reqesting a new visa unless I used my real name, so I returned to the
United States.” The fact is that he did use his real name for his
tourist card, and in all dealings with the Cuban Embassy, the Russian
Embassy and elsewhere. Oswald did use the name of “Lee” on the trip,
but as indicated below, he did so only sporadically and probably as the
result of a clerical error. In the opinion of the Commission, based
upon its knowledge of Oswald, the letter constitutes no more than a
clumsy effort to ingratiate himself with the Soviet Embassy.
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT 15
OSWALD’S LETTER TO THE EMBASSY U. S. S. R., WASHINGTON, D. C.
(COMMISSION EXHIBIT 103)
PRELIMINARY DRAFT]
Investigation of Other Activities
_Oswald’s use of post office boxes and false names._--After his return
from the Soviet Union, Lee Harvey Oswald is known to have received
his mail at post office boxes and to have used different aliases on
numerous occasions. Since either practice is susceptible of use for
clandestine purposes, the Commission has directed attention to both
for signs that Oswald at some point made undercover contact with other
persons who might have been connected with the assassination.
Oswald is known to have opened three post office boxes during 1962 and
1963. On October 9, 1962, the same day that he arrived in Dallas from
Fort Worth, and before establishing a residence there, he opened box
No. 2915 at the Dallas General Post Office. This box was closed on
May 14, 1963, shortly after Oswald had moved to New Orleans.[C6-594]
That portion of the post office box application listing the names of
those persons other than the applicant entitled to receive mail at
the box was discarded in accordance with postal regulations after the
box was closed; hence, it is not known what names other than Oswald’s
were listed on that form.[C6-595] However, as discussed in chapter IV,
Oswald is known to have received the assassination rifle under the
name of A. Hidell and his Smith & Wesson revolver under the name of
A. J. Hidell at that box.[C6-596] On June 3, 1963, Oswald opened box
No. 30061 at the Lafayette Square Substation in New Orleans. Marina
Oswald and A. J. Hidell were listed as additional persons entitled to
receive mail at this box.[C6-597] Immediately before leaving for Mexico
City in late September, Oswald submitted a request to forward his mail
to the Paines’ address in Irving, and the box was closed on September
26.[C6-598] On November 1, 1963, he opened box No. 6225 at the Dallas
Post Office Terminal Annex. The Fair Play for Cuba Committee and the
American Civil Liberties Union were listed as also being entitled to
receive mail at this box.[C6-599]
Oswald’s use of post office boxes is consistent with other information
known about him. His frequent changes of address and receipt of
Communist and other political literature would appear to have provided
Oswald reason to have rented postal boxes. These were the explanations
for his use of the boxes which he provided Postal Inspector H. D.
Holmes on November 24.[C6-600] Moreover, on October 14, 1963, he had
moved into a room on Beckley Avenue under the name of O. H. Lee[C6-601]
and it would have been extremely difficult for Oswald to have received
his mail at that address without having disclosed his true name. The
boxes cost Oswald only $1.50 or less per month.[C6-602]
Although the possibilities of investigation in this area are limited,
there is no evidence that any of the three boxes was ever used for
the surreptitious receipt of messages or was used by persons other
than Oswald or his family. No unexplainable notes were found among
Oswald’s possessions after his arrest. Oswald’s box on the day of the
assassination, No. 6225, was kept under constant personal surveillance
by postal inspectors from about 5 p.m. November 22 until midnight
November 24. A modified surveillance was maintained thereafter. No one
called for mail out of this box; indeed the only mail in the box was a
Russian magazine addressed to Oswald. The single outstanding key was
recovered from Oswald immediately after he was taken in custody.[C6-603]
In appraising the import of Oswald’s rental of post office boxes, it is
significant that he was not secretive about their use. All three boxes
were rented by Oswald using his true name.[C6-604] His application
for box No. 2915 showed his home address as that of Alexandra De
Mohrenschildt (Taylor), whose husband had agreed to allow Oswald to use
his address.[C6-605] His application for the New Orleans box listed
his address as 657 French Street; his aunt, Lillian Murret, lived at
757 French Street.[C6-606] On the application for box No. 6225, Oswald
gave an incorrect street number, though he did show Beckley Avenue,
where he was then living.[C6-607] He furnished the box numbers to
his brother, to an employer, to Texas and New Orleans unemployment
commissions, and to others.[C6-608] Based on all the facts disclosed
by its investigation, the Commission has attached no conspiratorial
significance to Oswald’s rental of post office boxes.
Oswald’s use of aliases is also well established. In chapter IV, the
evidence relating to his repeated use of the name “A. J. Hidell,”
and close variants thereof, is set forth.[C6-609] Because Oswald’s
use of this pseudonym became known quickly after the assassination,
investigations were conducted with regard to persons using the name
Hidell or names similar to it. Subversive files, public carrier
records, telegraph company records, banking and other commercial
records, and other matters investigated and persons interviewed
have been examined with regard to Oswald’s true name and his known
alias.[C6-610] No evidence has been produced that Oswald ever used the
name Hidell as a means of making undercover contact with any person.
Indeed, though Oswald did prepare a counterfeit selective service card
and other identification using this name, he commonly used “Hidell”
to represent persons other than himself, such as the president of his
nonexistent Fair Play for Cuba Committee chapter, the doctor whose name
appeared on his counterfeit international certificate of vaccination,
and as references on his job applications.[C6-611]
Alwyn Cole, questioned document expert for the Treasury Department,
testified that the false identification found on Oswald upon his arrest
could have been produced by employing elementary techniques used in
a photographic printing plant.[C6-612] (See app. X, pp. 571-578.)
Though to perform the necessary procedures would have been difficult
without the use of expensive photographic equipment, such equipment
and the needed film and photographic paper were available to Oswald
when he was employed from October 1962 through early April 1963 at
Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall, a commercial advertising photography firm in
Dallas.[C6-613] While so employed, Oswald is known to have become
familiar with the mechanics of photographic enlargements, contraction,
and image distortion that would have been necessary to produce his
false identification, and to have used the facilities of his employer
for some personal work.[C6-614] Cole testified that the cards in
Oswald’s wallet did not exhibit a great deal of skill, pointing out
various errors that had been committed.[C6-615] Oswald’s supervisor at
Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall has stated that Oswald seemed unable to perform
photographic work with precision, which was one of the main reasons for
which he was ultimately discharged.[C6-616] The retouched negatives
used to make Oswald’s counterfeit certificate of service identification
were found among Oswald’s personal effects after his arrest, as was
a rubber stamping kit apparently employed to produce his spurious
international certificate of vaccination.[C6-617] There is strong
evidence, therefore, that Oswald himself made the various pieces of
counterfeit identification which he carried, and there is no reason to
believe that he received assistance from any person in establishing his
alias.
Oswald also used incorrect names other than Hidell, but these too
appear unconnected with any form of conspiracy. Oswald’s last name
appears as “Lee” in three places in connection with his trip to Mexico
City, discussed above. His tourist card was typed by the Mexican
consulate in New Orleans, “Lee, Harvey Oswald.”[C6-618] However, the
comma seems to have been a clerical error, since Oswald signed both
the application and the card itself, “Lee H. Oswald.” Moreover, Oswald
seems originally to have also printed his name, evenly spaced, as “Lee
H Oswald,” but, noting that the form instructed him to “Print full
name. No initials,” printed the remainder of his middle name after
the “H.” The clerk who typed the card thus saw a space after “Lee,”
followed by “Harvey Oswald” crowded together, and probably assumed
that “Lee” was the applicant’s last name. (See Commission Exhibit
2481, p. 300.) The clerk who prepared Oswald’s bus reservation for his
return trip wrote “H. O. Lee.” He stated that he did not remember the
occasion, although he was sure from the handwriting and from other
facts that he had dealt with Oswald. He surmised that he probably made
out the reservation directly from the tourist card, since Oswald spoke
no Spanish, and, seeing the comma, wrote the name “H. O. Lee.”[C6-619]
Oswald himself signed the register at the hotel in Mexico City as “Lee,
Harvey Oswald,”[C6-620] but since the error is identical to that on the
tourist card and since he revealed the remainder of his name, “Harvey
Oswald,” it is possible that Oswald inserted the comma to conform to
the tourist card, or that the earlier mistake suggested a new pseudonym
to Oswald which he decided to continue.
In any event, Oswald used his correct name in making reservations for
the trip to Mexico City, in introducing himself to passengers on the
bus, and in his dealings with the Cuban and Soviet Embassies.[C6-621]
When registering at the Beckley Avenue house in mid-October, Oswald
perpetuated the pseudonym by giving his name as “O. H. Lee,”[C6-622]
though he had given his correct name to the owner of the previous
roominghouse where he had rented a room after his return from Mexico
City.[C6-623] Investigations of the Commission have been conducted
with regard to persons using the name “Lee,” and no evidence has been
found that Oswald used this alias for the purpose of making any type of
secret contacts.
Oswald is also known to have used the surname “Osborne” in ordering
Fair Play for Cuba Committee handbills in May 1963.[C6-624] He
also used the false name D. F. Drittal as a certifying witness on
the mail-order coupon with which he purchased his Smith & Wesson
revolver.[C6-625] He used the name Lt. J. Evans as a reference on an
employment application in New Orleans.[C6-626]
Oswald’s repeated use of false names is probably not to be
disassociated from his antisocial and criminal inclinations. No doubt
he purchased his weapons under the name of Hidell in attempt to prevent
their ownership from being traced. Oswald’s creation of false names
and ficititious personalities is treated in the discussion of possible
motives set forth in chapter VII. Whatever its significance in that
respect may be, the Commission has found no indication that Oswald’s
use of aliases was linked with any conspiracy with others.
_Ownership of a second rifle._--The Commission has investigated a
report that, during the first 2 weeks of November 1963, Oswald had a
telescopic sight mounted and sighted on a rifle at a sporting goods
store in Irving, Tex. The main evidence that Oswald had such work
performed for him is an undated repair tag bearing the name “Oswald”
from the Irving Sports Shop in Irving, Tex. On November 25, 1963, Dial
D. Ryder, an employee of the Irving Sports Shop, presented this tag
to agents of the FBI, claiming that the tag was in his handwriting.
