The testimony of C. W. Brown was taken at 3:30 p.m., on April 3, 1964,
in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building, Bryan and
Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. David W. Belin, assistant counsel
of the President's Commission.
Mr. BELIN. Let's get you sworn in here. Do you want to stand and raise
your right hand?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. BROWN. I do.
Mr. BELIN. Would you state your name for the record, please.
Mr. BROWN. C. W. Brown.
Mr. BELIN. Where do you live, Mr. Brown?
Mr. BROWN. I live in DeSoto, Tex.
Mr. BELIN. Is that a suburb of Dallas?
Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. What is your occupation?
Mr. BROWN. Police officer.
Mr. BELIN. How long have you been a police officer?
Mr. BROWN. Thirteen years.
Mr. BELIN. Where are you from originally?
Mr. BROWN. Dallas, and DeSoto is my home.
Mr. BELIN. You go to school there?
Mr. BROWN. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. How far did you go through school?
Mr. BROWN. Through high school.
Mr. BELIN. Did you graduate from the high school in DeSoto?
Mr. BROWN. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mr. BROWN. I went into the Navy.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do in the Navy?
Mr. BROWN. Spent 3 years in the Navy during World War II.
Mr. BELIN. How old are you, by the way?
Mr. BROWN. Thirty-eight.
Mr. BELIN. Married?
Mr. BROWN. No; divorced.
Mr. BELIN. You were in the Navy for 3 years?
Mr. BROWN. Yes.
Mr. BELIN. What were you doing when you got out of the Navy?
Mr. BROWN. When I got out of the Navy I was employed by the
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do in the Navy, by the way?
Mr. BROWN. During the war I was a coxswain, as a third class petty
officer, in the amphibious branch of the Navy.
Then after the war the peace was signed and I was a radioman until my
discharge in 1944.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do after the war?
Mr. BROWN. I started to work for the Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
Mr. BELIN. As what?
Mr. BROWN. As an installer.
Mr. BELIN. Of telephones?
Mr. BROWN. Yes; I was employed with those people 5 years before I went
to work for the city of Dallas.
Mr. BELIN. Is there anything--well, what did you do after that? Just go
to work for the city of Dallas Police Department?
Mr. BROWN. Yes; I have been with those people ever since.
Mr. BELIN. How long now?
Mr. BROWN. Thirteen years.
Mr. BELIN. What is your position now?
Mr. BROWN. I am detective in the homicide and robbery bureau.
Mr. BELIN. Were you on duty on November 22, 1963?
Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir; I was.
Mr. BELIN. What were you doing around noon or so?
Mr. BROWN. I was booking a prisoner in at the city hall, with Detective
J. R. Leavelle.
Mr. BELIN. When did you first hear of the shooting of the President?
Mr. BROWN. It came on our police intercom radio that we have in the
office.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mr. BROWN. Lieutenant Wells was in the office and we asked him if that
was correct, and he said, "Yes, they are on their way to Parkland now."
So he said, "Hurry up and get your prisoner booked and get down there
and help them."
So we immediately put this subject in jail.
Mr. BELIN. Yes.
Mr. BROWN. And went to the location of the Texas School Book Depository.
Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do?
Mr. BROWN. My partner went to the front of the building. I went to the
back of the building, and I proceeded up the back stairs to the sixth
floor where I met Captain Fritz and several other officers on the sixth
floor.
Mr. BELIN. What did you do then?
Mr. BROWN. I talked to Captain Fritz and I asked him what he wanted me
to do. He said for me and Detective B. L. Senkel to gather up--there
was about five employees there on the sixth floor, with him, and take
them to the city hall and get affidavits from those people, where they
were at the time of the shooting.
Mr. BELIN. Go ahead.
Mr. BROWN. Where they were at the time of the shooting, and what they
were doing, what they heard or saw during this incident.
Mr. BELIN. Did you go do that then?
Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir.
Mr. BELIN. You left the sixth floor right then?
Mr. BROWN. Yes; Detective Senkel and I took these employees to the city
hall, and in this group of employees I was talking to a Mr. Shelley,
and got an affidavit from him, when the officers brought in Lee Harvey
Oswald.
And there were several cameramen following these boys also in front of
them, and they opened the door to where I was interviewing; Mr. Shelley
looked up and he said, "Well, that is Oswald. He works for us. He is
one of my boys."
Mr. BELIN. What did you do or say?
Mr. BROWN. We got up and got out of the room so they could put Oswald
in there in the room we were using.
We just had two small interview rooms there, and I let them put him in
there.
Then as we got outside, of course, the phones were ringing. I answered
the phone. It was Captain Fritz. He was still at the scene on the sixth
floor of the School Book Depository, and I told him that the officers
had just brought in a suspect that had shot the police officer, and
told him about Mr. Shelley telling me that this boy that was identified
was Lee Harvey Oswald, was also an employee there.