Mr. BALL. Is that all?
Mrs. ROBERTS. That was all.
Mr. BALL. That's all you said to him?
Mrs. ROBERTS. That's all I said to him.
Mr. BALL. Did he say anything to you?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No.
Mr. BALL. Nothing.
Mrs. ROBERTS. He didn't say nothing--he wouldn't say nothing--period.
Mr. BALL. Did he have the same colored pants on when he left, or do you
know?
Mrs. ROBERTS. What?
Mr. BALL. Did he have the same colored pants on when he came in as when
he went out?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Now, I wouldn't say that because I don't remember--I
didn't pay that much attention. I didn't mean to be hateful, but I
didn't.
Mr. BALL. Now, did it appear to you he had on the same pants or
different pants from the time he came in and when he went out?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, I just didn't pay that much attention. All I
remember--he was zipping up a coat and I was trying to find out about
President Kennedy--I was still trying to find out about President
Kennedy--they was broadcasting it then--I was more interested in that.
Mr. BALL. Had you ever seen a gun in his room?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Had you ever cleaned up his room?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; I cleaned his rooms, but I didn't see no gun.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever go through any of his effects?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oh, no.
Mr. BALL. There was a little wooden commode or closet in there, wasn't
there?
Mrs. ROBERTS. There was a chifforobe--yes.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever look in there?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, sir; I sure didn't--that's against the rules--to
ransack their things.
Mr. BALL. Were there any drawers or anything in there?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; there was drawers in that chifforobe and he also had
a vanity dresser with four drawers.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever look inside of that?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No; I didn't.
Mr. BALL. After he left the house and at sometime later in the
afternoon, these police officers came out, did they?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, yes.
Mr. BALL. And they asked you if there was a man named Lee Oswald there?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. And you told them "No"?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Then what happened after that?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, he was trying to make us understand that--I had two
new men and they told me--Mrs. Johnson told me, "Go get your keys and
let them see in" I had gone to the back and they still had the TV on,
and they was broadcasting about Kennedy.
Just as I unlocked the doors Fritz' men, two of them had walked in and
she come running in and said, "Oh, Roberts, come here quick. This is
this fellow Lee in this little room next to yours," and they flashed
him on television, is how come us to know.
Mr. BALL. Then you knew it was the man?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; and I come in there and she said, "Wait," and then
again they flashed him back on and I said, "Yes, that's him--that's O.
H. Lee right here in this room." And it was just a little wall there
between him and I.
Mr. BALL. That was the first you knew who it was?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, because he was registered as O. H. Lee.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever know he had a gun in his room?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No; I sure did not.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever appear on a television interview with Mr. or
Mrs. Johnson--either one?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, no; they was on and would be on and then they had
me on twice.
Mr. BALL. On television?
Mrs. ROBERTS. On television.
Mr. BALL. Where were you?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I was in the living room.
Mr. BALL. And they brought their cameras into the living room?
Mrs. ROBERTS. They brought their cameras into the living room and took
pictures.
Mr. BALL. Were you alone?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, I was then, because they was questioning me. They
asked Mr. and Mrs. Johnson not to be in there at that time.
Mr. BALL. Then, they questioned you?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Did you ever have an interview with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson
being there?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, yes; one time, and then they would question them
separate from me.
Mr. BALL. Was there any one time when they questioned all three of you
together?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes--one time.
Mr. BALL. Just one time--were you ever on television when you and Mrs.
Johnson were on it alone together?
Mrs. ROBERTS. She and Mr. Johnson would be together and then I would be
at the back when they put them on television, and then they had me on
two different times and I was alone. They taken me when I was standing
and showed them where it was.
Mr. BALL. Now, on television did they ever ask you if Oswald had a gun?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I don't know.
Mr. BALL. You don't remember?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I don't remember.
Mr. BALL. Did they ever ask you if you knew whether Oswald had a gun in
his room or not?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes; they asked me and I told them "No"--for I didn't.