The undated tag indicated that three holes had been drilled in an
unspecified type of rifle and a telescopic sight had been mounted on
the rifle and boresighted.[C6-627]
As discussed in chapter IV, the telescopic sight on the C2766
Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was already mounted when shipped to Oswald,
and both Ryder and his employer, Charles W. Greener, feel certain
that they never did any work on this rifle.[C6-628] If the repair
tag actually represented a transaction involving Lee Harvey Oswald,
therefore, it would mean that Oswald owned another rifle. Although this
would not alter the evidence which establishes Oswald’s ownership of
the rifle used to assassinate President Kennedy, the possession of a
second rifle warranted investigation because it would indicate that a
possibly important part of Oswald’s life had not been uncovered.
Since all of Oswald’s known transactions in connection with firearms
after his return to the United States were undertaken under an assumed
name,[C6-629] it seems unlikely that if he did have repairs made at
the sports shop he would have used his real name. Investigation has
revealed that the authenticity of the repair tag bearing Oswald’s name
is indeed subject to grave doubts. Ryder testified that he found the
repair tag while cleaning his workbench on November 23, 1963.[C6-630]
However, Ryder spoke with Greener repeatedly during the period between
November 22-28 and, sometime prior to November 25, he discussed
with him the possibility that Oswald had been in the store. Neither
he nor Greener could remember that he had been. But despite these
conversations with Greener, it is significant that Ryder never called
the repair tag to his employer’s attention. Greener did not learn about
the tag until November 28, when he was called by TV reporters after the
story had appeared in the Dallas Times-Herald.[C6-631] The peculiarity
of Ryder’s silence is compounded by the fact that, when speaking to
the FBI on November 25, Ryder fixed the period during which the tag
had been issued as November 1-14, 1963, yet, from his later testimony,
it appears that he did so on the basis that it must have occurred
when Greener was on vacation since Greener did not remember the
transaction.[C6-632] Moreover, the FBI had been directed to the Irving
Sports Shop by anonymous telephone calls received by its Dallas office
and by a local television station. The anonymous male who telephoned
the Bureau attributed his information to an unidentified sack boy at a
specified supermarket in Irving, but investigation has failed to verify
this source.[C6-633]
Neither Ryder nor Greener claimed that Lee Harvey Oswald had ever been
a customer in the Irving Sports Shop. Neither has any recollection of
either Oswald or his Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, nor does either recall
the transaction allegedly represented by the repair tag or the person
for whom the repair was supposedly made.[C6-634] Although Ryder stated
to the FBI that he was “quite sure” that he had seen Oswald and that
Oswald may have been in the store at one time, when shown a photograph
of Oswald during his deposition, Ryder testified he knew the picture to
be of Oswald, “as the pictures in the paper, but as far as seeing the
guy personally, I don’t think I ever have.”[C6-635]
Subsequent events also reflect on Ryder’s credibility. In his
deposition, Ryder emphatically denied that he talked to any reporters
about this matter prior to the time a story about it appeared in the
November 28, 1963, edition of the Dallas Times-Herald.[C6-636] Earlier,
however, he told an agent of the U.S. Secret Service that the newspaper
had misquoted him.[C6-637] Moreover, a reporter for the Dallas
Times-Herald has testified that on November 28, 1963, he called Ryder
at his home and obtained from him all of the details of the alleged
transaction, and his story is supported by the testimony of a second
reporter who overheard one end of the telephone conversation.[C6-638]
No other person by the name of Oswald in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has
been found who had a rifle repaired at the Irving Sports Shop.[C6-639]
Possible corroboration for Ryder’s story is provided by two women,
Mrs. Edith Whitworth, who operates the Furniture Mart, a furniture
store located about 1½ blocks from the Irving Sports Shop, and Mrs.
Gertrude Hunter, a friend of Mrs. Whitworth. They testified that in
early November of 1963, a man who they later came to believe was
Oswald drove up to the Furniture Mart in a two-tone blue and white 1957
Ford automobile, entered the store and asked about a part for a gun,
presumably because of a sign that appeared in the building advertising
a gunsmith shop that had formerly occupied part of the premises. When
he found that he could not obtain the part, the man allegedly returned
to his car and then came back into the store with a woman and two young
children to look at furniture, remaining in the store for about 30 to
40 minutes.[C6-640]
Upon confronting Marina Oswald, both women identified her as the woman
whom they had seen in the store on the occasion in question, although
Mrs. Hunter could not identify a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald and Mrs.
Whitworth identified some pictures of Oswald but not others. Mrs.
Hunter purported to identify Marina Oswald by her eyes, and did not
observe the fact that Marina Oswald had a front tooth missing at the
time she supposedly saw her.[C6-641] After a thorough inspection of the
Furniture Mart, Marina Oswald testified that she had never been on the
premises before.[C6-642]
The circumstances surrounding the testimony of the two women are
helpful in evaluating the weight to be given to their testimony, and
the extent to which they lend support to Ryder’s evidence. The women
previously told newspaper reporters that the part for which the man
was looking was a “plunger,” which the Commission has been advised is
a colloquial term used to describe a firing pin.[C6-643] This work was
completely different from the work covered by Ryder’s repair tag, and
the firing pin of the assassination weapon does not appear to have
been recently replaced.[C6-644] At the time of their depositions,
neither woman was able to recall the type of work which the man wanted
done.[C6-645]
Mrs. Whitworth related to the FBI that the man told her that the
younger child with him was born on October 20, 1963, which was in
fact Rachel Oswald’s birthday.[C6-646] In her testimony before the
Commission, however, Mrs. Whitworth could not state that the man had
told her the child’s birthdate was October 20, 1963, and in fact
expressed uncertainty about the birthday of her own grandchild, which
she had previously used as a guide to remembering the birthdate of the
younger child in the shop.[C6-647] Mrs. Hunter thought that the man she
and Mrs. Whitworth believed was Oswald drove the car to and from the
store;[C6-648] however, Lee Harvey Oswald apparently was not able to
drive an automobile by himself and does not appear to have had access
to a car.[C6-649]
The two women claimed that Oswald was in the Furniture Mart on a
weekday, and in midafternoon. However, Oswald had reported to work
at the Texas School Book Depository on the dates referred to by the
women and there is no evidence that he left his job during business
hours.[C6-650] In addition, Ruth Paine has stated that she always
accompanied Marina Oswald whenever Marina left the house with her
children and that they never went to the Furniture Mart, either with or
without Lee Harvey Oswald, at any time during October or November of
1963.[C6-651] There is nothing to indicate that in November the Oswalds
were interested in buying furniture.[C6-652]
Finally, investigation has produced reason to question the credibility
of Mrs. Hunter as a witness. Mrs. Hunter stated that one of the reasons
she remembers the description of the car in which Oswald supposedly
drove to the furniture store was that she was awaiting the arrival of a
friend from Houston, who drove a similar automobile.[C6-653] However,
the friend in Houston has advised that in November 1963, she never
visited or planned to visit Dallas, and that she told no one that she
intended to make such a trip. Moreover the friend added, according to
the FBI interview report, that Mrs. Hunter has “a strange obsession
for attempting to inject herself into any big event which comes to her
attention” and that she “is likely to claim some personal knowledge of
any major crime which receives much publicity.”[C6-654] She concluded
that “the entire family is aware of these ‘tall tales’ Mrs. Hunter
tells and they normally pay no attention to her.”[C6-655]
Another allegation relating to the possible ownership of a second
rifle by Oswald comes from Robert Adrian Taylor, a mechanic at a
service station in Irving. Some 3 weeks after the assassination, Taylor
reported to the FBI that he thought that, in March or April of 1963,
a man he believed to be Oswald had been a passenger in an automobile
that stopped at his station for repairs; since neither the driver nor
the passenger had sufficient funds for the repair work, the person
believed to be Oswald sold a U.S. Army rifle to Mr. Taylor, using the
proceeds to pay for the repairs.[C6-656] However, a second employee at
the service station, who recalled the incident, believed that, despite
a slight resemblance, the passenger was not Oswald.[C6-657] Upon
reflection, Taylor himself stated that he is very doubtful that the man
was Oswald.[C6-658]
_Rifle practice._--Several witnesses believed that in the weeks
preceding the assassination, they observed a man resembling Oswald
practicing with a rifle in the fields and wooded areas surrounding
Dallas, and at rifle ranges in that area. Some witnesses claimed Oswald
was alone, while others said he was accompanied by one or more other
persons. In most instances, investigation has disclosed that there is
no substantial basis for believing that the person reported by the
various witnesses was Oswald.[C6-659]
One group of witnesses, however, believed that they observed Lee
Harvey Oswald at the Sports Drome Rifle Range in Dallas at various
times from September through November of 1963. In light of the number
of witnesses, the similarity of the descriptions of the man they saw,
and the type of weapon they thought the individual was shooting, there
is reason to believe that these witnesses did see the same person at
the firing range, although the testimony of none of these witnesses is
fully consistent with the reported observations of the other witnesses.
The witnesses who claimed to have seen Oswald at the firing range
had more than a passing notice of the person they observed. Malcolm
H. Price, Jr., adjusted the scope on the individual’s rifle on one
occasion;[C6-660] Garland G. Slack had an altercation with the
individual on another occasion because he was shooting at Slack’s
target;[C6-661] and Sterling C. Wood, who on a third date was present
at the range with his father, Dr. Homer Wood, spoke with his father and
very briefly with the man himself about the individual’s rifle.[C6-662]
All three of these persons, as well as Dr. Wood, expressed confidence
that the man they saw was Oswald.[C6-663] Two other persons believed
they saw a person resembling Oswald firing a similar rifle at another
range near Irving 2 days before the assassination.[C6-664]
Although the testimony of these witnesses was partially corroborated
by other witnesses,[C6-665] there was other evidence which prevented
the Commission from reaching the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald
was the person these witnesses saw. Others who were at the firing
range remembered the same individual but, though noting a similarity
to Oswald, did not believe that the man was Oswald;[C6-666] others
either were unable to state whether the man was Oswald or did not
recall seeing anybody who they feel may have been Oswald.[C6-667]
Moreover, when interviewed on December 2, 1963, Slack recalled that the
individual whom he saw had blond hair,[C6-668] and on December 3, 1963,
Price stated that on several occasions when he saw the individual,
he was wearing a “Bulldogger Texas style” hat and had bubble gum or
chewing tobacco in his cheek.[C6-669] None of these characteristics
match those known about Lee Harvey Oswald.
