This I had not remembered until lately. I had not spoken much to him
and I said, "If you will excuse me, I have to leave," and I repeated,
"I am going to write to my father and tell him you have come to visit
me."
And he said, "Is he still in the Isle of Pines?" And I think that was
the extent of the conversation. They left, and I saw them through the
window leaving in a car. I can't recall the car. I have been trying to.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know which one of the men was driving?
Mrs. ODIO. The tall one, Leopoldo.
Mr. LIEBELER. Leopoldo?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes; oh, excuse me, I forgot something very important. They
kept mentioning that they had come to visit me at such a time of night,
it was almost 9 o'clock, because they were leaving for a trip. And two
or three times they said the same thing.
They said, "We may stay until tomorrow, or we might leave tomorrow
night, but please excuse us for the hour." And he mentioned two or
three times they were leaving for a trip. I didn't ask where, and I had
the feeling they were leaving for Puerto Rico or Miami.
Mr. LIEBELER. But they did not indicate where they were going?
Mrs. ODIO. The next day Leopoldo called me. I had gotten home from
work, so I imagine it must have been Friday. And they had come on
Thursday. I have been trying to establish that. He was trying to get
fresh with me that night. He was trying to be too nice, telling me that
I was pretty, and he started like that. That is the way he started the
conversation. Then he said, "What do you think of the American?" And I
said, "I didn't think anything."
And he said, "You know our idea is to introduce him to the underground
in Cuba, because he is great, he is kind of nuts." This was more or
less--I can't repeat the exact words, because he was kind of nuts. He
told us we don't have any guts, you Cubans, because President Kennedy
should have been assassinated after the Bay of Pigs, and some Cubans
should have done that, because he was the one that was holding the
freedom of Cuba actually. And I started getting a little upset with the
conversation.
And he said, "It is so easy to do it." He has told us. And he
(Leopoldo) used two or three bad words, and I wouldn't repeat it in
Spanish. And he repeated again they were leaving for a trip and they
would like very much to see me on their return to Dallas. Then he
mentioned something more about Oswald. They called him Leon. He never
mentioned the name Oswald.
Mr. LIEBELER. He never mentioned the name of Oswald on the telephone?
Mrs. ODIO. He never mentioned his last name. He always referred to the
American or Leon.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he mention his last name the night before?
Mrs. ODIO. Before they left I asked their names again, and he mentioned
their names again.
Mr. LIEBELER. But he did not mention Oswald's name except as Leon?
Mrs. ODIO. On the telephone conversation he referred to him as Leon or
an American. He said he had been a Marine and he was so interested in
helping the Cubans, and he was terrific. That is the words he more or
less used, in Spanish, that he was terrific. And I don't remember what
else he said, or something that he was coming back or something, and he
would see me. It's been a long time and I don't remember too well, that
is more or less what he said.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have an opinion at that time as to why Leopoldo
called you back? What was his purpose in calling you back?
Mrs. ODIO. At first, I thought he was just trying to get fresh with
me. The second time, it never occurred to me until I went to my
psychiatrist.
I used to go to see Dr. Einspruch in the Southwestern Medical School,
and I used to tell him all the events that happened to me during the
week. And he relates that I mentioned to him the fact that these men
had been at my door, and the fact that these Cubans were trying to get
in the underground, and thought I was a good contact for it, they were
simply trying to introduce him. Anyhow, I did not know for what purpose.
My father and mother are prisoners, and you never know if they can
blackmail you or they are going to get them out of there, if you give
them a certain amount of money. You never know what to expect. I expect
anything. Later on I did establish opinions, because you can't help but
establish opinions.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you establish that opinion after the assassination or
before the assassination?
Mrs. ODIO. This first opinion that I mentioned to my psychiatrist, I
did not give it a second thought. I forgot to tell Alentado about it;
except 3 days later I wrote to my father after they came, and mentioned
the fact that the two men had called themselves friends of his. And
later in December, because the letter takes a long time to get here, he
writes me back, "I do not know any of these men. Do not get involved
with any of them."
Mr. LIEBELER. You have already given us a copy of the letter that you
received from your father in which he told you that these people were
not his friends, and told you not to get involved with them?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you tell your father the names of these men when you
wrote to him?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Your father did not, however, mention their names in his
letter, did he?
Mrs. ODIO. He mentioned their war names, because this was the only
thing I knew. I probably put an Americano came too, two Cubans with an
American, and I gave the names of the Cubans.
