Mr. EISENBERG. You can refer to your photographs.
Mr. CADIGAN. The enlarged photograph, Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A,
contains both handwriting and hand printing which was compared with
the known standards, Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 4 through 10. I compared
both the handwriting and the hand printing to determine whether or not
the same combination of individual handwriting characteristics was
present in both the questioned and the known documents. I found many
characteristics, some of which I would point out.
On the order blank, in the "A. Hidell" and in the wording "Dallas
Texas" which constitutes a part of the return address, the letter "A"
in Cadigan Exhibit No. 3 is made in the same manner as the capital
letter "A" on Cadigan Exhibit No. 10. The letter is formed with a short
straight stroke beginning about halfway up the left side. The top of it
is peaked or pointed. The right side is straight, and is shorter than
the initial stroke. The capital letter "D" in Dallas is characterized
by a staff or downstroke slanting at about a 30° angle. The lower loop
in some instances is closed. In the word "Dallas" the loop is closed,
and the body of the letter ends in a rounded loop formation. The same
characteristic I found in Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 4, 5, and 6 as well
as other exhibits. The word "Texas" on Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A is
characterized with the letter "x" made in an unusual manner in that
the writer, after completing the body of the letter, makes an abrupt
change of motion to the following letter "a." This same characteristic
I observed in the known standard on Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 6, 9, and 4.
In the address portion of the envelope, Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A,
appears the word "Dept." I noticed here, again, the same formation
of the capital "D." In addition, the entire word "Dept" appears
in the known standards on Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 5, 6, and 7. The
characteristics I would point out here are in the letter "p" in Cadigan
Exhibit No. 3, where the letter is made with a relatively long narrow
staff, and the body of the letter is a rounded shape which projects
above the staff. The letter "t" ends abruptly in a downstroke. In
the handprinting appearing in the exhibit marked Cadigan Exhibit
No. 3-A, the wording "Dallas, Texas" contains a number of the same
characteristics as Cadigan Exhibit No. 5, where the same wording
appears, and on Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 7 and 8. The writer uses a
script-type "D," and prints the other letters in the word "Dallas."
The "A" again is made in a similar way to the "A" in "A. Hidell," with
a beginning of the downstroke approximately three-quarters of the
way up the left side of the stroke. The letter is relatively narrow,
and the right-hand side of the letter is straight. In the double "L"
combinations there is a curve in the lower portion of the letter. The
"S" has a flat top, slanting at approximately a 30-degree angle. In the
word "Texas" in Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A the writer has used a small "e"
following the letter "T." The same characteristics will be noted on
Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 5, 7, and 8.
Additionally, I noted that in addition to the shape of the letters
themselves, the relative heights of the letters, the spacing between
the letters, the slant of the letters in both the know and questioned
documents are the same.
On Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A, in the portion for address, appears the
notation "P.O. Box 2915," and this same wording appears on Cadigan
Exhibit No. 5, and on No. 7 and No. 8 except for the "P.O." portion.
Here, again, I observed the same formation of the individual letters;
the spacing, the style, the slant of the writings in both questioned
and known were observed to be the same.
The tail of the "5" is made with a relatively long stroke and the same
characteristic appears in the known standards. In the hand printed
name "A. Hidell," on Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A, another characteristic
I noted was the very small-sized "i" in the name "Hidell." The writer
makes this letter very short in contrast to the other letters in
the name. This same characteristic I observed on Cadigan Exhibit
No. 10, the passport application. With reference to the "i" dot on
Cadigan Exhibit No. 3 in the name "Hidell," in the return portion,
the dot is relatively high and between the body of the letter and the
following letter "d." In the portion of the word "Chicago"--of the name
"Chicago"--in the address portion on Cadigan Exhibit No. 3, the "i" dot
is between the "o" and the "g" in "Chicago" and is well above the line
of writing. On Cadigan Exhibit No. 4 I observed the same displacement
of the "i" dot. In some instances, it is slightly to the right of the
body of the letter, as in the word "citizenship" in the sixth line from
the bottom, whereas in the word "direct" in the ninth line from the
bottom the "i" dot is displaced one and a half letters to the right.
Based upon the combination of these individual characteristics which
I have pointed out, as well as others, I reached the opinion that the
handwriting and handprinting on Cadigan Exhibit No. 3-A were written by
Lee Harvey Oswald, the writer of the known standards, Cadigan Exhibits
Nos. 4 through 10.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, Mr. Cadigan, the photographs which comprise Cadigan
Exhibits Nos. 4 through 10 are actually somewhat more limited than the
standards, in that they represent in some cases excerpts from the
standards, is that correct? Such as excerpts from the Marine Corps file?
