The testimony of Forrest V. Sorrels was taken at 1 p.m., on May 6,
1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C., by Messrs. Burt W.
Griffin, Leon D. Hubert, Jr., and Samuel A. Stern, assistant counsel of
the President’s Commission. Fred B. Smith, Deputy General Counsel, U.S.
Treasury Department was present.
Mr. HUBERT. Mr. Sorrels, my name is Leon Hubert. I will be taking your
deposition this afternoon, and so will Mr. Samuel Stern. We are both
members of the advisory staff of the General Counsel of the President’s
Commission, that is to say Mr. Rankin.
Under the provisions of Executive Order 11130, dated November 29, 1963,
the Joint Resolution of Congress, No. 137, and rules of procedure
adopted by the Commission in conformance with that Executive order
and that joint resolution, both Mr. Stern and I have been authorized
to take a sworn deposition from you, Mr. Sorrels. Of course you will
take an oath a little later on. Is it understood between us that this
statement of my authority and of Mr. Stern’s authority is sufficient
to carry for both depositions--in other words, it will be really a
continuation of the deposition by Mr. Stern on another area. Is that
understood?
Mr. SORRELS. Yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. Is it understood also that the oath you are going to take
will be applicable to the testimony elicited from you by me, as well as
that elicited from you by Mr. Stern?
Mr. SORRELS. Yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. I state to you now that the general nature of the
Commission’s inquiry is to ascertain, evaluate and report upon the
facts relating to the assassination of President Kennedy and the
subsequent violent death of Lee Harvey Oswald. In particular as to you,
Mr. Sorrels, the nature of the inquiry today is to determine what facts
you know about the death of Oswald and other pertinent facts which you
may know about the general inquiry.
Mr. Sorrels, you have appeared today by virtue of a verbal request made
by us at the direction of the General Counsel. Under the rules adopted
by the Commission, all witnesses are entitled to a 3-day written
notice prior to the taking of their deposition. But the rules also
provide that a witness may waive this notice. I ask you now if you are
willing to waive the 3-day written notice provided for by the rules of
the Commission.
Mr. SORRELS. Yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. All right. Then I will ask you to stand and be sworn. Do
you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give in this
matter will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?
Mr. SORRELS. I do.
Mr. HUBERT. Will you state your full name.
Mr. SORRELS. Forrest V. Sorrels.
Mr. HUBERT. How old are you, Mr. Sorrels?
Mr. SORRELS. Sixty-three.
Mr. HUBERT. Where do you reside now?
Mr. SORRELS. 3319 Hanover, Dallas, Tex.
Mr. HUBERT. What is your occupation?
Mr. SORRELS. Special agent in charge of the Dallas district of the
United States Secret Service.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, before I go any further, I should like the record to
show that Mr. Fred B. Smith----
Mr. SMITH. Deputy General Counsel, United States Treasury Department.
Mr. HUBERT. Is present--in what capacity?
Mr. SMITH. I guess observer on behalf of the Secretary of Treasury.
Mr. HUBERT. And Mr. Burt Griffin, also a member of the staff of the
General Counsel of the President’s Commission, is also present.
Now, Mr. Sorrels, I would like for you to state to us the general
background, your history, sort of a biographical sketch, if you will,
starting off with your education and on to date.
Mr. SORRELS. I was born in Red River County, Tex., on a farm, September
16, 1901; later moved to a little town nearby called Bogata, Tex. I
lived there until 1916, when my family moved to El Paso, Tex. I resided
there until 1935.
I went to El Paso High School and after graduation attended Draughon’s
Business College, taking typing and shorthand and bookkeeping. I then
went to work for a small wholesale grocery, worked there for only a
short time, and then went to work for a brick company, worked there a
very short time, and then obtained employment as a clerk in the office
of Bureau of Narcotics, Treasury Department, in El Paso, Texas.
Mr. HUBERT. What year was that, sir?
Mr. SORRELS. That was in 1922. I worked there for about a year and
went back to the brick company. I was only there a short time when
I learned of a clerical position in the office of the United States
Secret Service at El Paso. I later was employed in that position on
July 6, 1923. That was a two-man office, and I began very shortly after
employment there assisting and helping in investigative work.