Moreover, the date on which Price adjusted the scope for the unknown
person was September 28, 1963, but Oswald is known to have been in
Mexico City at that time;[C6-670] since a comparison of the events
testified to by Price and Slack strongly suggests that they were
describing the same man,[C6-671] there is reason to believe that
Slack was also describing a man other than Oswald. In addition,
Slack believed he saw the same person at the rifle range on November
10[C6-672] and there is persuasive evidence that on November 10, Oswald
was at the Paine’s home in Irving and did not leave to go to the rifle
range.[C6-673] Finally, the man whom Price assisted on September 28
drove an old car, possibly a 1940 or 1941 Ford.[C6-674] However,
there is evidence that Oswald could not drive at that time, and there
is no indication that Oswald ever had access to such a car.[C6-675]
Neither Oswald’s name nor any of his known aliases was found in the
sign-in register maintained at the Sports Drome Rifle Range, though
many customers did not sign this register.[C6-676] The allegations
pertaining to the companions who reportedly accompanied the man
believed to be Oswald are also inconsistent among themselves[C6-677]
and conform to no other credible information ascertained by the
Commission. Several witnesses noticed a bearded man at the club when
the person believed to be Oswald was there, although only one witness
thought the two men were together;[C6-678] the bearded gentleman
was located, and he was not found to have any connection with
Oswald.[C6-679]
It seems likely that the identification of Price, Slack, and the
Woods was reinforced in their own minds by the belief that the man
whom they saw was firing a rifle perhaps identical to Oswald’s
Mannlicher-Carcano. The witnesses agreed that the man they observed
was firing a Mauser-type bolt-action rifle with the ammunition clip
immediately in front of the trigger action, and that a scope was
mounted on the rifle.[C6-680] These features are consistent with the
rifle Oswald used for the assassination.[C6-681] The witnesses agreed
that the man had accurate aim with the rifle.[C6-682]
However, the evidence demonstrated that the weapon fired by the
man they observed was different from the assassination rifle. The
witnesses agreed that the barrel of the gun which the individual
was firing had been shortened in the process of “sporterizing” the
weapon.[C6-683] In addition, Price and Slack recalled that certain
pieces were missing from the top of the weapon,[C6-684] and Dr. Wood
and his son, and others, remembered that the weapon spouted flames
when fired.[C6-685] None of these characteristics correspond with
Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano.[C6-686] Price and Slack believed that the
gun did not have a sling, but the assassination weapon did have one.
Sterling Wood, on the other hand, recalled that the rifle which he saw
had a sling.[C6-687] Price also recalled that he examined the rifle
briefly for some indication as to where it had been manufactured, but
saw nothing, whereas the words “MADE ITALY” are marked on the top of
Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano.[C6-688]
The scope on the rifle observed at the firing range does not appear to
be the same as the one on the assassination weapon. Price remembered
that the individual told him that his scope was Japanese, that he had
paid $18 for it, and that he had it mounted in a gunshop in Cedar
Hills, though apparently no such shop exists in that area.[C6-689]
The scope on the Mannlicher-Carcano was of Japanese origin but it was
worth a little more than $7 and was already mounted when he received
the rifle from a mail-order firm in Chicago.[C6-690] Sterling Wood and
Slack agreed that the scope had a somewhat different appearance from
the scope on the assassination rifle.[C6-691]
Though the person believed to be Oswald retained his shell casings,
presumably for reuse,[C6-692] all casings recovered from areas where it
is believed that Oswald may have practiced have been examined by the
FBI Laboratory, and none has been found which was fired from Oswald’s
rifle.[C6-693] Finally, evidence discussed in chapter IV tends to prove
that Oswald brought his rifle to Dallas from the home of the Paines in
Irving on November 22, and there is no other evidence which indicates
that he took the rifle or a package which might have contained the
rifle out of the Paine’s garage, where it was stored, prior to that
date.[C6-694]
_Automobile demonstration._--The testimony of Albert Guy Bogard has
been carefully evaluated because it suggests the possibility that
Oswald might have been a proficient automobile driver and, during
November 1963, might have been expecting funds with which to purchase
a car. Bogard, formerly an automobile salesman with a Lincoln-Mercury
firm in Dallas, testified that in the early afternoon of November
9, 1963, he attended a prospective customer who he believes was Lee
Harvey Oswald. According to Bogard, the customer, after test driving
an automobile over the Stemmons Freeway at 60 to 70 miles per hour,
told Bogard that in several weeks he would have the money to make a
purchase. Bogard asserted that the customer gave his name as “Lee
Oswald,” which Bogard wrote on a business card. After Oswald’s name
was mentioned on the radio on November 22, Bogard assertedly threw the
card in a trash can, making the comment to coemployees that he supposed
Oswald would no longer wish to buy a car.[C6-695]
Bogard’s testimony has received corroboration.[C6-696] The assistant
sales manager at the time, Frank Pizzo, and a second salesman, Eugene
M. Wilson, stated that they recall an instance when the customer
described by Bogard was in the showroom.[C6-697] Another salesman,
Oran Brown, recalled that Bogard asked him to assist the customer if
he appeared during certain evenings when Bogard was away from the
showroom. Brown stated that he too wrote down the customer’s name and
both he and his wife remember the name “Oswald” as being on a paper in
his possession before the assassination.[C6-698]
However, doubts exist about the accuracy of Bogard’s testimony. He,
Pizzo, and Wilson differed on important details of what is supposed to
have occurred when the customer was in the showroom. Whereas Bogard
stated that the customer said he did not wish credit and wanted to
purchase a car for cash,[C6-699] Pizzo and Wilson both indicated that
the man did attempt to purchase on credit.[C6-700] According to Wilson,
when the customer was told that he would be unable to purchase a car
without a credit rating, substantial cash or a lengthy employment
record, he stated sarcastically, “Maybe I’m going to have to go back to
Russia to buy a car.”[C6-701] While it is possible that Oswald would
have made such a remark, the statement is not consistent with Bogard’s
story. Indeed, Bogard has made no mention that the customer ever spoke
with Wilson while he was in the showroom.[C6-702] More important, on
November 23, a search through the showroom’s refuse was made, but no
paper bearing Oswald’s name was found.[C6-703] The paper on which Brown
reportedly wrote Oswald’s name also has never been located.[C6-704]
The assistant sales manager, Mr. Pizzo, who saw Bogard’s prospect on
November 9 and shortly after the assassination felt that Oswald may
have been this man, later examined pictures of Oswald and expressed
serious doubts that the person with Bogard was in fact Oswald. While
noting a resemblance, he did not believe that Oswald’s hairline
matched that of the person who had been in the showroom on November
9.[C6-705] Wilson has stated that Bogard’s customer was only about 5
feet tall.[C6-706] Several persons who knew Oswald have testified that
he was unable to drive,[C6-707] although Mrs. Paine, who was giving
Oswald driving lessons, stated that Oswald was showing some improvement
by November.[C6-708] Moreover, Oswald’s whereabouts on November 9,
as testified to by Marina Oswald and Ruth Paine, would have made it
impossible for him to have visited the automobile showroom as Mr.
Bogard claims.[C6-709]
_Alleged association with various Mexican or Cuban individuals._--The
Commission has examined Oswald’s known or alleged contacts and
activities in an effort to ascertain whether or not he was involved
in any conspiracy may be seen in the investigation it conducted as
a result of the testimony given by Mrs. Sylvia Odio. The Commission
investigated her statements in connection with its consideration of
the testimony of several witnesses suggesting that Oswald may have
been seen in the company of unidentified persons of Cuban or Mexican
background. Mrs. Odio was born in Havana in 1937 and remained in
Cuba until 1960; it appears that both of her parents are political
prisoners of the Castro regime. Mrs. Odio is a member of the Cuban
Revolutionary Junta (JURE), an anti-Castro organization.[C6-710] She
testified that late in September 1963, three men came to her apartment
in Dallas and asked her to help them prepare a letter soliciting funds
for JURE activities. She claimed that the men, who exhibited personal
familiarity with her imprisoned father, asked her if she were “working
in the underground,” and she replied that she was not.[C6-711] She
testified that two of the men appeared to be Cubans, although they also
had some characteristics that she associated with Mexicans. Those two
men did not state their full names, but identified themselves only by
their fictitious underground “war names.” Mrs. Odio remembered the name
of one of the Cubans as “Leopoldo.”[C6-712] The third man, an American,
allegedly was introduced to Mrs. Odio as “Leon Oswald,” and she was
told that he was very much interested in the Cuban cause.[C6-713]
Mrs. Odio said that the men told her that they had just come from New
Orleans and that they were then about to leave on a trip.[C6-714] Mrs.
