The testimony of Mrs. Earlene Roberts was taken at 4:10 p.m., on April
8, 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. Dr.
Alfred Goldberg was present.
Mr. BALL. Would you stand and take the oath?
Do you solemnly swear 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?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Will you state your name, please?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Mrs. Earlene Roberts.
Mr. BALL. And what is your address?
Mrs. ROBERTS. 5000 Tremont, now.
Mr. BALL. You used to live at 1026 North Beckley, didn't you?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; I did.
Mr. BALL. Tell me something about yourself, Mrs. Roberts, where you
were born and where you have lived?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I was born in Nashville, Tenn., and my mother and father
moved to Tyler, Tex., and I was raised there and married a Dallas man.
Mr. BALL. Did you go to school in Tyler?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oh, yes.
Mr. BALL. How far through school did you go?
Mrs. ROBERTS. To my sorrows, I got married in the ninth grade.
Mr. BALL. You did--you got married in the ninth grade?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did you get married in Dallas or in Tyler?
Mrs. ROBERTS. In Tyler.
Mr. BALL. Did you have some children?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No; to my sorrows--I couldn't.
Mr. BALL. What did you do in Tyler then--until you came to Dallas?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I was a PBX operator at the Hotel Blackstone. That's
where I met my husband.
Mr. BALL. How long have you lived here?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Since 1938.
Mr. BALL. What kind of work have you done?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, until he passed away--I didn't work for I didn't
have to. He made me a good living, but since that time I have
been--well, just, I guess you would call it practical nursing or
housekeeping and now I am with an elderly couple--he has cancer--the
same kind that Sam Rayburn had and he's taken with leukemia.
Mr. BALL. That's at the address you have just given us?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oh, yes.
Mr. BALL. Now, you know Mrs. Johnson, don't you?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; I knew her very muchly so.
Mr. BALL. How long did you work for her?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, this last time I was there around 13 months--that
was the third time I had went back.
Mr. BALL. When did you start working for her?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I started working for her in 1949 the first time.
Mr. BALL. You did?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. And you worked for her three times altogether?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; I got sick the first time--I'm a diabetic and wasn't
able to do the work and one day she called me again and wanted to know
if I would do it and I went back and stayed again and I went in a coma
and had to leave, and the reason why I left this time, she cut me down
so low and the work was too heavy--I wasn't able to do the work.
Mr. BALL. You mean she cut you down on your money?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oh, yes; and I can't pay my doctor bill and buy my
medicine at that price.
Mr. BALL. You mean, she didn't pay you enough--that's the reason you
quit?
Mrs. ROBERTS. That's the reason why I quit--the work was too heavy and
I wasn't able to do it and not enough pay.
Mr. BALL. And you were working there in October and November of last
fall--1963?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; to my sorrows.
Mr. BALL. Why to your sorrows?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, he was registered as O. H. Lee and I come to find
out he was Oswald and I wish I had never known it.
Mr. BALL. Why?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, they put me through the third degree.
Mr. BALL. Who did?
Mrs. ROBERTS. The FBI, Secret Service, Mr. Will Fritz' men and Bill
Decker's.
Mr. BALL. They did?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Every time I would walk out on the front porch somebody
was standing with a camera on me--they had me scared to death.
Mr. BALL. When is the first time you ever saw Lee Oswald?
Mrs. ROBERTS. The day he came in and rented the room--the 14th of
October.
Mr. BALL. Had you ever heard of the man before?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, and he didn't register as Oswald--he registered as O.
H. Lee.
Mr. BALL. Did he sign his name?
Mrs. ROBERTS. O. H. Lee.
Mr. BALL. Did he sign his own name that way?
Mrs. ROBERTS. O. H. Lee--that's what he was registered as.
Mr. BALL. Did you rent it to him, or did Mrs. Johnson?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I rented the room to him.
Mr. BALL. You did?
Mrs. ROBERTS. She talked to him, and she had to go back to the work and
that was what I was supposed to do--I rented the rooms--she didn't know
what vacancies she had.
Mr. BALL. Did you have "room for rent" sign out in the front?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. What time of day did he come in there?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oh, it was in the early afternoon--I imagine between 1
and 2 o'clock when he came in and looked at the room; and he rented it
and paid for it; and then left, and went and got his things and I don't
know--it must have been around 5 or 6 o'clock when he come back in.
