Miss MURRET. Well, she didn't like the high ceilings, and Lee had said
that he didn't think she would, if they had a high ceiling place. In
fact, when they went, she didn't like it. She said that she liked low
ceilings.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you said that you were in the apartment on one
occasion, is that correct?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was it an appealing place, or was it decently furnished?
Miss MURRET. My mother and I had gone there, and I thought it was very
nice for the money, actually.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know how much he was paying for it?
Miss MURRET. Sixty-five.
Mr. LIEBELER. What kind of neighborhood was it in?
Miss MURRET. On Magazine--I don't know about Magazine, but I don't
think Magazine is too good. But the apartment was all newly furnished.
They had a new icebox, I believe, and the other furniture was all
refinished, and the walls newly painted.
Mr. LIEBELER. You mentioned before that you had discussed religion with
Lee; and had you ever discussed politics with him at all?
Miss MURRET. He never mentioned anything of any political significance
at all, never.
Mr. LIEBELER. Never said anything about President Kennedy?
Miss MURRET. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Or Governor Connally?
Miss MURRET. No; but I can't remember whether it was--if that
was before or if it was on that program, where he said something
complimentary about Kennedy, but he never mentioned anyone else.
Mr. LIEBELER. What program are you referring to?
Miss MURRET. That might have been when they showed when he was
interviewed after the Fair Play for Cuba, because it was after the
assassination that they reran that.
Mr. LIEBELER. That was a television program?
Miss MURRET. Yes; television.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you say that you saw it after the assassination?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you don't recall, but you think the man said
something complimentary about Kennedy on that?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. And other than that you never heard him speak of
President Kennedy?
Miss MURRET. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he ever talk about Civil Rights, and particularly the
Negro?
Miss MURRET. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. You mentioned when he was younger that he made it a
point, or at least, he did sit down on the streetcar right next to some
Negroes, and he got in trouble with his friends over that?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you have any idea what motivated that, or whether it
was just a rebellious kind of thing?
Miss MURRET. I don't think he knew any better. He didn't know the cars
were segregated, I don't think. I don't know. I just remember my mother
telling me whether or not he knew, or whether he did it, you know,
defiantly--I don't know.
Mr. LIEBELER. You mentioned you were not in New Orleans during July and
August of 1963, and where were you?
Miss MURRET. I went to Mexico and all through Central America and
Panama.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you travel by yourself?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did you travel?
Miss MURRET. By bus and station wagon.
Mr. LIEBELER. Your own station wagon?
Miss MURRET. No; public transportation.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you know that Oswald went to Mexico in September?
Miss MURRET. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you read about that in the newspapers after the
assassination?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. But prior to that time you didn't know that he either
planned to go to Mexico or he was going to Mexico, or had gone to
Mexico, or was even thinking about going to Mexico?
Miss MURRET. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you meet anybody on this trip to Mexico that had any
connection with, as far as you know, Lee Oswald, either at that time or
subsequently?
Miss MURRET. On this trip, no.
Mr. LIEBELER. What was the nature of the trip? Was it just basically a
tourist operation?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Basically a tourist operation, you say?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. When you returned from Mexico to New Orleans, you
learned, did you not, that Oswald had managed to get himself in jail
during the summer?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How did you learn that?
Miss MURRET. My family.
Mr. LIEBELER. Your family told you?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. What did they tell you?
Miss MURRET. Well, just, in other words, he had the Fair Play for Cuba
pamphlets, and they took him to jail. And my sister had to go and get
him out. And, of course, she didn't know what he was in there for, and
so my mother was in the hospital at the time and my mother was not
supposed to have that operation until the fall, you know, but then they
decided to have it then. So, anyway, she was in the hospital for that,
and I think she said that Lee came up to see her--but I don't know if
it was after, the next day, or before she was operated on--came to see
her at the hospital--and then that must have been the date when he left
and was distributing the pamphlets.
So he called up and he told Joyce that he was in jail, and to come
and get him out. She didn't know what to do because she had her two
children there, and my mother was in the hospital, and nobody to take
care of the children. So she said, "Call me back, or something" or she
said that she didn't have the money on her, and that my mother wasn't
there. Well, I don't know how that works, but anyway, she went down
to the police station and went back home again and went up to see my
mother and asked my mother what to do. So, anyway, she went back to the
station, and she said, "Before I get him out of there, I want you to
tell me what he is in there for." So the policeman told her, he said,
not to get excited because, "I've handled these cases before, and it is
not as bad as it seems," and all that. And she didn't know whether to
get him out or not, since he was involved in that. And I don't know if
they went back to the hospital or what, but they called this friend and
he had him paroled.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who was the friend? Do you know?
Miss MURRET. Of course, he didn't know--that was Emile Bruneau, who
is a very prominent man. He didn't know Lee at all, and that was just
a personal favor. He is very active in the city, I mean, and this was
just a personal favor.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you have any conversations with Lee about this
episode when you saw him on Labor Day?
Miss MURRET. I didn't ask ask him anything else.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you ever see Lee drive an automobile?
Miss MURRET. As far as I know, he didn't drive, and my brother took
him one day out through the park to attempt to teach him for about an
hour. But he had to turn down several jobs because he didn't drive. And
whether he is able to drive after one lesson like that, I don't know.
Mr. LIEBELER. As far as you know, did your brother ever let Lee take
his car and go by himself.
Miss MURRET. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. This was your brother John?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did he ever tell you how well Oswald did?
Miss MURRET. Well, it was a hydramatic and he could just steer it, and
that was about all, and with subsequent lessons he would have been able
to drive. But I doubt, and I don't think there was any traffic--I think
it was in the park.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you see Mrs. Paine again when she came to pick up
Marina and take her back to Texas?
Miss MURRET. I only saw her once, and that was for about 10 or 15
minutes.
Mr. LIEBELER. And that was in May 1963?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you know Lee had lost his job with the Reily Coffee
Co. sometime during the summer?
Miss MURRET. I guess he did--I don't know if that was after I came back
or before, when he lost it. I don't know when he lost it. When did he
lose it?
Mr. LIEBELER. He lost it in July, sometime, while you were gone.
Miss MURRET. Well, 2 weeks at my sister's about July 1, and from there,
13 days, because the 14th is my birthday, I left.
Mr. LIEBELER. You learned that he had lost it when you got back to New
Orleans? When you got back to New Orleans, you knew that he had lost
the job and was unemployed?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was he looking around for another job? Do you know?
Miss MURRET. I don't know. I only saw them once after that, and that
was Labor Day. I didn't ask him anything.
Mr. LIEBELER. You mentioned this trip that you had been on, and you
mentioned that you were in Japan?
Miss MURRET. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. How long were you out of the United States, and where did
you go, and what did you do?
Miss MURRET. Three and a half years, and I started out on my way and
went to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand,
Singapore, which was not a part of Malaysia at the time, Malaya, and
straight on around, just following the bottom--I went all through,
Beirut, the Holy Land, Egypt, Cyprus, and all through Europe and back.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you work during the time you were gone on this trip?
Miss MURRET. I worked in Australia and New Zealand and Japan.
Mr. LIEBELER. As a teacher?
Miss MURRET. As a teacher; yes.