Odio testified that the next day Leopoldo called her on the telephone
and told her that it was his idea to introduce the American into the
underground “because he is great, he is kind of nuts.”[C6-715] Leopoldo
also said that the American had been in the Marine Corps and was an
excellent shot, and that the American said the Cubans “don’t have any
guts * * * because President Kennedy should have been assassinated
after the Bay of Pigs, and some Cubans should have done that, because
he was the one that was holding the freedom of Cuba actually.”[C6-716]
Although Mrs. Odio suggested doubts that the men were in fact members
of JURE,[C6-717] she was certain that the American who was introduced
to her as Leon Oswald was Lee Harvey Oswald.[C6-718] Her sister, who
was in the apartment at the time of the visit by the three men, and
who stated that she saw them briefly in the hallway when answering the
door, also believed that the American was Lee Harvey Oswald.[C6-719]
By referring to the date on which she moved from her former apartment,
October 1, 1963, Mrs. Odio fixed the date of the alleged visit on the
Thursday or Friday immediately preceding that date, i.e., September
26 or 27. She was positive that the visit occurred prior to October
1.[C6-720]
During the course of its investigation, however, the Commission
concluded that Oswald could not have been in Dallas on the evening
of either September 26 or 27, 1963. It also developed considerable
evidence that he was not in Dallas at any time between the beginning
of September and October 3, 1963. On April 24, Oswald left Dallas for
New Orleans, where he lived until his trip to Mexico City in late
September and his subsequent return to Dallas. Oswald is known to have
been in New Orleans as late as September 23, 1963, the date on which
Mrs. Paine and Marina Oswald left New Orleans for Dallas.[C6-721]
Sometime between 4 p.m. on September 24 and 1 p.m. on September 25,
Oswald cashed an unemployment compensation check at a store in New
Orleans;[C6-722] under normal procedures this check would not have
reached Oswald’s postal box in New Orleans until at least 5 a.m. on
September 25.[C6-723] The store at which he cashed the check did not
open until 8 a.m.[C6-724] Therefore, it appeared that Oswald’s presence
in New Orleans until sometime between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on September 25
was quite firmly established.
Although there is no firm evidence of the means by which Oswald
traveled from New Orleans to Houston, on the first leg of his Mexico
City trip, the Commission noted that a Continental Trailways bus
leaving New Orleans at 12:30 p.m. on September 25 would have brought
Oswald to Houston at 10:50 p.m. that evening.[C6-725] His presence
on this bus would be consistent with other evidence before the
Commission.[C6-726] There is strong evidence that on September 26,
1963, Oswald traveled on Continental Trailways bus No. 5133 which left
Houston at 2:35 a.m. for Laredo, Tex. Bus company records disclose
that one ticket from Houston to Laredo was sold during the night
shift on September 25-26, and that such ticket was the only one of
its kind sold in the period of September 24 through September 26. The
agent who sold this ticket has stated that Oswald could have been
the purchaser.[C6-727] Two English passengers, Dr. and Mrs. John B.
McFarland, testified that they saw Oswald riding alone on this bus
shortly after they awoke at 6 a.m.[C6-728] The bus was scheduled to
arrive in Laredo at 1:20 p.m. on September 26, and Mexican immigration
records show that Oswald in fact crossed the border at Laredo to Nuevo
Laredo, Mexico, between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on that day.[C6-729] Evidence
set out in appendix XIII establishes that Oswald did not leave Mexico
until October 3, and that he arrived in Dallas the same day.
The Commission noted that the only time not strictly accounted for
during the period that Mrs. Odio thought Oswald might have visited
her is the span between the morning of September 25 and 2:35 a.m.
on September 26. The only public means of transportation by which
Oswald could have traveled from New Orleans to Dallas in time to
catch his bus from Houston to Laredo, would have been the airlines.
Investigation disclosed no indication that he flew between these
points.[C6-730] Moreover, it did not seem probable that Oswald would
speed from New Orleans, spend a short time talking to Sylvia Odio,
and then travel from Dallas to Mexico City and back on the bus.
Automobile travel in the time available, though perhaps possible,
would have been difficult.[C6-731] The Commission noted, however,
that if Oswald had reached Dallas on the evening of September 25,
he could have traveled by bus to Alice, Tex., and there caught the
bus which had left Houston for Laredo at 2:35 a.m. on September 26,
1963.[C6-732] Further investigation in that regard indicated, however,
that no tickets were sold, during the period September 23-26, 1963 for
travel from Dallas to Laredo or points beyond by the Dallas office of
Continental Trailways, the only bus line on which Oswald could have
made connections with the bus on which he was later seen. Furthermore,
if Oswald had traveled from Dallas to Alice, he would not have reached
the Houston to Laredo bus until after he was first reportedly observed
on it by the McFarlands.[C6-733] Oswald had also told passengers on the
bus to Laredo that he had traveled from New Orleans by bus, and made
no mention of an intervening trip to Dallas.[C6-734] In addition, the
Commission noted evidence that on the evening of September 25, 1963,
Oswald made a telephone call to a party in Houston proposing to visit a
resident of Houston that evening[C6-735] and the fact that such a call
would appear to be inconsistent with Oswald’s having been in Dallas at
the time. It thus appeared that the evidence was persuasive that Oswald
was not in Dallas on September 25, and, therefore, that he was not in
that city at the time Mrs. Odio said she saw him.
In spite of the fact that it appeared almost certain that Oswald
could not have been in Dallas at the time Mrs. Odio thought he was,
the Commission requested the FBI to conduct further investigation to
determine the validity of Mrs. Odio’s testimony.[C6-736] The Commission
considered the problems raised by that testimony as important in view
of the possibility it raised that Oswald may have had companions on
his trip to Mexico.[C6-737] The Commission specifically requested the
FBI to attempt to locate and identify the two men who Mrs. Odio stated
were with the man she thought was Oswald.[C6-738] In an effort to do
that the FBI located and interviewed Manuel Ray, a leader of JURE who
confirmed that Mrs. Odio’s parents were political prisoners in Cuba,
but stated that he did not know anything about the alleged Oswald
visit.[C6-739] The same was true of Rogelio Cisneros,[C6-740] a former
anti-Castro leader from Miami who had visited Mrs. Odio in June of 1962
in connection with certain anti-Castro activities.[C6-741] Additional
investigation was conducted in Dallas and in other cities in search of
the visitors to Mrs. Odio’s apartment.[C6-742] Mrs. Odio herself was
reinterviewed.[C6-743]
On September 16, 1964, the FBI located Loran Eugene Hall in
Johnsandale, Calif.[C6-744] Hall has been identified as a participant
in numerous anti-Castro activities.[C6-745] He told the FBI that in
September of 1963 he was in Dallas, soliciting aid in connection
with anti-Castro activities. He said he had visited Mrs. Odio. He
was accompanied by Lawrence Howard, a Mexican-American from East Los
Angeles and one William Seymour from Arizona. He stated that Seymour
is similar in appearance to Lee Harvey Oswald; he speaks only a few
words of Spanish,[C6-746] as Mrs. Odio had testified one of the men
who visited her did.[C6-747] While the FBI had not yet completed its
investigation into this matter at the time the report went to press,
the Commission has concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was not at Mrs.
Odio’s apartment in September of 1963.
The Commission has also noted the testimony of Evaristo Rodriguez,
a bartender in the Habana Bar in New Orleans, to the effect that
he saw Oswald in that bar in August of 1963 in the company of a
Latin-appearing man.[C6-748] Rodriguez’ description of the man
accompanying the person he thought to be Oswald was similar in respects
to the description given by Sylvia Odio since both testified that the
man may have been of either Cuban or Mexican extraction, and had a
slight bald spot on the forepart of his hairline.[C6-749] Rodriguez’
identification of Oswald was uncorroborated except for the testimony
of the owner of the bar, Orest Pena; according to Rodriguez, Pena was
not in a position to observe the man he thought later to have been
Oswald.[C6-750] Although Pena has testified that he did observe the
same person as did Rodriguez, and that this person was Oswald,[C6-751]
an FBI interview report indicated that a month earlier Pena had
stated that he “could not at this time or at any time say whether
or not the person was identical with Lee Harvey Oswald.”[C6-752]
Though when testifying, Pena identified photographs of Oswald, the
FBI report also recorded that Pena “stated the only reason he was
able to recognize Oswald was because he had seen Oswald’s picture in
the news media so often after the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy.”[C6-753] When present at Pena’s bar, Oswald was supposed to
have been intoxicated to the extent that he became ill,[C6-754] which
is inconsistent with other evidence that Oswald did not drink alcoholic
beverages to excess.[C6-755]
The Commission has also noted the testimony of Dean Andrews, an
attorney in New Orleans. Andrews stated that Oswald came to his office
several times in the summer of 1963 to seek advice on a less than
honorable discharge from the Armed Forces, the citizenship status of
his wife and his own citizenship status. Andrews, who believed that he
was contacted on November 23 to represent Oswald, testified that Oswald
was always accompanied by a Mexican and was at times accompanied by
apparent homosexuals.[C6-756] Andrews was able to locate no records of
any of Oswald’s alleged visits, and investigation has failed to locate
the person who supposedly called Andrews on November 23, at a time
when Andrews was under heavy sedation.[C6-757] While one of Andrews’
employees felt that Oswald might have been at his office, his secretary
has no recollection of Oswald being there.[C6-758]
Oswald Was Not an Agent for the U.S. Government
From the time of his release from the Marine Corps until the
assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald dealt in various transactions with
several agencies of the U.S. Government. Before departing the United
States for the Soviet Union in 1959, he obtained an American passport,
which he returned to the Embassy in Moscow in October 1959 when he
attempted to renounce his U.S. citizenship. Thereafter, while in the
Soviet Union, Oswald had numerous contacts with the American Embassy,
both in person and through correspondence. Two years later, he applied
for the return and renewal of his passport, which was granted him.
His application concerning the admittance of his wife to this country
was passed upon by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the
Department of Justice in addition to the State Department. And before
returning to this country, he secured a loan from the State Department
to help cover his transportation costs from Moscow to New York.
These dealings with the Department of State and the Immigration and
Naturalization Service have been reviewed earlier in this chapter and
are considered in detail in appendix XV. After his return, Oswald was
interviewed on three occasions by agents of the FBI, and Mrs. Paine was
also questioned by the FBI about Oswald’s activities. Oswald obtained a
second passport in June of 1963. And both the FBI and the CIA took note
of his Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities in New Orleans and his
appearance at the Soviet consulate in Mexico City. For reasons which
will be discussed fully in chapter VIII, Oswald’s name was never given
to the U.S. Secret Service.
These dealings have given rise to numerous rumors and allegations
that Oswald may have been a paid informant or some type of undercover
agent for a Federal agency, usually the FBI or the CIA. The Commission
has fully explored whether Oswald had any official or unofficial
relationship with any Federal agency beyond that already described.
