. 22 CFR, 42, 120 (1964 Supp.).

217. 22 CFR., sec. 42.120 (1964 Supp.). Procedural note 2 (reproduced in CE 950,

pt. 4, p. 5). 218. 11 H 184, 186, 190-191 (James).

219. CE 950, pt. 4, p. 10 ; 11 H 190-191

(James).

220. CE 1058, pp. 1-2.

221. CE 1058, p. 11. 222. Id. at 4. 223. Id. at 5. 224. Id. at 6-11.

225. Id. at 2. 226. CE 246. 227. CE 1102.

228. CE 189, 2660, 2731.

229. CE 1138, 2660, 2680, 2760. 8T2
NOTES TO PAGES 170-779

230. CE 223. 231. CE 197, 1086.

232. CE 2737, 2738, 2739.

233. CE 2736.

234. CE 1098.

2i35. CE 950, pt. 5, pp. 1-2. E.g., 60

Stat. 452, 79th Cong., 2d sess. (1946) ; 75 Stat. 546, 87th Cong., 1st sess. (1961).

236. CE 950, pt. 5, pp. 1-2. E.g., H.

Rept. 442, 87th Cong., 1st sess. (1961) 4; H. Rept. 1996, 87th Cong., 2d sess. (1962)

4 ; H. Rept. 388, 88th Cong., 1st sess. (1963) 4. 237. CE 950, pt. 5, exhibit 2. 238. 7 Foreign Affairs Manual sec. 423

2-1.

239. 7 Foreign Affairs Manual, sec. 423

1-2.

240. CE 950, pt. 5, p. 3. 241. 7 Foreign Affairs Manual sec. 423

3-2.242. 7 Foreign Affairs Manual sec. 423

3-5 ; CE 223, 2660, 2766.

243. 7 Foreign Affairs Manual sec. 423

3—3

2144. See supra, p. 758 ; cf. 7 Foreign Af

fairs Manual sec. 423, 7-1.

245. CE 950, pt. 5, p. 6 ; 7 Foreign Af

fairs Manual sec. 423.5 ; CE 950 (repatri ation loan, p. 7) ; 7 Foreign Affairs Manual

sec. 423.6. 246. CE 948, question No. 13, p. 3. 247. CE 1098.

248. CE 948, question No. 13, pp. 3-4.

249. CE 1099, 1401.

250. CE 29, 946, 1099.

251. CE 1099.

252. See generally CE 834 (communications to FBI) and CE 2752 (communications to CIA).

253. CE 1059.

254. CE 1060, 1776.

255. CE 2657.

256. CE 1120.

257. CE 781, 952, 1969.

258. CE 781. 259. CE 781. 260. CE 952; 5 H 335 (Chayes).

261. CE 1969.

262. CE 2754, 2755 ; and see CE 952

(all applications that were made on June

24 for New Orleans in same teletype as Oswald's were authorized within 24 hours).

26,3. CE 948, question No. 1 ; 5 H 3i35 (Chayes). The accuracy of their state- ment was confirmed, see CE 1057.

264. 5 H 334-335 (Chayes).

265. CE 950, pt. 2, p. 8. 266. CE 948, question No. 13, pp. 1-3.

267. Id. at question No. 13, pp. 3-4.

268. Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116 (1958).

269. Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378

U.S. 500 (1964).

270. 64 Stat. 993 ; 50 U.S.C. 785. 271. 22 CFR 51.135 (1964 Supp.).

272. See ch. VI, pp. 2l87-290. 273. 66 Stat. 190 (1952j ; 8 U.S.C.

sec. 1185(b).

274. Proclamation No. 2914 (Dec. 16, 1950), 64 Stat. A454 ; Proclamation No. 2974 (Apr. 18, 1952), set out preceding 50 U.S.C. app. 1 ; Proclamation No. 3004

(Jan. 21, 1953), 18 Fed. Reg. 489.

275. 22 CFR sec. 51.136 (1964 Supp.).

276. CE 948, question No. 17 ; 5 H 327-

328, 337 (Chayes).

277. 5 H 333 (Chayes).

278. CE 2750; Folsom DE 1. 279. CE 834, pp. 1-2 ; CE 2749, 2750 ; 5 H 333 (Chayes).

280. 5 H 333 (Chayes) and see 11 H 200

(Seeley) and 5 H 383 (Knight).

281. Hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Department

of State Passport Policies, 85th Cong.,

1st sess., pp. 38-39 (1957).

282. 11 H 186-187 (James) ; 5 H 332

(Chayes) ; CE 950 (Repatriation Loan,

p. 3) ; see Comment, "Passport Refusals

for Political Reasons : Constitutional

Issues and Judicial Review," 61 Yale L.J. 171, 174-178 (1952), for examples of passport refusals prior to Kent v. Dulles^ 283. 357 U.S. 116 (1958).

284. 357 U.S. 144 (1958).

285. 357 U.S. 116. 125-126.

286. Hearings before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on S. 2770,

et al., 85th Cong., 2d sess., p. 35 (1958) ; id. at 41 (Roderic O'Connor, Administrator, Bureau of Security and Consular

Affairs of the Department of State) ; id. at 22 ; hearings before the Senate Committee

on Foreign Relations on S. 806 et al. 86th

Cong., 1st sess., p. 58 (1959) ; see also testimony of John W. Hanes, Jr., Administrator, Bureau of Security and Consular

Affairs, Department of State ; Hearings

before a special subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Government Operations on S. 2095, 86th Cong., 1st sess. 157

(1959) ; compare id. at 369. The regulation was reenacted in 1962. 22 CFR sec. 51.136 (1964 Supp.).

287. CE 949; 5 H 327-328. 331-332

(Chayes) ; 5 H 379-380 (Knight).

288. 5 H 327-329, 333 (Chayes) ; id. at 338-339 ; CE 2756, attachment pp. 2-3. However, the Department had stamped

Oswald's passport valid for direct return

to the United States only, prior to granting

him a repatriation loan. CE 946, p. 6, and ,5 H 284 (Snyder).

289. 5 H 327-329, 333 (Chayes).

290. Copy of communication cannot be shown for security reasons.

291. CE 948, question No. 16. 292. 11 H 201-203 (Carroll Hamilton

Seeley, Jr.) 11 H 191-193 (James L. Ritchie) ; CE 948, question No. 16. 293. CE 948, question No. 16; see 5 H

382-383 (Knight).

294. 11 H 482 (James D. Crowley).

295. CE 2688 ; cf. 5 H 278, 280, 288. 296. James DE 9.

APPENDIX XVI

1. See also CE 1286.

2. See CE 1290.

3. CE 1254; CE 1297, p. 1. 4. See Mrs. Alice Nichols DE 5355, p. 285; CE 1234, 1274, 1654.

5. C. Ray Hall DE 2, pp. 13, 16 ; C. Ray

Hall DE 1 ; CE 1322, p. 748.

6. CE 1232.

7. CE 1181.

8. But cf. Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 185.

730-900 0-64—57

9. 15 H 15 (Hyman Rubenstein) ; CE

1252 ; CE 1281, p. 20 ; CE 1285.

10. See generally CE 1283, 1284.

11. See CE 1186.

12. CE 1254 ; see 14 H 439 (Eva Grant).

13. 1254; see 14 H 488 (Sam Ruby).

14. 14 H 366 (Earl Ruby) ; but see CE 1286.

15. 15 H 276 (Eileen Kaminsky) ; CE

1698, p. 1. 873
NOTES TO PAGES n9-l%7

16. See CE 1281, p. 20 ; cf. 15 H 19 (Rubenstein) and CE 1297, p. 3, with CE 1185.

17. CE 1283; see 15 H 14 (Rubenstein).

18. CE 1283; cf. 15 H 14 (Rubenstein).

19. Id. at 14-15 ; CE 1297, pp. 3-4.

20. 15 H 18 (Rubenstein) ; see 14 H 439

(Grant) ; CE 1281, pp. 20, 42; CE 1297,

p. 3. 21. 15 H 15 (Rubenstein) ; cf. CE 1281,

pp. 11, 20. 22. See CE 1284 ; 14 H 437-438

(Grant) ; 15 H 17 (Rubenstein).

23. CE 1281, p. 20. 24. 15 H 15 (Rubenstein) ; cf. CE 1283.

25. See CE 1283.

26. See CE 1281, pp. 11-12.

27. 14 H 438-439 (Grant).

28. CE 1284; see CE 1281, pp. 11, 20;

cf. CE 1238.

29. See CE 1252; CE 1281, pp. 11, 20; CE 1284, 1285, p. 2 ; see also 15 H 2, 3 (Rubenstein).

30. CE 1281, p. 11. 31. CE 1284; CE 1281, p. 11.

32. See CE 1281, pp. 11, 14, 20, 23;

15 H 17-18 (Rubenstein) ; 14 H 418 (Earl Ruby) ; 14 H 285 (Kaminsky),

33. See 15 H 8, 19-20 (Rubenstein).

34. CE 1185.

35. CE 1290.

36. CE 1185.

37. 14 H 366 (Earl Ruby).

38. 14 H 441 (Grant).

39. 14 H 367 (Earl Ruby).

40. 15 H 18 (Rubenstein).

41. CE 1256.

42. 14 H 439 (Grant) ; CE 1281, p. 11 ; see CE 1297, pp. 3, 8. 43. CE 1281, p. 21. 44. Id. at 42 ; see also 15 H 18-19

(Rubenstein).

45. CE 1291, p. 1. 46. CE 1297, p. 2 ; CE 1291, pp. 4-5.

47. CE 1297, p. 13 ; see CE 1291, pp-. 5-6.

48. CE 1291, pp. 6-7.

49. CE 1297, p. 3 ; CE 1291, p. 1. 50. CE 1297, p. 1. 51. CE 1291, p. 4 ; see CE 1297, p. 2 ; see also id. at 7.

5'2. CE 1297, p. 9 ; see CE 1291, p. 2. 53. CE 1291. p. 2 : see CE 1297, p. 9. 54. CE 1291, p. 2 ; see CE 1297. p. 22. 55. CE 1297, pp. 11, 16 : CE 1291, p. 3. 56. CE 1291. p. 4 ; see CE 1297, p. 7. 57. CE 1291, p. 4. 58. CE 1297. p. 2 ; see CE 1291, p. 5. 59. CE 1291, p. 6. 60. CE 1254, 1286.

61. CE 1254 ; CE 1291, p. 1 ; see 14 H

367 (Earl Ruby).

62. CE 1254, 1255.

63. CE 1256.

64. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 12 ; 15 H 276-

277 (Kaminsky).

65. 14 H 366-367 (Earl Ruby).

66. 15 H 9-10 (Rubenstein) ; 15 H

277-278 (Kaminsky) ; CE 1281, pp. 11-12.

