Mr. SHASTEEN. I have one full time and one part time.
Mr. JENNER. You have three chairs?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. On the occasions you saw this man would you describe his
appearance so far as his attire is concerned? How was he dressed?
Mr. SHASTEEN. The best I remember is that he had on some kind of
coveralls, nearly every time he came in.
Mr. JENNER. Coveralls?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes; he wore unionalls or coveralls, you know, sir. They
were G.I., of some description and they were green or a khaki-colored.
The only time he wasn't dressed that way when he came in the shop was
the night I went to the football game and that night he had on a pair
of old worn out dress pants of some kind, they were dark, and he had on
a sports shirt with his shirttail out.
Mr. JENNER. Let me get at these coveralls--would you describe them?
Mr. SHASTEEN. They buttoned down the front.
Mr. JENNER. They buttoned down the front and they had sleeves--it was a
one-piece unit?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Right.
Mr. JENNER. And covers you from top to bottom, full sleeves?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Now, one pair--one time I remember--he had pretty hairy
arms. I remember that about him, you know, he had black hair on his
arms, and one time he had on short sleeves. These coveralls had the
sleeves cut off and they were ragged--I mean--they were long sleeves
originally but they had just been chopped off. He is the type of guy
that when you met him you couldn't hardly forget him. I'll say that. I
mean, there is just something about him and I think I could say that
for all three of us that worked there in the shop that every time he
came in--we would ask him to come back, but right down deep we didn't
want him back.
Mr. JENNER. Did he ever get a shave?
Mr. SHASTEEN. No; never did.
Mr. JENNER. Did he ever get a shampoo?
Mr. SHASTEEN. No; never did.
Mr. JENNER. Nothing but a haircut?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Just a haircut.
Mr. JENNER. And what color did you say these coveralls were?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Well, they were either--I don't know what color you call
them old dungarees. You know, them old combat coveralls that the Army
wears. That's what they were. Now, somebody, I believe that Mr. Odum is
the one that asked me was they Marine coveralls or Army or something
like that, and that, I don't have any idea on.
Mr. JENNER. They were the military type?
Mr. SHASTEEN. They were the military type. They wasn't the kind you
just go down to the dry goods store and buy. I know that. He may have
bought them at a surplus store for all I know.
Mr. JENNER. Now, were there occasions you saw this man that you have in
mind on the street when he didn't come into your shop?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes, I saw him going to the grocery store when he didn't
come to the shop.
Mr. JENNER. And you occasionally saw him--is the grocery store across
the street?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. That's Hutch's Market?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And how was he dressed on those occasions?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Well, I think most usually, like I said, the only time
I ever saw him with anything but those coveralls on was that night he
came in the shop--he had those on--those old coveralls on when he was
over there and another thing, they were big for him. I always noticed
they were big enough for him and somebody else.
Mr. JENNER. They were very loose-fitting?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And even on those occasions when you saw him across the
street at Hutch's, he had the coveralls, the military-type coveralls on?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes; of course. He could have went in there times I
didn't see him. And I don't know how many times I saw him but I have
seen him over there.
Mr. JENNER. Well, I just want the times that you saw him.
Mr. SHASTEEN. I wouldn't even commence to guess--probably three or four
times over there.
Mr. JENNER. You saw him about three or four times across the street?
Mr. SHASTEEN. In other words, his store sits over here and my shop
is here and these glasses, lot of them down here, a lot of times if
somebody has been in the shop that you are paying attention to, you
can even see them in the back mirrors, back there and he--and you just
notice and you are always looking at the front door. I mean, since I
own the shop I ask everybody in.
Mr. JENNER. Do you have the chair next to the window?
Mr. SHASTEEN. No; I have the back chair.
Mr. JENNER. You didn't cut the young man's hair?
Mr. SHASTEEN. No; he was in the front chair--the front barber chair
with Mr. Glover.
