LETTER: ATTACHING MEMO ENTITLED: REVIEW OF AGENCY HOLDINGS REGARDING PHOTOGRAPH OF UNIDENTIFIED INDIVIDUAL IN THE WARREN COMMISSION REPORT
Agency: CIA
Originator: CIA
From: E. H. KNOCHE, ASST TO DCI
To: MR. DAVID W. BELIN
Document date: 05/13/1975
Document type: PAPER-TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

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11041042810173)

CENTRiL INTELLIG

E AGENCY

OFFICE OF TI DIRECTOR

7'5

633.3

Mr. David WV. Belin

Exocutiva Director

Commission on CIA Activities

Within the United States

1 3 MAY 1975

Dear Mr. Belin:

I am attaching, per your request of 15 April,

background materials relating to certain questions

relating to Oswald and the Warren Commission.

* Tab A is a classified Secret memorandum

Insponsiva to your request. Tab B is an unclassi-

sied version,

which you can use as you see fit

in whatever report you are preparing on the subject.

Additional details are available in the Office

of the Inspector General should you wish to pursue

• this in greater depth.

• Faithfully yours,

E. H. Knoche

Assistant to the Director

Attachment: a/s

i#Knoche:rrh: 5/13/75

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SEO.:

12 May 1975

SUBJECT

REFERENCE:

the Warren

Commission

Report

Memorandum from David W. Belin to E. Henry Knoche,

dated 15 April 1975

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 and the Mexican security authorities.

2.

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

in the ongoing investigation. One photograph, cropped by the

FBI, was shown to Mrs. Marguerite OSWALD (Lee Harvey OSWALD'S

mother) in Dallas on the evening of 23 November 1963 by an FBI

agent.

3. The Warren Commission's report describes the sequence of

events that ultimately resulted 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

Ciscsliag ty

004645

Erera: in to tal

drainini.

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SECRE

compounding this

erroneous conclusion was the fact that, when

she had been shown a copy of the same photograph in her appearance

before the Commission, it had been cropped by the FBI in Washing-

ton in a slightly different manner.

4. Although in no way related to Lee Harvey OSWALD or his

stay in Mexico City from the morning of 27 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

important, 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 City, 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 (4) full days and two (2)

partial days -- about 116 hours in all -- in Mexico City from about

10:00 a.m. 27 September 1963 to about 8:30 a.m. 2 October 1963.

His place of residence was a small commercial traveler hotel, not

frequented by "gringos" --

the Hotel Commercio -- where he was

registered under alias. Exhaustive 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

(38 or 39 hours), there remain some 78 hours of activity to be

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accounted for. Overall, CIA's information can account only for

very brief periods during 28, 29 September and 1 October. All

coverage by CIA during the entire period was technical. The

Station had no live source (living agent) coverage.

7. It should be noted that OSWALD was in no sense "under

investigation." None of the facts

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

date, the bare

bones of his biography were forwarded by. Head-

quarters in response to a Station cabled report of 8 October

which had forwarded, on a routine basis, what appeared to be a

contact by an American for a visa to Cuba in transit to the USSR.

This was indicated and deduced from technically acquired infor-

mation on 1 October, which was the first and only occasion on that

visit in which OSWALD was recorded as identifying himself

(partially) by true name.

8. At no time during his stay in Mexico City did the CIA

acquire a photo of OSWALD. A careful review of all coverage --.

technical as well. as photographic -- was conducted by the Station

on 22 and

23 November 1963 after the

assassination, including

materials back to August 1963. This 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.

---

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SELTET

9. It must be stressed that what technical information the

Station had was not (and normally is not) processed in "real

time.". The means of acquisition

and the volume of the infor-

mation preclude anything. but the spot reporting of items judged

to be of more than ordinary interest and, therefore, noted in

summary logs. Full texts of selected items require consultation

of the tape and either a full transcription or full translation

or both. Photo coverage tends to become available in quantity

lots which requires 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

second of two conversations on 1 October, during

which the

speaker said he was "Lee OSWALD." It was this information.

reported by the Station to Headquarters in its first indication

on OSWALD on 8 October 1963.

10. The Mexico Station did one more thing in its 8 October

report on Lee OSWALD based on the 1 October information: it

coupled the data with descriptive information it had acquired

from a sensitive source -- a photograph of a male individual,

apparently an American, who was observed entering an Embassy

on 1 October. The Station reported this detail on the 8th as

a matter of coincident fact. The Station did not assert or

suggest that the data led to any deduction that the photo was in

fact OSWALD of, indeed, was in any way related to OSWALD.

