(-10008009] ( Se a SUBJECT : Review of Agency Horaings he fe Photograph of . at varren Commission - dual) Gor S | f n to E. Henry Knoche, Report REFERENCE: Memorandum from pany dated 15 April ‘1975 er 1. In accordance with reference request, we have examined and summarized the record concerning a cropped photograph that was considered by the. Warren Commission in the course of its investi- gation. The photograph (together with others of the. same | individual) originated from an intelligence operation conducted in October 1963 by the CIA Yand the Mexicari security authorities.) ae Under the extraordinary press. of effort to develop infor- ‘mation on the assassin and ‘the assassination, copies of the photo- graph were made available by CIA's Mexico Station Chief on the afternoon of 22 November to the local FBI representative. Later that day, assertedly on the decision of the Ambassador , copies were conveyed by. an FBI representative on a special U. S. Naval . Attache flight to the Dallas office of the FBI for possible use an the ongoing investigation. ‘One ae cropped by the FBI, was shown to Mrs. Marguerite Ost Lee Harvey OSWALD’ s \\ mother) in Dallas on the. evening 3) Kae 1963 by an FBI agent NS . se «Xx SS 3. The Warren conn igavon’ \> describes the sequence of events that ultimately result in Mrs. Marguerite OSWALD's allegation that she had been shown a cropped photo of Jack RUBY the day before -he murdered her son. A further complication 004645 co Ute Giasstied ty O ' . ECRET. . Erait sf deesa Bee tee) “PAGE . D of
1400000 © 0 , SO f . ( a 7 - ¢ ia compounding this erroneous cna 9 Ky that, when -- she had been shown a copy of she sane wie “eR vaph in her appearance “before the Commission, “it nagdeen ‘SP by the FBI in Washing- ton in a slightly different ‘Sonn WS CO 4, Although “in no way related to Lee Harvey OSWALD or Kis _ stay in Mexico City from the morning of a September: 1963 to the — morning of 2 October 1963, at least | one “set of photographs of the unidentified man originated during OSWALD's stay there. It is -. gmportant, therefore, to an understanding of the acquisition and handling of the photographs by the Mexico Station to: review what. the Station ascertained and did with the information it. developed: about OSWALD in Mexico  Caty, ‘together with Headquarters action on that information. | 5.° From all credible evidence known to this time (none, "incidentally, added since the exhaustive work of the Warren Com- | mission), Lee Harvey OSWALD spent four) full days and two: (2) partial days_ --- about 116 hours ae in Mexico City from about cay OS a.m. 2 October 1963. cial traveler hotel, not. Vronmercio =~ where he was. 10:00 a.m. 27 September 1908 ¢ His place of residence wes Sika a frequented by "gringos*\S KON 1 registered under alias. Exha@stive and detailed interviews and | interrogation’ by the Mexican authorities and the FBI after the assassination established that, in the recollection of all hotel “personnel, he left and returned late each day of his stay. 6. Allowing for the fact of late arrival ‘and early departure, and assuming that he slept one-third of the time of his stay G8 or 39 hours), there remain some 78 hours. of activity to be SECRET COPY NO. t re Oo 8 SmI ae RROD 20P-CRRRIREITTT Toe SAE HES . . a , Seem sgpee com oe cement en oe ee ee ee ee : LORE eS cp eat . 1° PER” a vacn 137 of 319 eee ATT
14-00000.. poe “OP a . ‘quarters in response toa Station cabled report of 8 October contact by an American for a visa to Cuba in transit. to the USSR. “This was indicated and ‘deduced from technically acquired infor- very brief periods during 28, ee nd J October, All” ES) | date, “the bare bones of his. biography were forwarded by. Head- RO was technical. ‘The nt) coverage, | ) 7. It shoula be nots Chey WALD was in no sense “under investigation. " “None of the Yacts of his defection and stay in the USSR and return to the U. S., 1959 ~ - 1962, were known: to the Mexico. Station or in its ‘files before 10 October 1963. On that : which had. forwarded, on a routine basis, what appeared to be a mation. on 1 October, which was the first and only occasion on that (partially) by true name. on 22 and 23 November ped Xatt YO? visit. in which OSWALD was. ‘recorded as identifying himself , 8. At no time during his sta gids City did the CIA -~ ESS" of all coverage -=.-. Oe onducted by the Station y ssassination, including acquire a photo of OSWALD. A ca NS) co technical as well. as photographic materials back to August 19 is confirmed that there was no CIA. photo coverage of ‘OSWALD at any time during his Mexico trip > or stay. in Mexico. City. Moreover, although it had made a cabled request: on 15 October; the Mexico Station had no photo of OSWALD in its records, nor did it receive one from Headquarters -- which did not have one either. -- before 22 November 1963. & ‘ . tl ateseeatteeatnmnmenitoateaemadtietheranttemmmmntanmteneteen’ seni . 7 6 canine RON REIERS CUEE ' np HO RE re enn 138° 319° | cory HG. ;
