The testimony of Julian Evans was taken on April 7, 1964, at the Old
Civil Courts Building, Royal and Conti Streets, New Orleans, La.,
by Mr. Albert E. Jenner, Jr., assistant counsel of the President's
Commission.
Julian Evans, 1910 Prytania Street, New Orleans, La., after first being
duly sworn, testified as follows:
Mr. JENNER. You are Julian Evans, husband of Myrtle Evans, is that
right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Mrs. Evans just left this room after giving her deposition,
is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And you live at 1910 Prytania Street, New Orleans, is that
right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Evans, you are a native-born American, is that correct,
sir?
Mr. EVANS. Correct.
Mr. JENNER. Where were you born?
Mr. EVANS. New York.
Mr. JENNER. New York City?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. How long have you lived in this area?
Mr. EVANS. New Orleans?
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. EVANS. Well, about 54 years.
Mr. JENNER. What is your business or occupation, Mr. Evans?
Mr. EVANS. D. H. Holmes; salesman--major appliances.
Mr. JENNER. How long have you lived on Prytania, at that address?
Mr. EVANS. Let's see--it's going on 15 years now.
Mr. JENNER. And you are Mrs. Evans' second husband, is that right, sir?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. Were you married before?
Mr. EVANS. No.
Mr. JENNER. During your lifetime you came to know the Oswald family, is
that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; the boy and his mother.
Mr. JENNER. Marguerite and Lee?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; and there was another brother--two other brothers.
Mr. JENNER. John Pic and Robert Lee Oswald, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right. I met them for the first time when we were
across the lake, around Covington, La.--the three boys and Marguerite,
and Pic--no; I mean Ekdahl; that was before she married him.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Ekdahl was over there with them?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Do you know where Mr. Ekdahl was from?
Mr. EVANS. From Boston. That was the first time I ever saw any of the
boys.
Mr. JENNER. They were then living over in Covington, and that was
during the summer, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. Do you know what that address was over there?
Mr. EVANS. No; I don't remember that address. I think they rented a
place over there.
Mr. JENNER. This was in 1946, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. That's about right.
Mr. JENNER. Now, there are two addresses given for that place, 611 West
24th Street, Covington, La., and 311 Vermont Street, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Well, I don't know the address. We didn't go to the house.
Mr. JENNER. You went to a picnic, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; we went to a picnic over there.
Mr. JENNER. And Mr. Ekdahl was there with Marguerite and the children,
is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, he was there, and I talked to him. He was a lot older
than she was, you know.
Mr. JENNER. Mr. Ekdahl was a lot older than Marguerite?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; he was.
Mr. JENNER. What was your impression of Mr. Ekdahl at that time?
Mr. EVANS. Very well; a fine gentleman, well educated. He seemed to
know his business. He talked about rocks and ore and things like that,
and I enjoyed talking to him. That's the only time I have ever seen him.
Mr. JENNER. I forgot, Mr. Evans, but you did receive a letter from Mr.
Rankin, general counsel for the Commission, did you not?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And enclosed with that letter was Senate Joint Resolution
137, authorizing the creation of the Commission to investigate the
assassination of the late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, is that
right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And Executive Order No. 11130 of Lyndon B. Johnson,
appointing that Commission and fixing its powers and duties?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. And a copy of the rules and regulations under which we take
testimony before the Commission and also by way of deposition, such as
in your case; is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. You became aware, I take it, from these documents that you
received that the Commission was empowered and directed to investigate
the circumstances surrounding the assassination of President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy; is that right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. I am Albert E. Jenner, Jr., and I represent the legal staff
of the Commission, along with Mr. Liebeler, and our purpose for being
here is to ask you questions concerning any contact you might have
had with the Oswald family, and particularly Lee Oswald, during his
lifetime, and we understand that both you and Mrs. Evans did have some
contact with the Oswalds, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Now, you appeared voluntarily here today, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Right.
Mr. JENNER. Did you and Mrs. Evans stay over at Covington more than a
day on this occasion that you began to tell me about?
Mr. EVANS. No.
Mr. JENNER. You just visited over there on one occasion?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Did you visit at Covington on any other occasions?
Mr. EVANS. No.
Mr. JENNER. And this was in 1946, so Lee would have been 6 or 7 years
old, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. I guess; he was pretty small.
Mr. JENNER. And the other two boys were also with her, you say?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; they were all with her over there.
Mr. JENNER. Were they in school at the time, do you know?
