Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember now that you first started to work for
the station in the last of April 1963? Can you remember approximately
how long after that it was when you first went to this address on Fifth
Street?
Mr. SMITH. I sure don't.
Mr. LIEBELER. You have no idea?
Mr. SMITH. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. A month, or 2 months, or just don't remember?
Mr. SMITH. Possibly 2 or 3 months, something like that.
Mr. LIEBELER. Ever have any conversation with this lady during the time
that you drove with her back to her house?
Mr. SMITH. Nothing more than just passing the time of day. The only
thing, she made the statement one time, the first time I took her home,
that she got a little child and she said the baby, he could speak
Russian better than he could English. That is the first time I knew
there was any Russian blood there.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did she tell you they were Russian, or just told you the
little child could speak Russian?
Mr. SMITH. That is all she told me.
Mr. LIEBELER. That the child could speak Russian better than English?
Mr. SMITH. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever see anyone other than this lady and her
children at the house on Fifth Street in Irving?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you actually go into the house on any occasion?
Mr. SMITH. I helped her. I carried some groceries in her house one
time. She had a carload of groceries, and I helped her put them in the
house.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember how many children were with her at that
time?
Mr. SMITH. Three, I believe.
Mr. LIEBELER. Three children?
Mr. SMITH. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you make any judgment as to approximately how old
they were? Did it appear to you that they were all her children, or
weren't the ages so that it seemed to you that maybe one was the child
of somebody else?
Mr. SMITH. I had an idea they were all hers. They were approximately,
looked like spaced out about a year or year and a half apart, something
like that.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember which child this lady said could speak
Russian better than she could speak English?
Mr. SMITH. The baby.
Mr. LIEBELER. The youngest one?
Mr. SMITH. The youngest one.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember hearing this young baby speaking Russian?
Mr. SMITH. I did, but I didn't know what she was talking about. I
couldn't understand it, and that is the reason she told me that.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did anybody else speak Russian to the child?
Mr. SMITH. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you hear the lady speak Russian?
Mr. SMITH. No, I didn't.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did the other two children speak Russian?
Mr. SMITH. They didn't do no talking.
Mr. LIEBELER. In either English or Russian; is that right?
Mr. SMITH. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Could you describe this lady for us?
Mr. SMITH. She is a slender woman, tall, slender woman; has very nice
personality, and that is about all that I can say for her. She didn't
do much talking either.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did she ever make a statement to you that she was Russian
herself?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. She just indicated to you that the little baby spoke
Russian better than English, is that right?
Mr. SMITH. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did she tell you how it came to be that baby spoke
Russian?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. You didn't ask her?
Mr. SMITH. I didn't ask her.
Mr. LIEBELER. Were you curious about that?
Mr. SMITH. Yes; I was. I went back to the station and talked to the
boss about it. I told him, "I believe those people are Russian people
living down there," and he said why, and I told him about the lady
telling me the little fellow spoke Russian better than English. And
they were curious about it, but nothing was ever said. We didn't say
anything to her, because she just come in and got gas and that was all.
She never did talk much or anything.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever learn what this lady's name was?
Mr. SMITH. No; I did not.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you don't know what it is today?
Mr. SMITH. I do not.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was this child a boy or girl, or could you tell?
Mr. SMITH. I don't know. I never paid any attention to it. I don't know
if it was or not.
Mr. LIEBELER. You couldn't tell whether it was a boy or girl?
Mr. SMITH. Well. I didn't know, because I didn't notice. I didn't pay
any attention whether it was a boy or girl.
Ordinarily, when I take a car home out there, I try to get there and
back as fast as I can and I don't pay any attention other than the
house number and what time it is supposed to be delivered.
Mr. LIEBELER. What kind of car did this lady have?
Mr. SMITH. It is a station wagon. I believe a Plymouth.
Mr. LIEBELER. Approximately what year?
Mr. SMITH. About a '53 or '54.