14-00000_ . f a tine." _ to be of more than ordinary in "or both. — second of two conversations on 1 October, reported by the Station to Headquarters in its first indication - a matter of coincident fact. Ca 9. It must be stressed that GQ gehnicad information the EON Station had was not Cand normalt 4S) KC ~) Ae Olume of the infor cessed in. “real The means of acqui sigan van’ “4 mation preclude anything @Xt he Xt reporting of items judged st and, therefore, noted in summary logs. Full texts ‘of selected items require consultation of .the tape and either a full transcription or full translation: Photo coverage tends to become available in quantity lots which Tequires . scanning and selection on a rapid and accelerated basis in four or five day “peaks.” One of the. "triggers" that ‘normally operates to focus and accelerate more . _ speedy review and reporting of this kind of raw intelligence is the mention of a name. .This was precisely what occurred in the ‘during which the speaker said he was “Lee OSWALD." “It was this information on OSWALD» on 8 October 1965. SO A. Co, | 10. The Mexico Station did wacom in its 8 October. report on Lee. OSWALD based on ther NN information: it PAR. . coupled the data with descrigiaye 3 on it had acquired - ce a of a male individual, from a. sensitive source Sp EXE apparently an American, we WR Neerved entéring an Embassy “— on 1 October. “The: Station reported this detail on the 8th as The Station did not assert or suggest that the data led to any deduction that the photo was in fact OSWALD or, indeed, was in any way related to OSWALD. | PAGE COPY NO. mene NATE 139,, 319 ‘on te on eerreR REINS : Pon poeaannenasee enebbennte qpenepePetiacetgete ny Hapeteapenseottrieee mE CFEDE . é : * ARE Se 1 eo eee on AER EO “A OF SF. crant apumyiewie yeneseenate “etm eenineee epee arene ~~. . an) ’ P emmamegeemes + +:
14-00000 o~ . an * 11. One additional element of bac Qe must be stipulated now as the final recon to understanding the ge, oto, e unknown relevance (or irrelevance) of th individual placed in the chat Gore on 23 November in ‘totality of CIA Mexico's Dallas by the FBI agent: na mas coverage of OSWALD's activity as YS the afternoon of the 23rd when all available coverage had been checked? 12. The total ity of Mexico Station coverage on or _Teasonably inferable to be OSWALD consisted of five (5) voice intercepts. Each of these items, including the text. of the raw intercepts, were read by, discussed. with, and examined by Warren Commission staffers. in Headquarters and at the Mexico Station during a stay . from 8-13 April 1964. “ALL were made available promptly to. the FBI. ‘the entry into an ‘Embassy of a white- shirted individual. In the ‘opinion of the Station, among all the Bese photographed that day, he appeared to be the only non who entered. On the chance tha see ' between the identification Station reported the two Sie 13 At about mid- “day, on 1 October, the camera registered and possibly American Ay be an association SA m the voice inter- from the photograph, the. - cept and the descriptive 6a ® 201 SERRE SEER ER # ep eteRfRERE oe GePGE A fhe Aor REFERERS + 4 ; . . S separate facts in its cable to Headquarters: on 8 October. > te an analytic "quantum leap,” in “terms of the primitive status 4 ‘The Station’ s action was not unusual and really amounted of the OSWALD identification. Many examples of a similar kind of thing can be found in the day-to- day record of Station- Headquarters SECRET | eae os, PREIS asso o AaSRBRIERY =o See One! Bo> “spe + yp 48 PAGE. .of emma ‘COPY: ‘NO. ——— —
14-00000 aoe Oo a - ; (é . ° 15. On 22 November 1963 the Mexico Station cabled Head- 7 quarters at 2229Z time after learning of yest of Lee H. OSWALD, age 24, possibly sn conection QW? He assassination, and referenced its: earlier nessageSobs- eis October and Headquarters’ reply of 10 ) S "priority pouch a fete . so that Station oo yy) TAS can check all recent covegate for OSWALD. Forward- ion requested by: - . ing soonest copies of only visitor on 1 October who - , : could be identical with OSWALD." . “16. ‘This obviously was for comparison at the Station which had estimated the age of the unidentified male whose : photograph it had.selected as having the "apparent age of 35." | 17. . The Station meanwhile had begun an exhaustive and accelerated review of all its technical and photographic intel- ligence. A dispatch was prepared in accordance with the | indication given in the cable of 22 November. The dispatch , . noted that photo coverage of the unidentified individual had turned up on 4 and 15 October, The of the 22 November 1963 ; pouched dispatch read: \S | “1. Attached | are a ies obtained. -on 1 & SS S., appeared to be © an American. 3 QM scenes on 4 October 1963. eS” photographs | 7 ° . e : ° . . . ‘ . fara ame ten inet teeenettaa nae ante amen tiaeken aan an ananenaansamenmetnssemeee ee - F ee - saseeeeemenetneaemeaenteaaimaianamesseaademsaiendataameienenmerienaenenrennte nna eenem emer : . , . . ° . ’ ' . ‘ : "2. Copiesof these Yon were shown to the U. S. ‘Ambassador on 22 November 1963 and a Copy of each of the two photographs was given to Chief FBI, 7 Mexico, on that date... .. Cr eT pace. 4+ Ader 319 319 COPY NO. 0.
eo sey | vo - C ne OF aa of "Pp. S. Photographs dated 15 inserted after typing <\ taken as [the] psa Qe 18. The "Unidentifie ae vi unidentified. There is st) CIA is aware, that the Sak: in the, , photograph had any connection with Lee Harvey OSWALD or ‘the assassination of President Kennedy. : ne oo F . . . “ : a : - , ee od. . a So - od SEGRET , aren ry a 442. 319 “PACE COPY NO.