Mr. EVANS. I think they were in school. They were on vacation, I
believe, because this was during the summer; I am pretty sure they were
on vacation over there.
Mr. JENNER. The two boys, that is, John and Robert, they were in a
school that was different from the school that Lee was attending, if he
was attending school, is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Well, I don't know if he was attending school or not, but I
don't think they went to the same school. These other boys went to an
out-of-town school, I think.
Mr. JENNER. That's what I was getting at. I was trying to have you say
it voluntarily, rather than me say it. Do you understand that they were
attending a military school over in Mississippi?
Mr. EVANS. Those two boys; yes.
Mr. JENNER. The two older boys?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; I'm pretty sure that that's right.
Mr. JENNER. And Lee was with his mother; he stayed with her?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; with his mother and Mr. Ekdahl--you mean in Covington
now?
Mr. JENNER. No; in Texas; this was just a summer vacation over in
Covington, isn't that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; that's right.
Mr. JENNER. What impression did you get as to the life and habits and
personality of Mr. Ekdahl and Marguerite and Lee, that is, when they
were not on vacation--when they were moving from place to place in the
pursuit of Mr. Ekdahl's line of business, from city to city?
Mr. EVANS. Well, I think Marguerite and Ekdahl got along pretty well,
except for the kid. I mean, he wanted his own way about everything.
Mr. JENNER. You noticed that?
Mr. EVANS. Oh, yes.
Mr. JENNER. That was quite apparent to you even though this was
vacation time when you saw them over in Covington?
Mr. EVANS. I don't understand that.
Mr. JENNER. I said, was this apparent to you even when they were on
this picnic over in Covington that you told us about?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; you could notice that. It seemed like all his life, Lee
wanted his way, and that's what he wanted.
Mr. JENNER. Well, you are expressing that opinion from what you have
heard and read, in addition to what you saw yourself, are you not?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. But you did notice that yourself?
Mr. EVANS. Oh, yes, I did; definitely I noticed it.
Mr. JENNER. Was that the first time that you had met either Marguerite
or Ekdahl?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; that's the first time. I may have met Marguerite before
but not Ekdahl, and not the boys either, but Marguerite was working on
Canal Street in some hosiery shop, and I might have seen her there. I
know Myrtle knew her for quite a few years, so I probably had met her
before. I just don't remember now.
Mr. JENNER. What kind of a person was she?
Mr. EVANS. She was a very fine person, a nice looking woman--well
educated, soft spoken, a very, very nice woman; wonderful.
Mr. JENNER. Did you get the impression that Mr. Ekdahl and she, apart
from this vacation, traveled a lot?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Because of his work?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Living in hotels?
Mr. EVANS. That's right; they lived in hotels and also they took Lee
with them.
Mr. JENNER. They took Lee with them?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; everywhere.
Mr. JENNER. In traveling on his job?
Mr. EVANS. That's right. They were living in Texas for awhile, I
believe, and then he did some traveling in Texas, New York, and other
places, but they would always take the boy with them when they went.
Mr. JENNER. You and Mrs. Evans maintained somewhat of a friendship with
Marguerite, did you not?
Mr. EVANS. That's right. Of course, my wife knew her more years than I
did. She knew her a long time before she was even married.
Mr. JENNER. That's right; our information shows that.
Mr. EVANS. She knew her when she lived down on Alvar Street.
Mr. JENNER. That was before you had any contact with the Oswald family,
is that right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. Has your wife given you any of the details regarding the
background of the Oswald family?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; over the years we have discussed it.
Mr. JENNER. Well, I wouldn't be interested right now in what your wife
told you, because we have taken her deposition, but I just want to know
what you know of the family and your impressions of them, and so forth.
Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Were you married to Mrs. Evans when the Oswalds lived at
1454 St. Mary?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. You were?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Tell me about that. How did that come about? How did you
first come to know them.
Mr. EVANS. Well, she came to town, and she wanted an apartment.
Mr. JENNER. From where did she come?
Mr. EVANS. Well, she was living here with her sister, and they couldn't
get along, or something.
Mr. JENNER. Lillian Murret, is that who you are talking about?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; her sister; she lives downtown.
Mr. JENNER. Lillian Murret?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. And she is Marguerite's sister?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; I think her and the boys were living there, and they
couldn't get along, or something, so they looked for an apartment, and
she asked my wife if she knew about a place anywhere that she might
rent, or if she had a place, and so then they moved into the apartment
right next to us, and there was some disagreement about the apartment,
or something, and my wife told her she could give her the apartment,
but not for the same amount of money, or something like that--I don't
know exactly how all that took place, but my wife can tell you that,
but anyway she got mad and left, and they moved down in the French
Quarter.
