Marina and Lee
Page 77
8. Testimony of Marilyn Murret, Vol. 8, pp. 172–173.
9. Exhibit No. 408, Vol. 17, pp. 88–91.
10. A number of things may have stimulated Oswald’s interest in Castro, and his wish to travel to Cuba, among them Castro’s own triumphal tour of Russia and several articles in the Militant that he received at about this time. They included an editorial titled “Passport Curb Revived,” April 29, 1963; an unsigned story, “Travel to Cuba Arouses Inquisitors’ Ire,” May 13, 1963; and “HUAC Continues Anti-Cuba Smear,” June 3, 1963.
11. Exhibit No. 986, Vol. 18, pp. 518–519.
12. Testimony of Marina Oswald, Vol. 5, pp. 401–402.
13. Cadigan Exhibits No. 23 and 24, Vol. 19, pp. 296–297.
14. Cadigan Exhibit No. 22, Vol. 19, p. 295.
15. Letter from Leo J. Kerne, director, New Orleans Charity Hospital, to the author, March 15, 1965.
16. So close are southern Louisiana and Mississippi in geography and feeling that New Orleans is often called the southern capital of Mississippi. The closeness was evident that day, for the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Sunday, June 16, ran a huge front-page story on the Evers funeral, which nearly turned into a riot, and the paper also had an editorial denouncing the “senseless violence.”
17. Exhibit No. 1412, Vol. 22, pp. 804–808.
Chapter 28. Castro and Kennedy
1. Testimony of Nelson Delgado, Vol. 8, p. 240.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., pp. 241–242.
4. Ibid., p. 263.
5. Ibid., pp. 243, 255.
6. John Rene Heindell was living in New Orleans during the summer of 1963, but he and Oswald did not see each other (Affidavit of John Rene Heindell, Vol. 8, p. 318).
7. Oswald’s post office box number was 30061. But when he fashioned this stamp, he evidently reversed the two final numbers by mistake, so that both the leaflets and his forged vaccination certificate were printed with the wrong address. On the vaccination certificate, “Hidell” was misspelled “Hideel.” Dyslexia plus Oswald’s state of mind probably produced both errors.
8. Mrs. Kennedy’s pregnancy was announced during the week after Easter, which was on April 14. It was Oswald who told Marina about it. Thus, between Walker and the “Nixon” episodes and in the ten-day period before Oswald left Dallas for New Orleans, he and Marina were looking at photographs of the president and Mrs. Kennedy attending church services in Palm Beach to see if the pregnancy was visible.
9. One picture of the type Marina describes appeared in Time magazine, September 20, 1963. The Oswalds, who subscribed to Time, would have received this issue in the last days before Marina left New Orleans for Dallas. Marina says that she kept leafing through Time, if this was, indeed, this issue, and coming back to the photograph.
10. Exhibit No. 986, Vol. 18, pp. 520–525.
11. Ibid., p. 526.
12. Unpublished Warren Commission Document No. 928, Memorandum dated May 6, 1964, by Richard Helms, deputy director of plans of the CIA, titled “Contacts Between the Oswalds and Soviet Citizens, June 13, 1962, to November 22, 1963,” and dated May 6, 1964.
Chapter 29. Arrest
1. Testimony of Charles Joseph LeBlanc, Vol. 10, p. 214.
2. Exhibit No. 1940, Vol. 23, pp. 734–735.
3. Exhibits No. 1898, Vol. 23, p. 702, and No. 1901, Vol. 23, p. 705; Testimony of Charles Joseph LeBlanc, Vol. 10, pp. 216–217.
4. Testimony of Charles Joseph LeBlanc, Vol. 10, pp. 215 ff.
5. Exhibit Nos. 1933 and 1934, Vol. 23, pp. 727–729; Testimony of Adrian Alba, Vol. 10, pp. 221 ff.
6. Reading these and other passages of the Manchester biography after the assassination, Marina decided that, warped as her husband’s mind was already, Manchester had unwittingly warped it even more. Since the country had lost its president, and she her husband, she was so angry and upset that she refused to grant an interview to Manchester, even though he was then Jacqueline Kennedy’s chosen chronicler of the assassination.
7. V. T. Lee Exhibit No. 4, Vol. 20, pp. 518–521.
8. Testimony of Vincent T. Lee, Vol. 10, pp. 90, 94.
9. The FPCC was neither large nor influential and existed so much on the fringe of American political life that it did not even dare keep a complete file of members. In December 1963 it went out of business altogether.