67. Id. at 12.

68. CE 1188.

69. CE 1281, p. 23.

70. 15 H 19 (Rubenstein).

71. CE 1281. pp. 11, 13, 20, 23.

72. Id. at 3-8.

73. Id. at 35.

74. Id. at 43.

75. Id. at 42-44 ; see also id. at 40-41.

76. Id. at 28.

77. Id. at 36, 34. 78. Id. at 47-48.

79. CE 1283. 1284 ; cf. p. 780 supra.

80. CE 1238.

81. 15 H 19-20 (Rubenstein).

82. 14 H 120 (Alice Nichols) ; see 15 H

278 (Kaminsky).

83. CE 1253.

84. CE 1290.

85. See CE 1297, pp. 17, 22, 26.

86. See CE 1290 ; cf. CE 1202, and Earl Ruby DE 4, p. 174, with CE 1276.

87. See 15 H 10 (Rubenstein) ; 14 H

4.39 (Grant) ; 14 H 416, 420 (Earl Ruby) ; Sam Ruby DE 1. p. 185 ; C. Ray Hall DE 2, p. 13 ; C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; CE 1185.

88. See CE 1290.

89. See 15 H 10 (Rubenstein) ; CE 1297,

pp. 2, 8. 90. CE 1297, pp. 12, 17; see CE 1291,

p. 4. 91. 15 H 18 (Rubenstein) ; 14 H 418

(Earl Ruby) ; see 15 H 284-285 (Kaminsky).

92. 14 H 418 (Earl Ruby).

93. See 15 H 18 (Rubenstein).

94. 15 H 10 (Rubenstein) ; Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 185 ; C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; CE 1195, 1197, 1200, 1282.

95. 15 H 26 (Rubenstein) ; C. Ray Hall DE 1 : CE 1193, 1195, 1204, 1282.

96. 15 H 12 (Rubenstein).

97. 15 H 533-5.34 (Jack Ruby).

98. See 15 H 9 (Rubenstein) ; CE 1254, 1255 1699

99'. 14 H 443-445 (Grant) ; 15 H 21

(Rubenstein).

100. 15 H 21 (Rubenstein) ; 14 H 444-

445 (Grant) ; see, e.g., CE 1193. 1194, 1195, 1196, 1197, 1200, 1202, 1205 ; Joseph

Rossi DE 1 ; CE 1219.

101. Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 185 ; C. Ray

Hall DE 3, p. 15; CE 1195, 1196, 1197, 1205, 1219 ; but cf. CE 1217, 1218.

102. See 15 H 11-14 (Rubenstein) ; CE

1193.

103. CE 1200, 1216.

104. 15 H 21 (Rubenstein) ; CE 1288; CE 1289, p. 4. 105. CE 1244.

106. CE 1195.

107. CE 1200, 1242.

108. CE 1194, 1197, 1246, 1289, p. 3;

see also p. 781 supra.

109. CE 1267.

110. CE 1193 ; see also CE 1282.

111. CE 1282; CE 1289, p. 3. 112. E.g.. CE 1208, 1266, 1267.

113. CE 1191.

114. See, e.g.. CE 1191. 1194. 1198, 1261 ; cf. CE 1297. pp. 17. 23. 115. 14 H 440 (Grant).

116. CE 1191.

117. 14 H 440 (Grant).

lis. 15 H 28 (Rubenstein) ; see, e.g., CE 1185. 1191. 1193, 1194, 1215, 1217.

119. C. Ray Hall DE 1 : C. Ray Hall DE 3. p. 13 ; see also 14 H 44 (Grant) ; CE 1239.

120. See CE 1195. 1198, 1231, 1241. 1263, 1278.

121. C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 13. 122. See CE 1318.

123. 14 H 441-442 (Grant).

124. 14 H 441 (Grant) ; CE 1239.

125. 14 H 442 (Grant) : see also CE

1225. 1237, p. 5 ; CE 1239, 1249.

126. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 13; see C. Ray Hall DE 1. 127. 14 H 442 (Grant).

128. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 13. 129. 14 H 442 (Grant) ; CE 1195, 1198, 1231, 1237, p. 5 : CE 1239, 1249. 1263, 1323,

1324.

130. Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 185 ; CE 1195, 1323

131. C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; CE 1239, 1249, 1263 ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 13. 132. 14 H 442 (Grant) ; see also CE

1198. 1237, p. 5 ; CE 1263, 1278, 1324.

133. See CE 1195, 1198, 1231, 1249,

1263, 1323, 1324.

134. CE 1249. 874
NOTES TO PAGES 787-794

135. CE 1195.

136. CE 1263.

137. CE 1195.

138. CE 1248.

139. Alice Nichols DE 5355, p. 285.

140. See also Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 185.

141. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 13. 142. See p. 783 supra.

143. CE 1281, p. 10. 144. Cf. CE 1217, with CE 1205 ; cf. CE

1266.

145. CE 1241.

146. See CE 1200, 1203, 1207, 1208, 1246, 1261, 1299.

147. CE 1241.

148. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 15 ; cf. C. Ray Hall DE 1. 149. See CE 1293, p. 1 ; CE 1292, p. 1 ; see also 14 H 419-420 (Earl Ruby).

150. CE 1318 ; see also 14 H 420 (Earl Ruby )

.

151. See 14 H 445 (Grant) ; CE 1190,

1206, 1279, 1289, pp. 2-3.

152. See CE 1236, 1279 ; but cf. CE 1235.

153. CE 1293, p. 4. 154. CE 1211.

155. See C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; CE 1190.

156. 14 H 523 (Jack Ruby) ; C. Ray

Hall DE 1 ; see also Alice Nichols DE

5355, p. 285: CE 1187.

157. CE 1190, p. 1. 158. See CE 1206, 1211 ; 5 H 200 (Jack Ruby).

159. CE 1206, 1279.

160. CE 1279, 1289, p. 3. 161. See CE 1292, p. 3 ; CE 1293, p. 4. 162. See CE 1292, pp. 7-8.

163. See CE 1190, 1206, 1289, pp. 2^3;

but cf. CE 1184. pp. 26-27.

164. See C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 13 ; 14 H 442 (Grant) ; 14 H 368

(Earl Ruby).

165. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 13. 166. Ibid. 167. CE 1702, p. 1 ; see also 14 H 443

(Grant).

168. See CE 1280.

169. CE 1702.

170. CE 1702; 14 H 443 (Grant) ; CE

1237, p. 8. 171. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 13 ; but cf. CE 1192.

172. CE 1274.

173. CE 1319.

174. See CE 1237, p. 8. /175. See, e.g., CE 1192, 1193, 1194, 1196. 1197, 1205. 1217. 1243, 1245, p. 44. 176. See CE 1192, 1204, 1208, 1217.

177. CE 1248.

178. CE 1245, p. 46; CE 1246, 1299;

cf. CE 1205.

179. See e.g., 14 H 409-410 (Earl Ruby) ; 15 H 20 (Rubenstein) ; CE 1192,

1203, 1208, 1246, 1289. pp. 2, 5. 180. CE 1257.

181. See CE 1289, p. 5. 182. 14 H 411 (Earl Ruby) ; 14 H 20

(Rubenstein) ; CE 1192.

183. CE 1241 ; CE 1289, p. 3. 184. CE 1703: see also CE 1319.

185. See 15 H 21 (Rubenstein) : CE

1191, 1199, 1205, 1220, 1239, 1244, 1246.

186. See CE 1193, 1203, 1207, 1217,

1239, 1244, 1289, p. 3. 187. CE 1193.

188. CE 1299.

189. See CE 1193. 1216, 1258.

190. See CE 1193, 1196, 1200, 1201,

1202, 1203. 1207, 1208, 1241 ; CE 1245,

p. 8 ; CE 1246.

191. See CE 1202, 1210, 1212, 1321.

192. See CE 1321.

193. See, e.g., 5 H 200, 204 (Jack Ruby) ; 15 H 21, 28-29 (Rubenstein) ; 14 H 443-

444 (Grant) ; CE 1288 : CE 1289, p. 3. 194. CE 1274.

195. Ibid.

196. CE 1704.

197. See CE 1296, 1705.

198. Cf. CE 1245, pp. 44-45 with p. 10

supra. Cf. CE 1245, p. 45, with the next paragraph in text, cf. CE 1245, p. 46, with

p. 791 infra : see also CE 1245, p. 47. 199. 15 H 44 (Rubenstein) ; see also CE 1287.

200. CE 1274 ; see CE 1189.

201. See 14 H 366, 368-369 (Earl Ruby) ; 14 H 443 (Grant) ; 15 H 4, 44

(Rubenstein) ; 14 H 497-498, 502-503 (Sam Ruby).

202. CE 1189.

203. See CE 1707, pp. 2, 14-15; CE

1706, p. 15. 204. CE 1706, p. 15, insert (2) to p. 15, 16-22.

205. CE 1707, p. 2. 206. CE 1287, 1295 ; see also 14 H 411

(Earl Ruby).

207. CE 1295.

208. Ibid. 209. CE 1294.

210. See CE 1294, 1287.

211. See CE 1294, 1295.

212. See p. 789 .supra. 213. CE 1294.

214. See 14 H 370 (Earl Ruby) ; 15 H

3 (Rubenstein) ; Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 185;

but cf. C. Ray Hall DE 2, p. 16. 215. 14 H 370 (Earl Ruby).

216. Id. at 369-370.

217. Id. at 371 ; see CE 1268.

218. 14 H 371 (Earl Ruby).

219. Id. at 422-423.

220. Id. at 370.

221. Id. at 370, 422-423 ; 14 H 493 (Sam

Ruby) : C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 14 ; see also CE 1200, 1207, 1241.

222. See, e.g., CE 1213, 1240, 1245, p. 4 ; CE 1247, 1277.

223. CE 1262 ; see CE 1209. 1211, 1214,

1247, 1320, 1321.

224. CE 1321.

225. CE 1241 ; see also CE 1289, p. 5. 226. 14 H 411 (Earl Ruby).

227. CE 1708.

228. See CE 1259.

229. See CE 1245, p. 7. 230. CE 1259.

231. CE 1268.

232. Cf. 14 H 436 (Grant) with id. at 447.

233. Id. at 436, 453.

234. Id. at 453 ; see 15 H 22-23

(Rubenstein).

235. 14 H 449 (Grant).

236. Ibid.; 15 H 23 (Rubenstein).

237. See p. 793 infra. 238. CE 1271, p. 274. 239. C. Ray Hall DE 1 : C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 14. 240. CE 1708 ; see CE 1250.

241. CE 1265, 1708, 1709.

242. See 14 H 449-451 (Grant) ; 14 H

23-24 (Rubenstein) : CE 1250, 1710, 1711, 1271, 1272, 1273, 1300.

