The testimony of Laurance R. Wilcox was taken at 2 p. m., on March 31,
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. Before I start, I want to swear you in 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?
Mr. WILCOX. I do.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Wilcox, my name is Wesley J. Liebeler. I am a member
of the legal staff of the Commission appointed by President Johnson to
investigate the assassination of President Kennedy.
Staff counsel have been authorized to take the testimony of witnesses
by the Commission pursuant to authority granted to the Commission under
Executive Order 11130, dated November 29, 1963, and Joint Resolution of
Congress No. 137.
The Commission rules of procedure require that copies of that Executive
order and the congressional resolution, as well as copies of the
Commission's rules and procedures relating to the taking of testimony
be provided to each witness prior to the time his testimony is
taken. I now provide you with copies of those documents. The general
nature of the testimony that we wish to get from you today relates
to investigations made by Western Union Telegraph Co. concerning the
possibility that Lee Harvey Oswald received money orders through the
offices of your company, either in Dallas or the surrounding area,
and the possibility that he may have sent telegrams to other persons
through the facilities of your company.
Mr. LIEBELER. Before we get into the details of your testimony, would
you please state your full name for the record?
Mr. WILCOX. Laurance R. Wilcox.
Mr. LIEBELER. By whom are you employed?
Mr. WILCOX. Western Union Telegraph Co.
Mr. LIEBELER. In what capacity?
Mr. WILCOX. District manager.
Mr. LIEBELER. What are your duties as district manager?
Mr. WILCOX. Administrative; in charge of the operation for Western
Union in the city of Dallas.
Mr. LIEBELER. You are general manager then of the area which includes
just the city of Dallas; is that correct?
Mr. WILCOX. District manager.
Mr. LIEBELER. Of just the city of Dallas; is that correct?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes; and immediate surrounding towns such as Garland,
Mesquite, Grand Prairie, Irving, and Lancaster. That is all I can think
of right now.
Mr. LIEBELER. You are generally in charge of the operations of the
company within that particular area; is that correct?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did there come a time, Mr. Wilcox, when you caused a
search to be made of the records of the Western Union Telegraph Co. to
determine whether or not Lee Harvey Oswald had ever received or sent
any telegrams through the offices under your jurisdiction?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would you tell us about that?
Mr. WILCOX. Can I refer to these papers?
Mr. LIEBELER. You may refer to any papers that you wish.
Mr. WILCOX. I want to so that I will have this exactly right as to what
took place. My first knowledge of the message that was supposed to have
been sent by Oswald was when Mr. Hamblen, early night manager at my
office, visited with me telling me----
Mr. LIEBELER. Is that Mr. C. A. Hamblen?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Go ahead.
Mr. WILCOX. Telling me that he had been watching the television, and
when he saw the picture of Oswald, he recognized that as being a man
that had been in our office and had filed a message.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember when Mr. Hamblen told you this?
Mr. WILCOX. This was on a Wednesday following the
assassination--following the shooting of Oswald. He told me that he was
positive that he had seen Mr. Oswald in our office.
Mr. LIEBELER. He told you this on Wednesday following the Sunday on
which Mr. Oswald was shot by Ruby; is that correct?
Mr. WILCOX. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. That would have been November 27, 1963? Thanksgiving was
on November the 28th.
Mr. WILCOX. Yes. It was on a Wednesday preceding Thanksgiving. I asked
Mr. Hamblen to tell me exactly what had taken place.
He stated that Oswald had filed a message going to Washington--a cash
message, and it was written in a peculiar script, as Mr. Hamblen put
it. It was typed in pencil. I think he meant is printed in pencil.
I asked him to immediately set about to obtain copies of that, as I was
leaving town, and to get a copy of the message, and to do that it would
be necessary for him to see Mr. Pirtle, our bookkeeping manager, and to
get the message, put it in an envelope, and address it to my personal
attention while I was in Kansas City.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did Mr. Hamblen tell you anything about what the message
said or to whom it was addressed at this first conversation?
Mr. WILCOX. No, he didn't. We left for Kansas City and was there over
the Thanksgiving holidays.
Mr. LIEBELER. You and your family?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes. And while there, this article appeared in the Kansas
City Star, their evening paper; very much the same story as appeared in
the Dallas Times Herald.
Mr. LIEBELER. I show you a copy of a clipping which purports to have
appeared in the Dallas Times Herald on November 30, 1963. I ask you if
this tells a story similar to the report you saw in the Kansas City
Star?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes, same story.
Mr. LIEBELER. We will mark this clipping as Exhibit 3002 on the
deposition of Laurance R. Wilcox, at Dallas, Tex., March 31, 1964. I
have initialed the clipping in question, Mr. Wilcox, and ask you to do
the same.
Mr. WILCOX. [Initials.] Immediately when I read this story in the
Kansas City paper I recognized it as being the same story that Mr.
Hamblen had told me just a couple of days before in my office.
We returned to Dallas Sunday, and immediately on my return to the
office Monday----
Mr. LIEBELER. Monday, I suggest would have been December 2, 1963?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you fix that by recalling that the assassination was
on the 22d. The following Friday would have been the 29th. Saturday,
the 30th. Sunday the 1st; and Monday would have been December 2?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes, December 2. Now, this was on my return to the office,
and we indicated that was December 2. I went over the information that
was contained in the newspaper article with Mr. Hamblen, reminding him
that this was in effect the same story as he had told me just 2 days
before, a few days before. Particularly, its comment about the strange
printing on the telegram which he had seen presented by Oswald.
Mr. Hamblen admitted that he had discussed several matters with
different reporters, but insisted that he hadn't given out such
detailed information as appeared in the newspaper article.
However, I was constrained to feel that he had because it was exactly
the same story as he had given me initially in the past week.
There was no doubt in my mind but that the newspaper article stemmed
from Mr. Hamblen's visit with a newspaper reporter.
Mr. LIEBELER. In this connection, Mr. Wilcox, you have referred to a
copy of a letter dated December 3, 1963, which appears to be a letter
from you to Mr. Semingsen; is that correct?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes, sir; would you like to have a copy?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes. Did you prepare that letter on or about December 3?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes, I did.
Mr. LIEBELER. Does it accurately reflect the events that occurred prior
to that time?
Mr. WILCOX. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. I mark that letter as Exhibit 3003, on the deposition
of Mr. Laurance R. Wilcox, at Dallas, Tex., March 31, 1964. I have
initialed the copy in question, Mr. Wilcox, and would like to have you
do the same thing if you would.