Mr. LIEBELER. The copy of the letter that you gave to me this morning,
we will mark as Odio Exhibit No. 1.
Mrs. ODIO. He mentioned in the second paragraph, "You are very alone
there in Dallas. You don't have anybody, so please do not open your
door to anybody that calls themselves my friends."
Mr. LIEBELER. I have initialed the letter and I would like to have you
put your initials under my initials for the purpose of identifying the
exhibit.
Mrs. ODIO. Yes, okay.
Mr. LIEBELER. The letter is in Spanish, and you have underlined certain
parts of it about three-quarters of the way down, in Spanish. Would you
read that translation to us?
Mrs. ODIO. "Please tell me again who it is that calls himself my
friend. Be careful. I do not have any friends that have been near me
lately, not even in Dallas. So do not establish any friendships until
you give me their full names again."
Mr. LIEBELER. Does he say their "full names" in there?
Mrs. ODIO. Their full names again, which means I had given their war
names.
Mr. LIEBELER. So you must have given the name Leopold?
Mrs. ODIO. He says, "You are very alone with no man to protect you, and
you can be easily fooled." That is more or less what he says. We are 10
brothers and sisters, a big family, and this has been very sad for both
of them.
I have little brothers in Dallas in an orphanage. We have been, were a
very united family, and he is always worried about us being alone after
I divorced. He is still more worried, and he was always thinking that
somebody could come in my door. He also had a thought that somebody
could come by demanding money or something like that. You can probably
have somebody who knows Spanish do a better translation.
Mr. LIEBELER. This letter is dated December 25, 1963, is that correct?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. And it is dated Nueva Gerona. Where is that?
Mrs. ODIO. The capital of Isle of Pines.
Mr. LIEBELER. Your father is a prisoner there?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Are the prisoners permitted to write letters back and
forth?
Mrs. ODIO. One letter a month, on one side.
Mr. LIEBELER. I would presume that the letters are read by Castro's men?
Mrs. ODIO. They are all read. That is why I did not given him a lot
of details. I managed to write very small so they would have a time
reading it, like he does. You can see how perfectly he writes a letter.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, let me ask you how you managed to establish that
these men came in late September. You previously stated that you
couldn't remember the date exactly, but you had managed to establish it
as being in late September. Would you tell me the procedure that you
went through to establish that date in your mind?
Mrs. ODIO. I told you my sister Annie was staying with some American
friends. She did not live with me. She had gone to live with the
Madlock's. And I called her many times to come and babysit for me
during certain weekends, and she would come either on a Thursday or
Friday, depending on when I called her.
I told her that day that I was going out, but I wanted her to start
packing for me because we were moving over to Oak Cliff. It must have
been the last days of September, because we had already packages in the
living room. We had already started to pack to go, and we had to move
by the first of October since my rent was due that day, you see.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, you did move?
Mrs. ODIO. We did move the first of October to Oak Cliff.
Mr. LIEBELER. What was the address of the apartment in which you lived
before you moved to Oak Cliff?
Mrs. ODIO. Over in, it was, I am almost sure of the number--1024
Magellan Circle. It is the Crestwood Apartments. I am not sure of the
number; I think it is.
Mr. LIEBELER. In any event, you were living at the Crestwood Apartments
at the time these men came to your apartment?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right. The Crestwood Apartments are full of Cubans.
Mr. LIEBELER. You left the Crestwood Apartments as of the first of
October and moved to Oak Cliff?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right exactly.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, you are absolutely sure that these men came to your
apartment before the first of October?
Mrs. ODIO. Before the first of October.
Mr. LIEBELER. It would have been sometime toward the end of September,
because you recall that you had already started to pack to move from
the Crestwood Apartments to Oak Cliff?
Mrs. ODIO. The packages were in the living room, and Annie was helping
me. She was actually taking things out of the closet when they came.
It took a long time to be sure of that, but I am certain of that.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you discussed this with your sister, Annie?
Mrs. ODIO. We had to, yes, sir; and she was convinced it was in late
September. Because she had not come the previous week. For 2 weeks, she
had not come, but had come the last week to help me pack and move.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have a lease on your apartment, at the Crestwood
Apartments?
Mrs. ODIO. No; they don't take you by lease. You give a deposit, and
you lose it if you move before 6 months.
Mr. LIEBELER. Had you lived at the Crestwood Apartments 6 months?
Mrs. ODIO. No. I have told you I moved several times, and it is because
of reasons of my work, and because my children at the time were in
Puerto Rico, and I went down to get them in Puerto Rico June 29th.