243. CE 1271, p. 279; CE 1708. 1711.

244. See footnote 242 supra.

245. CE 1710; cf. CE 1711.

246. CE 1271, p. 274. 247. C. Ray Hall DE 2, p. 13. 248. C. Ray Hall DE 1. 249. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 14. 250. See p. 791 supra.

251. CE 1251 ; see also CE 1298.

252. CE 1184, p. 21 : CE 1265 ; see also CE 2887.

253. CE 2416. ^ _ ^^^

254. 14 H 371 (Earl Ruby) ; 14 H 493 (Sam Ruby). , ^ 255. 14 H 371, 423 (Earl Ruby).

256. CE 1182; cf. C. Ray Hall DE 2. p. 13. 257. CE 1708. 875
NOTES TO PAGES 194-199

258. CE 1224, 1229, 1264, 1712; but

cf. 15 H 516 (Stanley M. Kaufman).

259. See C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 14; CE 1318; see also CE 1230, p. 593. 260. 14 H 453 (Grant) ; C. Ray Hall DE 1. 261. 14 H 453-454 (Grant).

262. See p. 791 supra.

263. 14 H 453 (Grant).

264. Id. at 454; CE 1222, 1269, 1270;

see CE 1190.

265. 14 H 138-139 (Ralph Paul) ; see Alice Nichols DE 5355, p. 238 ; C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; cf. Ralph Paul DE 5319, p. 471. 266. See p. 788 supra.

267. 14 H 115-116 (Alice Nichols) ; CE

1221, 1223.

268. 14 H 116 (Alice Nichols) ; C. Ray

Hall DE 1. 269. C Ray Hall DE 3, p. 14. 270. 14 H 117 (Alice Nichols) ; 14 H 417, 426 (Earl Ruby).

271. 14 H 117 (Alice Nichols) ; C. Ray

Hall DE 1. 272. C. Ray Hall DE 1 ; CE 1227, 1228. 273. CE 1228 ; see C. Ray Hall DE 1. 274. 14 H 455 (Grant) ; see 15 H 220

(Joseph W. Johnson, Jr.). 275. Ibid. ; 15 H 415 (Nancy Powell).

276. CE 1230, p. 593.

277. CE 1696 ; see C. Ray Hall DE 1

,

CE 1227.

278. Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 187; C. Ray

Hall DE 1 ; CE 1538 ; cf. 14 H 117 (Alice Nichols) ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 14. 279. Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 187 ; C. Ray

Hall DE 1, p. 3 ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 14 ; see 14 H 454 (Grant).

280. 14 H. -^96-497 (Sam Ruby).

281. 14 H ^42 (Paul); CE 1675; but

see CE 1569, 1656.

282. CE 1500, 1569,

283. 14 H 382 (Earl Ruby) ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 14 ; cf. CE 1500, and CE 1549, with 14 H 382-383 (Earl Ruby) and 14 H

456-457 (Grant).

284. CE 1653, 1656, 1677.

285. CE 1500, 1569; 14 H 141 (Paul).

286. 14 H 141 (Paul) ; see C. Ray Hall DE 1. 287. 14 H 136 (Paul) ; CE 1504.

288. 14 H 139, 141 (Paul).

289. Id. at 142-143.

290. See 13 H 319 (Andrew Armstrong,

Jr.) ; 15 H 212 (Thomas S. Palmer).

291. 13 H 436 (Curtis Laverne Crafard).

292. CE 1322, pp. 744-745 ; see 15 H

193 (Marjorie Richey).

293. Cf. CE 1322, pp. 12-13 ; 14 H 458

(Grant) ; 13 H 320 (Armstrong).

294. See CE 1322, pp. 12-13 ; 14 H 458

(Grant) ; 13 H 320 (Armstrong).

295. See, e.g., CE 1514, 1616, 1629, 1630,

1631, 1634.

296. E.g., 15 H 414, 416-417 (Powell) ; 13 H 134 (Armstrong) ; 15 H 219, 221-

222 (J. Johnson) ; 14 H 642 (Kay Olsen) ; CE 1530.

297. CE 1222, 1512, 1527, 1529, 1541,

1542, 1623, 1624, 1647, 1649, 1650, 1670,

1685.

298. CE 1502, 1532, 1533, 1651, 1653,

1657.

299. CE 1517, 1561, p. 297: CE 1656, 1682, 1683, 1637; cf. CE 1565, 1681.

300. CE 1515, p. 549; CE 1635.

301. CE 1648, 1657.

302. 12 H 216 (Karen Carlin) ; CE 1561,

p. 300 ; CE 1653.

303. E.g., CE 1512, 1648; CE 1653.

304. CE 1530; 15 H 413 (Powell).

305. CE 155.6. 306. See CE 1548, 1568, 1676, 1633 ; 15 H 440 (T. M. Hansen).

307. CE 1674.

308. 14 H 616-619 (Joseph L. Peter- son) ; CE 1564, 1566 ; but cf. 14 H 601-

602 (Breck Wall).

309. Cf. 14 H 617 (Peterson) and CE

1564 and 1566, with 14 H 614 (Wall) ; see also CE 1657.

310. See CE 1514, 1554, 1672.

311. CE 1683.

312. 15 H 209 (Palmer).

313. E.g., CE 1530.

314. See 15 H 208 (Palmer),

315. Id. at 211-214 ; CE 1543, 1544.

316. 15 H 415^16 (Powell).

317. 14 H 459 (Grant).

318. See CE 1543, p. 191 ; CE 1562.

319. See 5 H 200 (Jack Ruby) ; IT) H

28-29 (Rubenstein) ; 14 H 458-460

(Grant) ; 13 H 500 (Crafard).

320. 15 H 209 (Palmer) ; see 14 H 605

(Wall).

321. 15 H 208, 214 (Palmer) ; 15 H 199

(Marjorie Richey) ; CE 1648 ; but cf. 15 H

415 (Powell) ; CE 1540, 1541, 1542.

322. CE 1261, 1521, 1522, 1523, 1524, 1525, 1526.

323. See 15 H 211 (Palmer) ; CE 1322,

pp. 744-45.

324. See 15 H 211 (Palmer) ; 15 H 200

(Marjorie Richey) ; 15 H 410 (Powell; ; CE 1561, p. 297.

325. 15 H 410-411 (Powell) ; CE 1561.

p. 301.

326. See 15 H 210-211 (Palmer) ; 15 H

411-412 (Powell) ; 15 H 199 (Marjorie

Richey) ; CE 1561, p. 299. 327. Cf. 15 H 412 (Powell; and CE 1501, and 1557 with CE 1550, and CE 1561, p. 300.

,328. See 13 H 368-369 (Armstrong) ; 14 H 67-68 (Crafard) ; 15 H 99-100 (William

D. Crowe, Jr.) ; 15 H 200-201 (Marjorie

Richey) ; CE 1508, 1530, 1563.

329. See 14 H 456 (Grant) ; 15 H 219-

220 (J. Johnson) ; CE 1560.

330. See 15 H 518 (Kaufman) ; CE 1519,

1571, 1572, 1573, 1574, 1575, 1662, 1664,

1665, 1666, 1667, 1668, 1669, 1680, 1686,

1687.

331. See 12 H 184 (August M. Eber- hardt) ; 13 H 309-311 (Armstrong) ; 14 H 455 (Grant) ; CE 1735, 1748.

332. CE 1575.

333. See 13 H 310 (Armstrong) ; 14 H

455 (Grant) ; CE 1570, 1667, 1668, 1669, 1673.

334. CE 1669.

335. See CE 1574, 1662, 1664, 1665, 1680.

336. See CE 1519, 1574, 1679,

337. See CE 1571, 1572, 1573, 1686, 1687.

338. See CE 1519,

339. See footnote 335 supra ; CE 1666.

340. CE 1660, 1661,

341. See CE 1678 ; cf. 15 H 385 (Abra- ham Kleinman) ; 4:e 1218, 1226.

342. See CE 1713, p. 3 ; CE 1719, p. 1

;

see generally CE 1720.

343. CE 1539.

344. See CE 1720, 1721, 1723, 1724 ; cf. CE 1722, 1725, 1726.

345. See CE 1720, p, 29 ; CE 1727, pp. 1-4 ; CE 1728, p. 2. 346. CE 1727, 1728, 1729, 1730, 1731.

347. CE 1729, 1730, 1731 ; cf. CE 1715,

1716.

348. CE 1713, p. 3 ; CE 1714.

349. See CE 1713, pp. 3, 9; CE 1714

pp. 1, 3 ; CE 1715, pp. 1, 4 : CE 1716, pp.

1, 6 ; CE 1717, pp. 1, 2 ; CE 1718, pp. 1, 3 ; CE 1719, pp. 1, 5, 350. CE 1713, pp, 1, 3 ; CE 1714, p. 1. 351. See generally CE 1720.

352. See CE 1732, 1733.

353. See CE 1727, 1729, 17,30, 1731. 876
NOTES TO PAGES 799-804

354. CE 1728, pp. 2, 4. 355. CE 1516.

356. CE 1619.

357. See 15 H 26 (Rubenstein) ; Alice Nichols DE 5355, p. 287 ; CE 1613.

358. CE 1552 ; see CE 1742. 359 CE 1531

360*. Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 187 ; 14 H 391

(Earl Ruby) ; 15 H 27 (Rubenstein) ; CE 1478, p. 4. 361. See Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 187; CE

1555, 1638, 1639, 1640, 1641, 1642, 1694 ; cf. CE 1720, p. 19. 362. 5 H 202 (Jack Ruby) ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 15 ; CE 1688, 1689.

363. CE 1534 ; cf. CE 1746.

364. 14 H 129-130 (Robert C. Patter- son) ; CE 1503, 1507.

365. 15 H 224 (Edward .T. Pullman) ; see also CE 1507.

366. 13 H 416-417 (Crafard) ; CE 1535.

1606.

367. See 13 H 386-n388 (Bertha

Cheek) ; 14 H 457-458 (Grant) ; 15 H 230 (Pullman) ; 15 H 237-238 (Joseph P. Rossi) ; CE 1509, 1551, 1617, 1643, 1644.

368. 15 H 24-25 (Rubenstein).

369. Id. at 25; 14 H 390-391 (Earl Ruby).

370. CE 1567, 1695 ; see 15 H 237

(Rossi).

371. 15 H 224-227 (Pullman) ; 15 H 413

(Powell).

372. See CE 1528.

373. See CE 1607, 1608, 1609, 1610,

1611, 1612.

374. CE 1233, 1654.

875. CE 1518.

376. CE 1510.

377. Ibid. ; CE 1233.

378. CE 1233.

379. Ibid. 380. See, e.g., CE 1505; 1537. 1632, 1736.

381. 4 H 167, 191-192 (Jesse Curry).