Mr. JENNER. Do you know where?
Mr. EVANS. Well, it's some little short street down in the French
Quarter, you know, right off of Canal. It's not such a good
neighborhood, a lot of poolrooms and places like that.
Mr. JENNER. Would that be Exchange Alley?
Mr. EVANS. Exchange Alley, yes; that's it. We took them on vacation one
time on a week end across the lake with us.
Mr. JENNER. You did?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Tell me about that.
Mr. EVANS. We took them over to my sister-in-law's place, across the
lake.
Mr. JENNER. When you say across the lake, which lake is that?
Mr. EVANS. Lake Pontchartrain.
Mr. JENNER. And where's your sister-in-law's place across the lake?
Mr. EVANS. At Sun, La. They are in the sand and gravel business over
there, and they have a private pond to fish in, you know, and they
stock it themselves and they have some nice fish in there, and so
Lee and the boys were down there fishing, but Lee didn't talk to the
other kids or anything. He just seemed to want to be alone, and he just
fished by himself, and the odd part of his behavior that we all thought
was very strange was the way he would just let the fish die on the bank
after he would catch them. Now, the other small boys would catch them
and, and if there was enough for eating and everything, they would
throw the others back, but not Lee. He would pull them in and just
throw them down on the river--I mean on the bank by the pond and just
let them lay there, and when he got through he just walked off and left
them there. Something like that is hard to understand. He didn't catch
them for eating, and he didn't want to throw them back in. He just
left them on the bank and walked off after he got tired of fishing. We
couldn't understand that at all. It showed how totally inconsiderate
he was of everything. It was a good example of how he acted, and his
general attitude.
Mr. JENNER. How old was he at that time?
Mr. EVANS. He was just a young fellow.
Mr. JENNER. About 13, 14 or 15 years old, would you say?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; somewhere around there. I believe he was going to
Warren Easton at the time, or he went to Easton shortly after that.
Mr. JENNER. He first went to Beauregard Junior High School, is that
right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; and then he went to Warren Easton when he was about 14,
I think. He wouldn't talk much. If you talked to him, maybe he would
answer you and maybe he wouldn't, but you had to speak to him first.
That's the last time I saw him until he came back from Texas looking
for a place to stay.
Mr. JENNER. When Lee was living in the apartment with his mother, what
did you notice, or observe, with relationship to his mother? I mean,
did he seem to respect her authority, or was he impervious and arrogant?
Mr. EVANS. He was arrogant.
Mr. JENNER. Can you remember some incident that would illustrate that
for us?
Mr. EVANS. Well, his mother would be in our apartment talking to my
wife, for example, and if he came home from school or somewhere, he
would holler real loud, "Maw, how about something to eat?"
Mr. JENNER. He would be demanding, you mean?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; real demanding, and loud. He wanted her to come right
now, and he had absolutely no patience with her at all, it seemed.
Mr. JENNER. It was just not raising his voice to let his mother know he
was home, or anything like that?
Mr. EVANS. No; it was real demanding. He would know where she was when
she was talking to my wife, and when he hollered at her, she would have
to go right now.
Mr. JENNER. Did he ever get home early from school, or was it about the
regular time?
Mr. EVANS. Oh, about the regular time, I think. I don't think he ever
stayed away from school. I think he went to school all right, but, I
mean, he was arrogant, and nobody liked him. That was the thing.
Mr. JENNER. Did he ever associate with any of the children in the
neighborhood?
Mr. EVANS. No; he didn't. He didn't associate with anybody.
Mr. JENNER. Do you remember anything about his habits? Did he stay in
the apartment, or go out, or what?
Mr. EVANS. He stayed mostly in the apartment. Now, when he lived
upstairs in the apartment, he would go out on the front porch and read.
He always had a few books around, paper covered books.
Mr. JENNER. Paperbacks?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; paperbacks. He had a lot of them.
Mr. JENNER. Did he go to the public library and get books?
Mr. EVANS. Well, I don't know. I can't answer that, but he did a lot of
reading, but, you know, it was mostly this cheap stuff, I think.
Mr. JENNER. Would you say he was a voracious reader?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, he read; he read all the time. I mean, from what I
noticed by him being around the apartment.
Mr. JENNER. Did you notice any other traits about him that you wondered
about, or that you thought unusual or strange?
