Mrs. OSWALD. Excuse me. I think that it takes considerable time to
practice with a rifle. He never spent any great deal of time in the
garage.
Mr. RANKIN. You have described your husband's practicing on the back
porch at New Orleans with the telescopic scope and the rifle, saying he
did that very regularly there.
Did you ever see him working the bolt, that action that opens the
rifle, where you can put a shell in and push it back--during those
times?
Mrs. OSWALD. I did not see it, because it was dark, and I would be in
the room at that time.
But I did hear the noise from it from time to time--not often.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall the weekend that you went to the hospital for
your baby?
Mrs. OSWALD. Very well.
Mr. RANKIN. Did your husband go with you at that time?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. Ruth drove me at that time. He remained with June
because June was crying and we could not leave her with strangers. He
wanted to go with me, but we couldn't arrange it any other way.
Mr. RANKIN. After the baby was born, did he come and see you?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he say anything to you about the baby?
Mrs. OSWALD. Every father talks a lot.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he talk about the baby?
Mrs. OSWALD. About me and the child--he was very happy. He even had
tears in his eyes.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he call you from Irving when you were in the hospital?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, he was working at that time, and he called me from
work. But I didn't talk to him. He merely asked the nurse how I was
doing.
Mr. RANKIN. And those conversations would be reported to you by the
nurse, then?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, she didn't tell me about them. Because he telephoned
to find out when I should be brought home, and he telephoned Ruth and
asked her to let him know. But the nurse did tell me that my husband
had called.
Mr. RANKIN. Now, the weekend of October 25th to the 27th, did your
husband return to Irving that weekend?
Mrs. OSWALD. There were some weekends when he did not come. But this
was at my request. It happened twice, I think. One such weekend was the
occasion of the birthday of Mrs. Paine's daughter. And I knew that Lee
didn't like Michael, Mrs. Paine's husband, and I asked him not to come.
This was one occasion.
The other I don't recall. I don't recall the date of this. But I
remember that the weekend before he shot at the President, he did not
come on Saturday and Sunday. Because we had a quarrel--that incident
with the fictitious name.
No, I am confused.
It would be easier for me to remember if I knew the birthday of that
girl. Perhaps you know. Perhaps you have it noted down somewhere.
Mr. RANKIN. You are asking me the birthday of Mrs. Paine's daughter?
Mrs. OSWALD. Because I know that the FBI questioned me about it, and
they had made a note about it. Because they wanted to determine each
time when he did come and when did not.
Mr. RANKIN. Now, if it was the weekend of November 16th and 17th that
he remained in Dallas, would that help you as to the time of the
birthday?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. This was the weekend before the 21st, and he had not
come home that weekend.
Mr. RANKIN. Now, the neighbor next door that you referred to, where you
learned about the job with the depository, could that have been Dorothy
Roberts?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall that your husband went to some meeting with
Michael Paine in October of 1963?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
It seems to me--I know for sure that this was one of the Fridays. It
seems to me that this was the birthday--it was after dinner. They
talked in English. I don't know about what. I know that they got
together and went to some kind of a meeting.
Mr. RANKIN. Was that a meeting of the American Civil Liberties Union?
Mrs. OSWALD. Ruth said something about that, but I didn't understand
anything. This was right after the incident with Stevenson, who was hit.
Mr. RANKIN. Was that in the weekend of October 25th?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, probably. This was not Lee's birthday. It was the
week after that, the following Friday.
Mr. RANKIN. Now, on October 26th, Saturday, was your husband with you
all day?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. All day. Whenever he came, he never went anywhere
else.
Mr. RANKIN. We had some information that a telescopic sight was fitted
to a gun for your husband on that date, and that is why I am asking you
if there was any time that he could have left to have that done.
Mrs. OSWALD. How is it about the telescope? He always had the
telescope. Were there two?
Mr. RANKIN. We are trying to find out.
Someone says that they mounted a sight.
Mrs. OSWALD. This is not the truth, if they say that. Simply people
talking. Perhaps someone who looked like Lee.
Mr. RANKIN. Someone may be mistaken and thought that he had mounted a
telescopic sight when he did it for someone else. And that is why we
want to check with you.
When your husband went back to work on Monday, October 28th, did he
drive with Wesley Frazier at that time?
Mrs. OSWALD. It seems--it seems that he had overslept and that someone
else had picked him up. But, no--no, I remember that he did not come
to get him, but Lee met him near his house. Lee told me that. Or his
sister. I don't remember. Lee told me about it. But I have forgotten.
Mr. RANKIN. But he did not go in by bus that day?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. He said his sister drove him to the bus. I only know
that this boy did not come to get him that day.
Mr. RANKIN. As far as you know, he may have gone all the way into
Dallas in a car, or he may have gone in a bus?
Mrs. OSWALD. Perhaps he hadn't told him to pick him up on that day. I
don't know. I only know the fact that the boy did not pick him up on
that day.
Mr. RANKIN. We have reports of FBI interviews the last part of October,
that is October 29, and also November 1, and November 5. We would like
to ask you about them, since some of them may have been with Mrs. Paine
in your presence or with you.
Do you recall one on October 29th?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't remember the interview. Ruth interpreted--she
talked to them.
Mr. RANKIN. In order that the Commission will understand, whenever the
FBI would try to ask you any questions, Mrs. Paine would interpret for
you?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. And would she at the same time answer things in English,
too, herself?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.