Mr. JENNER. By telephone or direct inquiry face to face?
Mrs. PAINE. In person, at his office, whether Marina Oswald was
signing, and by this I meant--endorsing her own checks and his reply
to me was that everything she can do herself she is doing. From this I
assumed she could sign her name. I left a letter which enclosed such a
check written by me to her.
Mr. JENNER. You left with whom? With John Thorne or with Mr. Martin?
Mrs. PAINE. It does look as if I had left it--let's see--given to the
hand of John Thorne.
Mr. JENNER. Excuse me, you have now turned to the second page of Ruth
Paine Exhibit 277 and you are pointing to a footnote at the bottom of
that page, are you not?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And the reference there to this letter is to the letter
which appears on that page?
Mrs. PAINE. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. And do I take it from the footnote that accompanying that
letter transcribed in the second page of Ruth Paine Exhibit 277,
accompanying it was a check?
Mrs. PAINE. That's right, enclosed in the stamped and sealed envelope.
Mr. JENNER. And the check is the instrument you now hand me, dated
December 28, 1963, check number 205 in the sum of $10, payable to
Marina Oswald, which we will mark as Ruth Paine Exhibit 277-A.
(Exhibit marked by the reporter as Ruth Paine Exhibit No. 277-A, for
identification.)
Mr. JENNER. On the reverse side of that there appears in longhand as an
endorsement and the name "Marina Oswald." Do you see it?
Mrs. PAINE. I do.
Mr. JENNER. Are you familiar with that signature?
Mrs. PAINE. I am not.
Mr. JENNER. Are you familiar with Marina Oswald's signature?
Mrs. PAINE. I am.
Mr. JENNER. Looking at the endorsement on the reverse side of Exhibit
277-A, in your opinion is or is not that Marina Oswald's signature?
Mrs. PAINE. That is not Marina Oswald's official hand.
Mr. JENNER. Did you repeat that process on some subsequent occasions of
remitting cash gifts by check?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, I did.
Mr. JENNER. And you have now handed me another instrument which
purports to be and which is a check.
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. On the Southwest Bank and Trust Co., and what is the other
document No. 277-A, this one, which is dated January 8, 1964, and it is
the sum of $5 and it is check No. 216.
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. It is also payable to Marina Oswald; is that your check?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, it is.
Mr. JENNER. We will mark it as Ruth Paine Exhibit No. 277-B.
(Instrument referred to marked by the reporter as Ruth Paine Exhibit
No. 277-B, for identification.)
Mr. JENNER. Referring to Exhibit 277-A and 277-B, does your signature
appears as the maker of each of those checks?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; it does.
Mr. JENNER. And you recall distinctly that you did make them?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; I do.
Mr. JENNER. And these are the cancelled checks that are returned to you
by your bank, Southwest Bank & Trust Co.?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Referring to Exhibit No. 277-A and turning it over, is
there an endorsement on the reverse side?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; there is.
Mr. JENNER. And do you recognize that endorsement?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; I do.
Mr. JENNER. Is it in longhand?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; it is.
Mr. JENNER. In whose hand?
Mrs. PAINE. That is in Marina Oswald's hand.
Mr. JENNER. And it reads "Marina Oswald," does it not?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Each of these checks also bears the stamped endorsement
"For deposit only, to Oswald Trust Fund," is that right?
Mrs. PAINE. That's right--that should be said.
Mr. JENNER. And are these instruments now in the same condition when
they were returned to you, by your bank?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; they are.
Mr. JENNER. Miss Reporter, I hand you the check No. 205 dated December
28, 1963, please mark it Ruth Paine Exhibit No. 277-A. And mark check
No. 216, dated January 8, 1964, as Ruth Paine Exhibit No. 277-B.
(Instruments marked by the reporter as Ruth Paine Exhibits Nos. 277-A
and 277-B.)
Mr. JENNER. May I have your permission, please Mrs. Paine, to retain
these two exhibits and as soon as I have photostated them with all of
the other originals of documents that you produced last week, I want to
return them all to you at once.
Mrs. PAINE. All right.
Mr. JENNER. Anything else, now, that occurs to you?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. Anything else that is pertinent which you think might be
helpful to the Commission in this investigation?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. We have been on and off the record during the course of
this session, Mrs. Paine, in which I have had some conversation with
you. Is there anything that occurred during those off-the-record
sessions which you regard as pertinent which I have not brought out?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. Is there anything that occurred in those off-the-record
sessions which in your opinion is inconsistent with anything that has
been stated and testified in the record by you or stated into the
record by Mr. Howlett or by me?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. Off the record.
