The testimony of Kenneth Hudson Croy was taken at 10:30 p.m., on March
26, 1964, in the office of the U.S. Attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Burt W. Griffin,
assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. GRIFFIN. My name is Burt Griffin, and I am a member of the advisory
staff to the General Counsel of the President's Commission on the
assassination of President Kennedy. This Commission was set up under
Presidential Resolution No. 11130, signed by President Johnson on
November 29, 1963, and also pursuant to a joint resolution of Congress
No. 137. As a result of this Presidential Executive order and the
Presidential resolution, the Commission has been given authority to
promulgate certain rules of procedure, and I have been authorized in
accordance with those rules to take your sworn deposition, Mr. Croy.
I want to explain to you a little bit first before we go forward with
the deposition of what this testimony, why we are taking the testimony.
The Commission has been set up for the purpose of investigating,
evaluating, and reporting back to the President on all of the facts
surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy and the subsequent
murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. We are particularly concerned here today
in calling you, with delving into the events surrounding Oswald's
death, although if you have any other information that you feel would
be useful to us in any other areas of our inquiry, we would like very
much to have that.
Now, I also want to explain to you, Mr. Croy, that you have been asked
to appear here today as a result of a letter which was sent by Mr. J.
Lee Rankin, who is the general counsel of the Commission, to Chief
Curry, and your name was listed on that and Chief Curry arranged to
set up the schedule. I should tell you that under the rules of the
Commission you are actually entitled to get a 3-day written notice
before we can require you to appear here. However, we do have a
provision in the rules that permit you to waive the notice if you are
agreeable to it.
Now, the first thing I want to do is ask you if you would like us to
send you the letter, and I want to make it clear that we do send these
letters out as a routine matter, and if for any reason you feel that
you would like to have advance notice and so forth, that we haven't
really given you, why feel free to tell me now.
Mr. CROY. No; I would just have to come back down here.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Then you are willing to waive?
Mr. CROY. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I also want to explain to you that you have a right to be
represented by counsel before this Commission and again, many of the
people are represented by counsel. I want you to understand that we, in
fact, encourage people to come here with an attorney if they feel there
is any reason at all that it might be useful to them. I see that you
are not here with an attorney right now, and I presume that this is of
your own choice.
However, if you would like to have an attorney, I wish you would let me
know about it and we would be happy to make arrangements for further
time when you could have one.
Mr. CROY. I don't see what I would need an attorney for.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, I think in most cases it is not really necessary,
except from the attorney's standpoint.
Mr. CROY. He gets paid for doing nothing anyway.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, some of them do.
Mr. CROY. This one does.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Are you an attorney?
Mr. CROY. No. I have my own attorney.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I shouldn't have asked that question. All right, if it is
agreeable with you, I will ask you to raise your right hand and I will
administer the oath.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give is the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. CROY. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Will you give us your full name?
Mr. CROY. Kenneth Hudson Croy.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Where do you live?
Mr. CROY. 1658 Glenfield.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Is that in Dallas?
Mr. CROY. Dallas, Tex.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When were you born?
Mr. CROY. February 21, 1937.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What is your occupation?
Mr. CROY. I have several.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Let's have them in order.
Mr. CROY. I am in the real estate business. I have a Mobil service
station. I am in the steel erection business. And I am a professional
cowboy, and that is about it that I can think of right now.
Mr. GRIFFIN. We Yankees up North don't know what professional cowboys
are.
Mr. CROY. Rodeo. You got rodeos up North.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes; they come up once in a while and alternate with
circuses. How long have you been doing that?
Mr. CROY. Oh, about 12 years.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I would not like to waste all the court reporter's time
talking about this, I don't think the Commission would probably be too
interested.
Are you also connected in some way with the Dallas Police Department?
Mr. CROY. I am in the reserves.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long have you been in the reserves.
Mr. CROY. Since August of 1959.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you hold any rank in the reserves?
Mr. CROY. I am a sergeant.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, I am going to take out a little time here and mark
two documents. One of them is a report of an interview that you had on
December 4, 1963, with FBI Agents John E. Dallman and R. Neil Quigley.
I have marked this particular document that I just referred to "Dallas,
Tex., Mr. Croy, 3-26-64, Exhibit 5051."
I want to hand this to you, Mr. Croy, and ask you if you have had an
opportunity to read that over?
Mr. CROY. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Let me ask you this: Do you have any additions, deletions,
or corrections that you feel should be made in that report?
Mr. CROY. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. If you are satisfied with the report, let me ask you then
to sign it and date it.
Mr. CROY. Where at?
Mr. GRIFFIN. On the front page there some place near where we have
marked it with an exhibit number, some conspicuous spot.