The testimony of James C. Cadigan was taken at 3:45 p.m., on April 30,
1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C., by Mr. Melvin Aron
Eisenberg, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
(The oath was administered by the reporter.)
Mr. CADIGAN. I do.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, the purpose for which we are here is to
go into the facts of the assassination of President Kennedy, and
in particular we have asked you to testify concerning analysis of
questioned documents. Mr. Cadigan, could you state your full name and
your position?
Mr. CADIGAN. James C. Cadigan. I am a special agent of the FBI,
assigned as an examiner of questioned documents in the FBI laboratory
in Washington, D.C.
Mr. EISENBERG. And how long have you been in this field, Mr. Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. Twenty-three and one-half years.
Mr. EISENBERG. What was your training in this field?
Mr. CADIGAN. Upon being assigned to the laboratory I was given a
specialized course of training and instruction which consisted of
attending various lectures and conferences on the subject, reading
books, and working under the direction of experienced examiners.
Upon attaining a required degree of proficiency, I was assigned cases
on my own responsibility, and since that time I have examined many
thousands of cases involving handwriting, hand printing, typewriting,
forgeries, erasures, alterations, mechanical devices of all types,
pens, paper, and ink. I conduct research on various problems as they
arise and assist in the training of our new examiners.
Mr. EISENBERG. Have you testified in Federal or other courts, Mr.
Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; in many Federal and State courts, and military
courts-martial.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, I now hand you Commission Exhibit No. 773,
and I ask you whether you have examined that item.
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. For the record, that consists of an application to
purchase a rifle, addressed to Klein's Sporting Goods in Chicago. Mr.
Cadigan, I now hand you an item consisting of a roll of microfilm
labeled D-77, and ask you whether you are familiar with that roll of
microfilm?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I am.
Mr. EISENBERG. That microfilm will be marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 1.
(The article referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 1.)
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, was Exhibit No. 773 developed from a
negative contained in Cadigan Exhibit No. 1?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; it was printed from that roll.
Mr. EISENBERG. I now hand you Commission Exhibit No. 780, consisting
of the Marine Corps file of Lee Harvey Oswald; Commission Exhibit No.
778, consisting of two letters extracted from Oswald's State Department
file; Commission Exhibit No. 781, consisting of a passport application
by Lee Harvey Oswald, dated June 25, 1963--at least "Passport Issued
June 25, 1963"; and Cadigan Exhibit No. 2, consisting of a letter from
Lee Harvey Oswald to John B. Connally, then Secretary of the Navy.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 2.)
Mr. CADIGAN. This is in two parts.
Mr. EISENBERG. In two parts, and the second part consists of a letter
from Lee Harvey Oswald to a Brigadier General R. McC. Tompkins, dated
7 March 1962, and a group of documents, comprising photographs of the
balance of Lee Harvey Oswald's State Department file, labeled Cadigan
Exhibit No. 3.
(The documents referred to were marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 3.)
Mr. EISENBERG. I ask you whether you have examined these various items.
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, can you explain the meaning of the
term standard or "known documents" as used in the field of
questioned-document examination?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes. Known standards are samples of writings of an
individual which are known to be in his writing and which are available
for comparison with questioned or suspect writings.
Mr. EISENBERG. You have examined certain questioned writings allegedly
prepared by Lee Harvey Oswald, have you, Mr. Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. In your examination, what documents did you use as known
documents?
Mr. CADIGAN. Cadigan Exhibit No. 2, Commission Exhibit No. 781,
Commission Exhibit No. 778, Cadigan Exhibit No. 3, and Commission
Exhibit No. 780.
Mr. EISENBERG. For the record, during the balance of the examination
I will refer to these documents collectively as the known or standard
writings. Mr. Cadigan, a portion of the known documents and a portion
of the questioned documents are photographs rather than originals; is
that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Are you able to identify the handwriting of an
individual on the basis of a photograph of that handwriting?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Would you make an identification, such an
identification, if your only questioned document was a photograph if
the photograph was sufficiently clear?
Mr. CADIGAN. If the photograph is sufficiently clear, it is adequate
for the handwriting comparison.
Mr. EISENBERG. Similarly with standards, if your only standard was a
photograph or your only standards were photographs?
Mr. CADIGAN. If your standards were also photographs, it is possible to
make the comparison and arrive at a definite opinion.
Mr. EISENBERG. And were the photographs in this case, both the standard
and the questioned documents, clear enough to form the basis of an
opinion?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes. I might point out that some of the known standards
are original documents and not photographs.
Mr. EISENBERG. Yes; I am aware of that, but I wanted to set out on the
record whether the standards which are photographs are adequate----
Mr. CADIGAN. They are adequate.
Mr. EISENBERG. To serve as standards.
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Returning to Commission Exhibit No. 773, did you compare
the handwriting on that exhibit with the writing in the known standards
to see if they were written by the same person?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I did.
Mr. EISENBERG. And what was your conclusion?
Mr. CADIGAN. That the writer of the known standards, Lee Harvey Oswald,
prepared the handwriting and hand printing on Commission Exhibit No.
773.
Mr. EISENBERG. Have you prepared photographs or charts which you could
use to demonstrate the reason for that, Mr. Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Will you produce them? You are handing me an enlarged
photograph of Commission Exhibit No. 773, is that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. This was prepared by you or under your supervision?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. And constitutes an accurate photograph of Exhibit No.
773?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A.)
And have you prepared photographs of the standards, Mr. Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. The first photograph is an enlargement of the letter to
Brigadier General R. McC. Tompkins? Is that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 4.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 4.)
Mr. EISENBERG. And the second photograph is an enlargement of a letter
from the State Department file, is that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. Enlargement of a letter in the State Department file.
Mr. EISENBERG. In the State Department file?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 5.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 5.)
Mr. EISENBERG. The third is an enlargement of a second letter in the
State Department file, the first letter having been dated "Received
November 1, 1962," and this letter dated "December 7, 1962, Received
December 11, 1962," is that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 6.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 6.)
(Discussion off the record.)
Mr. EISENBERG. Next is a letter to the State Department without an
apparent date, beginning, "Dear Sirs: Please forward receipts to me for
final payment of my loan" and so forth, is that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 7.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 7.)
Mr. EISENBERG. Next is another letter from the State Department file,
reading, Dear Sirs, please add this $10.00 to my account No. 38210
dated October 8. Is that also from the State Department file, Mr.
Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 8.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 8.)
Mr. EISENBERG. Next is the letter to then Secretary of the Navy John
B. Connally and a page from the letter to Brigadier General R. McC.
Tompkins, is that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 9.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 9.)
Mr. EISENBERG. That is in two parts, is that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; it is two pages.
Mr. EISENBERG. Next is a photograph of the passport application
referred to earlier?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 10.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 10.)
Mr. EISENBERG. And, finally, a photograph of the reverse side of that?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Which will also be Cadigan Exhibit No. 10.
Now, in each case, Mr. Cadigan, were these photographs prepared by you
or under your supervision?
Mr. CADIGAN. They were.
Mr. EISENBERG. And are they accurate photographs of the items described
as being the subject of the photographs?
Mr. CADIGAN. They are.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, Mr. Cadigan, with reference to your enlargement,
Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A, and your photographs of standards, Cadigan
Exhibits Nos. 4 through 10, could you state some of the reasons which
led you to the conclusion that Commission Exhibit No. 778, of which
Cadigan Exhibit No. 3 is an enlargement, is in the writing of Lee
Harvey Oswald, the author of the known documents?