(Discussion between Counsel Jenner and the witness, Mrs. Paine, off the
record.)
Mr. JENNER. Back on the record now, please. Facing north, in the rear
of the Paine home, the rear door leading from the kitchen-dining
room area out onto the yard in the rear, there is a large pleasant,
completely open yard with grass. The plot is surrounded by a cyclone
fence 5 feet high with a gate so that children playing, small children
playing in the yard are completely protected and prevented from getting
out. That yard area, measuring from the north wall of the home to
the rear fence is 80 feet, 6 inches and in width, measuring east to
west, the yard from cyclone fence to cyclone fence is 51 feet. There
is a clothesline that traverses from east to west in the yard and the
clothesline itself, the poles, which are parallel to the east-west line
of the house and east-west fence in the rear is 19-1/2 feet south of
the rear fence. There are two large shade trees, both oaks, the one
at the easterly line near the easterly fence is 7 feet, 9 inches in
circumference. There is one almost opposite on the west, which is much
smaller, and is about--not quite a foot thick.
The tree in the front of the house which we have described earlier has
a circumference of 6 feet, 3 inches, and the circumferences we have
recited in the record were measured at 3 feet from the ground.
Is that correct, Mr. Howlett?
Agent HOWLETT. It is 6 feet on the tree in the front, 3 feet from the
ground.
Mr. JENNER. I see--I recited it 3 inches and that was in error.
Agent HOWLETT. It should be 6 feet, measured 3 feet from the ground.
Mr. JENNER. Mrs. Paine, have you translated the note which appears on
the inside of the Christmas card from Marina, about which you have
testified this evening?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; I have.
Mr. JENNER. It appears on the left inside portion, does it not?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Of the Christmas card and having interpreted or translated
it would you read the translation into the record?
Mrs. PAINE. The translation says:
"DEAR RUTH:
Sends here greetings to you, Micheal and the children and
wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I am very
sorry that our friendship ended so unfortunately but it was not
my fault. I hope that the new year will bring us all better
changes. I wish you health, fortune, happiness and all of the
very best. A great big thank you for all the fine things you
did for me.
Sincerely,
MARINA.
P.S.--Write if you feel like it, please. Greetings from little
June. I kiss you, Marina."
Mr. JENNER. Thank you, Mrs. Paine.
Now, you have handed me a Christmas card, the cover page of which
reads, "Wishing you the best," and there is an insignia on the front
of it. I have already referred to the inside cover page, which you now
have interpreted for us, and directing your attention to that writing
which appears to be in red ink, are you familiar with the writing?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; I am.
Mr. JENNER. Whose writing is it?
Mrs. PAINE. It is Marina Oswald's writing.
Mr. JENNER. You also handed me an envelope which is postmarked at
Dallas on December 21, 1963, and there appears to be some handwriting
on that. Are you familiar with that handwriting?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; I am.
Mr. JENNER. Whose is that?
Mrs. PAINE. It is Marina Oswald's handwriting.
Mr. JENNER. Here again as in the case of other envelopes, the envelope
itself--everything appearing on the face of the envelope is in English?
Mrs. PAINE. That is right.
Mr. JENNER. Whereas, the note on the inside is in Russian?
Mrs. PAINE. That is right.
Mr. JENNER. And this is as you testified--she was able to write English
to the extent of addressing letters, cards, and envelopes?
Mrs. PAINE. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. Miss Reporter, would you now mark the two exhibits I now
hand you as Ruth Paine Exhibit Nos. 278, the card, and 278-A, the
envelope?
(Instruments referred to marked by the reporter as Ruth Paine Exhibit
Nos. 278 and 278-A, for identification.)
Mr. JENNER. Mrs. Paine, is the card in the same condition now as it was
except for the reporter's identification, when you received it?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; it is.
Mr. JENNER. And was Ruth Paine Exhibit 278, the card enclosed in the
envelope which has been identified as Ruth Paine Exhibit No. 278-A?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; it was so enclosed.
Mr. JENNER. And except for having slit the envelope to remove its
contents, is the envelope in the same condition now as it was when you
received it?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And may we, as in the case of the other exhibits, retain
the original and when I have photostated it we will return them to you?
