The testimony of Billy Nolan Lovelady was taken at 3:50 p.m., on April
7, 1964, in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building,
Bryan and Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Messrs. Joseph A. Ball and
Samuel A. Stern, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. BALL. Will you please stand, hold up your right hand and be sworn?
Mr. BALL. Do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give
will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help
you God?
Mr. LOVELADY. I do.
Mr. BALL. State your name, please.
Mr. LOVELADY. Billy Nolan Lovelady.
Mr. BALL. You received a letter from the Commission, didn't you?
Mr. LOVELADY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. You know the purpose of the investigation?
Mr. LOVELADY. Right.
Mr. BALL. Can you tell me something about yourself, where you were born
and what your education was and your experience, in general?
Mr. LOVELADY. Well, I was born at Myrtle Springs, Tex., 1937, February
19, and lived there for about 20 years until I went into the service
and I did nursery work and that's about all there is, farm work down
there and nursery and stuff like that.
Mr. BALL. When did you go to work for Texas School Book Depository?
Mr. LOVELADY. December 16, 1961, I believe it was.
Mr. BALL. What kind of work did you do there?
Mr. LOVELADY. Well, they hired me when I went there as a truck driver,
drove truck until another job as stockman was open, taking care of the
stock that comes in, see that it's put in the right place.
Mr. BALL. Which one of the buildings do you work in?
Mr. LOVELADY. At the one at 411 Elm.
Mr. BALL. On November 22, 1963, where were you working?
Mr. LOVELADY. At that morning, you mean?
Mr. BALL. Yes.
Mr. LOVELADY. I was working on the sixth floor putting--we was putting
down that flooring.
Mr. BALL. Who were you working with?
Mr. LOVELADY. Well, there was Bonnie Ray Williams and Danny Arce and
Slim, Charles Givens; we call him Slim, and let me see, well Mr.
Shelley would come up every once in while, check on us. He wasn't
workin' with us but he would come up see how we gettin' along.
Mr. BALL. That's Mr. Shelley?
Mr. LOVELADY. Mr. Bill Shelley.
Mr. BALL. What is his position with Texas School Book Depository?
Mr. LOVELADY. He would be under Mr. R. S. Truly.
Mr. BALL. Is he a foreman?
Mr. LOVELADY. I guess you would call it that. He takes care of most
things down there, paperwork and stuff like that.
Mr. BALL. Did you know Lee Oswald?
Mr. LOVELADY. Well just to work with him.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever talk to him?
Mr. LOVELADY. Well, I never did carry on any long conversations or
anything like that, maybe, you know, "Hello," or I asked him a few
times how his little baby was getting along; he told me it was doing
fine.
Mr. BALL. Where did Oswald work in the building?
Mr. LOVELADY. Well, he had access to all the building just like I do.
Mr. BALL. All floors?
Mr. LOVELADY. All floors.
Mr. BALL. Any floor?
Mr. LOVELADY. Any floor; I mean he didn't have no business in the
office. I mean, or to if, say, like Mr. Truly would say "Okay, Lee, go
up and give me a certain something from the office," he could go up
there.
Mr. BALL. Did he work on one floor more than any other?
Mr. LOVELADY. No; I wouldn't say because there's different publishers
on each order and he has to go to different floors to get books.
Mr. BALL. Did Oswald ever eat lunch with you?
Mr. LOVELADY. He ate two or three times in that little domino room, but
not by himself, with the rest of the boys.
Mr. BALL. Did you see him come to work that morning?
Mr. LOVELADY. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever see him carry a sack or anything in his hand?
Mr. LOVELADY. No, sir; just lunch.
Mr. BALL. Did he usually carry his lunch or did he buy his lunch?
Mr. LOVELADY. Most of the time he had fruit and stuff like that, grapes
and raisins, stuff like that I noticed a few times he had.
Mr. BALL. What time did you quit work that day or knock off for lunch
that day?
Mr. LOVELADY. Same time, 12.
Mr. BALL. A little before 12?
Mr. LOVELADY. Well, we came down at 10 minutes til to wash up and get
ready for it.
Mr. BALL. Did you come down the elevator?
Mr. LOVELADY. Right.
Mr. BALL. Who did you go down with?
Mr. LOVELADY. Let me see, I think it was Bonnie Ray Williams on the
side I was; I believe so.
Mr. BALL. Were you having a race with the other boys?
Mr. LOVELADY. Yes, sir; sure was.
Mr. BALL. Did you see anything or hear anything of Oswald on the way
down?
Mr. LOVELADY. Yes; he was on the opposite side of the elevator I was
on. I heard him holler to one of the boys to stop, he wanted the
elevator. They said, "No; we're going down to lunch," and closed the
gate I was on and come down and got ready to watch the President come
by or got ready to go to lunch, and that's the last I heard of him.
Mr. BALL. You were on the west elevator?
Mr. LOVELADY. Right.
Mr. BALL. Oswald was standing in front of the east elevator?
Mr. LOVELADY. East, on back, the elevator back.
Mr. BALL. Did you see him?
Mr. LOVELADY. No; I didn't; I just heard his voice because--where those
slats are in back of the elevator.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever see him again that day?
Mr. LOVELADY. No.
Mr. BALL. What did you do after you went down and washed up; what did
you do?
Mr. LOVELADY. Well, I went over and got my lunch and went upstairs and
got a coke and come on back down.
Mr. BALL. Upstairs on what floor?
Mr. LOVELADY. That's on the second floor; so, I started going to the
domino room where I generally went in to set down and eat and nobody
was there and I happened to look on the outside and Mr. Shelley was
standing outside with Miss Sarah Stanton, I believe her name is, and I
said, "Well, I'll go out there and talk with them, sit down and eat my
lunch out there, set on the steps," so I went out there.
Mr. BALL. You ate your lunch on the steps?
Mr. LOVELADY. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Who was with you?