Oswald’s mother, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, testified before the
Commission that she believes her son went to Russia and returned as
an undercover agent for the U.S. Government.[C6-759] Mrs. Oswald
mentioned the belief that her son was an agent to a State Department
representative whom she visited in January 1961, when she was trying
to locate her son.[C6-760] She had been interviewed earlier by FBI
Agent John W. Fain, within some 6 months of Oswald’s departure for
Russia, and did not at that time suggest such an explanation for
Oswald’s departure.[C6-761] Though provided the opportunity to present
any material she considered pertinent, Mrs. Oswald was not able to
give the Commission any reasonable basis for her speculation.[C6-762]
As discussed later in this chapter, the Commission has investigated
Marguerite Oswald’s claim that an FBI agent showed her a picture of
Jack Ruby after the assassination but before Lee Harvey Oswald had been
killed; this allegation was inaccurate, since the picture was not of
Ruby.
After the assassination it was reported that in 1962 Oswald had told
Pauline Bates, a public stenographer in Fort Worth, Tex., that he
had become a “secret agent” of the U.S. Government and that he was
soon going back to Russia “for Washington.”[C6-763] Mrs. Bates in her
sworn testimony denied that Oswald ever told her anything to that
effect.[C6-764] She testified that she had stated “that when he first
said that he went to Russia and had gotten a visa that I thought--it
was just a thought--that maybe he was going over under the auspices of
the State Department--as a student or something.”[C6-765]
In order to evaluate the nature of Oswald’s dealings with the
Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
the Commission has obtained the complete files of both the Department
and the Service pertaining to Lee Harvey Oswald. Officials who were
directly involved in dealing with the Oswald case on these matters have
testified before the Commission. A critical evaluation of the manner in
which they were handled by these organizations is set forth in appendix
XV. The record establishes that Oswald received no preferential
treatment and that his case involved no impropriety on the part of any
Government official.
Director John A. McCone and Deputy Director Richard Helms of the
Central Intelligence Agency testified before the Commission that no
one connected with the CIA had ever interviewed Oswald or communicated
with him in any way.[C6-766] In his supplementing affidavit, Director
McCone stated unequivocally that Oswald was not an agent, employee, or
informant of the CIA, that the Agency never communicated with him in
any manner or furnished him any compensation, and that Oswald was never
directly or indirectly associated with the CIA.[C6-767] The Commission
has had access to the full CIA file on Oswald which is entirely
consistent with Director McCone’s statements.
The Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, Assistant to the Director
Alan H. Belmont, FBI Agents John W. Fain and John L. Quigley, who
interviewed Oswald, and FBI Agent James P. Hosty, Jr., who was in
charge of his case at the time of the assassination, have also
testified before the Commission. All declared, in substance, that
Oswald was not an informant or agent of the FBI, that he did not act
in any other capacity for the FBI, and that no attempt was made to
recruit him in any capacity.[C6-768] Director Hoover and each Bureau
agent, who according to the FBI would have been responsible for or
aware of any attempt to recruit Oswald as an informant, have also
provided the Commission with sworn affidavits to this effect.[C6-769]
Director Hoover has sworn that he caused a search to be made of the
records of the Bureau, and that the search discloses that Oswald “was
never an informant of the FBI, and never assigned a symbol number in
that capacity, and was never paid any amount of money by the FBI in any
regard.”[C6-770] This testimony is corroborated by the Commission’s
independent review of the Bureau files dealing with the Oswald
investigation.
The Commission also investigated the circumstances which led to the
presence in Oswald’s address book of the name of Agent Hosty together
with his office address, telephone number, and license number.[C6-771]
Hosty and Mrs. Paine testified that on November 1, 1963, Hosty left his
name and phone number with Mrs. Paine so that she could advise Hosty
when she learned where Oswald was living in Dallas.[C6-772] Mrs. Paine
and Marina Oswald have testified that Mrs. Paine handed Oswald the
slip of paper on which Hosty had written this information.[C6-773] In
accordance with prior instructions from Oswald,[C6-774] Marina Oswald
noted Hosty’s license number which she gave to her husband.[C6-775] The
address of the Dallas office of the FBI could have been obtained from
many public sources.
Thus, close scrutiny of the records of the Federal agencies involved
and the testimony of the responsible officials of the U.S. Government
establish that there was absolutely no type of informant or undercover
relationship between an agency of the U.S. Government and Lee Harvey
Oswald at any time.
Oswald’s Finances
In search of activities or payments demonstrating the receipt of
unexplained funds, the Commission undertook a detailed study of
Oswald’s receipts and expenditures starting with the date of his return
from the Soviet Union on June 13, 1962, and continuing to the date of
his arrest on November 22, 1963. In appendix XIV there appears a table
listing Oswald’s estimated receipts and expenditures on a monthly basis
during this period.
The Commission was assisted in this phase of the investigation by able
investigators of the Internal Revenue Service of the Department of
the Treasury and by agents of the FBI. The investigation extended far
beyond interrogation of witnesses who appeared before the Commission.
At banks in New Orleans, La.; Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, and Laredo,
Tex., inquiries were made for any record of a checking, savings, or
loan accounts or a safe deposit box rented in the names of Lee Harvey
Oswald, his known aliases, or members of his immediate family. In many
cases a photograph of Oswald was exhibited to bank officials who were
in a position to see a person in the safe deposit box area of their
banks. No bank account or safe deposit boxes were located which could
be identified with Oswald during this period of his life, although
evidence was developed of a bank account which he had used prior to
his trip to the Soviet Union in 1959. Telegraph companies were checked
for the possibility of money orders that may have been sent to Oswald.
All known locations where Oswald cashed checks which he received
were queried as to the possibility of his having cashed other checks
there. Further inquiries were made at Oswald’s places of employment,
his residences and with local credit associations, hospitals,
utility companies, State and local government offices, post offices,
periodicals, newspapers, and employment agencies.[C6-776]
Marina Oswald testified that she knew of no sources of income Oswald
other than his wages and his unemployment compensation.[C6-777] No
evidence of other cash income has been discovered. The Commission has
found that the funds known to have been available to Oswald during
the period June 13, 1962, through November 22, 1963, were sufficient
to cover all of his known expenditures during this period. Including
cash on hand of $63 when he arrived from the Soviet Union, the Oswalds
received a total of $3,665.89 in cash from wages, unemployment
compensation benefits, loans, and gifts from acquaintances. His cash
disbursements during this period were estimated at $3,501.79, leaving
a balance of $164.10. (See app. XIV.) This estimated balance is within
$19 of the $183.87 in cash which was actually in Oswald’s possession
at the time of his arrest, consisting of $13.87 on his person and $170
in his wallet left at the Paine house.[C6-778]
In computing Oswald’s expenditures, estimates were made for food,
clothing, and incidental expenses. The incidental expenses included
telephone calls, the cost of local newspapers, money order and
check-cashing fees, postage, local transportation costs, personal care
goods and services, and other such small items. All of these expenses,
including food and clothing, were estimated at a slightly higher figure
than would be normal for a family with the income of the Oswalds, and
probably higher than the Oswalds actually spent on such items.[C6-779]
This was done in order to be certain that even if some of Oswald’s
minor expenditures are not known, he had adequate funds to cover his
known expenditures.
During the 17-month period preceding his death, Oswald’s pattern of
living was consistent with his limited income. He lived with his family
in furnished apartments whose cost, including utilities, ranged from
about $60 to $75 per month.[C6-780] Witnesses testified to his wife’s
disappointment and complaints and to their own shock and misgivings
about several of the apartments in which the Oswalds lived during
the period.[C6-781] Moreover, the Oswalds, particularly Marina,
frequently lived with relatives and acquaintances at no cost. Oswald
and his family lived with his brother Robert and then with Marguerite
Oswald from June until sometime in August 1962.[C6-782] As discussed
previously, Marina Oswald lived with Elena Hall and spent a few nights
at the Taylors’ house during October of 1962;[C6-783] in November
of that same year, Marina Oswald lived with two families.[C6-784]
When living away from his family Oswald rented rooms for $7 and $8
per week or stayed at the YMCA in Dallas where he paid $2.25 per
day.[C6-785] During late April and early May 1963, Oswald lived with
relatives in New Orleans, while his wife lived with Ruth Paine in
Irving, Tex.[C6-786] From September 24, 1963, until November 22, Marina
Oswald stayed with Ruth Paine, while Oswald lived in roominghouses
in Dallas.[C6-787] During the period Marina Oswald resided with
others, neither she nor her husband made any contribution to her
support.[C6-788]
The Oswalds owned no major household appliances, had no automobile,
and resorted to dental and hospital clinics for medical care.[C6-789]
Acquaintances purchased baby furniture for them, and paid dental
bills in one instance.[C6-790] After his return to the United States,
Oswald did not smoke or drink, and he discouraged his wife from
doing so.[C6-791] Oswald spent much of his time reading books which
he obtained from the public library, and periodicals to which he
subscribed.[C6-792] He resided near his place of employment and used
buses to travel to and from work.[C6-793] When he visited his wife
and the children on weekends in October and November 1963, he rode
in a neighbor’s car, making no contribution for gasoline or other
expenses.[C6-794] Oswald’s personal wardrobe was also very modest.
He customarily wore T-shirts, cheap slacks, well-worn sweaters, and
well-used zipper jackets. Oswald owned one suit, of Russian make
and purchase, poor fitting and of heavy fabric which, despite its
unsuitability to the climates of Texas and Louisiana and his obvious
discomfort, he wore on the few occasions that required dress.[C6-795]
Food for his family was extremely meager. Paul Gregory testified
that during the 6 weeks that Marina Oswald tutored him he took the
Oswalds shopping for food and groceries on a number of occasions
and that he was “amazed at how little they bought.”[C6-796] Their
friends in the Dallas-Fort Worth area frequently brought them food and
groceries.[C6-797] Marina testified that her husband ate “very little.”