That was exactly the day that I saw Ray again. We had been trying to
establish a contact in Dallas with Mr. Johnny Martin, who is from
Uruguay. He is from there, and he had heard that I was involved in this
movement. And he said that he had a lot of contacts in Latin America to
buy arms, particularly in Brazil, and that if he were in contact with
one of our chief leaders of the underground, he would be able to sell
him second-hand arms that we could use in our revolution.
I don't know if this is legal or illegal, I have no idea. But when he
mentioned this fact, I jumped at the possibility that something could
be done, because you kind of get desperate when you see your father and
mother in prison, and you want to do something for them. So I called
Eugenio long distance from Dallas.
Mr. LIEBELER. When was that, approximately? Shortly after you came back
from Puerto Rico?
Mrs. ODIO. I think I can give you the exact date. This was before I
left for Puerto Rico. June 28, Eugenio arrived from Miami to see Johnny
Martin.
Mr. LIEBELER. So you say that on June 28 Eugenio arrived from Miami, is
that correct?
Mrs. ODIO. He was supposed to have arrived June 14, but he never did,
and I called two times to make another appointment with Johnny, and he
just arrived in time for me to see him. Then it was a time when we met,
not Alentado, the other one, Alvareda--Rodriguez Alvareda.
So they went to my house. Now, I was living at the time at 6140 Oram
Street, the day they arrived. But when I went back to Puerto Rico, the
same day, June 29, I saw Ray, and I explained to him what Johnny Martin
here in Dallas was up to, and then he said that he was planning a trip
also to see if something could be worked out. Mr. Ray himself was
planning a trip in connection with that. He was going to Washington to
be interviewed by some high official.
Mr. LIEBELER. But he was going to come by Dallas first?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes. So I went to Ponce, Puerto Rico, to get my children,
which were four of them, and I brought them back to Dallas. And this is
when I moved to Magellan Circle to a bigger apartment, to the Crestwood
Apartments.
Mr. LIEBELER. You moved there, after you came back from Puerto Rico
with your children?
Mrs. ODIO. I moved there exactly the end of July, the end of the month,
because I know when I moved, and then it was in August--let's see, I
lived there July, August, and to the last day of September in this
Magellan Circle, and then I moved to Oak Cliff.
Mr. LIEBELER. You actually did meet with Eugenio here in Dallas before
you went to Puerto Rico?
Mrs. ODIO. Oh, yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did Eugenio come to Dallas at any other time after that
to meet you?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. How many times have you met with Eugenio here in Dallas?
Mrs. ODIO. Once.
Mr. LIEBELER. That was in June of 1963?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. So it was not Eugenio who was with Leon when those men
came to your apartment?
Mrs. ODIO. No; I would have known Eugenio. He was a very close friend
of my family and he did underground activity with my mother and father.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever tell anybody that it was Eugenio who had
come to the apartment with Leon?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know Father McKann?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember that he called you on the telephone?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes; he did call me on the telephone.
Mr. LIEBELER. On April 30, 1964?
Mrs. ODIO. The date, I don't recall. Probably.
Mr. LIEBELER. It was approximately the end of April or early May of
1964 when he called you from New Orleans?
Mrs. ODIO. From New Orleans.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember discussing this whole question with him
at that time?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes. He asked me if I was withholding evidence of any kind.
Mr. LIEBELER. What did you tell him?
Mrs. ODIO. I told him that everything that I knew I had already told
him, and that I didn't know anything else that I could recall that
could be important to you.
Mr. LIEBELER. The only time that you were ever interviewed by anybody
in connection with this was when Agent Hosty came to your place of work
that day, isn't that correct?
Mrs. ODIO. That's correct. But three times I noticed a car standing
in front of my door where I live on Lovers Lane. I don't know if it
belonged to the Secret Service or the FBI, but I was kind of concerned
about it.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you tell Father McKann that one of the men--did you
tell him the names of the men who were there?
Mrs. ODIO. I told him what I knew, the names of the men that I knew.
Mr. LIEBELER. You told him one was Leopoldo?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. But you did not tell him that you could identify the
other man as Eugenio?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. You did not tell him that?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, I have a report before me of an interview with
Father McKann by a representative of the U.S. Secret Service in which
it states that Father McKann told this Secret Service agent that you
had told him that one of the men was Eugenio. But you indicated now
that that is not so?
