The CHAIRMAN. All right; would you call Mr. Frazier, please.
Raise your right hand to be sworn, please.
Do you solemnly swear the testimony you will give before this
Commission will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth, so help you God?
Mr. FRAZIER. I do.
The CHAIRMAN. Will you be seated, please?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Joseph Ball of our staff will examine you, Mr.
Frazier, but I would like to read a very short statement concerning the
purpose of the meeting.
The purpose of today's hearing is to hear the testimony of Buell Wesley
Frazier, and Linnie Mae Randle. The Commission has been advised that
these two witnesses have stated that they saw Lee Harvey Oswald on the
morning of November 22, 1963. The Commission proposes to ask these
witnesses questions concerning their knowledge of the assassination of
President Kennedy.
You have a copy of this, have you not?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. All right, you may proceed, Mr. Ball.
Mr. BALL. You call yourself Buell or Wesley?
Mr. FRAZIER. I go by Wesley.
Mr. BALL. Well, Wesley, what is your age?
Mr. FRAZIER. Sir?
Mr. BALL. What is your age?
Mr. FRAZIER. Nineteen.
Mr. BALL. Where do you live?
Mr. FRAZIER. For the time being I am living in Irving now.
Mr. BALL. Irving, Tex.?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. What is the address where you live?
Mr. FRAZIER. 2439 West Fifth Street.
Mr. BALL. Did you live there in November 1963?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. BALL. And who lives in that house with you?
Mr. FRAZIER. My sister and brother-in-law and their three children.
Mr. BALL. Will you state their names, your sister's name?
Mr. FRAZIER. Linnie Mae Randle and my brother-in-law. I believe his
real name is William Edward Randle. We call him Bill. They have three
little girls, Diana, Patricia and Caroline Sue.
Mr. BALL. Where does your mother live?
Mr. FRAZIER. She lives in Huntsville.
Mr. BALL. Where is that?
Mr. FRAZIER. That is about 200 miles south of Dallas there.
Mr. BALL. What is the name of the town?
Mr. FRAZIER. Town, you mean where my mother lives? Huntsville.
Mr. BALL. Huntsville?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir; that is about, it is about 70, 80 miles north of
Houston.
Mr. BALL. What is your mother's name?
Mr. FRAZIER. Essie Mae Williams.
Mr. BALL. Was she visiting you and your sister sometime in November
1963?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir; she was.
Mr. BALL. How long was she there?
Mr. FRAZIER. She was there for, I believe, for a period of about 4 or 5
weeks because my stepfather was with her and he got sick and they had
to put him in the hospital and he was in the hospital 3 or 4 weeks,
somewheres, 4 or 5 weeks because they were there a week before he got
sick.
Mr. BALL. Then on November 21 and 22, living with you in this residence
at Irving, Tex., were your mother, Mrs. Williams, and your sister,
Linnie Mae Randle?
Mr. FRAZIER. Right.
Mr. BALL. And her husband and their three children?
Mr. FRAZIER. That is right.
Mr. BALL. Where do you work?
Mr. FRAZIER. Work at Texas School Books.
Mr. BALL. How long have you worked there?
Mr. FRAZIER. I have been working there since September.
Mr. BALL. September of 1963?
Mr. FRAZIER. Correct.
Mr. BALL. What kind of work do you do there?
Mr. FRAZIER. I fill orders.
Mr. BALL. How did you happen to get that job?
Mr. FRAZIER. Well, I went to see, first I come up there and started
looking for a job and couldn't find one myself so I went to one of
these employment agencies and through that a lady called up one
morning, I was fixing to go out and look for one, I was looking for
myself in the meantime when they were, too, and so she called up and
gave me a tip to it if I was interested in a job like that I could go
over there and see about that and for the time being I wasn't working
and needed some money and so I did and I went over there and saw Mr.
Truly, and he gave me an interview, and then he hired me the same day I
went over there.
Mr. BALL. You say you came up, you mean you came up from Huntsville?
Mr. FRAZIER. That is right; yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. That was in September 1963?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir; it was.
Mr. BALL. Looking for a job around Dallas?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did you go to live with your sister at that time?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. BALL. What--where is the employment agency and what is its name
when you first applied for a job?
Mr. FRAZIER. Well, I went to several but, see, this one got me this job
the main one was Massey, the employment agency, and it is over there on
Shady Grove Road.