Mr. EVANS. He seemed to be in deep thought a lot of times--always
thinking. He was hard to get to.
Mr. JENNER. He was hard to get to?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; that's right.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever feel that you ever got to know Lee Oswald, Mr.
Evans.
Mr. EVANS. No; I can't say that I ever did. I don't think anybody did.
I don't think anybody even came close to it, because the way he was
nobody could figure him out. It was hard to get to him or to understand
him. He didn't want you to get too close to him, for one thing. He
never went out of his way to make friends, I mean, from what I knew of
him.
Mr. JENNER. He sort of shied away from friends, or people who might
have become friends, or who might have tried to be friendly with him?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; that's it. You would try to be nice to him, but he
wouldn't appreciate it, and he didn't mind showing you that he didn't
appreciate it. My sister-in-law's children tried to be friendly with
him when we had him across the lake to their house. They asked him
to go swimming with them, and everything, but he just wanted to be
by himself. Finally, the kids got so that they just didn't pay any
attention to him. Kids are like that, you know. If he wanted to be that
way, that was all right with them. They just went ahead and enjoyed
themselves, and to heck with him. They didn't let him bother them at
all with the way he acted.
Mr. JENNER. As I gather it, they tried to be friendly with him, but
when he wouldn't reciprocate, then they said, in effect, "OK, we won't
be friendly; see if we care"; is that right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. Now, when they lived at your apartment, the address was
given there as 1454 and then later it was changed to 1452; what was
that all about? Could you explain that?
Mr. EVANS. Well, there was nothing to that. They just moved from
upstairs to downstairs. We were remodeling the apartment upstairs, and
so she moved downstairs, really next door, and when she found out that
she wasn't going to be permitted by my wife to move back upstairs,
that's when she got mad and left, but, really, Lee had become very
noisy and loud, and we just decided that we would rather not have
him back in that apartment for that reason--because he was actually
disturbing everybody around there with his loudness. You could really
tell when he was home.
Mr. JENNER. You could?
Mr. EVANS. Oh, yes; in fact, Lee couldn't talk to his mother in a soft
voice or a low voice; it was always a very loud, insolent voice, and
it seemed like he got to raising his voice all the time, and he didn't
seem to care who heard him or what he said. You knew he was home, all
right.
Mr. JENNER. Did some friction arise between Mrs. Evans, the landlady,
and Mrs. Oswald about that time?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; it was about the apartment, and my wife told her that
she just couldn't let her move back upstairs, and she didn't like that
at all, and then she moved away.
Mr. JENNER. Would you say that Lee was a very impervious fellow?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; I would say that. He had what I would call a foghorn
voice, and he didn't seem to make any effort at all to control it. He
would just blare out, and it did disturb others around the house. He
had a good speaking voice, though; I will say that; very good.
Mr. JENNER. Now, after this incident in which Marguerite took over
other quarters and moved out with her son, when next did you hear about
or have any contact with either Marguerite or Lee Oswald?
Mr. EVANS. When he came back there to look for an apartment.
Mr. JENNER. That would have been last spring?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. May?
Mr. EVANS. Around May.
Mr. JENNER. May of 1963?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir; we were eating breakfast at the time, I think, and
I was about to leave for work, because I was due at work pretty soon,
but my wife talked to him and showed him around later, she told me, and
she helped him get an apartment.
Mr. JENNER. Did you notice anything unusual about Lee when you first
met him that day?
Mr. EVANS. Well, when I shook hands with him, his hand was so soft; it
was just like there was nothing there, no bones or anything.
Mr. JENNER. A fishy handshake, was it?
Mr. EVANS. That's right; just soft, like no bones in his hand; that's
the way he shook hands.
Mr. JENNER. You mean he didn't have a firm handclasp; is that right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right. His hand was not solid, like the average
person that you shake hands with. It was soft. I had understood that he
had been fooling around with machinery, but he didn't have the hand of
a mechanic.
Mr. JENNER. Had you heard anything about him before he came to your
house that day?
Mr. EVANS. You mean in connection with this Cuban thing?
Mr. JENNER. Yes; anything about that?
Mr. EVANS. No; that came after that.
Mr. JENNER. All right; we'll get to that in a minute. When he got to
your apartment, he rang the bell, and your wife let him in; is that
right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; she answered the door?
Mr. JENNER. She answered the door?
Mr. EVANS. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Did he make an inquiry about an apartment, as to whether he
could find one, or what?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; he did, and she said to come on in, and he came in, and
they sat down and we talked a few minutes before I had to leave.