He “never had breakfast. He just drank coffee and that is all. Not
because he was trying to economize. Simply he never liked to eat.” She
estimated that when he was living by himself in a roominghouse, he
would spend “about a dollar, $1.30” for dinner and have a sandwich and
soft drink for lunch.[C6-798]
The thrift which Oswald exercised in meeting his living expenses
allowed him to accumulate sufficient funds to meet other expenses which
he incurred after his return from the Soviet Union. From his return
until January of 1963, Oswald repaid the $435.71 he had borrowed from
the State Department for travel expenses from Moscow, and the $200
loan he had obtained from his brother Robert to fly from New York to
Dallas upon his return to this country. He completed the retirement
of the debt to his brother in October 1962.[C6-799] His cash receipts
from all sources from the day of his arrival in Fort Worth through
October 1962 aggregated $719.94; it is estimated that he could have
made the repayments to Robert and met his other known expenses and
still have been left with savings of $122.06 at the end of the month.
After making initial $10 monthly payments to the State Department,
Oswald paid the Government $190 in December and $206 in January, thus
liquidating that debt.[C6-800] From his net earning of $805.96 from
November through January plus his prior savings, Oswald could have made
these payments to the State Department, met his other known expenses,
and still have had a balance of $8.59 at the end of January 1963. In
discussing the repayment of these debts, Marina Oswald testified: “Of
course we did not live in luxury. We did not buy anything that was not
absolutely needed, because Lee had to pay his debt to Robert and to the
Government. But it was not particularly difficult.”[C6-801]
Included in the total figure for Oswald’s disbursements were $21.45
for the rifle used in the assassination and $31.22 for the revolver
with which Oswald shot Officer Tippit. The major portion of the
purchase price for these weapons was paid in March 1963, when Oswald
had finished paying his debts, and the purchases were compatible with
the total funds then available to him.[C6-802] During May, June, and
July of 1963, Oswald spent approximately $23 for circulars, application
blanks, and membership cards for his one-man New Orleans chapter of
the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.[C6-803] In August he paid $2 to
one and possibly two young men to assist in passing out circulars
and then paid a $10 court fine after pleading guilty to a charge of
disturbing the peace.[C6-804] Although some of these expenses were
incurred after Oswald lost his job on July 19, 1963, his wages during
June and July, and his unemployment compensation thereafter, provided
sufficient funds to enable him to finance these activities out of his
own resources.[C6-805]
Although Oswald paid his own busfare to New Orleans on April 24, 1963,
his wife and the baby were taken there, at no cost to Oswald, by Ruth
Paine.[C6-806] Similarly, Ruth Paine drove to New Orleans in September
and brought Marina Oswald and the baby back to Irving, Tex.[C6-807]
Oswald’s uncle, Charles Murret, also paid for the short trip taken by
Oswald and his family from New Orleans to Mobile, Ala., on July 27,
1963.[C6-808] It is estimated that when Oswald left for Mexico City in
September 1963, he had accumulated slightly over $200. Marina Oswald
testified that when he left for Mexico City he had “a little over
$100,” though she may not have taken into account the $33 unemployment
compensation check which Oswald collected after her departure from New
Orleans.[C6-809] In any event, expenses in Mexico have been estimated
as approximately $85, based on transportation costs of $50 and a hotel
expense of about $1.28 per day. Oswald ate inexpensively and, allowing
$15 for entertainment and miscellaneous items, it would appear that he
had the funds available to finance the trip.[C6-810]
The Commission has considered the testimony of Leonard E. Hutchison,
proprietor of Hutch’s Market in Irving, in connection with Oswald’s
finances. Hutchison has testified that on a Friday during the first
week in November, a man he believes to have been Lee Harvey Oswald
attempted to cash a “two-party,” or personal check for $189, but that
he refused to cash the check since his policy is to cash personal
checks for no more than $25.[C6-811] Oswald is not known to have
received a check for this amount from any source.
On Friday, November 1, Oswald did cash a Texas Unemployment Commission
check for $33 at another supermarket in Irving,[C6-812] so that a
possible explanation of Hutchison’s testimony is that he refused to
cash this $33 check for Oswald and is simply in error as to the amount
of the instrument. However, since the check cashed at the supermarket
was issued by the State comptroller of Texas, it is not likely that
Hutchison could have confused it with a personal check.
Examination of Hutchison’s testimony indicates that a more likely
explanation is that Oswald was not in his store at all. Hutchison
testified that the man who attempted to cash the check was a customer
in his store on previous occasions; in particular, Hutchison recalled
that the man, accompanied by a woman he believes was Marina Oswald and
an elderly woman, were shopping in his store in October or November
of 1963 on a night he feels certain was a Wednesday evening.[C6-813]
Oswald, however, is not known to have been in Irving on any Wednesday
evening during this period.[C6-814] Neither of the two checkers at
the market recall such a visit by a person matching the description
provided by Hutchison, and both Marina Oswald and Marguerite Oswald
deny that they were ever in Hutchison’s store.[C6-815] Hutchison
further stated that the man made irregular calls at his grocery between
7:20 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. on weekday mornings, and always purchased
cinnamon rolls and a full gallon of milk.[C6-816] However, the evidence
indicates that except for rare occasions Oswald was in Irving only on
weekends; moreover, Buell Wesley Frazier, who drove Oswald to and from
Irving on these occasions, testified that on Monday mornings he picked
Oswald up at a point which is many blocks from Hutchison’s store and
ordinarily by 7:20 a.m.[C6-817] Hutchison also testified that Ruth
Paine was an occasional customer in his store;[C6-818] however, Mrs.
Paine indicated that she was not in the store as often as Hutchison
testified;[C6-819] and her appearance is dissimilar to the description
of the woman Hutchison stated was Mrs. Paine.[C6-820] In light of the
strong reasons for doubting the correctness of Hutchison’s testimony
and the absence of any other sign that Oswald ever possessed a personal
check for $189, the Commission was unable to conclude that he ever
received such a check.
The Commission has also examined a report that, not long before the
assassination, Oswald may have received unaccounted funds through money
orders sent to him in Dallas. Five days after the assassination, C.A.
Hamblen, early night manager for the Western Union Telegraph Co. in
Dallas, told his superior that about 2 weeks earlier he remembered
Oswald sending a telegram from the office to Washington, D.C., possibly
to the Secretary of the Navy, and that the application was completed
in an unusual form of hand printing.[C6-821] The next day Hamblen
told a magazine correspondent who was in the Western Union office on
other business that he remembered seeing Oswald in the office on prior
occasions collecting money orders for small amounts of money.[C6-822]
Soon thereafter Hamblen signed a statement relating to both the
telegram and the money orders, and specifying two instances in which
he had seen the person he believed to be Oswald in the office; in each
instance the man had behaved disagreeably and one other Western Union
employee had become involved in assisting him.[C6-823]
During his testimony, Hamblen did not recall with clarity the
statements he had previously made, and was unable to state whether
the person he reportedly had seen in the Western Union office was or
was not Lee Harvey Oswald.[C6-824] Investigation has disclosed that
a second employee does recall one of the occurrences described by
Hamblen, and believes that the money order in question was delivered
“to someone at the YMCA”; however, he is unable to state whether or
not the man involved was Oswald.[C6-825] The employee referred to by
Hamblen in connection with the second incident feels certain that the
unusual episode described by Hamblen did not occur, and that she at no
time observed Oswald in the Western Union office.[C6-826]
At the request of Federal investigators, officers of Western Union
conducted a complete search of their records in Dallas and in other
cities, for the period from June through November 1963, for money
orders payable to Lee Harvey Oswald or his known aliases and for
telegrams sent by Oswald or his known aliases. In addition, all money
orders addressed to persons at the YMCA in Dallas during October
and November 1963 were inspected, and all telegrams handled from
November 1 through November 22 by the employee who Hamblen assertedly
saw service Oswald were examined, as were all telegrams sent from
Dallas to Washington during November. No indication of any such money
order or telegram was found in any of these records.[C6-827] Hamblen
himself participated in this search, and was “unable * * * to pin down
any of these telegrams or money orders that would indicate it was
Oswald.”[C6-828] Hamblen’s superiors have concluded “that this whole
thing was a figment of Mr. Hamblen’s imagination,”[C6-829] and the
Commission accepts this assessment.
POSSIBLE CONSPIRACY INVOLVING JACK RUBY
Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald at 11:21 a.m., on Sunday, November
24, 1963, shortly after Ruby entered the basement of the Dallas Police
Department. Almost immediately, speculation arose that Ruby had acted
on behalf of members of a conspiracy who had planned the killing of
President Kennedy and wanted to silence Oswald. This section of chapter
VI sets forth the Commission’s investigation into the possibility
that Ruby, together with Oswald or with others, conspired to kill the
President, or that Ruby, though not part of any such conspiracy, had
accomplices in the slaying of Oswald. Presented first are the results
of the Commission’s detailed inquiry into Ruby’s actions from November
21 to November 24. In addition, this section analyzes the numerous
rumors and suspicions that Ruby and Oswald were acquainted and examines
Ruby’s background and associations for evidence of any conspiratorial
relationship or motive. A detailed life of Ruby is given in appendix
XVI which provides supplemental information about Ruby and his
associations.
Ruby’s Activities From November 21 to November 24, 1963
The Commission has attempted to reconstruct as precisely as possible
the movements of Jack Ruby during the period November 21-November 24,
1963. It has done so on the premise that, if Jack Ruby were involved
in a conspiracy, his activities and associations during this period
would, in some way, have reflected the conspiratorial relationship.
The Commission has not attempted to determine the time at which Ruby
first decided to make his attack on Lee Harvey Oswald, nor does it
purport to evaluate the psychiatric and related legal questions which
have arisen from the assault upon Oswald. Ruby’s activities during
this 3-day period have been scrutinized, however, for the insight they
provide into whether the shooting of Oswald was grounded in any form of
conspiracy.
_The eve of the President’s visit._--On Thursday, November 21, Jack
Ruby was attending to his usual duties as the proprietor of two
Dallas night spots--the Carousel Club, a downtown nightclub featuring
striptease dancers, and the Vegas Club, a rock-and-roll establishment
in the Oaklawn section of Dallas. Both clubs opened for business each
day in the early evening and continued 7 days a week until after
midnight.[C6-830] Ruby arrived at the Carousel Club at about 3 p.m.