Mr. BALL. You didn't know whether he had a gun in there or not?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No--I didn't.
Mr. BALL. You never saw one?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did you tell them that?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I sure did--I didn't know he had a gun.
Mr. BALL. And when he was zipping up his jacket, his belt was covered?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Was it covered--well--I don't know. I just couldn't
answer you--I don't know--I don't remember it. I couldn't any more tell
you than the man in the moon whether or not the man's belt was covered
or uncovered. All I know he was zipping his coat.
Mr. BALL. Let me ask you another question: Did you ever talk to a
reporter from a French newspaper?
Mrs. ROBERTS. A French newspaper?
Mr. BALL. Yes.
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, there was people in there from about everywhere,
but I don't remember.
Mr. BALL. There was some French newspaperman who claims he interviewed
you.
Mrs. ROBERTS. French?
Mr. BALL. Do you remember any French newspapermen interviewing you?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, I don't remember, but there were people in there from
somewhere but I don't remember where they were from.
Mr. BALL. Had you ever heard the name Lee Harvey Oswald before the
Friday when the police came out?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. And you had, of course, thought his name was what?
Mrs. ROBERTS. O. H. Lee.
Mr. BALL. He had paid you, had he?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He always paid on time.
Mr. BALL. And you made a record of it?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oh, yes.
Mr. BALL. Now, after these police officers came out of there, did you
see a gun holster in his room after they had searched it?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes--there was one of them little outfits--a little
holster and they taken it out and where they got it--I don't know, but
it was in the room. They had it in their hands, one of the men was
holding it.
Mr. BALL. Had you ever seen that before?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No; I hadn't.
Mr. BALL. Let me ask you something about his habits again--how early
would he leave his room in the morning?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, he would leave around 7 o'clock, maybe between 6:30
and 7.
Mr. BALL. And what time would he come back?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, he would get home about maybe 5--something around 5
o'clock.
Mr. BALL. And with the exception of the weekends that he spent away,
was he home every night or was he out at night?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He was always home at night--he never went out.
Mr. BALL. Now, on one holiday that occurred on Monday--he didn't come
in?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, he didn't come in that Monday.
Mr. BALL. Was that the only Monday he didn't come in?
Mrs. ROBERTS. That was the only Monday he didn't come in.
Mr. BALL. He paid on Monday?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He paid on Monday and that was the only time he didn't
pay on Monday and he wasn't there.
Mr. BALL. He paid on what day of the week that week?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Tuesday--when he came in home.
Mr. BALL. But the weekend before November 22d, he was there all
weekend, was he?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Now, I also will ask you whether or not you ever heard of a
fellow by the name of Ruby--did you ever hear of a fellow by the name
of Jack Ruby?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No--I didn't.
Mr. BALL. Had you ever heard his name before he was accused of shooting
Oswald?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No.
Mr. BALL. You never even heard his name?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No.
Mr. BALL. You never even heard his name?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No--I never heard his name.
Mr. BALL. And had never seen him?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No, sir.
Mr. BALL. Did a police car pass the house there and honked?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. When was that?
Mrs. ROBERTS. He came in the house.
Mr. BALL. When he came in the house?
Mrs. ROBERTS. When he came in the house and went to his room, you know
how the sidewalk runs?
Mr. BALL. Yes.
Mrs. ROBERTS. Right direct in front of that door--there was a police
car stopped and honked. I had worked for some policemen and sometimes
they come by and tell me something that maybe their wives would want me
to know, and I thought it was them, and I just glanced out and saw the
number, and I said, "Oh, that's not their car," for I knew their car.
Mr. BALL. You mean, it was not the car of the policemen you knew?
Mrs. ROBERTS. It wasn't the police car I knew, because their number was
170 and it wasn't 170 and I ignored it.
Mr. BALL. And who was in the car?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I don't know--I didn't pay any attention to it after I
noticed it wasn't them--I didn't.
Mr. BALL. Where was it parked?
Mrs. ROBERTS. It was parked in front of the house.
Mr. BALL. At 1026 North Beckley?