Mrs. PAINE. That is fine.
Mr. JENNER. I offer in evidence all of the exhibits which have been
identified this evening.
Is there anything at all which has occurred to you that you desire to
add, Mrs. Paine?
Mrs. PAINE. I can think of nothing else at this point.
Mr. JENNER. I do want to ask you this--while you were translating the
Christmas card message, Mr. Howlett and I measured--we went out in
your back yard area, which is large and open, and we measured it and I
recited the measurements in the record and the location of your large
beautiful shade trees. I noted that there traverses from east to west
your yard in the rear a clothesline.
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And I measured that as being located at 19-1/2 feet south
of the back porch--of the back fence?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Is that the clothesline to which you made reference when
you testified last week in Washington as to where Marina was on the
midafternoon or early afternoon of November 22 when you went out to
advise her that you had heard over the radio the name "Lee Oswald" in
connection with events that day?
Mrs. PAINE. No; it was not that that I heard. I heard that a shot had
been fired from the School Book Depository Building and this is what I
told her.
Mr. JENNER. And is that clothesline and those posts which support the
clothesline and from which the line is stretched across the yard in the
same position now as those posts were on that day?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes; they are.
Mr. JENNER. And on that occasion?
Mrs. PAINE. I can't remember whether as part of my testimony describing
the evening of November 22, I said that Marina told me that when I
reported to her the situation at the clothesline that the TV had
announced that the shots which hit the President were fired from the
School Book Depository. She recalled that to me in the evening and
told me when I had told her this, her heart went to the bottom. I
don't recall whether I included that, but I remember that during the
Commission hearings--I have recalled it since.
Mr. JENNER. I direct your attention to page 49 of the document entitled
"Affidavits and Statements Taken in Connection With the Assassination
of the President," to which we have heretofore made reference when I
asked you to examine a list of documents and books and records and
papers and pamphlets. Directing your attention to page 49--is that an
affidavit or a signed statement that you furnished the Dallas city
police?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, it is.
Mr. JENNER. And is that the statement to which you had reference in
your testimony before the Commission that you gave on the evening of
November 22?
Mrs. PAINE. The 22d, yes.
Mr. JENNER. Under examination by an officer of the Dallas city police?
Mrs. PAINE. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. Will you read it through and see if it serves to refresh
your recollection, read it to yourself, and see if it serves to refresh
your recollection as to anything you might not have included in your
testimony last week as to what occurred during the course of the
interview of the Dallas city police with you?
Mrs. PAINE. I don't recall most of that content but that surely was
it--I was under a good deal of stress at the time.
"AFFIDAVIT IN ANY FACT
THE STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF DALLAS
BEFORE ME, Patsy Collins, a Notary Public in and for said
county, State of Texas, on this day personally appeared Ruth
Hyde Paine/w/f/31, 2515 W. Fifth Street, Irving, Texas. Who,
after being by me duly sworn, on oath deposes and says: I have
lived at the above address for about 4 years. My husband,
Michael and I had been separated for about a year. IN the
early winter of 1963, I went to a party in Dallas because I
heard that some people would be there that spoke Russian. I
was interested in the language. At that party I met Lee Oswald
and his Russian wife Marina. About a month later I went to
visit them on Neely Street. In May I asked her to stay with me
because Lee went to New Orleans to look for work. About two
weeks later I took Marina to New Orleans to join her husband.
Around the end of September I stopped by to see them while I
was on vacation. I brought Marina back with me to Irving. He
came in 2 weeks, later, but did not stay with his wife and me.
Marina's husband would come and spend most of the weekends with
his wife. Through my neighbor, we heard there was an opening at
the Texas School Book Depository. Lee applied and was accepted.
Lee did not spend last weekend there. He came in about 5 pm
yesterday and spent the night. I was asleep this morning when
he left for work.
(S) RUTH HYDE PAINE."
Mr. JENNER. Now, I direct your attention to page 46. There appears to
be a signature of Mrs. Marina Oswald on that page. You are familiar
with her signature?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, I am.
Mr. JENNER. Is that her signature?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, that is her signature.
Mr. JENNER. Will you read the statement and see if it serves to refresh
your recollection or stimulate some other recollection as to what
occurred that evening or at any other time, to which you have not
already testified.