Thursday afternoon, as was his custom,[C6-831] and remained long
enough to chat with a friend and receive messages from Larry Crafard,
a handyman and helper who lived at the Carousel.[C6-832] Earlier in
the day Ruby had visited with a young lady who was job hunting in
Dallas,[C6-833] paid his rent for the Carousel premises,[C6-834]
conferred about a peace bond he had been obliged to post as a result
of a fight with one of his striptease dancers,[C6-835] consulted
with an attorney about problems he was having with Federal tax
authorities,[C6-836] distributed membership cards for the Carousel
Club,[C6-837] talked with Dallas County Assistant District Attorney
William F. Alexander about insufficient fund checks which a friend had
passed,[C6-838] and submitted advertising copy for his nightclubs to
the Dallas Morning News.[C6-839]
Ruby’s evening activities on Thursday, November 21, were a combination
of business and pleasure. At approximately 7:30 p.m., he drove Larry
Crafard to the Vegas Club which Crafard was overseeing because Ruby’s
sister, Eva Grant, who normally managed the club, was convalescing
from a recent illness.[C6-840] Thereafter, Ruby returned to the
Carousel Club and conversed for about an hour with Lawrence Meyers,
a Chicago businessman.[C6-841] Between 9:45 and 10:45 p.m., Ruby had
dinner with Ralph Paul, his close friend and financial backer. While
dining Ruby spoke briefly with a Dallas Morning News employee, Don
Campbell, who suggested that they go to the Castaway Club, but Ruby
declined.[C6-842] Thereafter, Ruby returned to the Carousel Club where
he acted as master of ceremonies for his show and peacefully ejected an
unruly patron.[C6-843] At about midnight Ruby rejoined Meyers at the
Bon Vivant Room of the Dallas Cabana where they met Meyers’ brother
and sister-in-law.[C6-844] Neither Ralph Paul nor Lawrence Meyers
recalled that Ruby mentioned the President’s trip to Dallas.[C6-845]
Leaving Meyers at the Cabana after a brief visit, Ruby returned to
close the Carousel Club and obtain the night’s receipts.[C6-846] He
then went to the Vegas Club which he helped Larry Crafard close for the
night;[C6-847] and, as late as 2:30 a.m., Ruby was seen eating at a
restaurant near the Vegas Club.[C6-848]
_Friday morning at the Dallas Morning News._--Jack Ruby learned of the
shooting of President Kennedy while in the second-floor advertising
offices of the Dallas Morning News, five blocks from the Texas School
Book Depository, where he had come Friday morning to place regular
weekend advertisements for his two nightclubs.[C6-849] On arriving at
the newspaper building at about 11 or 11:30 a.m., he talked briefly
with two newspaper employees concerning some diet pills he had
recommended to them.[C6-850] Ruby then went to the office of Morning
News columnist, Tony Zoppi, where he states he obtained a brochure
on his new master of ceremonies that he wanted to use in preparing
copy for his advertisements.[C6-851] Proceeding to the advertising
department, he spoke with advertising employee Don Campbell from
about noon until 12:25 p.m. when Campbell left the office.[C6-852] In
addition to the business at hand, much of the conversation concerned
Ruby’s unhappiness over the financial condition of his clubs and
his professed ability to handle the physical fights which arose in
connection with the clubs.[C6-853] According to Campbell, Ruby did
not mention the Presidential motorcade nor did he display any unusual
behavior.[C6-854]
About 10 minutes after the President had been shot but before word had
spread to the second floor, John Newnam, an advertising department
employee, observed Ruby sitting at the same spot where Campbell had
left him. At that time Ruby had completed the advertisement, which
he had apparently begun to compose when Campbell departed, and was
reading a newspaper.[C6-855] To Newnam, Ruby voiced criticism of the
black-bordered advertisement entitled “Welcome, Mr. Kennedy” appearing
in the morning paper and bearing the name of Bernard Weissman as the
chairman of the committee sponsoring the advertisement.[C6-856] (See
Commission Exhibit No. 1031, p. 294.) According to Eva Grant, Ruby’s
sister, he had telephoned her earlier in the morning to call her
attention to the ad.[C6-857] At about 12:45 p.m., an employee entered
the office and announced that shots had been fired at the President.
Newnam remembered that Ruby responded with a look of “stunned
disbelief.”[C6-858]
Shortly afterward, according to Newnam, “confusion reigned” in
the office as advertisers telephoned to cancel advertising they
had placed for the weekend.[C6-859] Ruby appears to have believed
that some of those cancellations were motivated by the Weissman
advertisement.[C6-860] After Newnam accepted a few telephone calls,
he and Ruby walked toward a room where other persons were watching
television.[C6-861] One of the newspaper employees recalled that Ruby
then appeared “obviously shaken, and an ashen color--just very pale * *
*”[C6-862] showed little disposition to converse,[C6-863] and sat for a
while with a dazed expression in his eyes.[C6-864]
After a few minutes, Ruby placed telephone calls to Andrew Armstrong,
his assistant at the Carousel Club, and to his sister, Mrs. Grant. He
told Armstrong, “If anything happens we are going to close the club”
and said he would see him in about 30 minutes.[C6-865] During the call
to his sister, Ruby again referred to the Weissman advertisement;
at one point he put the telephone to Newnam’s ear, and Newnam heard
Mrs. Grant exclaim, “My God, what do they want?” It was Newnam’s
recollection that Ruby tried to calm her.[C6-866]
Ruby testified that after calling his sister he said, “John, I will
have to leave Dallas.”[C6-867] Ruby explained to the Commission:
I don’t know why I said that, but it is a funny reaction that
you feel; the city is terribly let down by the tragedy that
happened. And I said, “John, I am not opening up tonight.”
And I don’t know what else transpired. I know people were just
heartbroken * * *.
I left the building and I went down and I got in my car and I
couldn’t stop crying. * * * [C6-868]
Newnam estimated that Ruby departed from the Morning News at about
1:30 p.m., but other testimony indicated that Ruby may have left
earlier.[C6-869]
_Ruby’s alleged visit to Parkland Hospital._--The Commission has
investigated claims that Jack Ruby was at Parkland Hospital at about
1:30 p.m., when a Presidential press secretary, Malcolm Kilduff,
announced that President Kennedy was dead. Seth Kantor, a newspaperman
who had previously met Ruby in Dallas, reported and later testified
that Jack Ruby stopped him momentarily inside the main entrance to
Parkland Hospital some time between 1:30 and 2 p.m., Friday, November
22, 1963.[C6-870] The only other person besides Kantor who recalled
seeing Ruby at the hospital did not make known her observation until
April 1964, had never seen Ruby before, allegedly saw him only briefly
then, had an obstructed view, and was uncertain of the time.[C6-871]
Ruby has firmly denied going to Parkland and has stated that he went to
the Carousel Club upon leaving the Morning News.[C6-872] Video tapes of
the scene at Parkland do not show Ruby there, although Kantor can be
seen.[C6-873]
Investigation has limited the period during which Kantor could have
met Ruby at Parkland Hospital on Friday to a few minutes before and
after 1:30 p.m. Telephone company records and the testimony of Andrew
Armstrong established that Ruby arrived at the Carousel Club no later
than 1:45 p.m. and probably a few minutes earlier.[C6-874] Kantor was
engaged in a long-distance telephone call to his Washington office
from 1:02 p.m. until 1:27 p.m.[C6-875] Kantor testified that, after
completing that call, he immediately left the building from which he
had been telephoning, traveled perhaps 100 yards, and entered the main
entrance of the hospital. It was there, as he walked through a small
doorway, that he believed he saw Jack Ruby, who, Kantor said, tugged at
his coattails and asked, “Should I close my places for the next three
nights, do you think?” Kantor recalled that he turned briefly to Ruby
and proceeded to the press conference at which the President’s death
was announced. Kantor was certain he encountered Ruby at Parkland but
had doubts about the exact time and place.[C6-876]
Kantor probably did not see Ruby at Parkland Hospital in the few
minutes before or after 1:30 p.m., the only time it would have been
possible for Kantor to have done so. If Ruby immediately returned to
the Carousel Club after Kantor saw him, it would have been necessary
for him to have covered the distance from Parkland in approximately 10
or 15 minutes in order to have arrived at the club before 1:45 p.m.,
when a telephone call was placed at Ruby’s request to his entertainer,
Karen Bennett Carlin.[C6-877] At a normal driving speed under normal
conditions the trip can be made in 9 or 10 minutes.[C6-878] However, it
is likely that congested traffic conditions on November 22 would have
extended the driving time.[C6-879] Even if Ruby had been able to drive
from Parkland to the Carousel in 15 minutes, his presence at the Dallas
Morning News until after 1 p.m., and at the Carousel prior to 1:45
p.m., would have made his visit at Parkland exceedingly brief. Since
Ruby was observed at the Dallas Police Department during a 2 hour
period after 11 p.m. on Friday,[C6-880] when Kantor was also present,
and since Kantor did not remember seeing Ruby there,[C6-881] Kantor
may have been mistaken about both the time and the place that he saw
Ruby. When seeing Ruby, Kantor was preoccupied with the important event
that a press conference represented. Both Ruby and Kantor were present
at another important event, a press conference held about midnight,
November 22, in the assembly room of the Dallas Police Department. It
is conceivable that Kantor’s encounter with Ruby occurred at that time,
perhaps near the small doorway there.[C6-882]
_Ruby’s decision to close his clubs._--Upon arriving at the Carousel
Club shortly before 1:45 p.m., Ruby instructed Andrew Armstrong, the
Carousel’s bartender, to notify employees that the club would be
closed that night.[C6-883] During much of the next hour Ruby talked
by telephone to several persons who were or had been especially close
to him, and the remainder of the time he watched television and spoke
with Armstrong and Larry Crafard about the assassination.[C6-884] At
1:51 p.m., Ruby telephoned Ralph Paul in Arlington, Tex., to say that
he was going to close his clubs. He urged Paul to do likewise with his
drive-in restaurant.[C6-885] Unable to reach Alice Nichols, a former
girl friend, who was at lunch, Ruby telephoned his sister, Eileen
Kaminsky, in Chicago.[C6-886] Mrs. Kaminsky described her brother as
completely unnerved and crying about President Kennedy’s death.[C6-887]
To Mrs. Nichols, whose return call caused Ruby to cut short his
conversation with Mrs. Kaminsky, Ruby expressed shock over the
assassination.[C6-888] Although Mrs. Nichols had dated Ruby for nearly
11 years, she was surprised to hear from him on November 22 since they
had not seen one another socially for some time.[C6-889] Thereafter,
Ruby telephoned at 2:37 p.m. to Alex Gruber, a boyhood friend from
Chicago who was living in Los Angeles.[C6-890] Gruber recalled that in
their 3-minute conversation Ruby talked about a dog he had promised to
send Gruber, a carwash business Gruber had considered starting, and the
assassination.[C6-891] Ruby apparently lost his self-control during the
conversation and terminated it.[C6-892] However, 2 minutes after that
call ended, Ruby telephoned again to Ralph Paul.[C6-893]
Upon leaving the Carousel Club at about 3:15 p.m., Ruby drove to Eva
Grant’s home but left soon after he arrived, to obtain some weekend
food for his sister and himself.[C6-894] He first returned to the
Carousel Club and directed Larry Crafard to prepare a sign indicating
that the club would be closed; however, Ruby instructed Crafard not
to post the sign until later in the evening to avoid informing his
competitors that he would be closed.[C6-895] (See Commission Exhibit
2427, p. 339.) Before leaving the club, Ruby telephoned Mrs. Grant who
reminded him to purchase food.[C6-896] As a result he went to the Ritz
Delicatessen, about two blocks from the Carousel Club, and bought a
great quantity of cold cuts.[C6-897]
Ruby probably arrived a second time at his sister’s home close to 5:30
p.m. and remained for about 2 hours. He continued his rapid rate of
telephone calls, ate sparingly, became ill, and attempted to get some
rest.[C6-898] While at the apartment, Ruby decided to close his clubs
for 3 days. He testified that after talking to Don Saffran, a columnist
for the Dallas Times-Herald:
I put the receiver down and talked to my sister, and I said,
“Eva, what shall we do?”
