The testimony of Eddie Piper was taken at 10:20 a.m., on April 8, 1964,
in the office of the U.S. attorney, 301 Post Office Building, Bryan and
Ervay Streets, Dallas, Tex., by Mr. Joseph A. Ball, assistant counsel
of the President's Commission.
Mr. BALL. Will you stand up and raise your right hand and be sworn?
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give before
the Commission will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, so help you God?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Will you state your name please, Mr. Piper?
Mr. PIPER. Eddie Piper.
Mr. BALL. And what is your address?
Mr. PIPER. 1507-1/2 McCoy.
Mr. BALL. Tell me, Mr. Piper, where you were born and raised.
Mr. PIPER. In Travis County.
Mr. BALL. Texas?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Where did you go to school?
Mr. PIPER. I went to school at Manor, Tex.
Mr. BALL. How far of school did you go?
Mr. PIPER. Eighth grade.
Mr. BALL. And what did you do after that?
Mr. PIPER. I went to work then.
Mr. BALL. Where did you go to work?
Mr. PIPER. I went to work doing harvest work, some in oil field in
Chickasha, Okla., and done farm work.
Mr. BALL. Have you ever been in the Army?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. How old are you?
Mr. PIPER. 56.
Mr. BALL. When did you go to work for the Texas School Book Depository?
Mr. PIPER. Well, I would say I have been working for them about 4 or 5
years--I'm not sure--I don't know exactly.
Mr. BALL. What kind of work do you do?
Mr. PIPER. Janitor.
Mr. BALL. Have you been janitor ever since you were employed?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever know a fellow named Lee Oswald, that worked
there?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir; I know of him.
Mr. BALL. You knew of him?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Did you know him personally?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever talk to him?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did he ever speak to you, say "Hello" or anything of that
sort?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir; if he did, you hardly ever heard him.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever speak to him?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Did he ever reply to you that you can remember?
Mr. PIPER. If he did, I didn't ever hear him. He mumbled something and
he would just keep walking.
Mr. BALL. On the 22d of November 1963, you remember that day, don't you?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. What time did you go to work that day?
Mr. PIPER. 10 o'clock.
Mr. BALL. That was your usual time to go to work?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And, did you see Oswald that morning?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Where?
Mr. PIPER. Down on the first floor filling orders.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever see him again that day?
Mr. PIPER. You mean all day--the rest of the day?
Mr. BALL. Yes, sir.
Mr. PIPER. No.
Mr. BALL. Was that the last time you saw him?
Mr. PIPER. Just at 12 o'clock.
Mr. BALL. Where were you at 12 o'clock?
Mr. PIPER. Down on the first floor.
Mr. BALL. What was he doing?
Mr. PIPER. Well, I said to him--"It's about lunch time. I believe I'll
go have lunch." So, he says, "Yeah"--he mumbled something--I don't know
whether he said he was going up or going out, so I got my sandwich off
of the radiator and went on back to the first window of the first floor.
Mr. BALL. The first window on the first floor?
Mr. PIPER. No, not the first window--but on the first floor about the
second window on the first floor. I was intending to sit there so I
could see the parade because the street was so crowded with people--I
didn't see anything.
Mr. BALL. You said you sat at the second window--that would be what
window from the corner?
Mr. PIPER. Well, from the front door, you know where the front door
is--going back right down Elm, it's the second window from the corner.
Mr. BALL. You say you sat down there?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. What did you sit on?
Mr. PIPER. On a box.
Mr. BALL. Could you see out the window?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, I could see out the window but I couldn't see
anything--too many people.
Mr. BALL. Did you eat your lunch there?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Where were you when the President's motorcade went by?
Mr. PIPER. Now, I don't know--I was sitting there, I'm sure.
Mr. BALL. When the President went by, where were you sitting?
Mr. PIPER. Probably sitting there in the same place.
Mr. BALL. Did you move from there from the time you had your lunch
until the President went by?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, I moved--when there was a shot, I moved.
Mr. BALL. When there was a shot you moved?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. From the time you had your lunch until the shot, did you move?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. You were at that window all of the time?
Mr. PIPER. All the time.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever go up on the sixth floor?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Were you there at any time that day?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Were you above the first floor that day up to the time of the
shot?
Mr. PIPER. Before the shot?
Mr. BALL. Yes.
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Where?
Mr. PIPER. At 11 o'clock I went to the fourth floor to pick up.
Mr. BALL. You went to the fourth floor?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, at 11 o'clock.
Mr. BALL. And you worked there for how long?
Mr. PIPER. I would just take about 10 or 15 minutes to pick up--not
quite that long, to pick up the mail and stuff in the fourth floor
office.
