Mr. CABELL. That was on Friday.
Mr. HUBERT. On television?
Mr. CABELL. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you recall whether any part of those statements or
interviews had to do with the transfer of Oswald?
Mr. CABELL. None whatsoever. There was never any during that period.
There was never any mention of that. It was not brought up nor
discussed.
Mr. HUBERT. Then later on Sunday morning, I understand after the
security call from Chief Curry, there was another call from him with
regard to the death of Oswald?
Mr. CABELL. He called me.
Mr. HUBERT. I mean the shooting of Oswald.
Mr. CABELL. Yes; the incident referred to here about a friend calling.
Mr. HUBERT. You say "here." You are referring to page 3 of Exhibit No.
1?
Mr. CABELL. "He received a telephone call from a friend." That friend
was Mrs. R. O. Alexander who said, "Do you have your television on?"
And I said, No. She said, "Get it on quick. They have just shot
Oswald." And I immediately turned my television on. I was in the den
where I was sitting and taking these telephone calls, and then just
as I get it turned on, they still had not removed Oswald at that
time because this was just a matter of a minute or 2 from the actual
shooting. Then Chief Curry called and said, "They have just shot
Oswald." And I said, "Yes; I have it on TV now."
Mr. HUBERT. Was any action taken then by anybody, do you know,
concerning, first, security measures or further protection against?
Mr. CABELL. Nothing to my knowledge.
Mr. HUBERT. I think I have asked this before. If I have, then just
disregard it, but did you contact City Manager Crull during the
interval?
Mr. CABELL. No; I did not contact him. Now he came to my home
immediately on his return to the city.
Mr. HUBERT. Which was about what time?
Mr. CABELL. This was, well, it was early afternoon.
Mr. HUBERT. Of the 24th?
Mr. CABELL. This was on the 24th, on Sunday; yes. It was about 1
o'clock.
Mr. HUBERT. Can you comment upon this Lancaster Smith Proposal of a
parade?
Mr. CABELL. Lane Smith is a very well-known, very active lay worker
in the Catholic church, and he had called me earlier, and I think the
suggestion for this came from some nuns, and when he first talked to me
I didn't realize frankly the implications or the hazard of a procession
such as that, and I told him--he asked about a permit, and I said that
that is a matter that is handled by the chief of police, that he would
have to be the one to issue a permit for any type of parade, because
that is what that amounted to.
Mr. HUBERT. What was the proposal of Mr. Smith?
Mr. CABELL. Well, a torchlight procession of both the clergy and any
lay people as a procession of mourning that would pass by the site of
the assassination and put flowers at the site.
Mr. HUBERT. That was proposed for Sunday night?
Mr. CABELL. That was proposed for Sunday night, and after having
talked with him, then the implications began to dawn on me, and when
I realized that that was in a rather poorly lighted area, it is not
in the best part of town, and that the procession itself would pass
possibly under the very window of the jail where Oswald presumably
would be by that time, then that was the reason behind my calling the
chief then.
He told me he had issued the permit because he had no reason not to,
and then that is when I made the recommendation that it be canceled.
Mr. HUBERT. It was canceled in fact?
Mr. CABELL. Yes; it was.
Mr. HUBERT. Before Oswald was shot?
Mr. CABELL. Oh, I think undoubtedly, because he said he would call Lanc
immediately back.
Mr. HUBERT. When did Lancaster Smith call you?
Mr. CABELL. I think it must have been around 8 or 9 o'clock in the
morning, originally.
Mr. HUBERT. Then you called Chief Curry about what time?
Mr. CABELL. Must have been very shortly after that. I would say 9
o'clock or possibly a short time after. I believe that it must have
been just a little before 10, because I think that he was talking to me
in his office at the time word was brought to him that Oswald was shot,
or possibly had hung up the phone, or he would have mentioned that to
me at the time.
Mr. HUBERT. Because the evidence we now have shows that Oswald was shot
about 11:20, so perhaps your time would have been 11 rather than 10?
Mr. CABELL. Yes; I was thinking in terms of 10 o'clock being the hour
of shooting, but we can move this conversation with Curry to a matter
of minutes preceding the shooting of Oswald.
Mr. HUBERT. Now were any threatening calls received by you directly?
Mr. CABELL. Only one, which was received by Mrs. Cabell on New Year's
Eve.
Mr. HUBERT. December 31, 1963?
Mr. CABELL. December 31, 1963; yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. Were there any received indirectly?