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SE::

11. One additional element of background must be

stipulated now as the final precondition to understanding the

relevance (or irrelevance) of the photo of the unknown

individual placed in the chain of evidence on 23 November in

Dallas by the FBI agent: what was the totality of CIA Mexico's

coverage of OSWALD's activity as of the afternoon of the 23rd

when all available coverage had been checked?

12. The totality of Mexico Station coverage on or reasonably

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.

13. At about mid-day on 1 October, the camera registered

the entry into an Embassy of a white-shirted individual.

In the

opinion of the Station, among all the persons photographed that

day, he appeared to be the only non-Latin and

possibly American

who entered. On the chance that there could be an association

between the identification data derived from the voice inter-

cept and the descriptive data derived from the photograph, the

Station reported the two elements as separate facts in

its cable

to Headquarters on 8 October.

14. The Station's action was not unusual and really amounted

to an analytic "quantum leap," in terms of the prinitive status

of the OSWALD identification. Many examples of a similar kind of

thing can be found in the day-to-day record of Station-Headquarters.

---

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...:

15. On 22 November 1963 the Mexico

Station cabled Head-

quarters

at 2229Z time after learning of the arrest of Lee H.

OSWALD; age 24, possibly in connection with the assassination,

and referenced its earlier messages of 8-9 and 15 October and

Headquarters' reply of 10 October. The Station requested by:

"priority pouch a photo of OSWALD so that Station

can check all recent coverage for OSWALD. Forward-

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 text of the 22 November 1963

pouched dispatch read:

"I. Attached are copies of the only photographs

obtained. ..on 1 October

1963 which appeared to be

an American. This same man visited (an] Embassy on

4 October 1963.

"2. Copies of these photographs 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,.

Mexico, on that date. . .

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SECTOR

"P. S. Photographs dated 15 October 1963 were

inserted after typing of dispatch. These were

taken as [the] person entered lan] Embassy."

18. The "Unidentified Individual" remains to this day

unidentified. There is still no credible evidence, as far as

CIA is aware, that the individual in the photograph had any

connection with Lee Harvey OSWALD or the

assassination of

President Kennedy.

---

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SUBJECT

REFERENCE:

5-17.75

Review of Agency Holdings Regarding Photograph of

Unidentified

Individual

in

the

Warren

Commission

Report

Memorandum

from David W. Belin to E. Henry Knoche,

dated 15 April 1975

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. The photograph is of an individual who to this

day remains unidentified. Intelligence did not provide a photo-

graph of Lee Harvey Oswald during his brief stay in Mexico City

that month.

2. 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 representative 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

in the ongoing investigation.: One photograph, cropped by the

FBI, was shown to Mrs. Marguerite OSWALD (Lee Harvey OSWALD's

mother) in Dallas on the evening of 23 November 1963 by an FBI

agent.

3. The Warren Commission's report describes the sequence of

events that ultimately resulted in Mrs. Marguerite OSWALD'S

---

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allegation that she had been shown a cropped photo of Jack RUBY

the day before he murdered her son. A further complication

compounding this erroneous conclusion was the fact that, when

she had been shown a copy of the same photograph in her appearance

before the Commission, it had been cropped by the FBI in Washing-

ton in a slightly different manner.

4. Although in no way related to. Lee Harvey OSWALD or his

stay in Mexico City from the morning of 27 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

important, therefore, to an understanding of the acquisition and

handling of the photographs by the CIA's Mexico representative

to review what he ascertained and did with the information

developed about OSWALD in Mexico City, together with CIA Head-

quarters 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 (4) full days and two (2)

partial days -- about 116 hours in all -- in Mexicö City from

about 10:00 a.m. 27 September 1963 to about 8:30 a.m. 2 October

1963.

His place of residence was a small commercial traveler

hotel, not frequented by "gringos" -- the Hotel Commercio -- where

he was registered under alias. Exhaustive 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.

---

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6. Allowing for the fact of late arrival and early departure,

and assuning that he slept one-third of the time of his stay

(38 or 39 hours), there remain

some 78 hours of

activity to be

accounted for. Overall, CIA's information can account only for

very brief periods during 28, 29 September and 1 October.

