Mr. MONTGOMERY. With who?
Mr. GRIFFIN. With you.
Mr. MONTGOMERY. I didn’t talk to no two. I talked to one. I talked to
Mr. Bookhout and one other agent is all. Let’s see. Maybe I had better
read this before I start talking. Let’s see.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Look it over and tell me if you remember that interview?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. “Stated they had known Ruby for several years.” That
must mean “he.”
Mr. GRIFFIN. Tell you what. Let’s take a break here and let Officer
Montgomery read this over, and then I want to know whether you feel
that there should be any additions or corrections made in it.
(Discussion off the record.)
Mr. GRIFFIN. I will hand you what has been marked as Exhibit 5005 and
5006. Have you had a chance to look those over, Mr. Montgomery?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Is there anything you want to add to those statements that
you haven’t told us already?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. No; not that I know of.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you want to make any corrections in those statements,
in light of what you have said today?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Well, on this one right here, Mr. Griffin, it said,
“He states they had known Ruby for several years.” I don’t know who
“they” would be. See on that second paragraph where it says, “He stated
they----”
Mr. GRIFFIN. You want to change that to “he”?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Uh-huh. That is the only thing I see in there.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Okay. Let me look it over for just a second. I notice in
here that you stated that you felt that you hadn’t seen Ruby for at
least 2 years prior to the time of the shooting.
Mr. MONTGOMERY. That is what I was thinking about. Anywhere from a
year, year and a half, to 2 years.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Your best recollection is for a year, or year and a half?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Probably was a year and a half. My partner--after I
gave that to the agent there, this partner advised me that one night we
were driving down Commerce Street and Jack pulled up beside of us and
spoke to us in his car. I don’t recall seeing him, but my partner told
me he--that we had seen him there. That shouldn’t have been too long
before all this happened. I guess two or three----
Mr. GRIFFIN. Who was your partner that told you that?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. It was Mr. Johnson.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What’s his first name?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Marvin Johnson, but I don’t recall seeing Ruby then, at
that time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You stated in here, I think it is 5006--at least it’s
reported that as you “brought Oswald down into the jail area the two
officers with Oswald between them and Montgomery hesitated before going
into this corridor while Capt. J. W. Fritz checked with Chief----to see
if the area was clear.” Agent Bookhout hasn’t indicated here what chief
that was. Are you able to fill in that blank?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Well, actually what that was was I told him, “Chief,”
say who did the captain talk to when he stepped out that door. I
couldn’t see. I just told him I thought it was the chief. I didn’t
know. I didn’t--maybe it wasn’t even a chief that he talked to. It was
some lieutenant out there that told him, that is why I say at that
particular time I was hesitant on this. This “chief” business then.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you have anything else that you want to tell us that
we haven’t already covered that you think might be of use to the
Commission?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Oh, well, I don’t know of anything. Looks like you all
have covered it pretty well, and, of course, these reports here have
it, too. One thing they say is not in here either. It is not--I haven’t
told you yet, is when we had Ruby down on the floor inside the jail
office there, that while we had him down and was holding him on the
floor there he said he hoped he killed the s.o.b.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You heard him say that?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Yes; of course, there were other officers that heard
it, too. We was all standing right there. That is the one thing that
wasn’t in this report here. I don’t recall seeing it, do you?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, did you testify in the Jack Ruby trial?
Mr. MONTGOMERY. No; I never did testify.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I think maybe one last thing. If you would look over this
map, now, and if you feel that the marks that we’ve put on here are
accurate on the basis of what we have done before, I would like you to
sign it.
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Right here, let me put “news media,” right below that
so that I will know as well as someone else might know.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Okay. Sign it, if you would.
Mr. MONTGOMERY. Over here?
Mr. GRIFFIN. That would be fine.
Mr. MONTGOMERY. You want me to date it or anything?
Mr. GRIFFIN. No; that’s all right. We have got it on the record here.
“The reporter will say witness signs an exhibit.”
All right. Okay. That concludes our interview, and thank you.