Mr. JENNER. And would you describe this young man to me, how was he
dressed?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Well, he had on blue jeans and they fit tight and he had
on an old striped shirt. I remember him just like I see a picture over
there right now and he was a husky kid, he wasn't what you call fat,
but he was strong--broad-shouldered--he had a real full, and when I say
full, I don't mean a round fat face, he was a wide-faced kid. You know,
he was a nice looking kid. I mean, if he had had the personality and
the teaching and the understanding to go with his looks, he could have
done anything he wanted to do, but his personality to me made him look
terrible and what he thought, and naturally when somebody disagrees
with you to the point you get angry with them, you don't think much of
their looks, but if you bring it down to his looks, he was blue-eyed,
blonde-headed--he was not a light blonde he was a dark blonde. In fact
a lot of people might call him brown-headed. But he wasn't nobody's
dummy because a 14-year-old boy can't spit out--I wouldn't attempt to
say just how he said everything, but the things that struck me when he
belittled our country and our leaders as a whole--I might disagree with
our leaders but I'll stick up for them when it comes time--down to the
point.
Mr. JENNER. Sure, and you have a distinct recollection, do you, that
there were occasions when you saw this man in the coveralls over at
Hutch's Market that he was accompanied by somebody else?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And did you recognize any of the persons who were
accompanying him?
Mr. SHASTEEN. No; I wouldn't say I did because most of the time--they
headed--they got out of the car and we saw their backs, and I would see
him and I just knew it was him. Once you cut somebody's hair that close
you are close enough so that you know them outside or when you see them.
Mr. JENNER. So, you're not in a position, I take it, then, to say that
you have a distinct recollection that Mrs. Paine accompanied them at
anytime?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Well, now, that part of it I would have to take for
granted because they were in his car. Now, she, I understand through
one of the men who questioned me out at the shop, said he never did
drive her car. Again, I'm going to disagree because I know that he did.
He drove it up there and got a haircut.
Mr. JENNER. You have a distinct recollection that on occasions when
this man came into your shop for a haircut, he drove an automobile up
to your shop?
Mr. SHASTEEN. He drove that there 1955, I think it's a 1955, I'm sure
it's a 1955 Chevrolet station wagon. It's either blue and white or
green and white--it's two-toned--I know that. Now, why I say--why I
take it for granted that Mrs. Paine was with him when he come to the
grocery store--I do remember he wasn't driving when they would come to
the grocery store, there would be a lady driving and I'm assuming that
that was Mrs. Paine, because like I say, I have been--I have never been
close enough to her and knew it, to speak to her, but she trades at the
service station where I do and I saw her in there and I never did pay
any attention to her and I saw her passing, met her in the road in the
car and those things.
Mr. JENNER. Were there any occasions when you have a recollection as to
his being accompanied by more than one person?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes; that's what I said--I saw him and two ladies get out
and go in the store.
Mr. JENNER. On how many occasions did you see that?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Well, I was trying to think of that coming over here and
I know of twice and one of the times that I'm saying--it was the next
morning after he had gotten a haircut the night I went to the football
game, the next morning they were over to the store. You see, I open up
early around 7 in the morning and it was 8 o'clock, or so, not knowing
the exact hour. I would say it was 8 o'clock or 8:30 when they were
over at the store that Saturday morning.
Mr. JENNER. That would be the 9th of November?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes; because one reason it made me remember that, I had
just come back--I had just come back from across the street to get
some cigarettes and they come up and pulled in and I walked over and
naturally I looked back across the street and I saw them getting out
and he wasn't driving at that time. I will agree but whenever I saw him
come with somebody else in the car he wasn't driving, but occasionally
he drove himself up there to get a haircut and Mr. Odum says, "Now,
that contradicts with some of the other information." I said, "I can't
help what it contradicts with, that's just the fact and that's it."
Mr. JENNER. Was there ever an occasion when you saw him driving up that
he had the 14 year-old boy with him?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes; the night he got the haircut.
