PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION
ON THE ASSASSINATION OF
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
STATE OF TEXAS,
_County of Tarrant, ss_:
Chester Allen Riggs, Jr., being duly sworn says:
1. I am Vice President of Orbit Industries, Inc., 250 Carroll, Fort
Worth, Texas. I reside at 836 Edgefield in that city.
2. I am and have been prior to July 1 of 1962, the owner of a duplex
house located at 2703 Mercedes Street, Fort Worth, Texas. That duplex
contains two furnished apartments.
3. Sometime in July, 1962, I rented one of the apartment units to Lee
Harvey Oswald. While I do not keep precise records of the tenants of
the above apartments, since there is a fairly high rate of turnover
amongst them, to the best of my recollection, Lee Oswald and his wife
lived in the apartment from some time in July of 1962 until early
October of that year.
4. I do not keep records of the rental payable on each of the
apartments. My records reflect only the total rental paid on a number
of apartments which I own in the vicinity of 2703 Mercedes Street. As
a result I am not able to state precisely the rental which Lee Oswald
paid for the above apartment, but my recollection is quite clear that
it was $59.50 a month.
5. The utilities in the apartment are in my name and are not changed
with the movement of tenants through the apartment. The tenants are,
however, responsible for the payment of the utility bills. Whenever I
receive a bill in respect to any of the apartments I forward it to the
tenants for payment. I recall that the utilities in the apartment at
2703 Mercedes averaged about $12.00 a month during the time that it was
occupied by the Oswalds. To the best of my knowledge Oswald paid those
utility bills directly.
6. I recall that when Oswald rented the apartment he gave me the
impression he would have no difficulty in handling the arrangements for
the payment of the utilities and other incidental arrangements that had
to be made in connection with his occupancy of the apartment.
7. To the best of my recollection Oswald did not have a telephone in
the apartment.
8. Either at the time that Oswald rented the apartment or shortly
thereafter, he asked me to install new curtains in the apartment,
which I agreed to do. While I had no difficulty with Oswald in this
connection he was quite definite in stating that he wanted the new
curtains installed.
9. I subsequently called at the apartment to consult with Oswald or his
wife concerning the color of the drapes or curtains to be installed in
the apartment. Oswald was not present at the time and when I attempted
to discuss the matter with his wife I could obtain no response from
her. It appeared to me at the time that she was not interested in
having the new curtains. Subsequently I have learned that Marina Oswald
had a limited command of the English language and it now appears to me
in fact that she simply did not understand what I was talking about.
10. Oswald never mentioned the new drapes or curtains after that time
and they were never installed in the apartment while he lived there.
11. I do recall that when Oswald asked about the curtains I told him
that I would be willing to install them if he was planning to stay in
the apartment for some period of time. I mentioned this because, as I
have said, there was quite a high rate of turnover amongst the tenants
because of the nature of the housing, which was of a low-income type,
and I did not want to put new curtains in and then have Oswald move out
shortly thereafter. Oswald told me that he had a job with a welding
company nearby and was planning to stay in the apartment for some time.
12. My own business office is located near the apartment at 2703
Mercedes Street and I recall seeing Oswald walk to work from the
apartment. To the best of my knowledge Oswald did not have a car while
he lived in the above apartment.
13. Oswald appeared to spend a considerable amount of time reading.
From time to time I observed him doing that on the steps of the
apartment and he was usually reading when I called at the apartment for
the rent payment.
14. When Oswald moved out sometime early in October he owed some rent
and had not completely paid for the utilities which he used. I do not
recall exactly what the amount was but it was not very large.