And she said, “Jack, let’s close for the 3 days.” She said, “We
don’t have anything anyway, but we owe it to--” (chokes up.)
So I called Don Saffran back immediately and I said, “Don, we
decided to close for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”
And he said, “Okay.”[C6-899]
Ruby then telephoned the Dallas Morning News to cancel his
advertisement and, when unable to do so, he changed his ad to read
that his clubs would be closed for the weekend.[C6-900] Ruby also
telephoned Cecil Hamlin, a friend of many years. Sounding very “broken
up,” he told Hamlin that he had closed the clubs since he thought
most people would not be in the mood to visit them and that he felt
concern for President Kennedy’s “kids.”[C6-901] Thereafter he made two
calls to ascertain when services at Temple Shearith Israel would be
held.[C6-902] He placed a second call to Alice Nichols to tell her of
his intention to attend those services[C6-903] and phoned Larry Crafard
at the Carousel to ask whether he had received any messages.[C6-904]
Eva Grant testified:
When he was leaving, he looked pretty bad. This I remember. I
can’t explain it to you. He looked too broken, a broken man
already. He did make the remark, he said, “I never felt so bad
in my life, even when Ma or Pa died.”
So I said, “Well, Pa was an old man. He was almost 89 years. *
* *”[C6-905]
_Friday evening._--Ruby is uncertain whether he went directly from his
sister’s home to his apartment or possibly first to his club.[C6-906]
At least 5 witnesses recall seeing a man they believe was Ruby on the
third floor of police headquarters at times they have estimated between
6 and 9 p.m.;[C6-907] however, it is not clear that Ruby was present
at the Police and Courts Building before 11 p.m. With respect to three
of the witnesses, it is doubtful that the man observed was Ruby. Two
of those persons had not known Ruby previously and described wearing
apparel which differed both from Ruby’s known dress that night and
from his known wardrobe.[C6-908] The third, who viewed from the rear
the person he believed was Ruby, said the man unsuccessfully attempted
to enter the homicide office.[C6-909] Of the police officers on duty
near homicide at the time of the alleged event, only one remembered
the episode, and he said the man in question definitely was not
Ruby.[C6-910] The remaining witnesses knew or talked with Ruby, and
their testimony leaves little doubt that they did see him on the third
floor at some point on Friday night; however the possibility remains
that they observed Ruby later in the evening, when his presence is
conclusively established.[C6-911] Ruby has denied being at the police
department Friday night before approximately 11:15 p.m.[C6-912]
In any event, Ruby eventually returned to his own apartment before 9
p.m. There he telephoned Ralph Paul but was unable to persuade Paul
to join him at synagogue services.[C6-913] Shortly after 9 p.m., Ruby
called the Chicago home of his oldest brother, Hyman Rubenstein,
and two of his sisters, Marion Carroll and Ann Volpert.[C6-914]
Hyman Rubenstein testified that, during the call, his brother was so
disturbed about the situation in Dallas that he mentioned selling his
business and returning to Chicago.[C6-915] From his apartment, Ruby
drove to Temple Shearith Israel, arriving near the end of a 2-hour
service which had begun at 8 p.m.[C6-916] Rabbi Hillel Silverman, who
greeted him among the crowd leaving the services[C6-917] was surprised
that Ruby, who appeared depressed, mentioned only his sister’s recent
illness and said nothing about the assassination.[C6-918]
[Illustration: (COMMISSION EXHIBIT 2427)
“CLOSED” SIGN POSTED IN THE WINDOW OF THE CAROUSEL CLUB AND RUBY’S
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT ANNOUNCING THAT THE VEGAS AND CAROUSEL CLUBS
WILL BE CLOSED
DALLAS TIMES HERALD SATURDAY, NOV. 23, 1963 PAGE A-13]
Ruby related that, after joining in the postservice
refreshments,[C6-919] he drove by some night clubs, noticing whether
or not they had been closed as his were.[C6-920] He testified that,
as he drove toward town, a radio announcement that the Dallas police
were working overtime prompted the thought that he might bring those at
police headquarters something to eat.[C6-921] At about 10:30 p.m., he
stopped at a delicatessen near the Vegas Club and purchased 8 kosher
sandwiches and 10 soft drinks.[C6-922] From the delicatessen, he called
the police department but was told that the officers had already
eaten.[C6-923] He said he then tried to offer the food to employees
at radio station KLIF but failed in several attempts to obtain the
private night line number to the station.[C6-924] On three occasions
between phone calls, Ruby spoke with a group of students whom he did
not know, lamenting the President’s death, teasing one of the young men
about being too young for his clubs, borrowing their copy of the Dallas
Times Herald to see how his advertisements had been run, and stating
that his clubs were the only ones that had closed because of the
assassination. He also expressed the opinion, as he had earlier in the
day, that the assassination would be harmful to the convention business
in Dallas.[C6-925] Upon leaving the delicatessen with his purchases,
Ruby gave the counterman as a tip a card granting free admission to his
clubs.[C6-926] He drove downtown to the police station where he has
said he hoped to find an employee from KLIF who could give him the “hot
line” phone number for the radio station.[C6-927]
_The third floor of police headquarters._--Ruby is known to have
made his way, by about 11:30 p.m., to the third floor of the Dallas
Police Department where reporters were congregated near the homicide
bureau.[C6-928] Newsman John Rutledge, one of those who may well have
been mistaken as to time, gave the following description of his first
encounter with Ruby at the police station:
I saw Jack and two out-of-state reporters, whom I did not know,
leave the elevator door and proceed toward those television
cameras, to go around the corner where Captain Fritz’s office
was. Jack walked between them. These two out-of-state reporters
had big press cards pinned on their coats, great big red ones,
I think they said “President Kennedy’s Visit to Dallas--Press”,
or something like that. And Jack didn’t have one, but the man
on either side of him did. And they walked pretty rapidly from
the elevator area past the policeman, and Jack was bent over
like this--writing on a piece of paper, and talking to one
of the reporters, and pointing to something on the piece of
paper, he was kind of hunched over.[C6-929]
[Illustration: COMMISSION EXHIBIT NO. 2424
Jack Ruby at press conference in basement assembly room about midnight
November 22, 1963. (Jack Ruby is the individual in the dark suit, back
row, right-hand side, wearing horn-rimmed glasses.)] Detective Augustus
M. Eberhardt, who also recalled that he first saw Ruby earlier in the
evening, said Ruby carried a note pad and professed to be a translator
for the Israeli press. He remembered Ruby’s remarking how unfortunate
the assassination was for the city of Dallas and that it was “hard to
realize that a complete nothing, a zero like that, could kill a man
like President Kennedy * * *.”[C6-930]
Video tapes confirm Ruby’s statement that he was present on the
third floor when Chief Jesse E. Curry and District Attorney Henry M.
Wade announced that Oswald would be shown to the newsmen at a press
conference in the basement.[C6-931] Though he has said his original
purpose was only to locate a KLIF employee, Ruby has stated that while
at the police station he was “carried away with the excitement of
history.”[C6-932] He accompanied the newsmen to the basement to observe
Oswald. His presence at the midnight news conference is established
by television tapes and by at least 12 witnesses.[C6-933] When Oswald
arrived, Ruby, together with a number of newsmen, was standing atop
a table on one side of the room.[C6-934] (See Commission Exhibit No.
2424, p. 341.) Oswald was taken from the room after a brief appearance,
and Ruby remained to hear reporters question District Attorney Wade.
During the press conference, Wade stated that Oswald would probably be
moved to the county jail at the beginning of the next week.[C6-935] In
answer to one question, Wade said that Oswald belonged to the “Free
Cuba Committee.” A few reporters spoke up correcting Wade and among the
voices was that of Jack Ruby.[C6-936]