Marina N. Oswald furnished to me a copy of this exhibit, but it was a
signed copy, and it was an original copy.
Mr. JENNER. A duplicate original?
Mr. McKENZIE. Yes. And I presume Mr. James Martin had the original,
since it is addressed to him.
Mr. DULLES. And both the original and this duplicate bear these
signatures, do they?
Mr. McKENZIE. I have never seen the original, sir, but I presume that
they do. And I think Robert Oswald here can clarify that, because he
was present at the time that the original was signed, and also the
duplicate copies.
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct.
Mr. DULLES. And the duplicates were signed by the same parties as the
original?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Representative FORD. May I ask--did you get a copy of the original at
the time?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir. I received a copy in the mail the second day after
the signatures were signed. My copies were unsigned.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Oswald, were you present when all of the copies were
contemporaneously signed, if they were contemporaneously signed?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; I was.
Mr. JENNER. So you know of your own knowledge that what has been termed
here the original, which may be in the possession of Mr. Martin, was
signed, and was signed in your presence?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And the document which we are now discussing is a
photostatic copy of a carbon copy of the original?
Mr. OSWALD. That is correct.
Mr. JENNER. Executed contemporaneously with the original?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Would you have any further questions?
Mr. DULLES. No, I have no further questions.
Shall we admit this at this time, or do you want to wait until you have
gone through them all, and then admit them all?
Mr. JENNER. It might be more convenient to identify them all, because
they are of a series, if I have your permission.
Mr. DULLES. Certainly.
Mr. McKENZIE. The next document is Commission Exhibit 277, and purports
to be a photocopy, or is a photocopy of a purported contract between
Marina N. Oswald and Robert Oswald, bearing the date of December 9,
1963, and purportedly signed by Marina N. Oswald, Robert L. Oswald,
John M. Thorne, attorney, and James H. Martin, approved as to form, and
consisting of two pages.
Mr. JENNER. Now, if you would turn to the second page, please, sir--I
notice a recital, "Executed by the undersigned parties this Ninth day
of December A.D., 1963," and what purports to be your signature.
Was this document, or that of which this is a Xerox copy, executed on
that date?
Mr. OSWALD. I do not have a calendar before me. If the ninth day of
December was a Monday, it was signed on that date.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Dulles is checking the calendar.
Mr. DULLES. I am afraid I don't have a 1963 calendar here.
Mr. JENNER. I am observing a calendar, and the ninth was a Monday.
Mr. McKenzie, does the previous document also bear a date?
Mr. McKENZIE. It bears the date of December 6, Mr. Jenner.
Mr. JENNER. December 6, then, was a Saturday.
Mr. McKENZIE. If Monday was the ninth, Friday was the sixth.
Mr. JENNER. Was the previous exhibit, which is numbered 276, executed
on December 6th?
Mr. OSWALD. No, sir; it was not.
Mr. JENNER. On what date was it executed?
Mr. OSWALD. It was executed on Monday, December 9th.
Mr. JENNER. Despite its bearing a date of December 6th, it was actually
executed on the ninth, when Commission Exhibit 277 was executed?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. Now, directing your attention to the second page of Exhibit
No. 277, that likewise bears a series of signatures. I ask you first
whether those signatures were affixed in your presence?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; they were.
Mr. JENNER. Now, was the document now identified as 277, which is a
Xerox copy--was the original of Exhibit 277 executed at the same time
as the copy which you have produced for us executed?
Mr. OSWALD. May I have that again, please, sir?
Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. That is, there were a series of papers, original and carbon
copies, signed, at one and the same time?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And all of them were signed in your presence?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Now, there are four signatures on that page. Would you proceed to state
your familiarity with those signatures and identify them?
Mr. OSWALD. All right.
Left to right, as the signatures appear--my signature, Robert L. Oswald.
Mr. JENNER. And to the right of that?
Mr. OSWALD. And to the right of that, the signature of Mrs. Marina N.
Oswald, which I am familiar with.
The next signature is Mr. John M. Thorne, attorney, and I am familiar
with his signature.
And the last signature that appears on this second page, Mr. James H.
Martin. I am also familiar with his signature.
Mr. JENNER. And these persons are the same persons you have heretofore
identified?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And is the document of which this 277 is a Xerox copy in
the same condition now as it was the time those signatures were affixed
to it?
Mr. OSWALD. May I have a moment, sir?
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. Is that likewise true of Exhibit No. 276?
Would you take a look at it, please?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct. And if I may say this about
this--on page 3 of Exhibit 276, you will note that towards the upper
right-hand part of this page there was--on this copy, there is a dark
mark, following the word "royalties."
Representative FORD. What page is that?
Mr. OSWALD. Page 3, the sixth line, the word that was crossed off or
out of the contract was the word "gifts."
Mr. JENNER. And was that done in the course of the discussion and
preceding the execution of the document?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. JENNER. So the document is in the same condition it was when
executed?
Mr. OSWALD. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Would you identify the next exhibit, Mr. McKenzie?
Mr. McKENZIE. The next exhibit is a photocopy of an investment agency
agreement. It is Commission Exhibit No. 278. This exhibit bears the
date of December 30, 1963, and is an agreement by and between John
M. Thorne and James H. Martin, co-trustees, of Dallas County, Tex.,
referred to in the exhibit as principal, and the First National Bank of
Fort Worth, Tex., referred to in the exhibit as agent.
The exhibit consists of 3 pages, together with a schedule A and a
letter addressed to the Trust Department of the First National Bank of
Fort Worth, Tex.
This exhibit is a photocopy of a photocopy of a duplicate original.
I have seen the duplicate original upon which it had the names,
handwritten names of John M. Thorne, co-trustee, and James H. Martin,
co-trustee, as principal, on page 3, and Preston A. Utterbach, Vice
President and Trust Officer of the First National Bank of Fort Worth,
Tex.
However, these Xerox copies of a copy, being a photocopy, do not have
the signatures on, because the second photocopy did not reproduce the
signatures.