382. See 4 H 240 (J. W. Fritz) ; 12 H 193-195 (Eberhardt) ; 14 H 626 (Harry

N. Olsen) ; Nancy Powell DE 3 ; CE 1180,

1224, 1511, pp. 152-153; CE 1512, 1542, 1592, 1615, 1621, 1622, 1632, 1646, 1735,

1743, 1744, 1745, 1748, 1749.

383. See, e.g., CE 1229, 1547, 1549,

1620, 1648, 1736, p. 2; Pullman DE 1. 384. 13 H 324 (Armstrong) ; see C. Ray

Hall DE 3, p. 17.

'385. 13 H 434 (Crafard) ; 14 H 213-214

(George Senator) ; Pullman DE 1 ; C. Ray

Hall DE 3, p. 17 ; CE 1502, 1663.

386. See 14 H 213-214 (Senator) ; 15 H 228 (Pullman) ; Pullman DE 1 ; C. Ray

Hall DE 3, p. 17; CE 1505, 1513; CE

1515, p. 551 ; CE 1632, 1636, 1646 ; CE

1659, p. 198; CE 1663, 1739, 1741, 1744,

1747, 1749.

387. See CE 1615, 1636, 1684, 1740.

388. See 13 H 193 (Eberhardt) ; 14 H

485 (Grant).

3&9. 13 H 193 (Eberhardt) ; 15 H 447-

448 (Hansen) ; CE 1592, 1646, 1736, 2325.

390. See 14 H 626 (Harry Olsen) ; 14 H 641-642 (Kay Olsen) ; but of. CE

1749.

391. ,See pp. 792-793 supra.

392. See p. 794 supra.

393. See CE 1505, 1536, 155,9, 1742,

1745, 1748, 1750, 1751, 1752, 1758 ; but see

5 H 201 (Jack Ruby) ; CE 1697, pp. 2-5.

394. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 16. 395. See p. 802 infra. 396. Alice Nichols DE 535:5i, p. 289 ; cf. 14 H 115, 122-123 (Alice Nichols).

397. CE 1693.

398. ,See CE 1754, 1755 ; CE 1748, 1752.

399. CE 1506, 1520, 1585, 1618, 1652 ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 16 ; cf. CE 1757, 1758.

400. 5 H 103 (J. Edgar Hoover) ; CE

1353, 1628, 1760.

401. R. C. Patterson DE 5358 ; CE 1229, 1467, 1514, 1469, 1470 ; CE 1543, p. 195 ; CE 1449, 1748 ; CE 1511, p. 15,1 ; CE 1741,

1473, 1474, 1742, 1223, 1745.

402. See pp. 797, 709 supra.

403. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 16 ; see 5 H

200 (Jack Ruby).

404. See 5 H 200 (Jack Ruby) ; CE 1580,

1581, 1582, 1583, 1765 ; Pullman DE 1 ; cf. 1543, p. 193. 405. See CE 1576, 1577, 1578, 1579,

1625, 1626, 1627.

406. CE 1584.

407. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 16. 408. CE 1588.

409. CE 1600, 1601.

410. CE 1586.

411. CE 1587, 1588, 1589, 1590, 1591, 1593, 1594, 1595, 1596, 1597, 1598, 1590,

1602, 1603, 1604, 1605.

412. 5 H 200-202 (Jack Ruby) ; CE

1545, 1690, 1691, 1697.

413. See CE 1546, 1655 ; CE 1692, pp. 2-5.414. 5 H 200-201 (Jack Ruby).

415. CE 1697, pp. 1, 4. 416. See 5 H 201-202 (Jack Ruby).

417. CE 1546; CE 1697, pp. 1-2.

418. CE 1440, 1767, 1768, 1769 1770,

1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775 ; see also CE

1766 ; 14 H 114-115 (Alice Nichols) ; CE

1471.

419. CE 1441.

420. Cf. CE 1444, pp. 8-15.

421. C. Ray Hall DE 3, p. 15. 422. CE 1445. 1446, 1447. 423. See p. 792 supra ; Sam Ruby DE 1, p. 186. 424. See p. 794 supra. 425. 14 H 462 (Grant) ; CE 1448, 1648, 1744 ; CE 1561, p. 302 ; CE 1585.

426. 14 H 463-464 (Grant).

427. Id. at 465-466.

428. 14 H 391 (Earl Ruby) ; 14 H 499-

500 (Sam Ruby).

429. 14 H 466 (Grant).

430. 14 H 493-494 (Sam Ruby) : see 14 H 114 (Alice Nichols) ; 14 H 371-372 (Earl Ruby) ; pp. 791, 793 supra.

431. 14 H 494 (Sam Ruby).

432. See p. 798 supra.

433. 14 H 137 (Paul) ; 14 H 498 (Sam

Ruby).

434. 14 H 498^-499 (Sam Ruby).

435. 14 H 371, 373 (Earl Ruby) ; Earl Ruby DE 4, p. 177 ; see C. Ray Hall DE 3, pp. 14-15.

436. 14 H 378, 382-384, 390-391, 417, 426 (Earl Ruby) ; C. Ray Hall DE 3, pp. 14-15; see 14 H 457 (Grant) ; 14 H 491 (Sam Ruby).

437. 14 H 383 (Earl Ruby).

438. CE 1185; 14 H 491 (Sam Ruby).

439. CE 1458, 1542, 1556.

440. 13 H 438-440 (Crafard) ; CE 3 459, 1460, 1453, 1454, 1461, 1462, 1463, 1180,

1464, 1504, 1465, 1663, 1224.

441. CE 1180; 15 H 638 (Lawrence

V. Mevers) ; 14 H 158 (Paul) : 15 H 446 (Hansen) ; 14 H 203 (Senator) ; 13 H 194

(Eberhardt) ; 15 H 563 (Roy A. Pryor) ; 14 H 319 (Armstrong); Powell DE 3; CE 1515. p. 553 ; CE 1742 ; CE 1478, p. 86; cf. 13 H 215-216 (Karen Carlin).

442. E.g.. CE 1452, 1454, 1457, 1461,

1663.

443. See CE 1454. 444. 14 H 111 (Alice Nichols).

445. 14 H 113-114 (Alice Nichols).

446. 14 II 535 (Jack Ruby) ; 14 H 113

(Alice Nichols) ; 15 H 516 (Kaufman) : see 14 H. 463 (Grant).

447. Alice Nichols DE 5355, p. 289. 448. Cf. 14 H 203-205 (Senator) and

Powell DE 3, and Paul DE 5319, p. 473. and CE 1479, 1480, 1541, with 13 H 215 877
NOTES TO PAGES 804-812

(Karen Carlin), and 13 H 318 (Armstrong), and CE 1481, 1482, 1505, 1512,

1739.

449. 14 H 203-205 (Senator) ; Powell DE 3 ; Paul DE 5319, p. 473 ; Wright DE 1 ; CE 12160, 1406, 1487, 1748.

450. 13 H 318 (Armstrong) ; 14 H 104-

195 (Senator) ; 14 H 125 (Alice Nichols) ; CE 1449, 1450, 14i85, 1542, 1592, 1663,

1740, 1748.

451. CE 2406, p. 650; CE 2411, pp. 621-626; see 14 H 195 (Senator).

452. CE 1451, 1591.

453. CE 1483; see 14 H 152 (Paul);

14 H 503 (Sam Ruby) ; 14 H 552 (.Tack Ruby) ; 15 H 516 (Kaufman) ; CE 1484.

454. CE 1483, 1485 ; see 14 H 152

(Paul) ; 14 H 205-206 (Senator) ; 14 H

552 (.lack Ruby).

455. See 13 H 347 (Armstrong) : 13 H

441 (Crafard) ; 14 H 205 (Senator) ; CE

1486, 1478, p. 83 ; CE 1512, 1542, 1740 : cf. 14 H 311 (Senator) ; 15 H 209-210

(Palmer) ; but see 15 H 441-442 (Hansen).

456. See 15 H 446 (Hansen) ; Hansen DE 1 ; CE 1478, p. 83 ; CE 1488, 1542.

457. See ch. VI, pp. 335, 345, 348. 458. See, e.g., 14 H 196 (Senator) ; CE

1472, 1477, 1489, 1490, 1491, 1492, 1493,

1542, 1738.

459. See CE 1494.

460. See 15 H 240 (Rossi) ; CE 1449;

but see CE 1511, p. 150. 461. See CE 1250, 1483. 1496, 1497,

1498, 1499, 1548, 1671, 2243, 2414.

462. CE 1645, 2243.

463. CE 1497, 1548, 1645, 1671, 1711.

464. CE 1496, 1497, 1499, 1671, 2414.

465. See p. 796 supra.

466. CE 1488, 1542.

467. CE 2495.

468. CE 1624, p. 2. 469. CE 2342, p. 748. 470. CE 1624.

471. CE 2243.

472. CE 2414.

473. CE 1499, 1671.

474. CE 1671.

475. CE 1499.

476. See 14 H 197-198 (Senator) ; CE 2492, 2493, 2503.

477. CE 2494.

478. CE 1467.

479. See 14 H 202 (Senator) ; 14 H 562

(Pryor) ; CE 1223, 1512, 1515, p. 551 ; CE 1653, 1624.

480. CE 1502.

481. Cf. Crafard DE 5226, p. 149, and

13 H 444-445 (Crafard) with 15 H 248-

249 (Earl Wright), and 15 H 412-413

(Powell).

482. See 13 H 312, 349 (Armstrong) : 14 H 147 (Paul) ; 14 H 122 (Alice Nichols) ; Wright DE 1 ; CE 1470, 1623,

1624, 2243, 2509.

483. CE 1229 ; CE 1511, p. 150 ; CE

2499, 2500, 2505.

484. CE 1491. 1511, 2502.

485. CE 2497.

486. CE 1491, 2491, 1511, p. 150; 14 H

184, 188 (Senator).

487. See generally 15 H 413-414

(Powell). Paul DE 5319, p. 473 ; CE 1512 ; 15 H 441 (Hansen).

488. See, e.g., 1469, 1735, 1737, 1738,

1742, 1765, 2498, 2502, 2504, 2506.

489. See p. 782i supra. 490. See 15 H 522 (Kaufman).

APPENDIX XVII

9.

1. 14 H 507 (Jack Ruby).

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. CE 2785. p, 4 statement of Dr. R. L. Stubblefield, M.D.

5. 14 H 508 (Ruby).

6. 5 H 181-182 (Ruby).

7. Id. at 190, 192-193, 196, 211-212.

Id. at 123. See CE 2728.

10. CE 2729.

11. CE 2730.

12. CE 2786.

13. 14 H 507-508 (Ruby).

14. CE 2784.

15. 14 H 504-505 (Ruby).