Mr. LIEBELER. Are you sure it is a Plymouth, or could it be some other
car?
Mr. SMITH. No; I am not positive. It is either a Plymouth or a
Chevrolet. I am not positive.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever seen this lady at any time other than when
she brought her car to the gas station to have it serviced, or when you
took her to her house?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was there ever anyone with this lady other than the
children at any time?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever meet this lady's husband?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever hear anything about him?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever hear that they were separated from each
other?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. When you went into the house this first time to take the
groceries in, as I understand it, that was the time when the youngest
child was speaking Russian, is that correct?
Mr. SMITH. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. When you went into the house, you brought the groceries
into the kitchen, is that correct?
Mr. SMITH. No; I set them down in the living room. She told me to put
them on the coffee table, and I did.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you at that time see anything that would indicate to
you that there was someone else in the house?
Mr. SMITH. The house was awfully dirty. Boy, I never saw such a mess in
my life. Things were on the floor, clothing and papers and everything
else.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have any idea when you went into the house with
her that there might be someone else in the house or was someone there
in the house when you came in?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Could you tell one way or the other? You didn't see into
the bedrooms, did you?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. There could have been someone else in the bedrooms and
you wouldn't have seen them?
Mr. SMITH. There could have been.
Mr. LIEBELER. The lady didn't speak to anybody or call out when she
came into the house to anyone else?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. This lady never indicated to you that this child that
spoke Russian was not, in fact, her own child, did she?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. You always assumed it was this lady's child?
Mr. SMITH. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. I want to show you five different pictures that have been
marked in a previous procedure as Commission Exhibits 451, 453, 454,
455, and 456. I want you to look at them and tell me if you have seen
the individuals depicted in these pictures at any time?
Mr. SMITH. [Looking] No, sir; I sure don't recognize him.
Mr. LIEBELER. You don't recognize any of these?
Mr. SMITH. I don't ever remember seeing him.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you another photograph which has been marked
previously as Pizzo Exhibit 453-B. It is a picture of several people,
but one of the individuals has been indicated by a green mark on the
face of the photo and I ask you if you have ever seen that individual,
to the best of your knowledge?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir; I do not recognize him.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you another photograph which has been marked
previously as Pizzo Exhibit 453-C and ask you if you have ever seen
that individual, to the best of your knowledge?
Mr. SMITH. No, sir; I haven't.
Mr. LIEBELER. I asked you before, did I not, whether you have ever seen
this rifle that Mr. Taylor told you he had purchased?
Mr. SMITH. I have not seen it.
Mr. LIEBELER. I don't think I have any more questions, Mr. Smith. If
you can think of anything that you know that you think the Commission
might be interested in, whether I have asked you about it or haven't
asked you, I would appreciate it if you would indicate that.
Mr. SMITH. Well, I don't think I have a thing in the world, because
actually I didn't know Oswald or his wife, either one. I don't ever
remember seeing them.
And I do want to tell you this. At the time President Kennedy was
assassinated, I thought this woman who lived on Fifth Street, right
after it happened, I thought that was his wife simply because of her
saying that this child spoke Russian and the police arrested Oswald,
and I figured in my own mind that this was his wife, but it turned out
differently, and that is the only thing that I learned about.
Mr. LIEBELER. You learned that it wasn't this lady's husband that was
involved, by reading the newspapers, is that correct?
Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir; and as far as if this lady that lived on Fifth
Street had a husband, I have never seen a man around there at all, and
I have never seen a man with her. Ordinarily, just human nature would
cause a man and his wife to be together sometime.
Mr. LIEBELER. But you have never seen this lady with her husband?
Mr. SMITH. I have never seen her with a man.
Mr. LIEBELER. I want to thank you very much, Mr. Smith, for coming in,
I appreciate it.
Mr. SMITH. I wish there was something I could do, but I don't know a
thing in the world I could help you with, I believe.
Mr. LIEBELER. Thank you. I appreciate it very much.