Mr. CADIGAN. That is correct.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, when you refer to the standards, Cadigan Exhibits
Nos. 4 through 10, do you mean by that that you based your conclusion
only on the excerpts shown in Exhibits Nos. 4 through 10?
Mr. CADIGAN. No; the exhibits, Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 4 through 10, were
merely prepared for demonstration purposes. The original examination
and comparison was made using all of the writings, the handwriting and
handprinting in the State Department file, the Marine Corps file, the
passport application and the two letters, one to Governor Connally and
one to Brigadier General Tompkins.
Mr. EISENBERG. That is, the documents which you identified very
close to the beginning of the deposition, and which I referred to
collectively as the standards?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, I now hand you Commission Exhibit No. 788,
and ask you if you have examined that exhibit?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. For the record, that is the money order which was
included with the purchase order to Klein's. Have you prepared a
photograph of that exhibit, Mr. Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 11.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 11.)
Mr. EISENBERG. And this was taken by you or under your supervision?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. And is it an accurate photograph of the money order,
Exhibit No. 788?
Mr. CADIGAN. It is.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you compare Exhibit No. 788 with the standards to
determine whether Exhibit No. 788 had been written by Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. What was your conclusion?
Mr. CADIGAN. That the postal money order, Cadigan Exhibit No. 11, had
been prepared by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. EISENBERG. The postal money order is Commission Exhibit No. 788 and
your picture is Cadigan Exhibit No. 11, is that correct?
Mr. CADIGAN. That is correct.
Mr. EISENBERG. Could you explain some of the points of identity which
led you to the conclusion that you formed?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I think that using the wording "Dallas, Texas"
appearing on Commission Exhibit No. 839 as an example of some of the
handwriting characteristics present on this exhibit----
Mr. EISENBERG. You mean Cadigan Exhibit No. 11?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes. In the wording "Dallas, Texas," the writing is quite
characteristic. I noted, again, the overall size, spacing, slant, and
relative proportions of letters on Cadigan Exhibit No. 11 were the same
as on Cadigan Exhibit No. 6, and that the letter "D" was characterized
on Cadigan Exhibit No. 11 with a relatively short staff, with a rather
long retrace on the left side of the staff, the body of the letter
ending in a large curling stroke. The small letter "a" is rather narrow
and somewhat flat. There is a rather long smooth connecting stroke
between the "a" and the double letter "l." The "s" is almost triangular
in shape, and has no ending stroke or tail to the right.
Further, on Cadigan Exhibit No. 11, in the word "Texas" I noted again
the rather unusual shape of the small letter "x," in that it appears
almost as though it were a letter "u." The capital letter "T" in
"Texas" has a very long curved beginning stroke and a small eyelet or
loop in the lower portion of the letter.
I noted these same characteristics on Cadigan Exhibit No. 6 in the
wording Dallas, Texas, and certain of the letters on Cadigan Exhibits
Nos. 6, 7, 8, and the entire word "Texas" in Cadigan Exhibit No. 4.
I noted also, again, that the small letter "p" in the word "sporting"
on Cadigan Exhibit No. 11 was made the same as the "p's" in the known
standards as well as on Cadigan Exhibit No. 3 in the word "Dept," in
that the staff is long, in the form of a long closed loop, and the
upper portion of the letter extends above the staff and the body of the
letter is not closed to the staff.
I further noted that on Cadigan Exhibit No. 11 the wording "P.O. Box
2915" contained the same characteristics as the same wording in Cadigan
Exhibits Nos. 5, 6, and 7. And here again, based on a combination of
personal handwriting characteristics in the entire writing, I reached
the opinion that Cadigan Exhibit No. 11 had been written by Lee Harvey
Oswald.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, I now hand you Commission Exhibit No.
135, which, for the record, is an order used for the purchase of the
revolver that was apparently used to murder Officer Tippit, and I ask
you whether you examined that exhibit.
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. And have you taken a photograph of that exhibit?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Which you now have before you?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I have an enlarged photograph.
Mr. EISENBERG. And that would be Cadigan Exhibit No. 12.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 12.)
Mr. EISENBERG. This was taken by you or under your supervision?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. It is an accurate photograph of Exhibit No. 135?