16. Id. at 512.

17. Id. at 504.

18. Ibid.

19. Id. at 504-506, 510.

20. Id. at 507, 509.

21. Id. at 510.

22. Id. at 506-507, 509, 511.

23. Id. at 509 ; see id. at 514.

24. Id. at 505, 510. 25 Id at 505

26.' Id.' at 508 ; 14 H 571 (Dr. William

R. P>eavers).

27. Id. at 511-512.

28. Id. at 512.

29. Id. at 513.

30. Ibid.

31. Id. at 515.

32. See id. at 517-524 ; see 14 H 581-

582 (Bell P. Herndon).

33. 14 H 523 (Ruby).

34. Ibid.

35. Id. at 526.

36. Ibid.

37. Ibid.

,38. Ibid. 39. Id. at 534.

40. Ibid. 41. Ibid. 42. Id. at 536.

43. Ibid. 44. Ibid. 45. Ibid. 46. Id. at 540.

47. Ibid. 48. Ibid. 49. Ibid.

50. Id. at 546.

51. Id. at 547.

52. Ibid.

53. Ibid. 54. Id. at 551.

55. Ibid. 56. Ibid. 57. Ibid.

58. Id. at 553.

59. Ibid.

60. Ibid. 61. Ibid. 62. Ibid. 63. Id. at 556.

64. Ibid. 65. Ibid. 66. Ibid. 67. Ibid.

68. Id. at 560.

69. Ibid. 70. Ibid. 71. Id. at 560-561.

72. Id. at 561.

73. Ibid. 74. Ibid. 75. Ibid. 878
NOTES TO PAGES 812-816

76. Ibid. 107. Ibid. 77. Ibid. 108. See id. at 583.

78. Ibid. 109. Id. at 582-583; see 5 H 520, 523

79. Ibid. (Ruby).

80. Ibid. 110. Id. at 583.

81. Ibid. 111. Ibid.

82. Ibid. 112. Ibid. 83. Id. at 563. 113. Id. at 590.

84. Ibid. 114. Ibid. 85. Ibid. 115. Id. at 593.

80. Ibid. 116. Id. at 588.

87. Ibid. 117. Id. at 590.

88. Ibid. 118. Id. at 591.

89. 14 H 580 (Herndon). 119. Id. at 592.

90. Ibid. 120. Ibid. 91. Ibid. 121. Id. at 584.

92. Ibid. ; 14 H 520 (Ruby). 122 Id. at 582.

93. 14 H. 580 (Herndon). 123: Id. at 585.

94. Ibid. ; 14 H 520 (Ruby). 124. Ibid. 95. 14 H 580 (Herndon). 125. 14 H 572 (Beavers).

96. Id. at 581 ; 14 H 520 (Ruby). 126. Id. at 571.

97. Ibid. 127. 14 H 584 (Herndon).

98. 14 H 581 (Herndon). 128. Ibid. 99. Ibid. 129. 14 H 572 (Beavers).

100. Ibid. 130. Ibid. 101. Id. at 581-582. 131. Ibid. 102. Id. at 581. 132. Ibid. 103. Ibid. 133. Id. at 573-574 (Beavers).

104. Ibid. 134. CE 2651.

105. Ibid. 135. 14 H 504-570 (Ruby).

106. Id. at 583. 136. 14 H 579-598 (Herndon).

879
Index

Abt, John J., 201, 289, 655. Adams, President John Quincy, 505. Adams, Victoria Elizabeth, 153-154. Agafonova, Roza, 692, 696. Akin, Dr. Gene Colman, 53. Aksenov, Col. Nicolay, 708. Alba, Adrian, 726. Alexander, William F., 334, 808-809. Alkana, Irving, 794. Altgens, James W., 112, 115, 147. American Factfinding Committee, 41, 295, 297, 661. Anderson, Maj. Eugene D., 189, 191,

194. Andrews Air Force Base, 4, 42, 59. Andrews, Dean Adams, Jr., 326. Apple, Tom, 347. Applin, George Jefferson, Jr., 178, 654. Armstrong, Andrew, Jr., 335-337, 345,

348. Arnett, Charles Oliver, 224. Aronson, Lev, 722. Arthur, President Chester A., 508. Ascue [sic] (See Azque, Senor Eusebio.) Azque, Senor Eusebio, 301-302, 310, 734-735. Aszque. (^ee Azque, Senor Eusebio.)

Baker, Marrion L., 5, 6, 149, 151-155,

160, 252, 642, 648-649. Baker, T. L., 215. Ballen, Samuel B., 718. Barnett, W. E., 155, 253. Bashour, Dr. Fouad A., 53-54. Batchelor, Assistant Chief Charles,

32, 39, 204, 206, 209, 213, 215, 231, 447. Bates (Mrs.) Pauline Virginia, 326, 660, 714. Baxter, Dr. Charles Rufus, 53-54, 56. Beavers, Dr. William R., 809, 814-815. Behn, Gerald A., 31, 57. Belasco, David, 787. Belasco, Virginia, 787, 789. Bell (Mrs.) W. H., 674. Bellocchio, Frank, ^47-348. Belmont, Alan H., 327, 437, 442, 462. Benavides, Domingo, 7, 166, 171, 651.

Bennett, Glen A., 48, 111. Bentley, Paul L., 176. Bethesda Naval Hospital, 5^60, 85-88. Bledsoe (Mrs.) Mary E., 6, 14, 124, 157-158, 162, 252, 653, 737. Boerder, Frank, 363. Bogard, Albert Guy, 320-321. Bonds, Joe, 794-795, 801, 805. Bookhout, James W., 200. Boone, Deputy Sheriff Eugene, 9, 79, 645. Booth, John Wilkes, 506. Boswell, Dr. J. Thornton, 86, 88. Bouck, Robert Inman, 429, 432^33,

458. Bouhe, George A., 281-282, 400-401,

716-718, 720-723, 742. Bowers, Lee E., Jr., 72, 76. Bradshaw, J. E., 811. Brantley, Ray, 812. Brennan, Howard Leslie, 5, 63-64, 71, 143-145, 155, 250. Brewer, Johnny Calvin, 7-8, 176, 178-

179, 654. Brian, V. J., 441. Bright, H. R., 297. Bringuier, Carlos, 407-408, 419, 728-

789. Brock, (Mrs.) Mary, 174, 653. Brooks, Representative Jack, 57-58. Brown, C. W., 215. Brown, Oran, 321. Brown, Tom, 346-347. Buchanan, President James, 505. Burkhead, Leola B., 772. Burkley, Adm. George G., 46, 53, 55. Burley, William B., Ill, 295-296.

Butler, Edward, 410. Butler, Lt. George E., 793.

Cabell Hon. Earle, 41, 65. Cabell, (Mrs.) Earle, 65. Cadigan, James C, 135-136, 174, 183, 566-567, 569, 577-579.

Call, Richard Dennis, 688. Callaway, Ted, 7, 168-169, 172, 175, 652. Calverly, Gloria, 154. Campbell, O. V., 154, 334-335. Campos, Pedro Albizu, 513. 880
Carcano, M., 554. Carlin, Bruce Ray, 349, 359-360.

Carlin, Karen Bennett, 336, 34&-350,

353-354, 357, 359-360, 362. Carlton, Otis R., 674. Carrico, Dr. Charles James, 53-56,

89, 91. Carro, John, 379, 381-382.

Carroll, Bob K., 178. Carroll, Marion, 340, 779. Carter, B. Tom., 434. Carter, Clifton C, 46, 52, 57. Carter, John, 363^364.

Castro, Fidel, 11, 122, 290-291, 299,

304, 307-308, 322, 324-325, 389, 407, 414-415, 436-437, 440, 443, 659, 666, 728-729, 732, 812. Central Intelligence Agency, 22, 245,

258, 259, 266, 269, 272, 274-275, 279^

280, 284, 305, 309-310, 327, 359, 365,

371, 433-434, 438, 456, 459, 461, 463-

464, 659-660, 748, 762, 777. Cermak, Hon. Anton, 512. Cheek, Bertha, 363. Church, Lt. Col. George B., Jr., 690. Church, (Mrs.) George B., Jr., 690. Clark, Dr. William Kemp, 53-55, 90. aark. Max E., 717. Clark, (Mrs.) Max E., 717, 719. Claverie, Marguerite. (See Oswald,

Marguerite.

)

Clements, Manning C, 225. Cleveland, President Grover, 457, 508-

509. Click, Darryl, 236-237, 654. Cloy, Capt. Richard C, 668. Cole, Alwyn, 174, 313, 566-570, 577-

578. Coleman, Kay Helen, 344, 350. Collazo, Oscar, 513. Combest, B. H., 216. Communist Party, 11, 21, 244, 287-

289, 293, 302, 304, 345, 367, 376, 384,

393, 398, 410-411, 415, 436-437, 695-

696, 699, 703, 722, 729-732, 734, 738,

763, 775, 809-810. Conforto, Janet Adams, 797. Connally, Gov. John Bowden, Jr., 1-4, 18-20, 28-29, 41^2, 45, 49-50, 53,

56, 79, 81, 85, 92-93, 96-97, 105-

107, 109, 112, 117-118, 129, 188, 195, 243, 387, 434, 462, 580-586, 639-641,

646, 710. Connally (Mrs.), John Bowden, Jr., 42, 45, 48, 50, 57, 77, 97, 112, 581. Conway, Hiram P., 675. Cooke, Leon, 788. Couch, Malcolm A., 65.

Crafard, Curtis LaVerne, 333-335,

337-338, 345-346, 357, 360, 362, 369,

805. Craig, Deputy Sherife, Roger D., 160, 251, 252, 253. Crawford, James N., 68. Crissey, Edgar R., 297. Crowe, William D., Jr., 360. Croy, Kenneth Hudson, 224.

Crull, Elgin E., 241. Cuba, 14, 23, 243, 288, 301-302, 304,

307, 309, 32^323, 370, 374, 376, 389-

390, 400, 406, 411, 413-415, 422, 658-

659, 686-687, 689, 727, 730-735, 746,

799, 801, 811-812. Cunningham, Cortlandt, 171. 547, 561. Cunningham (Mrs.), Helen P., 718-

719. Curry, Chief Jesse E., 17, 31, 41, 43,

49, 52, 58, 163, 165, 196, 200, 202, 204, 208-210, 212-213, 215, 224-227, 229, Curry, Chief Jesse E.—Continued

231, 233-236, 238-239, 241, 342, 346,

441, 801. Curtis, Dr. Don Teel, 53. Curtis, Vice President Charles, 514. Czolgosz, Leon F., 463, 509-510.

