Mrs. PAINE. I don't recall seeing the blanket either.
Mr. JENNER. On that occasion?
Mrs. PAINE. On that occasion, not until later.
Mr. JENNER. Not until later.
Representative FORD. Did you see the blanket in New Orleans?
Mrs. PAINE. On the bed or something. I am asking myself. I don't recall
it specifically.
Mr. JENNER. Of course we all know the blanket to which we are
referring, which I will ask you about in a moment. I might show it
to you at the moment, or at least ask you if it is the blanket. I am
exhibiting to the witness Commission Exhibit No. 140. Is this blanket
familiar to you?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, it is.
Mr. JENNER. And give us the best recollection you have when you first
saw it.
Mrs. PAINE. My best recollection is that I saw it on the floor of my
garage sometime in late October.
Mr. JENNER. 1963?
Mrs. PAINE. Right.
Mr. JENNER. Do you have a recollection of ever having seen it before
that time?
Mrs. PAINE. No. I might say also now that I know certainly I have never
seen this binding until last night.
Mr. JENNER. When you say "this binding," you are pointing to what
appears to be some black binding?
Mrs. PAINE. Some hemstitching, it is sewn.
Mr. JENNER. On the edge of the blanket.
Mrs. PAINE. Yes. This binding was not apparent, did not show.
Mr. JENNER. You never noticed the binding before, if the binding had
always been on it, is that what you mean to say?
Mrs. PAINE. When I saw the blanket the binding was not showing.
Representative FORD. How carefully did you analyze the blanket on the
previous occasions?
Mrs. PAINE. I stepped over it. I didn't pick it up or look at it
closely.
Representative FORD. Didn't turn it over?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Representative FORD. Didn't move it?
Mrs. PAINE. No, I didn't.
Representative FORD. So you only saw one surface more or less?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, only one surface, except I saw that it had been moved.
Representative FORD. But you didn't move it yourself?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. In what shape, that is form, was the blanket when you first
saw it? And I take it you first saw it in your garage.
Mrs. PAINE. That is my recollection.
Mr. JENNER. And it was subsequent to the time that you and Marina had
returned to Irving?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And you are certain that you did not see the blanket in
your station wagon when you arrived in Irving?
Mrs. PAINE. I do not recall seeing the blanket in my station wagon.
Mr. JENNER. And you didn't see it in their apartment at 4907 Magazine
Street when you were there?
Mrs. PAINE. I don't recall seeing it there.
Mr. JENNER. Either in the spring or in the fall, is that true?
Mrs. PAINE. That is true.
Mr. JENNER. Now tell us--I take it from your testimony that the
blanket, when you first saw it in a garage, was in a configuration in
the form of a package?
Mrs. PAINE. It was a long rectangle shape with the ends tucked in.
Mr. JENNER. Would you be good enough to re-form that blanket so that it
is in the shape and the dimension when you first saw it?
Mrs. PAINE. About like so.
Mr. JENNER. For the record if you please, Mr. Chairman, the length of
the form is just exactly 45 inches, and it is across exactly 12 inches.
Representative FORD. That is across lying flat.
Mr. JENNER. Across lying flat, thank you.
Now, what else about the form of the blanket did you notice on the
occasion when you first saw it on your garage floor? Anything else?
Mrs. PAINE. I recall from either that occasion or another that there
were parallel strings around it.
Mr. JENNER. Tied?
Mrs. PAINE. Into a bundle, yes, 3 or 4.
Mr. JENNER. How many were there?
Mrs. PAINE. 3 or 4, I don't recall.
Mr. JENNER. 3 or 4?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes. I suppose it would be four. It would be very well
spaced if it was only three, and I think they were closer than that.
Mr. JENNER. Your best recollection now.
Mrs. PAINE. Is four.
Mr. JENNER. Rather than rationalization.
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, there were four.
Mr. JENNER. There were four string ties across the 12-inch side of the
blanket. Were those string ties pulled so they seemed to hold something
inside the blanket?
Mrs. PAINE. They didn't seem particularly tight, but then I don't have
a strong recollection of them prior to the 22d.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever pick up that package?
Mrs. PAINE. No, I never did.
Mr. JENNER. That was wrapped in the blanket. Did you ever have any
discussion with Marina Oswald about the package in your garage?
