The President's Commission reconvened at 2 p.m.
The CHAIRMAN. We will start now. We will continue until Senator Cooper
comes and then he will preside the rest of the afternoon. I will be
busy with Mr. Rankin some of the time.
Mr. JENNER. Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice.
Mrs. Paine, this morning I was seeking to qualify and introduce in
evidence Commission Exhibit 425, which, at the time I had it in my
hand, consisted of one page. You called my attention to the fact that
it was a letter dated October 14, 1963, to your mother by you in your
handwriting, but that you had only given me the first page or sheet,
which consists front and reverse of two pages. Then you tendered me the
second page or sheet, and indicated some reluctance about the need for
its use in this connection.
During the noon recess you have afforded me the possession of the
second page, and my recollection is you have voiced no objection to its
introduction in evidence.
Mrs. PAINE. I have no objection to its introduction. It refers just to
personal matters, but if you don't have it, you will have to wonder
what it is. It is better not to wonder.
Mr. JENNER. Yes. And it does give the full context of the really
pertinent statements that you made in the first two pages and to which
you made allusion yesterday in your testimony.
Mrs. PAINE. That is right.
Mr. JENNER. I direct your attention to the second sheet, the first of
which is numbered three and the reverse side numbered four.
Is the handwriting on both of those sheets yours?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes it is.
Mr. JENNER. And it is the third and fourth pages of the letter to which
you referred yesterday and again this morning, Commission Exhibit No.
425?
Mrs. PAINE. It is.
Mr. JENNER. And that page is in the same condition now as when--that is
pages three and four, as when--you dispatched the entire letter to your
mother?
Mrs. PAINE. That is right.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Chief Justice, I offer Commission Exhibit No. 425 in
evidence. It has been heretofore marked.
The CHAIRMAN. It may be admitted.
(Commission Exhibit No. 425 was marked and received in evidence.)
Mr. JENNER. There have been marked as Commission's exhibits in this
series 451 and 453 to 456, a series of five colored photographs
purporting to be photographs of one Curtis La Verne Crafard, taken on
the 28th day of November 1963. Mrs. Paine would you be good enough to
look at each of those, and after you have looked at them, I wish to ask
you a question.
Mrs. PAINE. I have looked at them all.
Mr. JENNER. Calling on your recollection of the physiognomy and
appearance of Lee Oswald, do you detect a resemblance between the man
depicted in those photographs, the exhibit numbers of which I have
given, and Lee Oswald?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; I do.
Mr. JENNER. To the best of your present recollection, do you recall
whether you have ever seen the person whose features are reflected on
those photographs?
Mrs. PAINE. No; I have not seen him.
The CHAIRMAN. May I see those, please?
Mrs. PAINE. Should I say that one picture in particular struck me as
looking similar to Lee?
Mr. JENNER. Yes. When the Chief Justice has concluded his examination I
will have you pick out that one in particular. Thank you, sir. When you
select it will you give the exhibit number which appears on the reverse
side?
Mrs. PAINE. Exhibit No. 453. Clearly the shoulders are broader than
with Lee, but it is a quality about the face that recalls Oswald to my
mind.
Mr. JENNER. And the jacket?
Mrs. PAINE. And the attire.
Mr. JENNER. The attire that is shown on the exhibit which is the first
one you have before you, what is the number of that?
Mrs. PAINE. Exhibit 451.
Mr. JENNER. I asked you to describe Lee Oswald, his general attire. Did
he normally wear a zipper jacket of the character shown on that exhibit?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And referring to the other photographs, you say that man's
attire is similar to that Lee Oswald normally effected and employed.
Mrs. PAINE. Yes. It certainly is.
Mr. JENNER. I offer Commission Exhibits Nos. 451 and 453 through 456.
The CHAIRMAN. They may be admitted.
(Commission Exhibits Nos. 451 and 453 through 456 were received in
evidence.)
Mr. JENNER. Mrs. Paine, the Commissioners this morning, had especially
directed questions to you evidencing their interest in FBI interviews.
The CHAIRMAN. Senator, will you now continue to preside please, so I
will be free to work with Mr. Rankin a little this afternoon. I will
remain here though for a while.
Senator COOPER. Thank you.
Mr. JENNER. I gather the first interview by any FBI agent to your
knowledge was on the first day of November 1963?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; and I don't really think interview is a fully accurate
word.
Mr. JENNER. What word would you like to use?
Mrs. PAINE. I felt that the agent stopped to see whether the Oswalds,
either Mrs. Oswald or Mr., were living there, and to make the
acquaintance of me. He said that he had talked with my immediate
neighbor, Mrs. Roberts, the previous time.
Mr. JENNER. The pronoun you are using refers to the FBI agent.
Mrs. PAINE. He, the FBI agent.
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mrs. PAINE. Said that he had inquired of my next door neighbor, Mrs.
Roberts, whether the Oswalds lived here, and she had said that she
didn't know the last name but knew that the wife of the family was
living there, and that there had just been a baby girl born, and that
the husband came out some week ends.
Mr. JENNER. Is this what the agent told you?
Mrs. PAINE. No, the neighbor told me.
Mr. JENNER. I see. All right.
Mrs. PAINE. And I judged he wanted to find out directly.
Mr. JENNER. Had you finished?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Have you subsequently learned the name of the gentleman who
interviewed you or conversed with you?
Mrs. PAINE. I have subsequently learned his name, yes. It was James
Hosty.
The CHAIRMAN. What was the name?
Mrs. PAINE. James Hosty, H-O-S-T-Y.
Mr. JENNER. I don't wish you to give that full interview again because
you touched on it yesterday and again at greater length this morning.
But I do wish to ask you with respect to that interview, did you give
Agent Hosty the telephone numbers that you had received from Lee Oswald
as to where he might be reached in Dallas?
Mrs. PAINE. No; I didn't. He asked me if I knew where Lee lived. I did
think of these phone numbers, but----