"D," 308-309. Dallas Police Department, 4r-6, 8, 17, 21, 30-31, 43, 52, 57-58, 64, 71, 76, 79, 122-123, 144, 169, 179-180, 185, 196, 208-209, 224-225, 228-229, 231, 235-

238, 240-241, 245, 249, 337, 340, 342, 344, 347, 359, 372, 446, 448, 565, 647, 649-651, 654, 660-662, 664-665, 657,

798, 800. Daniels, Napoleon J., 221. Dann, Sol, 808. Darnell, James, 65. Davis (Mrs.) Barbara Jeanette, 7, 167-168, 171, 174-175, 651-652. Davis, Benjamin J., 410. Davis (Mrs.) Virginia, 7, 167-168, 171, 651-652. Day, Lt. J. C, 9, 79, 122-123, 135, 140, 645. Dean, Sgt. Patrick Trevore, 212, 222,

224. Decker. Sheriff J. E. (Bill), 43, 209, 664-665, 809. Delgado, Nelson, 385, 389, 687-688. DeMar, William. {See William D. Crowe, Jr.) De Mohrenschildt, Alexandra, 313. De Mohrenschildt, George S., 256. 282-

283, 394, 400-401, 418, 717, 720-722,

724. 881
De Mohrenschildt, Jeanne, 282-283,

394, 400-401, 418, 717-718, 721, 724. Department of Defense, 461, 464, 468. Department of Justice, 238, 457. Department of State, 13, 26, 244, 258,

266, 267, 275, 276, 277, 279, 326, 327,

330, 331, 432-434, 436, 438, 456, 459,

748. Department of the Treasury, 454, 457,

460, 464. Dhority, C. N., 215. Dickerson, Willis, 796. Dillon, Hon. O. Douglas, 374, 425, 464,

466, 468. Dmitrieva, Lyndmila, 692. Dobbs, Farrell, 289. Donovan, John E., 385, 389, 685-687. Dougherty, Jack Edwin, 133, 153. Dowe, Kenneth Lawry, 346. Downey, (Mrs.) William, 371. Downey, William, 372. Drittal, D. F. {See Oswald, Lee

Harvey.)

Duff, William McEwan, 368. Dulany, Dr. Richard B., 56. Duncan, William Glenn, Jr., 343. Duran, Senora Silvia Tirado de, 288-

289, 301-302, 304-305, 309-310, 734-

735. Dymitruk, Lydia, 721. Dziemian, Dr. Arthur J., 109, 580, 584. E

Eberhardt, Augustus M., 342. Edwards, Robert Edwin, 145-146. Eisenhower, President Dwight D., 384. Ekdahl, Edwin A., 9, 10, 377-378, 671-

673. Epstein, Harry, 788. Epstein, Ruby, 788. Epstein, Willie, 794. Euins, Amos Lee, 64, 147, 155. Evans, Lt. J. (See Oswald, Lee

Harvey.

)

Evans, (Mrs.) Myrtle, 672-673, 680,

726. Evans, Sidney, Jr., 353. Executive Order No. 11130, 501-502. F

Fain, John W., 326, 434. Fair Play for Cuba Committee, 19, 21-22, 122, 244, 287-292, 301-302,

312-313, 315, 326, 331, 342-344, 390, 402, 404, 406-408, 410-413, 419, 435-

436, 441-442, 567, 578, 661, 728-732,

734, 739, 744.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, 13-

14, 16, 22, 24, 26, 30, 60, 76, 81, 84-85,

96-97, 105, 118-119, 121, 123, 125, 131, 134-135, 140, 168^170, 172, 179, 185-186, 193, 199^200, 209, 224, 232, 235, 238, 244-^5, 249, 251, 262, 284, 285-287, 289, 292, 309, 315-318, 320, 325-328, 344, 350, 358-359, 362, 364-

365, 367-368, 407, 419-420, 429, 431, 433-444, 455-^59, 461-464, 466, 514, 547, 555, 561, 565-566, 588, 591, 644,

646, 652, 659-662, 667, 715-716, 732, 739, 748, 762, 775, 777, 779, 807-808,

811. Felde, Allan R., 682. Ferraro, Frank, 796. Finck, Lt. Col. Pierre A., 86, 88. Fischer, Ronald B., 145-146.

Fisher, Deputy Chief N. T., 32, 206. Fitgerald (or Fitzsimmons )

, Virginia,

787. Folsom, Lt. Col. Allison G., Jr., 191. Ford, Declan P., 722. Ford, Katherine N., 282, 394, 417, 722. Foster, J. W., 71-72, 76, 116, 640. Fowler, Clayton, 808-809, 812. Frazier Buell Wesley, 15, 129, 131, 133-

134, 137, 147, 181, 247, 332, 421, 738, 740. Frazier, Robert A., 77, 84-85, 92, 105-

106, 171, 185-186, 189, 193-194, 547-

553. Frazier, Capt. W. B., 229.

Fritz, Capt. J. Will, 8, 9, 16, 79, 122,

155, 160, 162, 179-182, 198-201, 208-

210, 215-216, 229-230, 232, 234, 239, 241, 346, 645. G

Gadash, Clyde, 344-345.

Garfield, President James A., 425, 507, 509. Garner, Darrell Wayne, 663. Garrett, Richard W., 675. German, Ella, 699, 704. Gibson, John, 179, 654. Giesecke, Dr. Adolph H., Jr., 53-54. Gimpel, Martin, 788, 794. Givens, Charles Douglas, 141, 142, 250, 644. Glover, Everett D., 722. Goldberg, A. I., 694. Golovachev, Pavel, 698. Gonzalez, Representative Henry B., 57. Graef, John G., 719. Grant, David B., 445. Grant, Eva, 334-336, 338, 348-350, 352, 663, 779, 785-787, 792-794, 802-803,

808. Granovsky, Frank, 786. 882
Grant, Frank. (See Granovsky,

Frank.

)

Graves, L. C, 167, 216. Greener, Charles W., 315-316, 646. Greer, William R., 2, 4, 45, 49-50, 53, 641. Gregory, Dr. Charles F., 56, 93, 95, 581,

583. Gregory, Paul Roderick, 281, 330, 707, 715-716, 721, 742. Gregory, Peter Paul, 400, 714, 716. Grinnan, Joseph P., 296-297. Gruber, Alex, 337-338. Guinyard, Sam, 168-169, 175, 652. Guiteau, Charles J., 463, 507-508. Guthrie, Steve, 793.H

Hall, Elena A., 281, 329, 717-720.

Hall, Gus, 410. Hallmark, Garnett Claud, 346-347. Hamblen, O. A., 332-333, 665. Hamlin, Cecil, 338. Harkness, D. V., 64, 155. Harrison, William J., 224. Hartogs, Dr. Renatus, 379-381, 677. Hawkins, Ray, 176, 178. Haygood, Clyde A., 76, 640. Helmick, Wanda Yvonne. (See

Sweat, Wanda.)

Helms, Richard M., 327. Herbert, Arthur, 383. Herndon, Bill P., 809, 815. Hickey, George W., Jr., 51. Hidell, A. (See Oswald, Lee Harvey.)

Hidell, Alek J. (See Oswald, Lee

Harvey.

)

Hidell, Alek James. (See Oswald, Lee Harvey.

)

Hill, Clinton J., 3^, 48, 50-51, 53, 57, 112, 453.

Hill, Gerald Lynn, 116, 179.

Hill, Jean Lollis, 640. "Historic Diary," 258, 259, 262, 265,

267, 269, 392^394, 750. Hitler, Adolph, 406, 722, 724. Hoar, Senator George F., 455. Holland, S. M., 72, 76. Holman, E. L., 809. Holmes, Harry D., 121, 181, 201, 312. Hoover, President Herbert, 512, 514,

668. Hoover, Hon. J. Edgar, 225, 235-236,

327^28, 374, 428, 433, 442, 456, 458, 462, 514. Horn, John T., 161.

Hornig, Donald F., 468. Hosty, James P., Jr., 327-328, 419-

420, 435, 437-444, 660-661, 739. Howlett, John Joe, 152. Hoy, David, 361. Huber, Father Oscar L., 55. Hudson, Emmett J., 116. Hughes, Robert J. E., 644. Hughes, Judge Sarah T., 4, 59. Humes, Dr. James J., 86, 89. Hunt, H. L., 367. Hunt, Lamar, 368. Hunt, Dr. Jackie H., 53. Hunt, Nelson Bunker, 297. Hunter, Gertrude, 317-318. Hutchison, Leonard Edwin, 331-332. Hutson, Thomas Alexander, 177.

Jackson, President Andrew, 505. Jackson, Robert Hill, 64-65. "Jada." (See Conforto, Janet Adams.)

Jarman, James, Jr., 68, 70-71, 144-145,

153, 182, 250. Jefferson, President Thomas, 427, 504. Jenkins, Dr. Marion T., 53-54. John Birch Society, 296-297, 369, 738. Johnson, Arnold Samuel, 288-289, 293, 410-^12, 415-416, 738. Johnson (Mrs.) Arthur Carl, 130, 163, 643, 653, 737. Johnson, President Lyndon B., 1, 4, 28, 40, 43, 46, 51-53, 56-58, 188, 202,

453. Johnson (Mrs.) Lyndon B., 43, 46, 52

56-59. Johnson, Priscilla Mary Post, 259, 263, 265-266, 696, 749-750. Johnston, David L., 198, 200-201, 342, 655. Joint Resolution 137, 501-502.

Jones, Capt. O. A., 213, 229-230.

Jones, Milton, 157. Jones, Paul Roland, 792-794, 801. Jones, Dr. Ronald C, 53, 54.

Kaack, Milton R., 437. Kaiser, Frankie, 143. Kaminsky, Eileen, 337, 779. Kantor, Seth, 335-336. Kaufman, Stanley M., 347. Kellerman, Roy H., 2, 3, 4, 29, 45, 49,

50, 52, 53, 57, 446, 449, 452. Kennedy, President John F., 1-5, 15-

23, 25, 28-29, 32, 39^3, 45, 48-50,

883
Kennedy, President John F.—Con.

53--61, 68-69, 79, 81, 85-87, 89, 90-

91, 96-98, 105-107, 109-111, 115-118,

129, 173, 179-180, 182-183, 186, 188-

190, 194-196, 198, 200-201, 228, 233, 236, 239-240, 241^-248, 250, 254, 255,

284r-285, 287, 292, 296-298, 304, 309,

316, 321, 322, 325, 333, 335-336, 338,

342, 344-346, 348-352, 354, 364, 366,

368, 370, 373-377, 387, 414-415, 422, 424-429, 431^33, 440, 443, 445, 447-

450, 452-456, 459-460, 466, 580-582,

584-586, 637, 639-642, 641-646, 652,

655, 658, 663, 665, 667-668, 722, 739,

804. Kennedy, (Mrs.) John F., 1-4, 40, 42,

43, 45, 49-51, 57-59, 116, 344, 349,

354, 372, 452-453, 812. Kennedy, Hon. Robert F., 59, 374, 662. Khrushchev, Nikita, 255, 722. Kiev, 276. Kilduff, Malcolm, 57, 335. Killom, Wanda Joyce, 363-364.

