Mr. LIEBELER. Then you showed him portion three of the application and
then he changed his story?
Mr. HOLMES. I said how about Marina Oswald, and he said, well, she was
my wife. What is wrong with that? And I said how about A. J. Hidell,
and he said I don't know anything about that. And I said look here. And
he said, well, I don't know.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now supposing that Oswald had not in fact authorized A.
J. Hidell to receive mail here in the Dallas box and that a package
came addressed to the name of Hidell, which, in fact, one did at Post
Office Box 2915, what procedure would be followed when that package
came in?
Mr. HOLMES. They would put the notice in the box.
Mr. LIEBELER. Regardless of whose name was associated with the box?
Mr. HOLMES. That is the general practice. The theory being, I have a
box. I have a brother come to visit me. My brother would have my same
name--well, a cousin. You can get mail in there. They are not too
strict. You don't have to file that third portion to get service for
other people there. I imagine they might have questioned him a little
bit when they handed it out to him, but I don't know. It depends on how
good he is at answering questions, and everything would be all right.
Mr. LIEBELER. So that the package would have come in addressed to
Hidell at Post Office Box 2915, and a notice would have been put in the
post office box without regard to who was authorized to receive mail
from it?
Mr. HOLMES. Actually, the window where you get the box is all the way
around the corner and a different place from the box, and the people
that box the mail, and in theory--I am surmising now, because nobody
knows. I have questioned everybody, and they have no recollection. The
man would take this card out. There is nothing on this card. There is
no name on it, not even a box number on it. He comes around and says,
"I got this out of my box." And he says, "What box?" "Box number so
and so." They look in a bin where they have this by box numbers, and
whatever the name on it, whatever they gave him, he just hands him the
package, and that is all there is to it.
Mr. LIEBELER. Ordinarily, they won't even request any identification
because they would assume if he got the notice out of the box, he was
entitled to it?
Mr. HOLMES. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. It is very possible that that in fact is what happened in
this case?
Mr. HOLMES. That is in theory. I would assume that is what happened.
Mr. LIEBELER. On the other hand, it is also possible that Oswald had
actually authorized Hidell to receive mail through the box?
Mr. HOLMES. Could have been. And on the other hand, he had this
identification card of Hidell's in his billfold, which he could have
produced and showed the window clerk. Either way, he got it.
Mr. LIEBELER. Right. I believe I am correct in my understanding that
when Mr. Belin took your testimony previously, that you did mark as
exhibits the various forms that Oswald had filled out here in the Post
Office Department in Dallas; isn't that right?
Mr. HOLMES. You mean the box rent application?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
Mr. HOLMES. I have long since given them to the FBI. However, I
endorsed them at the time I gave them to the FBI.
Mr. LIEBELER. I can't remember.
Mr. HOLMES. I will show you a photocopy maybe.
Mr. LIEBELER. The basic thrust of my question is that you have given
the originals of the documents to the FBI?
Mr. HOLMES. I have the receipts, except for Ruby's box, which nobody
ever asked me for, and I still have them. That is Ruby's box at the
Terminal Annex.
Mr. LIEBELER. Well, that is not a part of the record so far. We should
mark it as a part of the record now. Are you required to keep this in
your records?
Mr. HOLMES. If you will give me a receipt for it. I have a photocopy.
Mr. LIEBELER. It is quite as legible, the photocopy, so why don't I
just mark the photocopy and you keep the original?
Mr. HOLMES. Okay.
Mr. LIEBELER. I have initialed the photocopy, and I would like to have
you initial it also for the purpose of identification, and we will mark
that as Holmes Exhibit No. 2-A on your deposition of July 23, 1064, a
photocopy of a post office box application in the name of Jack Ruby,
dated November 1, 1963. Post Office Box No. 5475, and as I understand
it, this was an application that was made at the Terminal Annex here in
Dallas, is that correct?
Mr. HOLMES. That is right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is there any way in which we can tell from just looking
at it, or that is something you know from having gotten the copy from
the Terminal Annex?
Mr. HOLMES. The box number categories are set out for each station that
comes within that bracket. The applications don't tell you what post
office it is from. It might be from San Antonio. But I don't know why.
What are your initials and name?
Mr. LIEBELER. W. J. L., Wesley J. Liebeler.
Mr. HOLMES. How do you spell your last name?
Mr. LIEBELER (spelling). L-i-e-b-e-l-e-r.
Mr. HOLMES. Thank you [handing another card to Mr. Liebeler]. I will
explain it to you, and you might want to ask me for the record what it
is.
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes; you have handed me a postcard, Post Office
Department Form 3546, Notice to Change Forwarding Order.
Mr. HOLMES. That is different from our 3575 in that this is simply a
forwarding order. This is to change a forwarding order. To interpret
it, Lee Oswald, on October 11, 1963, in New Orleans, gave his box 2915
in Dallas as the last address. He had given a forwarding order on
this box to this box 30061 in New Orleans on May 14, 1963. Now then,
he is again forwarding from this box. Not again, but it is a second
forwarding.
Mr. LIEBELER. This would indicate that instructions had been given to
forward from box 2915 here in Dallas?