Mr. JENNER. Did you and your wife recognize him then?
Mr. EVANS. Oh, yes.
Mr. JENNER. Immediately?
Mr. EVANS. He hadn't changed. He was talking a little more. I noticed
that right away, and about his physical appearance, though, it was
about the same, except that he was taller, but you could tell it was
the same Lee Oswald.
Mr. JENNER. You recognized him right away; is that right?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; I recognized him. We talked for a little bit, but I had
to leave after we had had a couple of shots of coffee, because I had to
get to work. I was on my way, in fact, when he came to the door; so I
didn't get to see him for very long that morning. When I left, my wife
was talking to him about the possibilities of getting him an apartment,
and at that point I had to leave. I left then and went to the office.
Later that day my wife told me that she had found him an apartment,
and she also told me that he told her that he had found a job with the
Reily Coffee Co.
Mr. JENNER. He had found a job with the Reily Coffee Co.?
Mr. EVANS. That's what my wife told me he said, and she said he seemed
to he very happy about it, because he was going to bring his wife over
from Texas, and they were going to live here in an apartment, and my
wife said he wanted to call her right away, as soon as they found the
apartment, and that a friend was going to drive her over.
Mr. JENNER. Did your wife question him in your presence about his
alleged attempt to defect to Russia, and whether or not he had
renounced his American citizenship?
Mr. EVANS. Well, yes; she did ask him about that, but he denied it. He
said he was only a tourist in Russia, or something like that. He said
he just wanted to see the country and how they lived, and that he did
not intend to ever give up his American citizenship. The next thing we
knew, we were watching television, and his picture came on there, as
big as life, and it showed him passing out leaflets or something. I
think it was on Canal Street--no; I think that was on Bolivar. Anyway,
the signs read, "Free Cuba," or something like that.
Mr. JENNER. Could that have been "Fair Play for Cuba"?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. What was your reaction when you saw this on the screen?
Mr. EVANS. Well, we didn't know what to think; whether he was in
this by himself, or whether he had accomplices, or what, and my wife
had planned to go up and visit his wife up at their apartment up on
Magazine, but after that came on the screen, and all, she decided not
to go. She said she didn't know what he was getting himself involved
in, but that she had better not go up there, and she didn't.
Mr. JENNER. Then neither you nor your wife visited them at their
apartment on Magazine Street; is that right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. You did not?
Mr. EVANS. No.
Mr. JENNER. And they never did visit you after that, either; is that
right?
Mr. EVANS. That's right. They didn't visit us, and we didn't visit them.
Mr. JENNER. Was there any discussion of President Kennedy at this
breakfast that you had with your wife and Lee that morning he first
showed up--at least, before you left for work?
Mr. EVANS. No.
Mr. JENNER. Was anything like that mentioned at all as long as you were
there, at least?
Mr. EVANS. No. Like I said, I just finished a cup of coffee and left. I
had to get to the office.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever see Lee Oswald in any fits of temper, so to
speak?
Mr. EVANS. No; I didn't. I never did actually see anything like that,
but I could hear him all right, the way he would shout at his mother
and so forth. I mean, but I never did actually see him at times like
that. He would be up in the apartment. From what I could hear, though,
I could tell that he was very demanding of her.
Mr. JENNER. Very demanding of his mother?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; he was.
Mr. JENNER. What other impressions did you have of this boy?
Mr. EVANS. Well, I thought he was a psycho. I really did. He was
so young to be acting the way he did. Of course, there is no doubt
that his mother really spoiled him. She would do just about anything
he wanted, if it was possible to be done, like giving him money or
anything like that, and I understand that he was the cause of his
mother's divorce from Ekdahl. Ekdahl said that Lee was more demanding
of his mother than he was, and he was her husband.
Mr. JENNER. You had the impression that Lee came between her and Mr.
Ekdahl?
Mr. EVANS. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Give me your impression of Marguerite Oswald.
Mr. EVANS. Marguerite?
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. EVANS. I think she's a fine woman, myself, a fine woman;
intelligent, very soft spoken--a beautiful woman, with black hair
streaked with a little gray, but when you saw her on television since
this thing happened, she really looked awful; nothing at all like
she used to look. She has really aged. She looked like a charwoman,
compared to what she used to look like. She used to be a fashion
plate. She dressed beautifully, but when we saw her on television just
recently, after all this happened, she looked awful. There's no other
way to describe it, the change that has come over her. You wouldn't
have recognized her if they hadn't told you who she was; she looked
that different. Where her hair used to be black, now it's entirely
gray, and she really looks old.