Mr. BALL. You say he went and got his things--what did he have with him
at first when he came there?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Just a little satchel bag and some clothes on a hanger.
Mr. BALL. What kind of a satchel bag?
Mrs. ROBERTS. One of them little zip kinds.
Mr. BALL. What color was it?
Mrs. ROBERTS. It was just--don't ask me that for I can't answer that.
It was just a dark bag is all I know.
Mr. BALL. How long did he stay that first time?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oswald?
Mr. BALL. I mean before he went away to get his clothes, when he first
came in--you say he rented a room?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He rented the room and paid me $8 for it and he said,
"I'll go get my things and I will be back."
Mr. BALL. Did he say where he was going to get them?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, he didn't.
Mr. BALL. Did he leave?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; he left.
Mr. BALL. Did he have a car he was riding in?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I don't know--I didn't see it.
Mr. BALL. Did he take a bus?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I don't know.
Mr. BALL. You don't know?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, I don't. I don't remember--you know in a place like
that--when you rent a room--I didn't pay no attention.
Mr. BALL. And he came back about what time?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oh, I imagine around 5 o'clock, maybe.
Mr. BALL. What did he have with him at that time?
Mrs. ROBERTS. That little zipper satchel bag and some clothes on a
hanger.
Mr. BALL. The first time he came to see you he had a zipper satchel
bag?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No; he didn't have nothing when he first come in and
rented the room.
Mr. BALL. He didn't have anything?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No--he just came in.
Mr. BALL. Oh, when he came back he had the zipper satchel and the
clothes on the hanger, is that right?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No--he rented the room and paid for it and said, "I'll
go get my things." That's when he went and come back with his little
satchel bag and some clothes on a hanger, which was a very few.
Mr. BALL. Now, did he have anything to say when he came back?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No.
Mr. BALL. Did he tell you where he had been?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No.
Mr. BALL. Did he stay there that night?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever talk to him about anything?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No; because he wouldn't talk.
Mr. BALL. Did he say "Hello"?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No.
Mr. BALL. Or, "Goodby"?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No.
Mr. BALL. Or anything?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He wouldn't say nothing.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever speak to him?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, yes--I would say, "Good afternoon," and he would
just maybe look at me--give me a dirty look and keep walking and go on
to his room.
Mr. BALL. Did he watch television?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No--in a way--but all he did ever watch the television
was if someone in the other rooms had it on, maybe he would come and
stand at the back of the couch--not over 5 minutes and go to his room
and shut the door and never say a word.
Mr. BALL. Did he go out any at night?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No.
Mr. BALL. Did he stay home every night?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes--he stayed home every night--I didn't ever know of
him going out. If he did, he left after I went to bed and I never knew
it.
Mr. BALL. Was he gone any weekends?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He would leave on Friday nights--he did say this much--he
said, "Now, over weekends I will be out of town." He didn't say what
town. He said, "I will be going out of town visiting friends." He would
leave Friday morning for work and he wouldn't come back any more until
Monday afternoon.
Mr. BALL. Now, was one weekend when he didn't come back on Monday?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No; there was one weekend that he didn't go out.
Mr. BALL. Which one was that?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Now, as far as--you know what?
Mr. BALL. Was that the weekend?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I think--now, if I had the books, I could tell you.
Mr. BALL. Which books?
Mrs. ROBERTS. The books that are over there on North Beckley. I believe
it was on the weekend before--when was President Kennedy shot?
Mr. BALL. On the 22d of November.
Mrs. ROBERTS. What day was that--that was on Friday, wasn't it?
Mr. BALL. That was on a Friday.
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, it was on the weekend before that.
Mr. BALL. What happened--what was that?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He didn't go nowhere.
Mr. BALL. He stayed in all weekend, is that right?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, sir; and then that first Thursday, he got up
Thursday and left for work and he didn't come back no more until
Friday.
Mr. BALL. He left on Thursday and didn't come home on Thursday night?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He didn't spend Thursday night there and that was
unusual, because he would always leave on Friday. That's the best I
can do. He was just the type of person you just don't know--and I just
thought he didn't like people and he would mix with nobody and he
wouldn't say nothing. The only time he would ever say anything was when
his rent was due and he was never behind.
I'll tell you when it was--it was when he didn't come back on Monday,
you know, there was a holiday that people took off work.
Mr. BALL. That was Armistice Day.