Mr. CADIGAN. It is.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, did you compare Commission Exhibit No. 135
with the standard or known writings of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I did.
Mr. EISENBERG. What was your conclusion as to the origin of 135?
Mr. CADIGAN. That it was written by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. EISENBERG. And can you give some of the reasons that led you to
form that conclusion?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; here again, it is the presence of the same
combination of individual handwriting characteristics, both handwriting
and handprinting. For example, again the wording "Dallas, Texas," is
handprinted on Cadigan Exhibit No. 12, and the same characteristics
appear in the same wording on Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 9, 7, 6, and 8.
The formation of the individual letters on Cadigan Exhibit No. 12, the
spacing of the letters, the proportions of the letters, were found to
be the same as on the known standards.
Additionally, the capital letter "D" in the name "Drittal" on Cadigan
Exhibit No. 12 has a rather unusual appearance in the upper portion of
the letter in that it is very pointed and wedge-shaped, and I found
this same shape present on the reverse side of the passport application
on Cadigan Exhibit No. 10, page 2 in the word "Dec."
Again, I noted the rather long tail or ending stroke on the number "5"
in the address portion of this exhibit. Again, based on finding the
same combination of individual handwriting habits in the questioned and
known writings, I concluded that Commission Exhibit No. 135 was written
by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, I hand you Commission Exhibit No. 791,
which, for the record, is an application by Oswald for post office box
2915, dated October 9, 1962, and ask you whether you have examined that
exhibit?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. And have you prepared a photograph of that exhibit, Mr.
Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 13.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 13.)
Mr. EISENBERG. Was this prepared by you or under your supervision?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. And is it a true and accurate photograph of 791?
Mr. CADIGAN. It is.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you attempt to determine whether Commission Exhibit
No. 791 had been prepared by the author of the standards, Lee Harvey
Oswald?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. What was your conclusion?
Mr. CADIGAN. That Lee Harvey Oswald had prepared the hand printing,
signature, and date on Commission Exhibit No. 791. This excludes the
box number and the wording "Dallas, Tex.," in the lower right portion.
Mr. EISENBERG. Can you give some of the reasons why you came to that
conclusion?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; the reasons are basically the same, the presence
of the same combination of both handwritten and hand printed
characteristics in the known and questioned exhibits. On Cadigan
Exhibit No. 18 we have the hand printed wording----
Mr. EISENBERG. Cadigan Exhibit No. 18?
Mr. CADIGAN. Cadigan Exhibit No. 10, excuse me, the passport
application, we have the wording "LEE OSWALD." This hand printed
signature is quite distinctive in the formation of the individual
letters, in the spacing of the letters, and their slant. For example,
the letter "L" on both Cadigan Exhibit No. 13 and on Cadigan Exhibit
No. 10, there is a small hook in the upper left portion where the
downstroke begins, and there is a little tent or hill at the base of
the letter. The double letter "E's" also have a curve, a dent at the
base of the letter, although not so pronounced. Both letters, both
letter "E's," are approximately the same height as the "L."
In the last name "OSWALD" on Cadigan Exhibit No. 13 and on Cadigan
Exhibit No. 10 the "O" has a pointed or tented appearance in the upper
right portion, and the ending stroke curves down into the body of the
letter. The "S" and "W" in both the questioned and known are smaller
than the following capital letter "A." This capital letter "A" in both
instances is made in the same manner as previously described on other
exhibits. The writer uses a lower-case or small "l," and a lower-case
or small "d" for the last two letters of his name, the "d" portion or
the letter "d" in both instances being made with a straight-slanted
stroke, then an abrupt circular stroke to the left.
In addition on this same exhibit I noted the formation of the letter
"i." The exhibit I refer to is Cadigan Exhibit No. 13--the "i" being
made very small in relation to the other letters adjacent to it.
This document also bears the signature "Lee H. Oswald" which, again,
is a very characteristic signature. It appears in Cadigan Exhibit No.
13, the questioned document, and Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, and 10. The signature I noted was written rather rapidly. It is
somewhat distorted in appearance. The initial "L" has a rather long
curved beginning stroke and relatively narrow upper and lower portions
of the letter. The letter "H" is made with two parallel strokes and
it can be seen that there is a very little retrace from the base of
the first stroke in the letter to the top of the second stroke in the
letter.
The "O" combination is rather unusual in that the writer swings
into the letter "s" from the top of the "O." Also, as the signature
progresses to the right it increases in size, and very noticeably in
the "ld" portion where the "d" stands well above the line of writing.
