The testimony of Linda Kay Willis was taken at 3:15 p.m., on July 22,
1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Wesley J. Liebeler,
assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you rise and raise your right hand and I will swear
you as a witness. 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?
Miss WILLIS. I do.
Mr. LIEBELER. As I told your father, I am an attorney for the
President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, and
he has told me that you were with him in the vicinity of the School
Book Depository Building at the time of the assassination, and I wanted
to ask you two or three questions about that.
First of all, would you state your name for the reporter, please?
Miss WILLIS. Linda Kay Willis.
Mr. LIEBELER. How old are you?
Miss WILLIS. I will be 15, July 29.
Mr. LIEBELER. Your father has told us that you were out in front of the
School Book Depository Building along with your sister on the day of
the assassination, and your mother and father were also there, is that
correct?
Miss WILLIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you hear any shots, or what you later learned to be
shots, as the motorcade came past you there?
Miss WILLIS. Yes; I heard one. Then there was a little bit of time, and
then there were two real fast bullets together. When the first one hit,
well, the President turned from waving to the people, and he grabbed
his throat, and he kind of slumped forward, and then I couldn't tell
where the second shot went.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, you were standing right along the curb on Elm
Street, is that right, when the motorcade came by across the street
from the School Book Depository Building?
Miss WILLIS. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you follow the motorcade down Elm Street at all, or
did you stand on the corner up toward Houston Street and watch from
there?
Miss WILLIS. I was right across from the sign that points to where
Stemmons Expressway is. I was directly across when the first shot hit
him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Directly across from the sign that says, "Stemmons
Freeway"?
Miss WILLIS. I was right in line with the sign and the car, and I
wasn't very far away from him, but I couldn't tell from where the shot
came.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you just stay right there, or did you go on down Elm
Street?
Miss WILLIS. I stayed there. I was on the corner across from the
courthouse when the motorcade first came down Main Street, and when it
turned the corner on Houston, well, I followed along the street with
the car, and then he turned the corner on Elm and I stood there where
the Stemmons sign is.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see the President get hit in the head?
Miss WILLIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. You actually saw the President get hit that way?
Miss WILLIS. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How far away would you say that you were when you saw
that?
Miss WILLIS. Oh, about twice as far as I am from here to this door.
Maybe not quite that far.
Mr. LIEBELER. About 25 feet or so?
Miss WILLIS. About that.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now when you saw the President get hit in the head, did
you hear any more shots after that?
Miss WILLIS. Yes; the first one, I heard the first shot come and then
he slumped forward, and then I couldn't tell where the second shot
went, and then the third one, and that was the last one that hit him in
the head.
Mr. LIEBELER. You only heard three shots altogether?
Miss WILLIS. Yes; that was it.
Mr. LIEBELER. So you don't think there were any more shots after he got
hit in the head?
Miss WILLIS. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you recognize the noises that you heard as shots
right away?
Miss WILLIS. No; when the first shot rang out, I thought, well, it's
probably fireworks, because everybody is glad the President is in town.
Then I realized it was too loud and too close to be fireworks, and then
when I saw, when I realized that the President was falling over, I knew
he had been hit. But I didn't know how badly.
Mr. LIEBELER. Okay, I just wanted to ask you about whether you heard
any shots after the President got hit in the head, and if you didn't
hear any more shots, that is really all I wanted to ask you about.
Thank you very much.
Miss WILLIS. All right.