10. For an incomplete list, see Burcham Exhibit No. 1, Vol. 19, p. 212; Hunley Exhibit Nos. 2, 3, and 5, Vol. 20, pp. 205–211; Rachal Exhibit No. 1, Vol. 21, p. 283; and Exhibit Nos. 1908–1911, Vol. 23, pp. 709–713. Oswald ran a real risk of being caught in the false references he gave and other lies he told on application forms. But he evidently assumed that no one would check up on him, and he gave his fantasy free rein. Thus the paper trail he left behind, including his job applications and unemployment compensation forms, is helpful in any effort to understand his fantasies.
11. Testimony of Lillian Murret, Vol. 8, p. 149.
12. Exhibit Nos. 2648 and 2649, Vol. 25, pp. 919–928.
13. Exhibit No. 1145, Vol. 22, pp. 166–167.
14. V. T. Lee Exhibit No. 5, Vol. 20, pp. 524–525.
15. Testimony of Carlos Bringuier, Vol. 10, pp. 32–51; Testimony of Philip Geraci III, Vol. 10, pp. 74–81; and Testimony of Vance Blalock, Vol. 10, pp. 81–86.
16. Testimony of Francis L. Martello, Vol. 10, pp. 51–62.
17. Testimony of John Lester Quigley, Vol. 4, pp. 431–440; Quigley’s report on the interview is part of Exhibit No. 826 and appears in Vol. 17, 758–762.
Chapter 30. “You Understand Me”
1. In a document that was apparently written in February or March 1963, before the Walker attempt, Oswald wrote: “The Communist Party of the United States has betrayed itself!” He criticized the party as “willing, gullible messengers” of the Kremlin, “in servile conformity to the wishes of the Soviet Union” (Warren Commission Document No. 97, Vol. 16, pp. 422–430). His anger and contempt had now given way to other feelings, and he was still trying to strengthen his links to the party on the very last night of his life.
2. In his August 17, 1963, “Latin Listening Post” interview with William K. Stuckey, Oswald said that he had telephoned the city editor of the New Orleans Times Picayune-States Item before his demonstration of August 9, and had gone in person to the city room at 2:00 P.M. after the Trade Mart demonstration of August 16, and both times asked the paper to run stories about the demonstrations. Oswald claimed that both times he was refused on the grounds that the paper was unsympathetic to the FPCC (Stuckey Exhibit No. 2, Vol. 21, p. 626).
3. The transcript appears as Stuckey Exhibit No. 2, Vol. 21, pp. 621–632.
4. Letter from William K. Stuckey to the author, January 24, 1976.
5. Testimony of William K. Stuckey, Vol. 11, p. 166.
6. Ibid., p. 165; and letter from William Stuckey to the author, April 16, 1976.
7. Letter from Stuckey to the author, January 24, 1976. The FBI’s contact with Stuckey at this stage, while alluded to in Stuckey’s testimony, does not appear in FBI reports on its surveillance of Oswald in New Orleans as published in the twenty-six Warren Commission volumes. Warren Commission Exhibit No. 826, a report filed by Special Agent Milton R. Kaack in October 1963, which summarizes most of Oswald’s political activities in New Orleans, states erroneously that Stuckey’s first contact with the FBI on the subject of Oswald did not occur until August 30, 1963. It is possible that Kaack’s superior did not tell him of the contact with Stuckey, and thus it failed to appear in the file on Oswald in New Orleans.
8. Testimony of Carlos Bringuier, Vol. 10, p. 42.
9. Letter from Stuckey to the author, January 24, 1976. Butler, in a strange omission, was never called as a witness before the Warren Commission nor asked to give a deposition.
10. Testimony of William K. Stuckey, Vol. 11, p. 171.
11. Ibid., p. 175.
12. Testimony of Charles F. Murret, Vol. 8, p. 187.
13. Exhibit No. 1145, Vol. 22, pp. 168–169. The l
etter raises an intriguing question. For once, Oswald had been caught in a misrepresentation, and for the moment, at least, he showed himself chastened and willing to change course. If he had been caught oftener in his lies, or if he had suffered a good scare after his attempt on General Walker, his armor of omnipotence might have suffered a dent or two, and the magic circle of invulnerability of which he believed himself the center might have been punctured briefly. If so, would this have restrained him in the future?
14. Johnson Exhibit No. 4A, Vol. 20, p. 265.
15. Exhibit No. 1404, Vol. 22, p. 787; and conversations with the author.
Chapter 31. Parting
1. See, for example, remarks by Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Eames in Exhibit No. 1154, Vol. 22, p. 191.