Killion Charles L., 171. King, Capt. Glen D., 205, 224, 226, 228,

231, 239, 241. Klause, Robert G., 298-299.

Klein's Sporting Goods Co., 118-119,

127, 566, 569, 723. Kleinlerer, Alexander, 717, 719-720. Kloepfer, Ruth, 726. Knapp, David, 161. Knight, Russell. {See Moore, Russell

Lee.)

Komsomol, 280, 761, 767. Korengold, R. J., 694. Kostikov, Valeriy Vladimirovich, 285,

309, 734. Krystinik, Raymond Franklin, 739. Kuznetsova, Roza, 697-698.

Lamon, Ward H., 506. Lane, Mark R., 297-298, 368. Larkin, James, 347. Latona, Sebastian F., 123, 135, 140,

249, 563, 566. Lawrence, Capt. Perdue W., 448-449. Lawrence, Richard, 505. Lawson, Winston G., 29, 30, 31, 32, 39,

43, 53, 57, 72, 202, 204, 431, 445-449,

452. Leavelle, James R., 215-216, 230. Lee, H. O. (See Oswald, Lee Harvey.) Lee, O. H. {See Oswald, Lee Harvey.) Lee, Vincent T., 291, 407^08, 729. Lewis, L. J., 169.

Light, Dr. Frederick W., Jr., 109, 580,

581, 5^5. Lincoln, President Abraham, 425, 504-

506, 508-510, 637. "Little Lynn." {See Carlin, Karen

Bennett.

)

Livingston (Mrs.) Clyde I., 675. Lodge, Senator Henry Cabot, 510. Lord, Billy Joe, 690. Louis, Joe, 789. Louisiana Department of Labor, 404,

725. Louisiana State Unemployment Commission, 292, 309. Love Field, 1-2, 4, 24, 30-31, 39-40,

42-43, 46, 58, 202, 245, 422, 445, 447, 450, 452, 665, 714. Lovelady, Billy Nolan. 147, 15^-154,

644. Lucy, Forest L., 566. Lujan, Daniel Gutierrez, 161. M

McBride, Palmer, 384. McChann, Rev. Walter J., 324. McClelland, Dr. Robert N., 53-54, 56. McCone, Hon. John Alex, 327, 374, 433. McCurdy, Danny Patrick, 343. McDonald, M. N., 8, 176, 178-179, 560. McFarland, John Bryan, 323, 732. McKinley, President William, 425, 455, 457, 504, 500-511. McKnight, Felix, 201. McMillon, Thomas Donald, 213. McNamara, Hon. Robert S., 374. McVickar, John A., 693, 706, 747, 761. McWatters, Cecil J., 157, 159, 252. McWillie, Louis J., 370, 801-802, 812. MacDonald, Betty, 663. Magia, Hyman, 786. Mallory, Katherine, 702. Mamantov, Ilya A., 282. Mancuso, Dr. Bruno F., 670. Mandella, Arthur, 123, 135, 141, 563. Marine Corps, 11, 12, 180, 189-192, 194, 244, 256-258, 262, 322, 326, 376-378,

383-386, 388, 390-391, 393, 395, 397, 402, 422, 434, 440, 569, 571, 645, 656, 660, 672, 675, 678, 680-682, 685, 689-

690, 693, 696, 706, 710, 714, 716, 727, 731-732, 746, 748, 763, 766, 775. Markham, Helen Louise, 7, 166-167,

169, 174-175, 651-652, 667. Marlvham, James Alfred, 667. Markham, William Edward, 667. Martello, Francis L., 417. Martin, James Herbert, 187, 372. Martin, John, 788. 884
Matthews, R. D., 369. Maxey, Billy Joe, 215. Maxwell, Alexander W., 772. Medvedev, Aleksandr, 702. Meller, Anna N., 281, 716-718, 720. Mexico, 246, 285, 288, 299, 301-302,

304-305, 307-310, 324, 331, 362, 372, 413, 416, 419, 422, 438, 441, 443, 639, 658-659, 666, 730, 732-733, 736, 739,

777, 811. Meyers, Lawrence V., 334-335, 349, 358. Michaelis, Heinz W., 172. Miller, Austin L., 76. Minsk, 12, 257-258, 267, 269, 272, 274r- 275, 277-278, 280, 393 -394, 402, 656-

657, 711, 713, 752, 755, 758, 760, 764,

766. Mitchell, Mary Ann, 68. Molina, Joe R., 237-238. Montgomery, L. D,, 216. Mooney, Deputy Sheriff Luke, 8, 79. Moore, Henry M., 180. Moore, Russell Lee, 343, 344, 349. Mosby, Aline, 256, 259, 265, 656, 694-

696. Muchmore, Mary, 97, 109-110. Murphy, Joe E., 71-72. Murphy, Paul Edward, 683. Murphy, Thomas J., 76. Murret, Charles, 331, 728. Murret, Eugene, 728. Murret, Lillian, 313, 378, 383, 669-671,

675, 679-680, 690, 725-726. N

National Naval Medical Center, 4, 59. National Security Agency, 244. Navarro, Horacio Duran, 304. Nelson, "Little Daddy," 799, 802. Newnam, John, 334-336. Nichilayeva, Marina. (See Oswald,

Marina.

)

Nichols, Alice R., 337-338, 787, 801, 803-804.

Nichols, H. Louis, 201, 655. Nicol, Joseph D., 84-85, 171, 186, 547,

562. Nix, Orville O., 97, 109-110. Nixon, Richard M., 187-188. Norman, Earl, 805. Norman, Harold, 68, 70-71, 144-145,

153, 250. Norton, Robert L., 352. O

O'Brien, Lawrence F., 59. Odio, Sylvia, 321-324.

O'Donnell, Kenneth, 2, 31, 42, 45, 48,

49, 57-59, 427. Odum, Bardwell D., 364-365, 667.

Office of Naval Intelligence, 433^34.

Office of Science and Technology, 464. O'Grady, Thomas J., 348. Okui, Yaeko, 722. Olivier, Dr. Alfred G., 87, 109, 580-

581, 584-586.

Olsen, Harry N., 343-344, 350. Olsen, (Mrs.) Harry N., 344. Osborne. (See Oswald, Lee Harvey.)

Osborne, Albert, 305, 733. Osborne, Dr. William, 56. Oswald, Lee Harvey, 6, 9-17, 19-22,

24, 30, 118-119, 121-125, 127-131,

133-137, 140-141, 143-147, 149, 151-

157, 159-163, 165-169, 171-172, 174-

176, 178-196, 198-202, 204, 206, 208^

210, 212-213, 215-216, 219, 221-222,

224-231, 233-250, 252-254, 256r-260, 262, 265-267, 269, 272, 274-293, 295,

297, 299, 301-302, 304-305, 307-310,

312-334, 342-345, 347, 350, 353^354,

357-365, 367-424, 428, 433-444, 456,

458, 462-463, 558-560, 562^ 565-567,

569-572, 575-579, 5)90, 592, 596, 637-

639, 642-701^ 703-713, 716, 719, 720,

722, 724-728, 731-734, 736, 739-740,

746, 748-751, 758-766, 768-779, 794,

807, 809-811. Oswald, Marina, 13-15, 122, 124, 127-

131, 154, 175, 180-181, 184-188, 198, 235, 238, 246-248, 257, 260, 267,

269, 272, 274-284, 287, 292, 301-302,

30^^310, 312, 317-318, 322-323, 328-

332, 364, 376, 387, 394-395, 401-402,

404-407, 411-424, 435, 437-440, 567,

571, 578, 592, 643, 645, 647, 653, 657-

658, 660-663, 665, 667, 697, 700, 702-

709, 711-712, 71-^-730, 734-740, 746,

753, 757-758, 761-769, 773. Oswald, Hazel, 725. Oswald, June Lee, 711, 714, 721, 724,

725, 726, 730, 737. Oswald, Marguerite Claverie, 9, 10, 256, 275, 326-327, 329-330, 364-365,

377-381, 384, 401-402, 434, 667, 669-

681, 688-689, 694, 697, 711, 741, 766. Oswald, Rachel, 317, 738-739. Oswald, Robert Edward Lee, 9, 13, 187,

199, 265, 274, 281, 329-331, 377-378,

384, 390-392, 401, 434, 669-671, 678,

680, 690, 694, 697, 705-706, 711-715,

721, 741-742, 763, 773. Oswald, Robert Edward Lee (de- ceased), 669-670. Oswald, William Stout, 725. 885
Paine, Michael R., 128, 284, 286-287,

293, 414, 419, 722, 738-740. Paine, Ruth, 13^15, 125, 128-131, 137,

181, 183-184, 199, 201, 246-248, 284-

287, 309, 317-319, 322-323, 327, 329, 330-332, 360-361, 364, 403, 413, 416-

417, 419, 421^22, 438^39, 442, 577,

586, 592, 643, 654-655, 660-661,

664-666, 722-723, 725-730, 734-740.

Panitz, Meyer, 802. Pappas, Icarus M., 342. Parker, Dr. John, 56. Parker, John F., 506. Parkland Memorial Hospital, 4, 17,

18, 28, 52-53, 55-58, 60-61", 77, 79,

85, 88-90, 92, 95-96, 107, 110, 155,

199, 202, 336-337, 581, 583, 638, 641-

642, 667, 738, 812. Patman, Dr. Ralph Don, 56. Patterson, B. M. (Pat), 169, 174, 652. Patterson, Robert K., 360. Paul, Ralph, 334-336, 337-338, 350,

352, 358^59, 365, 373, 794-795, 803. Pena, Orest, 325. Perry, Dr. Malcolm O., 53-54, 89-91. Peterman, Viola, 670. Peters, Dr. Paul C, 53-54. Peterson, Arnold, 290. Peterson, Joe, 796.

Petrulli, Nicholas, 748-749.

Phillips, Byron K., 711.

Pic, Edward John, Jr., 669, 676.

Pic, John Edward, 9, 10, 377-379, 382,

384, 669-672, 674-677, 721.

Pic, Mrs. John Edward, 379. Pierce, Rio S., 215-216, 219, 221, 224,

810. Piper, Eddie, 153.

Pitts, Elnora, 353-354.

Pizzo, Frank, 321. Poe, J. M., 166, 174. Police and Courts Building, 196, 210,

212, 222, 226, 231, 241, 340, 347, 352,

357. Pool, Representative Joe, 40. Post Office Department, 119. Postal (Mrs.) Julia, 8, 176, 654. Powell, Nancy M., 348. Powers, Daniel, 385-386, 682, 684. Powers, David F., 42, 45, 49, 51, 59. Price, Malcolm H., Jr., 318-319. Prossa. ( See Oswald, Marina.