Mrs. ODIO. No. Perhaps he could have misunderstood me, because he has
the same problems with names. Probably I did tell him that the man was
not Eugenio.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you remember discussing with him Eugenio's visit to
you in June?
Mrs. ODIO. I think I discussed it with him, yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. During that telephone conversation?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes; I think I discussed it.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you tell Father McKann that the name Oswald was never
used in your presence by any of these men?
Mrs. ODIO. Never was used except to introduce me, and the time when
they left. They did not refer to him as Oswald.
Mr. LIEBELER. But they did in fact, introduce him as Leon Oswald?
Mrs. ODIO. And I shook hands with him.
Mr. LIEBELER. That is also what you told Agent Hosty when he
interviewed you on December 18, 1963, and that is indicated in his
report?
Mrs. ODIO. Oh, yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, a report that we have from Agent Hosty indicates
that when you told him about Leopoldo's telephone call to you the
following day, that you told Agent Hosty that Leopoldo told you he was
not going to have anything more to do with Leon Oswald since Leon was
considered to be loco?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right. He used two tactics with me, and this I have
analyzed. He wanted me to introduce this man. He thought that I had
something to do with the underground, with the big operation, and I
could get men into Cuba. That is what he thought, which is not true.
When I had no reaction to the American, he thought that he would
mention that the man was loco and out of his mind and would be the kind
of man that could do anything like getting underground in Cuba, like
killing Castro. He repeated several times he was an expert shotman. And
he said, "We probably won't have anything to do with him. He is kind of
loco."
When he mentioned the fact that we should have killed President
Kennedy--and this I recall in my conversation--he was trying to play it
safe. If I liked him, then he would go along with me, but if I didn't
like him, he was kind of retreating to see what my reaction was. It was
cleverly done.
Mr. LIEBELER. So he actually played both sides of the fence?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right, both sides of the fence.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did Leopoldo tell you that Leon had been in the Armed
Forces?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. What did he tell you about that?
Mrs. ODIO. He said he had been in the Marines. That is what he said.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he tell you that Leon could help in the underground
activities in which you were presumably engaged?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever talked to Eugenio about this matter since
it happened?
Mrs. ODIO. No, I have not even contacted him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is your sister Annie in Dallas now?
Mrs. ODIO. She is coming now the end of July.
Mr. LIEBELER. She is not here now?
Mrs. ODIO. No, she is coming from Florida. She is coming to live with
me. She spent 6 months with my brother.
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell us what her address is in Florida?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes. She is in--wait 1 second--Southwest 82d Place, Miami,
Fla.
Mr. LIEBELER. How old were these two men that were with Leon?
Mrs. ODIO. One of them must have been--he had a mark on his face like,
I can't explain it--his complexion wasn't too soft. He was kind of like
as if he had been in the sun. So he must have been about near 40, one
of them.
Mr. LIEBELER. Which one was that?
Mrs. ODIO. But the other one was young. That was the tall one.
Mr. LIEBELER. That was not Leopoldo?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Alentado was younger?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How old was he, would you say?
Mrs. ODIO. About 34, something like that.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now how old would you say Oswald was? Did you form an
opinion about that when you saw him at the time?
Mrs. ODIO. No; I have never thought about it. I mean, I never thought
how old he was. He seemed to be a young man. I mean, not an old man. I
would say he was a young man; yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Could you say how old you thought he was after you saw
him that day in your apartment?
Mrs. ODIO. I can't say that. I can establish in my thoughts; yes, I
could establish an age, but I didn't think of it at the time.
Mr. LIEBELER. What age would you establish you thought about it?
Mrs. ODIO. Oh, 34 or 35.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you read the newspapers and watched television since
the assassination and observed Oswald?
Mrs. ODIO. I read some of it.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you read how old he was?
Mrs. ODIO. I don't even know what age he is.
Mr. LIEBELER. About how tall was he?
Mrs. ODIO. He wasn't too tall. He was maybe 4 inches taller than I am.
Mr. LIEBELER. How tall are you?
Mrs. ODIO. I am 5 feet 6 inches.
Mr. LIEBELER. So you think he was about 5 feet 10?
Mrs. ODIO. Probably.
Mr. LIEBELER. About how was he built? Was he a heavy man or a light man?
Mrs. ODIO. He was kind of a skinny man, because the shirt looked big on
him, like it was borrowed.
Mr. LIEBELER. Like it was borrowed from somebody else?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes; that is the impression he gave me, because it kind of
hung loose.