Mr. CABELL. Only those that were reported to us by Chief Curry. There
was one incident which was not a call, but which was an unusual thing
and which caused a certain amount of apprehension.
On a Saturday evening, which one I can't tell you, but it was while
security was being maintained, that I decided to go out and eat dinner.
Mrs. Cabell did not want to go. She said she would just stay at home.
One of the officers stayed with Mrs. Cabell. The other one accompanied
me to Tupinamba, a Mexican cafe on Lovers Lane. I told Mrs. Cabell I
would get Mexican food there. There are three places in the immediate
vicinity, all of which we patronize from time to time.
The officer and I were in having our dinner when the proprietor came
over and said that I was wanted on the phone. I picked up the receiver.
I could hear traffic noises in the background, so I knew that the
line was open. I said, Hello several times, and the receiver clicked
in my ear. I thought that Mrs. Cabell had possibly tried to get hold
of me, and I called her, and she said, "No, she had not." So it was
obvious that someone who was either in the restaurant and had left
when we came in, or had seen us enter the restaurant, put in this call,
apparently just a nuisance or harassing type of thing.
Mr. HUBERT. How long after you had been in the restaurant did this call
come?
Mr. CABELL. Oh, a matter of 10 or 15 minutes.
Mr. HUBERT. You never found the source of that?
Mr. CABELL. No.
Mr. HUBERT. Was any investigation made?
Mr. CABELL. There was no way of making an investigation. The assumption
is that the call was placed from one of the public telephones that are
up and down that business section there.
Mr. HUBERT. Mr. Cabell, there have been some reports as to the
authenticity or veracity of, for which I do not vouch at all, to the
effect that some pressure was put upon Chief of Police Curry by you or
others to cooperate with the press in all ways possible. I think in
fairness I should give you an opportunity to comment upon that.
Mr. CABELL. There was one that has been rumored. One of our local
weekly publications made that as a statement. That is completely false.
At no time did I have any contact with Chief Curry to the extent that
I gave him any orders, instructions, or make any comment upon the
situation other than the contact which I have mentioned with reference
to this proposed torchlight parade.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you know of any pressure put upon him by anyone in
authority over him?
Mr. CABELL. I do not know of any, and my assumption would be, and I say
assumption, would be that none had been made, because I know how Mr.
Crull operates to the extent that he would not interfere in the duties
of his chief of police. Now I am sure that they had conversations with
reference to security and that sort of thing, but I would question very
definitely that any orders as such on that subject would have been
issued by Mr. Crull.
Mr. HUBERT. In any case, neither you nor anyone else, to your
knowledge, did anything of that sort, to wit, bring pressure upon him
in anyway whatsoever?
Mr. CABELL. That is entirely correct.
Mr. HUBERT. Mr. Cabell, do you have anything else to say, sir?
Mr. CABELL. No, sir; I don't know of anything else that I could add.
Mr. HUBERT. Prior to the commencement of the recordation of your
testimony, we had a very short conversation, but will you agree with
me now that there was nothing that was discussed in that conversation
relating to the testimony that has not been actually covered in the
deposition?
Mr. CABELL. That is correct. I recall no conversation of any sort
pertaining to this incident that has not been covered in the
examination under this deposition.
Mr. HUBERT. All right, sir, thank you very much.
(The following questions were asked upon completion of the deposition
of Mrs. Earle Cabell.)
Mr. HUBERT. Mayor Cabell, I wonder if you would agree for just a couple
of questions for your deposition to be continued under the same terms
and conditions that I began, and that you are under the same oath?
Mr. CABELL. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. I would like for you to comment, if you will, please, about
the recordation of conversations on your telephone, telling us when the
recordation system was set up, and when removed.
Mr. CABELL. It was set up on Sunday afternoon. That would have been
the 24th; which recorded all conversations that came into action when
the receiver was taken off the hook. It was removed on, I would say,
after about 3 weeks. I am quite sure that it had been removed prior to
December 31.
Mr. HUBERT. Have you yourself ever learned of any conversations that
were of a threatening nature?
Mr. CABELL. No.
Mr. HUBERT. You have not heard the tape, of course?
Mr. CABELL. No; I have not.
Mr. HUBERT. It is reasonable to suppose that if any had been recorded,
it would have been brought to your attention?
Mr. CABELL. I am sure it would.
Mr. HUBERT. Who has the possession of that tape?
Mr. CABELL. The police department.
Mr. HUBERT. They still have it?
Mr. CABELL. I am assuming that they still have it.
Mr. HUBERT. All right, thank you very much, sir. I certainly thank both
of you.