Mr. BALL. Then what did you do?
Mr. PIPER. I came back down to the third floor and picked up and from
there to the second and picked up and on to the first floor.
Mr. BALL. Is that what you usually did--was pick up?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir; every day.
Mr. BALL. Do you do that every day?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. You pick up mail?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. You pick up mail from what offices?
Mr. PIPER. From--what the name of the office is?
Mr. BALL. The different offices?
Mr. PIPER. Oh, I pick up mail first--on the fourth floor is Scott
Pharmacy, and I come down on the third floor and I pick up there in
the hall, you know, they have a hallway there and they put it out on
the table--the packages and the mail, and I pick it up there unless
they've got a name on the boards to see them in the office and then I
go in the office. That's on the third floor. I come down on the second
floor and I pick up for Southwestern. I goes in the office and that's
the only office I go in there at Southwestern. Like I say--unless there
is anything on the board that says see Lon Cunningham, and then I go
in there. That's on the second floor, and from there back down to the
first floor, and I unloads on the table on the first floor and that's
when I'm through--I don't go back no more.
Mr. BALL. You do that every day?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. At a certain time?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. At what time?
Mr. PIPER. At 11 and 3.
Mr. BALL. Now, that day, November 22, 1963, you picked up the mail on
the fourth floor at 11 did you?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And then came to the third?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And then to the second?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And what time did you come to the first floor?
Mr. PIPER. Well, it was close to--around about--it must have been about
11:30--about 11:30 when I came back.
Mr. BALL. Did you leave the first floor from then on until lunch time,
from 11:30 until 12?
Mr. PIPER. No.
Mr. BALL. What time was it that you spoke to Oswald and said you
thought you would have your lunch?
Mr. PIPER. Just about 12 o'clock.
Mr. BALL. And do you remember exactly what he said?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir; I don't remember exactly. All I remember him was
muttering out something--I didn't know whether he said he was going up
or going out.
Mr. BALL. He said something like that?
Mr. PIPER. Yes--something like that.
Mr. BALL. Did you see what he did?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir; I didn't.
Mr. BALL. Did you see where he went?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir; I didn't.
Mr. BALL. You told me that you went to the window?
Mr. PIPER. That's right.
Mr. BALL. This is the second window to the right?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Of the front door--that would be looking toward Elm Street,
is that right?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And were you sitting there when you heard the shot?
Mr. PIPER. That's right.
Mr. BALL. Tell me what you heard?
Mr. PIPER. I heard one shot, and then the next shot went off--the one
that shot him and I got on up and went on back, back where they make
coffee at the end of the counter where I could see what happened and
before I could get there, the third shot went off, and I seen the
people all running and in a few minutes someone came in the building,
and I looked up and it was the bossman and a policeman or someone.
Mr. BALL. You say you heard one shot--you heard two shots and you got
up and then what happened, where did you go?
Mr. PIPER. I came out to the end of the counter where they make coffee
there by the stand.
Mr. BALL. You said you did it so you could see out better?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir; I did it to see what time it was--when all this
happened--to see what time it was.
Mr. BALL. What time was it?
Mr. PIPER. It was about between 12:30--between 12:27 and
12:30--something like that, as near as I can remember.
Mr. BALL. Could you tell where the shots were coming from?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir--I couldn't, not for sure.
Mr. BALL. The direction?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir; I couldn't.
Mr. BALL. Did you look out the window later?
Mr. PIPER. No more--no, sir; I didn't go back to any window.
Mr. BALL. You mentioned you saw Truly?
Mr. PIPER. I don't know whether it was a policeman or FBI or who it
was, but another fellow was with him.
Mr. BALL. And where were you?
Mr. PIPER. Standing right there where they make coffee.
Mr. BALL. What did they do?
Mr. PIPER. He ran in and yelled, "Where is the elevator?" And I said,
"I don't know, sir, Mr. Truly."
They taken off and went on up the stairway and that's all I know about
that.
Mr. BALL. Did you at any time go above the fourth floor on that date?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did you at any time go that day up above the fourth floor?
Mr. PIPER. No--no, sir.
Mr. BALL. You never did--either before or after the shots?
Mr. PIPER. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Now, that day, you went over to the sheriff's office and made
a statement, didn't you?
Mr. PIPER. Yes, sir--no, sir; not that day.
Mr. BALL. Did you the next day?
Mr. PIPER. Saturday.
Mr. BALL. Did you go to the sheriff's department?
Mr. PIPER. I went to the county--yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And did you tell them at any time that you saw Lee about 12
o'clock?
Mr. PIPER. Yes.