Mr. SPECTER. Where were you then?
Mr. PETERSON. Living at the hotel.
Mr. SPECTER. Was the interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
conducted at your hotel?
Mr. PETERSON. Yes; it was at the hotel.
Mr. SPECTER. Who was present at that time?
Mr. PETERSON. I think it was Mr.—who is the head of the FBI in Dallas?
He was the one. Griffin. Griffith. I believe it was Griffith.
Mr. SPECTER. Was anybody with him?
Mr. PETERSON. There was somebody else sitting at the table. I’m not
sure who it was. Tony Zoppi; I believe.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. Zoppi was present at the time of the interview?
Mr. PETERSON. I believe; he was either there before, after. Tony always
has breakfast there. We were all sitting at the table. Mr. Griffith
came over.
Mr. SPECTER. The special agent in charge there is Gordon Shanklin.
Mr. PETERSON. This was Mr. Griffith.
Mr. SPECTER. Was Mr. Shanklin present?
Mr. PETERSON. I don’t know.
Mr. SPECTER. Was Mr. Wall present at the time Mr. Griffith talked to
you?
Mr. PETERSON. I don’t know; he might have been. Seems to me three
people were at the table. I’m trying to recollect. Breck might have
been there. We eat breakfast together there usually. It was either
breakfast or lunch. I’m never sure which it is because we always get up
around 11 or 12.
Mr. SPECTER. When Mr. Griffith or Griffin interviewed you, did you tell
him about the telephone call that Jack Ruby made to Breck Wall?
Mr. PETERSON. Yes; we told him all that. In fact this is a little
clearer than that. Everything is a little fresher in my mind.
Mr. SPECTER. Are you sure you told him of that telephone call?
Mr. PETERSON. I don’t know if I did; I’m sure Breck did.
Mr. SPECTER. Were you present when Breck Wall talked to the FBI?
Mr. PETERSON. No; I don’t think so.
Mr. SPECTER. How can you say you are sure Breck Wall told him of the
telephone call?
Mr. PETERSON. Because Breck is very much in the habit of doing the
right thing.
Mr. SPECTER. So that would be your presumption he did?
Mr. PETERSON. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. You actually weren’t there when Breck Wall talked to the
FBI man?
Mr. PETERSON. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you recall whether or not you personally told the agent
from the FBI about the telephone call from Ruby in Galveston?
Mr. PETERSON. I’m pretty sure I did.
Mr. SPECTER. Were you interviewed by the FBI more than once or once?
Mr. PETERSON. Just the once, although I felt like it was more than
once talking to them going up and down in the elevators, there were a
hundred of them there. Couldn’t miss them.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know how Ruby knew how to call you in Galveston?
Mr. PETERSON. What he probably did was call the hotel and ask where we
were because we always left a telephone call where we were at.
Mr. SPECTER. Why do you do that?
Mr. PETERSON. It was our policy to do that. If they wanted to start the
show they had to know where we were at.
Mr. SPECTER. When did you find out Ruby had shot Oswald?
Mr. PETERSON. When we were watching TV.
Mr. SPECTER. Where?
Mr. PETERSON. Galveston; in McKenna’s home.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you recognize Ruby then?
Mr. PETERSON. Oh, yes.
Mr. SPECTER. You could recognize Ruby?
Mr. PETERSON. Couldn’t miss it.
Mr. SPECTER. What was your reaction on that?
Mr. PETERSON. Shock. Unbelievable, really.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know whether Breck Wall called Phil Burleson from
Galveston that day?
Mr. PETERSON. I think he did.
Mr. SPECTER. What was the purpose of that call?
Mr. PETERSON. I have no idea.
Mr. SPECTER. Did he discuss it with you before he made the call?
Mr. PETERSON. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know whether he called Nancy Austin?
Mr. PETERSON. He probably called everybody up when that happened.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know specifically whether the call was to Nancy
Austin?
Mr. PETERSON. I think probably. Because of what he saw on the TV and
about the show.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know Eddie Parker?
Mr. PETERSON. Oh, yes; he used to work for us backstage at the Adolphus.
Mr. SPECTER. Did he ever call him up?
Mr. PETERSON. Probably. In reference to the show because he had
connection with Tressler in the show.
Mr. SPECTER. Did Mr. Breck Wall call him up?
Mr. PETERSON. He probably did.
Mr. SPECTER. What was his purpose?
Mr. PETERSON. In regards to the show.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know a Patricia Farmer?
Mr. PETERSON. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know a Clarence Vought?
Mr. PETERSON. A lot of these people I might know when I see them. Breck
knows. He is good on names.
Mr. SPECTER. The name Clarence Vought doesn’t mean anything to you?
Mr. PETERSON. No.
Mr. SPECTER. What relatives, if any, does Tom McKenna have in Dallas?
Mr. PETERSON. I don’t know anything about them.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know R. D. Matthews?
Mr. PETERSON. No; I don’t remember. I might.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know anything about Jack Ruby’s trip to Cuba?
Mr. PETERSON. Nothing. Only thing I know about that is when I read it
later in the papers.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you know a man by the name of Henry Atcheson?
Mr. PETERSON. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Or Henry Acteson?
Mr. PETERSON. No. I am saying no to a lot of these. I may know them.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you know anything about a telephone call to Mr.