Mr. JENNER. Well, she's 57, I believe.
Mr. EVANS. That's right; she's the same age as my wife, but she looks
about 70 now. That's about all I can remember about her, and then I saw
this thing on television when the President was assassinated, and when
it showed her picture, we just couldn't believe it was Marguerite.
Mr. JENNER. Were you home when her picture came on television, along
with this news of the President's assassination and Oswald's arrest?
Mr. EVANS. No; I was at the store at the time. It was on television
there.
Mr. JENNER. What did you do when you saw it?
Mr. EVANS. I immediately called my wife, and I said, "Do you have the
television on?" and she said, "No," and I said, "Well, put it on." I
said, "They are holding Lee Oswald as the assassin," and she said,
"No; that can't be!" and I said, "Turn on the television and see for
yourself."
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever observe anything about Lee Oswald that would
lead you to believe that he had any propensity toward acts of violence
on the person of anybody else?
Mr. EVANS. No; he was a good talker.
Mr. JENNER. He was a good talker?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; he was. He had a good vocabulary; pretty good for his
age, anyway; so I guess all that reading he did must have accounted
for that. Also, he had a pretty good memory, for one thing, and his
expressions were good, but he was very noisy and would talk in a loud
voice all the time, especially when he wanted something from his mother
or wanted her to do something for him. I used to think it was pretty
awful the way he used to yell at her, but she didn't seem to mind. She
would jump up the minute he yelled, and she did everything for him that
she could. But he did have a booming voice. You don't see a voice in a
kid like that, at 13 years old, very often. His voice was just about
changing then, at that early age.
Mr. JENNER. Did he seem aggressive in that respect, at least with other
children?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; I would say so.
Mr. JENNER. What was your impression of this man in general when he
came back to New Orleans in 1963 and you had occasion to see him?
Mr. EVANS. In what way?
Mr. JENNER. Well, say, with respect to money; what was his financial
status?
Mr. EVANS. You mean this boy?
Mr. JENNER. Yes, Oswald; what was his status with relation to income or
the amount of money he possessed, or anything like that? What did you
learn about that?
Mr. EVANS. Well I don't think he had any money.
Mr. JENNER. That was your impression; that he had no money, or any
outside source of money?
Mr. EVANS. Yes. He couldn't even afford a nice apartment for his wife
and child. He had to get the cheapest apartment he could find, because
we had friends that had other places that he could have gotten, but he
couldn't afford anything better. He did not have money; that's what
seemed to be so odd, to our way of thinking, when we heard those rumors
and reports that he was getting money from other sources to do all of
this stuff that he seemed to be getting into. We just figured if he was
getting any other money, then he would be living in a better place and
taking better care of his family, but he couldn't afford to pay for
anything.
Mr. JENNER. Then you saw no evidence of him having any money?
Mr. EVANS. No.
Mr. JENNER. Do you think it possible that he might have received any
substantial quantities from any other source?
Mr. EVANS. No; I don't. Even his clothing was bad, all worn, and he
didn't have a coat on that I ever saw.
Mr. JENNER. No coat?
Mr. EVANS. Just a sport shirt is all, when I saw him. I don't know of
any other income he could have had. Of course, his mother might have
been helping him. If it was possible, I know she would have helped him.
I don't think his brothers helped him any.
Mr. JENNER. Does anything else occur to you that might be helpful to
the Commission in its investigation; anything that I might not have
asked you about, or that I just didn't know about, and that you think
might be of assistance to us in this investigation?
Mr. EVANS. No; not a thing.
Mr. JENNER. Now, this deposition will be transcribed by the reporter,
and you have the privilege under the law of reading and signing your
deposition. However, you don't have to do that. You can waive that
right and let the reporter transcribe the deposition, and it will be
forwarded direct to Washington, to the Commission. Now, what is your
preference in that regard?
Mr. EVANS. I will waive that.
Mr. JENNER. You will waive that privilege?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; I can't think of anything else besides what I have
already told you. I didn't actually know Lee too well, because he just
wasn't the type of man you could get close to. He just sort of lived in
his own world, I guess you would say, and he didn't want friends, or at
least that was my impression, and I did have enough contact with him
that I could arrive at my own opinion.
Mr. JENNER. All right, Mr. Evans. Thank you very much for coming in
voluntarily and answering these questions.