Mr. BALL. In Dallas?
Mr. FRAZIER. No, sir; in Irving.
Mr. BALL. How do you spell that name, the name of the employment agency?
Mr. FRAZIER. Massey?
Mr. BALL. Yes.
Mr. FRAZIER. I believe it is M-a-s-s-e-y.
Mr. BALL. And it was a woman at the employment agency that called you
and told you to go to see the Texas School Book Depository?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, right.
Mr. BALL. And you went to see Mr. Truly and after an interview he gave
you a job?
Mr. FRAZIER. Correct.
Mr. BALL. Then you started work there about what date in September?
Mr. FRAZIER. It was the 13th. I say that was the same day I went for
an interview. I went early enough that morning that he told me to come
back after lunch.
Mr. BALL. And you are still working there?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. When Mr. Truly hired you did he tell you it would be a
full-time job or just a temporary job?
Mr. FRAZIER. No, sir; he told me that he was looking for somebody full
time and I told him, well, that is what I wanted, and so he said that
would be just fine.
Mr. BALL. How much did he start to pay you?
Mr. FRAZIER. He started me off with a dollar and a quarter an hour.
Mr. BALL. That is for an eight-hour day?
Mr. FRAZIER. Right. Five days a week.
Mr. BALL. Did you commute back and forth from your sister's home in
Irving?
Mr. FRAZIER. Over there to the Texas School Books?
Mr. BALL. To the Texas School Book Depository.
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. From the first day?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And you still do?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Do you own a car?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Your own car?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. You had it, did you, when you started to work?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Still have it?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And you have been since September driving that car from your
sister's home in Irving over to the Texas School Book Depository?
Mr. FRAZIER. Correct.
Mr. BALL. Go there in the morning?
Mr. FRAZIER. Right.
Mr. BALL. What time do you get to work?
Mr. FRAZIER. I get there around 8 o'clock.
Mr. BALL. When do you quit?
Mr. FRAZIER. I quit at 4:45.
Mr. BALL. Then you drive home?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. How long for lunch?
Mr. FRAZIER. 45 minutes.
Mr. BALL. Do all the employees have the same lunch hour?
Mr. FRAZIER. Now, the ones who work down there filling book orders
around where I work now, so we all work the same hours. Some people
work up there in the offices, I hear that they come in a little bit
later. Now, I don't know for sure but I see primarily the ones who does
the same type of work I do, we all start the same time and work the
same time.
Mr. BALL. Those are the people who fill the orders?
Mr. FRAZIER. Right.
Mr. BALL. How far is it in miles from your sister's home to Texas
School Book Depository?
Mr. FRAZIER. It is roughly around 15 miles.
Mr. BALL. And did you take the same route every day?
Mr. FRAZIER. You mean since I have been going over there; since the
first day?
Mr. BALL. That is right.
Mr. FRAZIER. Up to now?
Mr. BALL. Yes, right.
Mr. FRAZIER. No, sir; I didn't.
You see, I found two ways, you can more judge by the traffic and you
can go some days one way and the traffic will be easier than others,
but most times I use just one route.
Mr. BALL. What route did you usually use?
Mr. FRAZIER. Used one like you go down from the house there.
Mr. BALL. Yes.
Mr. FRAZIER. Go down and right Storey Road, see Fifth Street is just
one block off Storey Road, and just go down and hit Storey Road and
stay on it until you come to Stemmons Freeway and you stay right on
Stemmons until you come right on into Dallas there.
Mr. BALL. About what length of time does it take you to go from your
sister's home to work in the morning?
Mr. FRAZIER. Usually, I usually leave not any later than 7:25. I
usually try to leave about 7:20, and if you leave at 7:20, you usually
get around there, by the time you get down to the parking lot now it is
usually pretty close to 5 minutes to 8 and that gives you enough time
to walk to the Book Depository, put up your lunch and take off your
coat.
Mr. BALL. Did you have a place to park your car?
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Was it assigned to you by Mr. Truly?
Mr. FRAZIER. No, sir; he just said we had a parking lot there and
showed me where it was and said you can park in the parking lot.
Mr. BALL. Was that the parking lot two or three blocks from the
building.
Mr. FRAZIER. Yes, sir, it is down there; right across from the
warehouse there.