In 1926, the special agent in charge was transferred from there, and
prior to that time I had been appointed as what was known at that time
as an operative, which is comparable to our special agent of today. He
transferred from there to Dallas about July of 1926, and I was left
as acting agent in charge of that office. In October that “acting”
was removed, and I continued there in the capacity of agent in charge
until 1935, when I was transferred to Dallas as special agent in charge
there. In 1936 I was transferred to New Orleans as acting supervising
agent of a newly created setup whereby the States of Texas, Louisiana,
and Mississippi were in what was known at that time as the Tenth
District.
In 1938, the headquarters office was moved from New Orleans to Houston.
In 1941 it was moved from Houston to Dallas. Subsequent to that time,
the organization of the 15 supervising agents was abandoned, and each
office reported direct into the headquarters office in Washington,
excepting a very few that were known as resident agency officers.
I have continued in that capacity as special agent in charge of the
Dallas district, and am so employed at the present time.
Mr. HUBERT. So that you have been special agent in charge actually of
the Dallas district since 1938.
Mr. SORRELS. Actually--it was in my territory since 1935, but the
office was moved back there in 1941, and I have been there ever since.
Mr. HUBERT. And you have lived there.
Mr. SORRELS. Yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. What does the Dallas territory now, under your
jurisdiction, and control, consist of?
Mr. SORRELS. Roughly it consists of the northern half of Texas,
exclusive of the territory west of the Pecos River. We have in the
Dallas district the entire northern judicial district of Texas, the
Waco division of the western district of Texas, the Tyler, Jefferson,
Texarkana, Parris, and Sherman divisions of the eastern district of
Texas.
Mr. HUBERT. By divisions, you mean divisions in the United States court
system?
Mr. SORRELS. That’s right.
Mr. HUBERT. How many men do you have?
Mr. SORRELS. At the present time we have six special agents besides
myself.
Mr. HUBERT. They all work out of Dallas?
Mr. SORRELS. Yes, sir. One special agent actually headquarters, so to
speak, in Fort Worth. He remains in that section most of the time.
Mr. HUBERT. Would you tell us something about your family.
Mr. SORRELS. I am married.
Mr. HUBERT. How long have you been married?
Mr. SORRELS. I have a daughter 16 years of age and a younger daughter
7 years of age. I have 2 children by a former marriage, a son who is a
captain in the United States Army and a daughter who is married to an
employee of the IBM Company in New York City.
Mr. HUBERT. How long have you been married to your present wife?
Mr. SORRELS. Since 1946.
Mr. HUBERT. Mr. Sorrels, Mr. Stern is going to take a deposition with
respect to security measures and other matters, I think, in regard to
the President. I am going to depose you with reference to a number of
matters concerning principally the security of Oswald after he was
arrested and until his death, and your activities with reference to
Ruby after he had shot Oswald.
Mr. SORRELS. Yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, getting into the first matter, can you tell us what
you observed yourself of the security measures which were in effect and
actually operating with reference to Oswald after his arrest.
Mr. SORRELS. The first time that I saw Oswald was on the afternoon of
November 22 as he was coming out of Capt. Will Fritz’ office in the
Dallas Police Department on the third floor.
Mr. HUBERT. About what time was that?
Mr. SORRELS. The exact time I cannot give you, because I had been
working at a frantic pace. It was some time probably past the middle of
the afternoon. I had previously been informed by my office that Captain
Fritz had endeavored to locate me because he had a suspect in custody.
And when I arrived there, Captain Fritz was in his office, apparently
talking to the suspect, whom I determined to be Lee Harvey Oswald.
As he was being removed from the office, I told Captain Fritz that I
would like to talk to this man when an opportunity was afforded, and
he remarked “You can talk to him right now--just go right around the
corner there by the side of the office,” which I did.
Oswald was brought around and was seated there. There were a number of
other officers present, detectives, I think possibly some FBI agents,
and maybe some of my agents had come in in the meantime.