7. It should be noted that OSWALD was in no sense "under

investigation." None of the facts of his defection and stay in

the USSR and return to the U. S., 1959-1962, were known to CIA's

Mexico representative before 10 October 1963. On that date, the

bare bones of Oswald's biography were forwarded by Headquarters in

response to a cabled report of 8 October which had forwarded, on

a routine basis, what appeared. to be a contact by an American for

a visa to Cuba in transit to the USSR.

This was indicated and

deduced from information acquired on 1 October, which was the first

and only occasion on that visit in which OSWALD was recorded as

identifying himself (partially) by true name.

8. At no time during his stay in Mexico City did the CIA

acquire a photo of OSWALD. A careful review of all coverage was

conducted on 22 and 23 November 1963 after the assassination,

including materials back to August 1963. This confirmed that there

was no CIA photo coverage of OSWALD at any time during his Mexico

trip of stay in Mexico City. Noreover, although it had made a

cabled request on 15 October, the CIA's Mexico representative had

no photo of OSWALD in his records, nor did he receive one from

Headquarters -- which did not have one either -- before 22 November

1963.

3

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9.

It must be stressed that what information there was

had not been

(and normally is not) processed in "real time."

The means

of acquisition and the volume of

the information.

preclude anything but the spot reporting of items

judged

to

be of more than ordinary interest

and, therefore, noted in

summary logs. Photo coverage tended to become available in

quantity lots which requires 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 identification of a person's name. This was precisely what

occurred on I October. It was this information reported to Head-

quarters'in its first reference on OSWALD on 8 October 1963.

10. The CIA's Mexico representative did one more thing in

his 8 October report on Lee OSWALD based on the 1 October infor-

mation: he coupled the data with descriptive information acquired

from a sensitive source - a photograph of a male individual,

apparently an American, who was observed entering an Embassy

on 1 October. This detail was reported on the 8th as a matter of

coincident fact. CIA's Mexico representative 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.

11. One additional element of background

must be stipulated

now as the final precondition to understanding the relevance (or

irrelevance) of the photo of the unknown individual placed in the

chain of evidence on 23 November

in Dallas by the FBI agent:

what was the totality of CIA Mexico's coverage of OSWALD's activity

4

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as of the afternoon of the 23rd when all available coverage

had been

checked?

12.

The totality of this coverage on

or reasonably

inferable to be OSWALD was read by, discussed with, and

examined by Warren Commission staffers in Headquarters and in

Mexico City during a stay from 8-13 April 1964. All were made

• available promptly to the FBI.

13. At about mid-day on 1 October, the camera registered

the entry into an Embassy of a white-shirted individual. In the

opinion of CIA's Mexico representative, among all the

persons

photographed that day, he appeared to be the only non-Latin and

possibly American who entered. On the chance that there could be

an association between the identification data

derived from

coverage and the descriptive data derived from the photograph,

the two elements were reported as separate facts in the cable to

Headquarters on 8 October.

14. This action was not unusual and really amounted to an

analytic "quantum leap," in terms of the primitive status of

the OSWALD identification. Many examples of a similar kind of

thing can be found in the day-to-day record of Mexico City

Headquarters correspondence and reporting.

15.

On 22 November 1963 CIA's Mexico representative cabled

Headquarters at 2229Z time after learning of the arrest of Lee H.

OSWALD, age 24, possibly in connection with the assassination,

and referenced its earlier messages of 8-9 and 15 October and

Headquarters' reply of 10 October. This cable requested by.

5

---

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priority pouch

a photo of OSWALD so that a check

could be

made of "all recent coverage for OSWALD. Forwarding soonest

copies of only visitor on 1 October who could be

identical with

OSWALD. "

16.

This obviously was for comparison at the CIA Mexico'

City office which had estimated the age of the unidentified male

whose photograph it had selected as having the "apparent age of

35. "

17. 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 text of the 22 November 1963 pouched dispatch

read:

"1. Attached are copies of the only photographs

obtained...on l October 1963 which appeared to be

an American. This same man visited [an] Embassy on

4 October 1963.

"2. Copies of these photographs 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,

Mexico, on that date. . . .

"P.. S. Photographs dated 15 October 1963 were

inserted after typing of dispatch. These were taken

as [the] person

entered [an] Embassy."

18. The "Unidentified Individual" remains to this day

unidentified. There

is still no credible evidence, as far as

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CIA is aware, that the individual in the photograph had any

connection with Lee Harvey OSWALD of the assassination of

President Kennedy.

---