And in this particular signature there is a long-swinging stroke from
the top of the "d," having a shape similar to a "u" lying on its side.
The base of the letter has a very sharp angular formation.
Again, based on a combination of the same individual handwriting and
hand printing characteristics, I reached the opinion that Commission
Exhibit No. 791 was prepared by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, I now hand you Commission Exhibit No. 793,
consisting of a change-of-address card relating to box 2915. Have you
examined that exhibit?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. And have you prepared a photograph thereof?
Mr. CADIGAN. I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 14.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 14.)
Mr. EISENBERG. This photograph is an accurate reproduction of
Commission Exhibit No. 793?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; it is.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, getting back for a moment to Cadigan
Exhibit No. 13, I see that there is another picture shown on that
exhibit, apart from the one as to which you testified.
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Can you describe that?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes. That is a Post Office Department Form 1093,
application for post office box, and the post office box number is
6225, and it is signed, Lee H. Oswald.
Mr. EISENBERG. And why is that included on the picture with Cadigan
Exhibit No. 13, or rather on the picture with Commission Exhibit No.
791? Is that because they were both from----
Mr. CADIGAN. No; it is part of another post office application that
does not relate to box 2916.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you have any particular reason for printing that up
with the photograph of Exhibit No. 791?
Mr. CADIGAN. No. I think it may have been part of another exhibit which
has not as yet been introduced.
Mr. EISENBERG. Does your identification of Exhibit No. 791 in any way
depend upon that photograph?
Mr. CADIGAN. No; not at all.
Mr. EISENBERG. So we can disregard it for our purposes?
Mr. CADIGAN. If you want to, I can take it out.
Mr. EISENBERG. Well, it is in.
Mr. CADIGAN. I mean I can just cut it along here.
Mr. EISENBERG. I would rather leave it in, since it is in the record.
Mr. CADIGAN. All right.
Mr. EISENBERG. I just wanted to make sure that it didn't need to be
discussed as part of the identification of Exhibit No. 791, and I take
it it does not?
Mr. CADIGAN. No.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, getting back to Commission Exhibit No. 793 and the
photograph thereof, which is Cadigan Exhibit No. 14, did you attempt to
determine whether Commission Exhibit No. 793 had been prepared by Lee
Harvey Oswald?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. The photograph of which is Cadigan Exhibit No. 14. And
what was your conclusion on that?
Mr. CADIGAN. Again, that Commission Exhibit No. 793 was written by
Lee Harvey Oswald, again based upon finding the same combination of
individual handwriting and hand printing characteristics in both the
questioned writing and the known standards.
Mr. EISENBERG. Could you discuss some of those common characteristics?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes. Here, again, the entire word "Dallas" and the word
Texas is made in a very characteristic manner which I have described
before, and which appears on Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 9, 6, 7, and 8.
The signature "Lee H. Oswald" was found to have the same
characteristics as the known signatures, although here I noted that in
the ending "d" in Oswald the stroke was less cursive than the ending
"d" in Cadigan Exhibit No. 13, in that the writer makes a rather
narrow loop and does not cross the staff of the letter "d." I noted
this characteristic, also, in Cadigan Exhibits Nos. 9 and 10. I would
like to point out that here, again, the writer varies his individual
characteristics, which is entirely normal and expected, and actually
it adds weight to the characteristic to find that it does vary to
some degree. All writing, particularly signatures, are never exactly
duplicated and some variation is normally expected, and finding the
same variations in both questioned and known signatures increases the
value of it, so that, again, the presence of the same combination of
handwriting and hand printing characteristics in Cadigan Exhibit No. 14
in the known exhibits enabled me to reach the opinion that Commission
Exhibit No. 793 was written by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. EISENBERG. You used the term "cursive" in respect to this. Can you
explain the meaning of that term?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; the ending "d" stroke is made with a flourish or a
sweeping motion on Cadigan Exhibit No. 13, and on Cadigan Exhibit No.
14 the stroke ends abruptly at the staff of the letter.
Mr. EISENBERG. And why do you call one "more cursive"?
Mr. CADIGAN. Merely for description.
Mr. EISENBERG. Can you explain the meaning of the term "cursive" apart
from your use in this instance?