Mrs. PAINE. Not until the afternoon of the 22d.
Mr. JENNER. Did you see anybody move it about your garage at any time?
Mrs. PAINE. No, I did not see anyone move it.
Mr. JENNER. And how long after you returned to Texas did you notice
that package in your garage?
Mrs. PAINE. I said I thought it was late October perhaps. I wouldn't be
at all certain about when I first noticed it.
Mr. JENNER. And did you notice from time to time that it was in a
different position or places in your garage?
Mrs. PAINE. I recall two places I saw it.
Mr. JENNER. And the first was where?
Mrs. PAINE. Over near--the radial saw, what do you call it, buzz saw?
Mr. JENNER. Bandsaw.
Mrs. PAINE. No, buzz saw.
Mr. JENNER. Oh yes, a disc type, a buzz saw, near the buzz saw. Then on
the second occasion when you saw it, where was it?
Mrs. PAINE. Over near the work bench in front of part of the work
bench, one end extending toward the bandsaw.
Mr. JENNER. And on both of those occasions was the package lying flat
on the floor or was it upended?
Mrs. PAINE. Flat on the floor.
Mr. JENNER. And you never had any curiosity with respect to it to lead
you to step on it or feel it in any respect?
Mrs. PAINE. No, I didn't.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have a lot of debris or articles in the garage?
Mrs. PAINE. Indeed, and do yet. Our things and most of the Oswald
things were stored there. I have mentioned several pieces of machine
tools.
Mr. JENNER. We identified the garage picture at the tail end of
yesterday, and I think the Chairman is seeking it.
Mr. McCLOY. I am trying to find it now.
Mrs. PAINE. That of course was taken more recently, but it is
reasonably typical of its condition at that time too.
(Discussion off the record.)
Mr. JENNER. This is a photograph numbered eight, entitled garage
interior, which I have marked with Commission number 429, and I now
exhibit that to Mrs. Paine.
Are you familiar with what is depicted in that photograph?
Mrs. PAINE. Very.
Mr. JENNER. Do you know when that photograph was taken?
Mrs. PAINE. It was taken about 2 weeks ago.
Mr. JENNER. Were you present?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And does it accurately depict everything that was there and
in its relative position at the time the picture was taken?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And it is your garage?
Mrs. PAINE. It is.
Mr. JENNER. Would you locate on that, and I would like to have you
place an X at the point in that picture that you first saw the package?
Mrs. PAINE. Underneath that box.
Mr. JENNER. All right. You have written an arrow or X next to "on
floor" and it is underneath the box that is on the floor.
Mrs. PAINE. It was in front as I recall it; this was the buzz saw I was
talking about, right here.
Mr. JENNER. Right here the witness is pointing to the right hand upper
middle section of the photograph.
Mr. DULLES. Is this the first location of the package?
Mrs. PAINE. It was over on that side of the garage, towards the door
or----
Mr. DULLES. The first location of it?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Toward what door, Mrs. Paine?
Mrs. PAINE. Toward the front of the garage.
Mr. JENNER. Where did you see it on the second occasion?
Mrs. PAINE. Part of it in front of this work bench, one right under
this box here.
Mr. JENNER. Put a double X here, between this workbench and this
bandsaw.
Mrs. PAINE. On the floor.
Mr. JENNER. The workbench and the bandsaw to which the witness is
pointing are on the left hand side of the photograph, the bandsaw being
about the upper middle. Is that correct?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes. The package was farther to the interior from the bench.
Mr. JENNER. It was toward the back rather than toward the door?
Mrs. PAINE. It was the other side of the bandsaw so it was farther to
the interior than its first location.
Mr. JENNER. I offer in evidence as Commission Exhibit No. 429 the
document which the witness has identified which in turn was identified
as Commission Exhibit 429.
Mr. McCLOY. It will be admitted.
(The photograph referred to, previously identified as Commission
Exhibit No. 429, was received in evidence.)
Mr. JENNER. For the record, I am placing the rifle in the folded
blanket as Mrs. Paine folded it. This is being done without the rifle
being dismantled.
May the record show, Mr. Chairman, that the rifle fits well in the
package from end to end, and it does not----
Mrs. PAINE. Can you make it flatter?
Mr. JENNER. No; because the rifle is now in there.