)

Protective Research Section, 23, 29-30,

429-433, 440, 461, 465, 513. Prusakov, Ilya, 657. Prusakova, Marina Nikolaevna. {See

Oswald, Marina.)

Pryor, Roy A., 344.

Prusakova, Klavdiya, 702. Putnam, James A., 215.

Quigley, John L., 327, 436-437, 439. Quinn, Rosaleen, 685.

Raiken, Spas T., 713. Randle, Linnie Mae, 130-131, 133-134,

181, 247, 421, 738. Randolph, Robert B., 505. Raven, Gail, 802. Ray, (Mrs.) Frank, 721. Ready, John D., 48, 51. Red Cross, 183, 269, 272. Reeley, Richmond C, 772. Reeves, Huey, 349-351.

Reid, Mrs. Robert A., 154-155, 252. Reilly, Frank E., 76. Revill, Lt. Jack, 441. Reynolds, Warren Allen, 169, 173-174,

652, 663. Richey, Warren E., 352-353. Roach, (Mrs.) Thomas, 670-671. Roberts, (Mrs.) Earlene, 6, 163, 175, 252, 363, 653. Roberts, Emory P., 51. Roberts, Representative Ray, 65. Robertson, Dr. Raymond E., 782. Robinson, Roscoe, 795. Rocco, Eddie, 361. Rodriguez, Evaristo, 324. Roosevelt, President Franklin D., 32, 366, 425, 427, 446, 455, 512-513, 789,

791. Roosevelt, President Theodore, 425, 510-512, 514. Rose, Guy F., 131, 180. Ross, Barney, 785, 789. Roussel, Henry J., Jr., 685. Rowland, Arnold Louis, 250-252. Rowland, Mrs. Barbara, 251. Rowley, James J., 374, 450-451, 462,

466. Rubenstein, Fannie, 780-781, 783-784. Rubenstein, Harry, 791. Rubenstein, Hyman, 340, 366, 779-780,

783-786, 789-792, 799. Rubenstein, Jacob. ( See Ruby, Jack.

)

Rubenstein, Joseph, 779-784. Ruby, Earl, 365, 370, 799-780, 782, 784, 791, 793, 795, 803. Ruby, Jack, 17, 21-22, 196, 206, 208, 216, 219, 221-222, 224, 227, 230, 243-

244, 287, 297-299, 326, 333, 335, 337-

338, 340, 342-350, 352-354, 357-374,

637-638, 650, 661-663, 779-816. Ruby, Sam, 779, 782, 790^791, 793, 795, 803.
Rusk, Hon. Dean, 255-256, 300, 374, 456. Russell, Harold, 169, 653. Rutkowski, Fannie Turek, 780. Rutledge, John, 340. Ryder, Dial D., 315-316, 646. S

Saffran, Don, 337-338. Sawyer, Inspector J. Herbert, 8, 76, 155, 253. Schmidt, Larrie H., 295-207. Schmidt, Volkmar, 722. Schrand, Martin D., 664. Schrank, John N., 463, 511. Scoggins, Williams W., 7, 165-166, 169,

175, 651. Secret Service, 2, 16, 23^26, 2S, 30, 32, 39, 43, 45, 52, 57, 71, 96-97, 116, 179, 199, 245, 247, 316, 326, 374, 425, 427-

433, 440-444, 446-461, 468, 508-515,

664, 667. Seidband, Sidney, 801. Senator, George, 344^346, 352-354,

371-372, 810. Setyayev, Lev, 691. Shaneyfelt, Lyndal L., 98, 125-126,

592-593, 595-597. Shanklin, J. Gordon, 440, 647. Shargol, Martin, 788. Shaw, Dr. Robert Roeder, 56, 92-93,

581, 583. Shelley, William H., 147, 153-154, 182. Shires, Dr. George T., 56. Shirokova, Rima, 259, 667, 690-693,

696-697.

Siegel, Evelyn G. S., 379-382. Silverman, Rabbi Hillel, 340, 804. Simmons, Ronald, 189, 194. Simmons, William F., 364. Skelton, Royce G., 76, 116. Slack, Garland Glenwill, 318-320.

Slatin, Joe, 795. Slaughter, Malcolm R., 353. Smith, John Allison, 352-353. Smith, William Arthur, 168, 175. Snyder, Richard Edward, 262, 265, 277-278, 392, 693-695, 701, 705-706,

747-748, 754-758. Sokolow, Irving, 381. Sorrels, Forrest V., 29, 31-32, 39, 43, 52, 155, 204, 206, 210, 446, 448, 452. Soviet Union, 11-13, 21, 23, 128, 192, 243-244, 254-259, 262, 265-267, 269,

272, 274-279, 285, 287, 289, 299, 301,

307, 309-310, 312, 326, 329-330, 374, 376-377, 387-388, 390-395, 397-399,

401-402, 408, 410, 412-414, 417, 420,

422, 434, 436-437, 442, 639, 655-657,

Soviet Union—Continued

660, 662, 690, 693-695, 69^-699, 706,

709, 711, 714, 716, 727, 731, 747-751,

753, 755-757, 759-761, 764-766, 768-

769, 771, 776, 778. Stevenson, Hon. Adlai, 30, 41, 292, 295, 415-416, 433. Stevenson, Deputy Chief M. W., 208-

210, 213. Stombaugh, Paul M., 124-125, 128, 136, 586, 588, 590-591.

Stovall, Richard S., 180. Stovall, Robert L., 246. Stuckey, William Kirk, 390, 408, 437,

729. Studebaker, Robert Lee, 566. Surrey, Robert Alan, 298-299. Sweatt, Allan L., 809. T

Tabon, Don, 805. Taft, President William Howard, 426,

511. Tague, James Thomas, 116. Talbert, Capt. Cecil E., 210, 212-213,

230. Tanay, Dr. Emanuel, 808-809. Taylor, Alexander, 717. Taylor, Gary E., 717-718. Taylor, Robert Adrian, 318. Texas Employment Commission, 246-

247, 281, 308, 332, 400, 402-403, 715,

724. Texas School Book Depository—3-6,

8-9, 14-16, 18-19, 21, 25, 32, 48, 52, 61, 63-65, 68, 71-72, 76, 79, 81, 84-

85, 87, 95-98, 112, 115, 117-118, 122,

125, 128, 129-130, 133, 135-137, 140,

144, 146-147, 149, 153-155, 157, 159-

160, 175, 179, 182, 185, 189-190, 192,

195, 198, 233-235, 237-238, 245-248,

250-253, 285, 318, 335, 360, 370, 378,

404, 421-422, 438, 441, 443, 448-449,

458, 551, 553, 555, 557, 565-567, 579-

580, 583, 588, 638-640, 642-649, 661, 664, 738. Texas Theatre, 8, 9, 124, 159, 176, 198, 200, 206, 234, 423, 654. Thomas, Representative Albert, 1, 42, 57-58. Thornberry, Hon. Homer, 57-58. Thornley, Kerry Wendell, 385-386,

388-389, 686. Tippit J. D., 6-8, 16, 20, 22, 118, 144,

156, 165-168, 173-176, 179-180, 195

198, 200-201, 240, 252, 254, 297, 330, 368-370 376, 423, 639, 648-653, 655, 661-663, 667, 812. Titovyets, Erik, 702. 708. Tobias, (Mrs.) M. F., 435. 887
Tomlinson, Darrell C, 81. Tonahill, Joe H., 807-808. Tormey, James J., 289. Torresola, Griselio, 513. Tower, Senator John G., 769^770. Trade Mart, 1-3, 24, 30-32, 39-40, 46,

53, 58, 245, 247, 422, 445, 447, 450,

729. Trammel, Connie, 368. Treasury Department, 119, 121, 314,

328, 433. Truly, Roy S., 5, 6, 9, 149, 151-156,

247-248, 252, 648, 664, 738. Truman, President Harry S., 425, 513. Turman, Buddy, 805. Turner, F. M., 221. Twiford, Horace Elroy, 289, 731-732.

Tyler, President John, 505. U

Underwood, James R., 64-65.

Van Buren, President Martin, 505. Vaughn, Roy Eugene, 215, 221-222. Vinson, Philip Eugene, 674. Voebel, Edward, 383, 679. Volpert, Ann, 338.

Waterman, Bernice L., 758. Watherwax, Arthur William, 344-345. Weinstein, Abe, 349, 352, 358. Weinstein, Barney, 349, 350, 359. Weissman, Bernard, 293^299, 335, 344, 347, 357, 368-369, 661, 663. Weitzman, Seymour, 79, 81, 645. Westbrook, Gapt. W. R., 175. Weston, Wally, 797. Whaley, William Wayne, 160-162, 252, 649-650. White, J. G., 71, 640. White House, 1-2, 29-31, 40, 42, 57, 59-

60, 90, 245, 429, 431, 445^46, 450-

452, 457, 460, 466^67, 505-506, 508-

509, 510, 512-515. Whitworth, Edith, 316. Wiedersheim, Frederick J., 773. Wiggins, Lt. Woodrow, 230. Williams, Bonnie Ray, 68, 70-71, 153, 250, 644. WilUs, Billy Joe, 361. Willis, Phillip L., 112. Wilson, President Woodrow, 512, 514. Wittmus, Ronald G., 123. 135, 141. Wood, Dr. Homer, 318-319. Wood, Sterling Charles, 319-320. Worrell, James Richard, Jr., 253. Wright, James C, Jr., 750. Wulf, William E., 384. W

Wade, Henry, 201, 205, 208, 234-237, 342-34B 346-347, 441, 654. Waldman, William J., 119. Walker, C. T., 176. Walker, Maj. Gen. Edwin A., 13, 15, 20,

23, 118, 128, 182-187, 195, 282-283,

286, 288, 298-299, 368, 376-377, 404-

406, 416, 442-443, 562, 567, 592, 596, 661-663, 738. Walker, Ira N., Jr., 352-353. Wall, Breck, 350, 352, 358-359, 796. Walthers, Eddy Raymond, 116, 178,

641. Washington, President George, 426-

427.

Yarborough, Senator Ralph W., 2, 42,

46, 52. Yatskov, Antonovich, 734. Young, Arthur, 286. Young, Ruth Forbes, 286. Youngblood, Rufus W., 3, 46, 48, 51-

52, 57-58, 453. Z

Zahn, James A., 189-191, 194. Zangara, Guiseppe, 463. Zapruder, Abraham, 49, 63, 97-98, 105, 109-110, 112, 115, 453. Ziger, Alexander, 697, 709. Zoppi, Tony, 334. O

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