Mr. CADIGAN. I think cursive has also been used to describe the
roundness of writing as opposed to an angular shape. I think it also is
sometimes used to distinguish between handwriting and hand printing.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, I now show you Commission Exhibit No. 795,
consisting of an item purporting to be a Selective Service System
notice of classification in the name of "Alek James Hidell"; Commission
No. 801, a Selective Service System notice of classification in the
name of Lee Harvey Oswald; Commission Exhibit No. 802, a registration
certificate of the Selective Service System in the name of Lee Harvey
Oswald; Commission Exhibit No. 803, a photographic negative; Commission
Exhibit No. 804, a photograph negative; Commission Exhibit No. 805, a
photograph negative; and Commission Exhibit No. 811, a photographic
negative, and I ask you whether you have examined these various items?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Based on that examination, Mr. Cadigan, could you
discuss your conclusions concerning Commission Exhibit No. 795?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes. Commission Exhibit No. 795 is a fraudulent and
counterfeit reproduction made from the retouched photographic negatives
in Commission Exhibits Nos. 804, 805, and 811 which in turn were made
from Commission Exhibits Nos. 801 and 802.
Mr. EISENBERG. And how were they prepared precisely, Mr. Cadigan?
Mr. CADIGAN. These are photographic reproductions. What was done was
to take a genuine Selective Service System notice of classification,
Commission Exhibit No. 801 in the name of Lee Harvey Oswald. From
this, a photographic negative was prepared. Then various portions of
the information, including the name, the selective service number, the
signature of the clerk of the local board were obliterated with a red
opaque substance, and I noted that in the course of this the individual
preparing the negative had inadvertently cut off portions of the
printed letters, had thickened printed lines, and especially I noted in
the signature portion had destroyed portions of the printed letters,
and I compared the Commission Exhibit No. 795 with the retouched
negative itself, and observed that the defects in the Commission
Exhibit No. 795 were due to the retouching of the negative. Although
the negative has been blotted out, or the information has been blotted
out, it is readily visible to the naked eye that on Commission Exhibit
No. 893, which was also examined in connection with the examination
of Commission Exhibit No. 795, the original writing, the original
signature and the typed information "Lee Harvey Oswald" and selective
service number is the same as it appears on Commission Exhibit No. 801.
The opaquing is merely to remove this information photographically.
There was an intervening step where a small negative or a reduced
negative of the lower portion of the face of the card which refers
to the penalty for violation concerning carrying the card itself was
made. The individual responsible made a reduced photograph but, again,
the same characteristics are apparent, and by comparing the print, the
photographic print Commission Exhibit No. 795 with these negatives,
it is possible to determine that the Commission Exhibit No. 795 was
produced from the negatives and the negatives in turn were produced
from Commission Exhibits Nos. 801 and 802.
In this connection, I would point out that the reverse side of
Commission Exhibit 795 is the form used for a registration certificate,
and it is not a proper face of a notice of classification. Here, again,
the same procedure was followed. The original card is photographed.
The unwanted information is painted out with an opaque substance, and
then a photographic print is prepared. Then the individual responsible
typed in the information "Alek James Hidell" with the selective service
number, descriptive data on the reverse, and the number of the local
board.
Further, an examination of the Commission Exhibit No. 795 shows the
individual had placed the photograph in a typewriter and struck
a number of keys which did not print. The indentations from the
typewriter keys can be clearly seen in side lighting. Also, in the
selective service number on the face of the card and the data on the
back of the card, indentations of typewriter keys were noted.
Mr. EISENBERG. Mr. Cadigan, returning to the negatives, I see that in
Commission Exhibit No. 803, as you pointed out, the information that
was originally on the card is visible.
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Whereas, in Commission Exhibit No. 894 it is not visible.
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. Can you explain the difference?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes; because Commission Exhibit No. 804 is an intermediate
step. Commission Exhibit No. 803 was first prepared, and a print was
made from this exhibit. The photographic print would not have the name
"Lee Harvey Oswald" in red on it. In the place of "Lee Harvey Oswald"
it would show as a blank. Then using the print, a second negative
is prepared, and further retouching is done, and also the warning
notice in a reduced form is inserted into the negative, so that the
data from the original notice of classification issued in the name of
Oswald appears on the first negative and does not appear on the second
negative, but both negatives are directly linked to the original card
of Oswald and to the counterfeit reproduction.
Mr. EISENBERG. Now, have you prepared photographs of this card showing
some of the details you have been discussing?
Mr. CADIGAN. Yes.
Mr. EISENBERG. That will be Cadigan Exhibit No. 15.
(The document referred to was marked Cadigan Exhibit No. 15.)