Mr. LIEBELER. Didn't fit well?
Mrs. ODIO. It didn't fit.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever had anything to do with the DRE movement
here in Dallas?
Mrs. ODIO. Students Revolutionary Council, not at all.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know any representatives of the DRE?
Mrs. ODIO. I just knew one.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who was that?
Mrs. ODIO. Sarah Castilo. Now, I have heard about the directorate in
New Orleans, because I have family there and they told me about all the
incidents about him in New Orleans, about Oswald giving propaganda in
the street and how he was down in front of a judge and caused a fight
with Carlos Bringuier, and that, of course, this man had been working
pro-Castro in this Fair Play for Cuba.
Mr. LIEBELER. Oswald, you mean?
Mrs. ODIO. Oswald.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know Carlos?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes; I have met him. I don't think he would remember me, but
I know who Carlos Bringuier is. They call him Carlitos.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you meet him?
Mrs. ODIO. I think it was a long time ago in Cuba, or I was introduced
to him.
Mr. LIEBELER. You have never met him here in the United States?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who in New Orleans told you about this incident between
Bringuier and Oswald?
Mrs. ODIO. My family discussed it in New Orleans how he had been handed
the propaganda. The other member of the directorate came along, and
they had a problem with him, because they were taken in front of a
judge. This was true.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you read about that in the newspapers?
Mrs. ODIO. No; I haven't. This I know from my family, the information
we heard from New Orleans.
Mr. LIEBELER. How much of your family are living in New Orleans?
Mrs. ODIO. I have an uncle and a cousin; a married cousin.
Mr. LIEBELER. Which one of them told you about this?
Mrs. ODIO. I think it was my uncle.
Mr. LIEBELER. Were you there at that time?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. In New Orleans?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. What is your uncle's name?
Mrs. ODIO. Agustin Guitar.
Mr. LIEBELER. When was this that you discussed this with him?
Mrs. ODIO. February.
Mr. LIEBELER. In February of 1964?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes. I remember that, because I had just come out of an
operation.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know a man by the name of Joaquin Martinez de
Pinillos?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know Emanuel Salvat?
Mrs. ODIO. I have heard about him very much. I know who he is, but I
don't know him.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you associate him with one of the Cuban organizations,
Salvat?
Mrs. ODIO. If I have heard something about him, it has been attached to
some organization.
Mr. LIEBELER. You don't remember which one?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Would it be the DRE?
Mrs. ODIO. I can't say for sure.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know a woman by the name of Anna Silvera?
Mrs. ODIO. I have heard about her, too.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you have any idea how these three men came to your
apartment? Have you ever thought about it and tried to establish any
contact that they might have had with someone else that would have told
them to come to your apartment?
Mrs. ODIO. They were coming from New Orleans.
Mr. LIEBELER. They came directly from New Orleans to your apartment?
Mrs. ODIO. If it was true. It is very easy to find out any Cubans in
Dallas. Either you look in the phone book, or you call the Catholic
Relief Service. If you say you are a friend of so and so, they will
give you information enough. They will tell you where they live and
what their phone number is and how to contact them.
Mr. LIEBELER. But you have no actual knowledge as to how these men came
by your address?
Mrs. ODIO. I kind of asked them, and they told me because they knew my
family. That is how they established the conversation. They knew him
and wanted to help me, and knew I belonged to JURE and all this.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, can you remember anything else about the incident
when Leon and the two men came to your apartment, or about the
telephone call that you got from Leopoldo, that you haven't already
told me about?
Mrs. ODIO. No. If I have forgotten something, but I think all the
important things I have told you, like the trip, that they were leaving
for a trip. And this struck me funny, because why would they want to
meet me, if they were leaving for some reason or purpose. And it has
been a long time. You don't think about these things every day and I am
trying real hard to remember everything I can.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now, is there anything else that you think we should know
about that we haven't already asked you about in connection with this
whole affair?
Mrs. ODIO. No. It would be involving my opinion, but anything that is
real facts of the thing, that really happened.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is this the only time you ever saw the man called Leon
Oswald?
Mrs. ODIO. The only time.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever told anybody else that you have seen him
other times?
Mrs. ODIO. No, I don't think. It would be silly to withhold any
information. I mean, the involvement was very slight, and look how much
involved you get just from meeting him once. I have a pretty good idea
who called the FBI.
Mr. LIEBELER. About what?
Mrs. ODIO. You see, I did not call the FBI to tell them this fact.