Mr. JENNER. The night of November 8?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes; you see the difficulty was, I was wanting to get out
of giving a haircut and I had just gotten through with a guy, and I was
trying to get my tools put up and they pulled up in front and I kind of
left them half cocked, half cleaned up, and I ran back in the closet
to try to get away, because I saw there was two of them, you see, and
I figured they both would want a haircut. When they pulled up with
the headlights and I saw two get out I figured they both would want a
haircut.
Mr. JENNER. This was night, was it?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And it was dark?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Well, yes; it was done dark outside--I couldn't tell
who they were when they drove up but he was driving that night and I
was hurrying trying to get out and I went out the back door, because
ordinarily, if there had been two, one of them would have wanted me
to cut his hair and the other one would want the other boy to, and I
thought, well, maybe they can wait and let me go to the football game.
It's hard for me to get away for a football game and that night was
when the boy was with him and he drove up there.
Mr. JENNER. Do you recall bring interviewed by FBI Agent Berry on the
3d of December?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes, sir. And he is from Oklahoma, I believe. He came on
the 4th, I mean on the 2d, and came back on the 3d.
Mr. JENNER. Now, do you recall saying at that time that you had a
recollection that he had been at your shop for the purpose of obtaining
a haircut for the past 2 or 3 months?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And when was the occasion in point of time that this
business respecting the yellow shoes occurred--how far prior to that?
Mr. SHASTEEN. In other words on the 8th there, he got a haircut on a
Friday night.
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. SHASTEEN. And I would say it was 2 or 3 weeks before that on
Saturday morning, because I was the only one in the shop and he was the
first one there that morning.
Mr. JENNER. On reflection, you fix it as 2 to 3 weeks on a Saturday
morning prior to November 8?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Right.
Mr. JENNER. That would take us back to--that would be either the 25th
of October or the 18th of October?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Possibly; yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Could it have been 2 to 3 months prior?
Mr. SHASTEEN. I don't believe so, not when he had the shoes on, the
house shoes on that morning, because the thing that made me remember
that was the fact that it seemed like I'd found something he agreed
with me on. He even smiled about this; you know, he had a good look on
his face when I complimented his house shoes.
Mr. JENNER. What time of day was this?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Oh, it was probably 6:45 in the morning.
Mr. JENNER. It was a Saturday morning?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Do you recall telling Agent Berry that when he interviewed
you on the 3d of December 1963, that your faint recollection of Oswald
was when he appeared in the shop, your shop on a Saturday, "2 or 3
months ago at 6:30 in the morning," when you had just opened your shop?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes, sir. The first time I remember him was early one
morning.
Mr. JENNER. And that you remembered him particularly because on this
particular occasion he was wearing house shoes which you considered out
of the ordinary?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Now, he wore house shoes every time he come over there in
the mornings. I think he may have that a little bit crossed there when
he and I talked about it.
Mr. JENNER. And that you also said you had commented to Oswald
concerning the house shoes and suggested that they must be quite
expensive and Oswald said, "No; not where I bought them," and you
stated that he said he had purchased the shoes in Old Mexico for only a
dollar and a half?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Right.
Mr. JENNER. Now, you will notice there is an inconsistency there--you
were firm that the house shoes incident occurred 2 to 3 weeks prior
to November 8, but in reporting this to Agent Berry on the 3rd of
December, you stated it occurred 2 to 3 months prior thereto.
Mr. SHASTEEN. I believe--to tell you the truth, I think in the round of
the talking, I think he just taken that for granted. I don't believe
on that morning--what we were talking about when I said what made me
remember it--like even the night when I saw his picture on television
and all, was the fact that that's the only time, about his house shoes,
is the only time he ever was agreeable--I'll put it that way, in other
words, but he didn't talk much then. In other words, when that was over
he just hushed.
Mr. JENNER. This hasn't been called to your attention, but is it your
testimony then, as I understand it, that you are firm that the incident
occurred 2 to 3 weeks prior to November 8 rather than 2 to 3 months and
you think Agent Berry misinterpreted it?