Atcheson or Mr. Acteson in Canada back in March of 1964?
Mr. PETERSON. That I made?
Mr. SPECTER. Did you ever make such a call?
Mr. PETERSON. Not that I remember.
Mr. SPECTER. Did Breck Wall ever make such a call to your knowledge?
Mr. PETERSON. He might have. I don’t know. Canada? Only one thing we
had to do, that was a man who wanted to buy the show for one night and
fly us up there.
Mr. SPECTER. What was his name?
Mr. PETERSON. Wohl, W-o-h-l. He got in touch with us about a show.
Mr. SPECTER. What part of Canada was he from?
Mr. PETERSON. I don’t recollect right now.
Mr. SPECTER. What was his first name?
Mr. PETERSON. I think it was Jack.
Mr. SPECTER. Was he in Calgary, Alberta, Canada?
Mr. PETERSON. That is it. Calgary. Some organization. He was trying to
get us booked for this, whatever it was, that they celebrate.
Mr. SPECTER. Was his name Wall, W-a-l-l?
Mr. PETERSON. No; Breck Wall is my partner. This other was Wohl,
W-o-h-l.
Mr. SPECTER. Wall?
Mr. PETERSON. Maybe I’m spelling it wrong.
Mr. SPECTER. Was he with you in the Adolphus Hotel?
Mr. PETERSON. He comes to our hotel quite a lot.
Mr. SPECTER. Was he with you in March of 1964?
Mr. PETERSON. Well, he stayed there at the hotel. He saw a show two
or three times. He talked to us about the chance of booking a show in
Canada. He would get in touch with this organization he was with and
let us know, which he did by letter.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you ever work that deal out?
Mr. PETERSON. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Why not?
Mr. PETERSON. Well, it just never materialized.
Mr. SPECTER. How did he pronounce his name again?
Mr. PETERSON. Wohl, I believe it is.
Mr. SPECTER. Phonetically it sounds the same as W-a-l-l?
Mr. PETERSON. Right.
Mr. SPECTER. He was from Calgary, Alberta, Canada?
Mr. PETERSON. Yes. I’m pretty sure that is it. In fact I think we still
got that letter. I know it is W-o-h-l because I remarked on it, about
Breck Wall.
Mr. SPECTER. You say you still do have that letter?
Mr. PETERSON. I’m pretty sure.
Mr. SPECTER. Could you look for that and send it to me?
Mr. PETERSON. Sure. Sure.
Mr. SPECTER. Let me write my name and address down for you so you can
do that.
Mr. PETERSON. Fine. If I don’t have the letter we could get in touch
with the hotel. He always stays there. I’m sure they have records.
Mr. SPECTER. His first name was Jack?
Mr. PETERSON. I’m sure it was Jack; yes.
Mr. SPECTER. Here is my name and address in Washington.
Mr. PETERSON. He was connected with a big oil company.
Mr. SPECTER. If you can find that letter and send it to me, I would be
much obliged to you.
Mr. PETERSON. Sure.
Mr. SPECTER. What did you do immediately after the assassination, if
you recall?
Mr. PETERSON. Well, we checked the hotel about the show.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you go down to the Texas School Book Depository
Building?
Mr. PETERSON. I think we did; ran down to take a look.
Mr. SPECTER. What was the purpose of that?
Mr. PETERSON. Curiosity.
Mr. SPECTER. Was that the only purpose?
Mr. PETERSON. Yes; along with a couple of thousand other people.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you recall what your reaction was when Breck Wall
received some telephone calls in Galveston from the Washington Post and
from the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald?
Mr. PETERSON. That is it. Washington Post. Well, I got a little angry,
told him not to say anything over the phone until we got back home.
Mr. SPECTER. Why did you tell him not to say anything over the phone
until you got back home?
Mr. PETERSON. Well, you don’t know who you are talking to over the
phone.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you have any other reason in mind besides that?
Mr. PETERSON. No; not at all. The only one I could recognize was the
Dallas Morning News people we knew. That was fine, but anybody else, I
don’t know who we were talking to. A lot of nuts would be calling you
up.
Mr. SPECTER. Did you know anything about Mr. Ruby’s troubles with the
American Guild of Variety Artists?
Mr. PETERSON. Jack had all kinds of problems and troubles with unions
and everybody else. Jack was like every other struggling nightclub
owner who was trying to get along the cheapest way he could. That was
it.
Mr. SPECTER. Does the telephone number Riverside 8-1434 in Dallas mean
anything to you?
Mr. PETERSON. Let me see. No, I don’t know. Probably does, but I don’t
remember.
Mr. SPECTER. Do you have anything to add which you think would be
helpful to the President’s Commission in any way?
Mr. PETERSON. No.
Mr. SPECTER. Prior to the time when we went on the record here, Mr.
Peterson, did you and I have a very brief conversation concerning your
knowledge of Jack Ruby?
Mr. PETERSON. Yes; we did.
Mr. SPECTER. Have I covered those questions and a number of others
during the course of the deposition on the record?
Mr. PETERSON. Yes.
Mr. SPECTER. And is the information which you gave to me on the record
the same as what you told me off the record earlier?
Mr. PETERSON. Yes; what I could remember—wait a minute, now. You said
“before”——