Mr. LIEBELER. Why not?
Mrs. ODIO. I was going to, but I had to get around to it to do it
myself, because at the time everything was so confused and everybody
was so excited about it, and I wanted to wait to see if it was
important.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who do you think called the FBI?
Mrs. ODIO. Mrs. Connell, I think.
Mr. LIEBELER. When you were interviewed by the FBI at your place
of work, did you have any opinion about the way that interview was
conducted?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes. It brought me a lot of problems in my work. The two
men were extremely polite and nice, the two gentlemen from the FBI.
You know how people were afraid at the time, and my company, some
officials of it were quite concerned that the FBI should have come to
see me.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you discussed with Alentado these two men and how
they came to see you?
Mrs. ODIO. I never talked to him about it. I decided not to mention
anything after the FBI came to see me, because I thought they were
going to contact him. I think I gave them the address and the telephone
number.
Mr. LIEBELER. You gave that to the FBI?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes. He actually wouldn't know anything about it.
Mr. LIEBELER. You say that because you asked these men if they had been
sent by Alentado and they said no?
Mrs. ODIO. That's right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mrs. Connell that you refer to is Mrs. C. L. Connell, is
that correct?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How do you know her?
Mrs. ODIO. It is a strange thing. Everything that has happened to me
in the past year has been very strange. But I came from Ponce because
I was mentally sick at the time. I was very emotionally disturbed, and
they thought that a change from Puerto Rico to Dallas where my sister
was would improve me, which it did, of course.
And I was supposed to see Dr. Cowley in Terrell. He is a Cuban
psychiatrist, but he was busy at the time and he couldn't help me. Mrs.
Connell belonged to the mental health and at the time she had helped
the Cuban group some because they had money, and I was introduced by my
sister.
Mr. LIEBELER. Which one?
Mrs. ODIO. Sarita. She actually sent part of the money for my trip to
come here to Dallas.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mrs. Connell?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes. So I met her. We became very, very close friends,
extremely close, and she talked to Dr. Stubblefield and she got me a
psychiatrist which was Dr. Einspruch. I was here 4 months before I went
to get my children. We were close, like I said.
Mr. LIEBELER. What makes you think she called the FBI about this?
Mrs. ODIO. I am not certain of this, but I did discuss this with her
after it happened, because I trusted her completely. I discussed it and
told her that I was frightened, I didn't know what to do. I did not
know if it was anything of importance that I should tell the FBI. And I
was the only person--she was the only person I told.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you tell Dr. Einspruch about it?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes; but the things you talk with a doctor in an office, he
will tell you before that he is going to say it. He would have told me,
"I am going to tell the FBI." You have to trust a doctor, especially a
psychiatrist. I know they talked to him later, but I don't think it was
him that called the FBI.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you tell Mrs. Connell that you had seen Oswald at
some anti-Castro meetings, and that he had made some talks to these
groups of refugees, and that he was very brilliant and clever and
captivated the people to whom he had spoken?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. You are sure you never told her that?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you ever seen Oswald at any meetings?
Mrs. ODIO. Never. This is something when you talk to somebody, she
probably was referring--we did have some meetings, yes. John Martino
spoke, who was an American, who was very clever and brilliant. I am not
saying that she is lying at all. When you are excited, you might get
all your facts mixed up, and Martino was one of the men who was in Isle
of Pines for 3 years. And he mentioned the fact that he knew Mr. Odio,
that Mr. Odio's daughters were in Dallas, and she went to that meeting.
I did not go, because they kept it quiet from me so I would not get
upset about it. I don't know if you know who John Martino is.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is that the same man as Johnny Martin?
Mrs. ODIO. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. A different one?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who is he?
Mrs. ODIO. Martino is one that has written a book called "I was a
Prisoner in Castro Cuba," and he was on the Isle of Pines for 3 years.
He came to Dallas and gave a talk to the Cubans about conditions in
Cuba, and she was one of the ones that went to the meeting.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mrs. Connell?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes; and my sister Annie went, too.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did Dr. Einspruch tell you that he had talked to the FBI?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. About this?
Mrs. ODIO. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he tell you roughly what his conversation with the
FBI was?
Mrs. ODIO. He told me that they had asked him if I had hallucinations,
that I was a person who was trying to make up some kind of story. That
was the context of our story. I trusted Dr. Einspruch very much. He
always told me the truth.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he tell you he had told the FBI that you did not have
hallucinations and you had probably not made this up?