Mrs. ROBERTS. And then they just eased on--the way it is--it was the
third house off of Zangs and they just went on around the corner that
way.
Mr. BALL. Went around what corner?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Went around the corner off of Beckley on Zangs.
Mr. BALL. Going which way--toward town or away from town?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Toward town.
Dr. GOLDBERG. Which way was the car facing?
Mrs. ROBERTS. It was facing north.
Dr. GOLDBERG. Towards Zangs?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Towards Zangs--for I was the third house right off of
Zangs on Beckley.
Mr. BALL. Did this police car stop directly in front of your house?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes--it stopped directly in front of my house and it just
"tip-tip" and that's the way Officer Alexander and Charles Burnely
would do when they stopped, and I went to the door and looked and saw
it wasn't their number.
Mr. BALL. Where was Oswald when this happened?
Mrs. ROBERTS. In his room.
Mr. BALL. It was after he had come in his room?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Mr. BALL. Had that police car ever stopped there before?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I don't know--I don't remember ever seeing it.
Mr. BALL. Have you ever seen it since?
Mrs. ROBERTS. No--I didn't pay that much attention--I just saw it
wasn't the police car that I knew and had worked for so, I forgot about
it. I seen it at the time, but I don't remember now what it was.
Mr. BALL. Did you report the number of the car to anyone?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I think I did--I'm not sure, because I--at that
particular time I remembered it.
Mr. BALL. You remembered the number of the car?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I think it was--106, it seems to me like it was 106, but
I do know what theirs was--it was 170 and it wasn't their car.
Mr. BALL. It was not 170?
Mrs. ROBERTS. The people I worked for was 170.
Mr. BALL. Did you report that number to anyone, did you report this
incident to anyone?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, I told the FBI and the Secret Service both when they
was out there.
Mr. BALL. And did you tell them the number of the car?
Mrs. ROBERTS. I'm not sure--I believe I did--I'm not sure. I think I
did because--there was so much happened then until my brains was in a
whirl.
Mr. BALL. On the 29th of November, Special Agents Will Griffin and
James Kennedy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed you
and you told them that "after Oswald had entered his room about 1 p.m.
on November 22, 1963, you looked out the front window and saw police
car No. 207."
Mrs. ROBERTS. No. 107.
Mr. BALL. Is that the number?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes--I remembered it. I don't know where I got that
106--207. Anyway, I knew it wasn't 170.
Mr. BALL. And you say that there were two uniformed policemen in the
car?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes, and it was in a black car. It wasn't an accident
squad car at all.
Mr. BALL. Were there two uniformed policemen in the car?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Oh, yes.
Mr. BALL. And one of the officers sounded the horn?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Just kind of a "tit-tit"--twice.
Mr. BALL. And then drove on to Beckley toward Zangs Boulevard, is that
right?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes. I thought there was a number, but I couldn't
remember it but I did know the number of their car--I could tell that.
I want you to understand that I have been put through the third degree
and it's hard to remember.
Mr. BALL. Are there any other questions?
Dr. GOLDBERG. No, that's all.
Mr. BALL. Now, Mrs. Roberts, this deposition will be written up and you
can read it if you want to and you can sign it, or you can waive the
signature.
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, you know, I can't see too good how to read. I'm
completely blind in my right eye.
Mr. BALL. Do you want to waive your signature? And then you won't have
to come back down here.
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, okay.
Mr. BALL. All right, you waive it then?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Yes.
Do you want me to sign it now?
Mr. BALL. No; we couldn't, because this young lady has to write it up
and it will be a couple of weeks before it will be ready.
Mrs. ROBERTS. Well, will you want me to come back or how?
Mr. BALL. Well, you can waive your signature and you won't have to come
back to do that--do you want to do that?
Mrs. ROBERTS. Okay, it will be all right.
Mr. BALL. All right. The Secret Service will take you home now.
Mrs. ROBERTS. All right.
Mr. BALL. Thank you for coming.
Mrs. ROBERTS. All right.