2. Exhibit No. 1915, Vol. 23, p. 715.
3. Testimony of Mrs. Jesse Garner, Vol. 10, p. 268.
4. Many questions have been raised about Oswald’s dry-firing in New Orleans, since it was the only time between the attempt on Walker in April and the shooting of Kennedy in November that he is known to have handled his rifle. One question is whether he pulled the trigger rapidly and at high speed. Marina believes the answer is no. She recalls a considerable interval between clicking sounds. Another question is whether he took the metal barrel and wooden stock apart when he cleaned the rifle. Marina does not remember. She remembers that he oiled and polished the rifle often and put it back in the closet, but she so disliked the sight of it that she watched as little as she could. Another question is whether he had a bench or some other sturdy rest to which he could clamp the rifle as he sighted it. Again, the answer is no. Marina remembers the porch as unfurnished. She thinks there was nothing on which he could have rested the gun. It might be added that, so far as is known, Oswald was then practicing to fight for Castro, not preparing for a particular murder.
5. Exhibit No. 410, Vol. 17, p. 103.
6. Testimony of Michael R. Paine, Vol. 2, p. 423.
7. Exhibit No. 421, Vol. 17, pp. 136–139; also Exhibit No. 1145, Vol. 22, pp. 169–170.
8. Exhibit No. 1145, Vol. 22, pp. 169–170.
9. Dobbs Exhibit No. 10, Vol. 19, p. 577.
10. Exhibit No. 1145, Vol. 22, p. 170.
11. Exhibit No. 93, Vol. 16, pp. 337–346.
12. In the Hearings of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights, Sessions One and Two on FBI Oversight, held on October 21, 1975, and December 11 and 12, 1975 (Serial No. 2, Part 3), it became apparent that the FBI had no regular mail cover on Oswald following his return to the United States. It therefore had no idea of the extent of his contacts either with the Soviet embassy or with domestic organizations on the left.
13. Testimony of Marilyn Murret, Vol. 8, p. 174.
14. Testimony of Charles F. Murret, Vol. 8, p. 187; Testimony of Lillian Murret, ibid., p. 146.
15. Conversation with Ruth Paine, September 11, 1964.
16. Testimony of Michael R. Paine, Vol. 2, pp. 414–418, and Vol. 9, pp. 436–444.
Chapter 32. A New Disappointment
1. The controversy arises from a statement by a woman named Sylvia Odio that a man resembling Oswald, and using the name “Leon Oswald,” visited her in Dallas on the evening of Wednesday, September 25, in the company of two anti-Castro Cubans to discuss a plot to kill President Kennedy. Her statements were taken seriously by some staff lawyers for the Warren Commission and checked extensively during the Commission’s investigations and later by conspiracy theorists. The Warren Commission found no corroboration for her story. Moreover, had Oswald had any reason to be in Dallas in September 25, he could have driven there with Ruth and Marina, kept his appointment, and gone to Mexico City by bus from Dallas instead of New Orleans.
2. Warren Commission Report, Vol. 10, pp. 276–277.
3. Mrs. Twiford remembers that she received the call sometime between 7:00 and 10:00 P.M. on the evening of the 25th, and she assumes that it was a local call. Her recollection could be in error, for Oswald probably did not arrive in Houston until nearly 11:00 P.M. that evening. Or he may have made the call about 8:10 P.M. from Beaumont, Texas, a stop en route to Houston from New Orleans. There is no evidence that Oswald traveled by air either to or from Houston. (Sources include, besides the 1963 bus schedules, Affidavits of Horace Elroy Twiford and Mrs. Estelle Twiford, Vol. 11, pp. 179–180; letters to the author from Edward L. Ramsdell, assistant traffic manager of Continental Trailways in Boston, Massachusetts, January 13 and 16, 1976; letter to the author from Harold E. Donovan, public relations supervisor, New England Telephone Co., January 23, 1976; and conversation with Ms. Sandra Young, Public Relations Department, Southwestern Bell, Houston, Texas, January 16, 1976.) Oswald had told Ruth Paine that he had a contact who might help him find a job in Houston. Like most of his lies, this had a germ of truth in it. He did have a Houston contact, Twiford, but it was a political contact and had nothing to do with a job.
4. Affidavit of Dr. and Mrs. John B. McFarland, Vol. 11, pp. 214–215.
5. Testimony of Pamela Mumford, Vol. 11, pp. 215–224; Exhibit No. 2194, Vol. 25, pp. 20–24; and Warren Commission Document No. 78, p.6.
6. Warren Commission Document No. 963, p. 13. The document appears to have been declassified November 5, 1973.
7. The account of Oswald’s relations with the Soviet and Cuban embassies is drawn from the following sources: Warren Commission Report, pp. 733–736; Exhibit No. 2464, Vol. 25, pp. 636–637; Warren Commission Document No. 994, dated May 28, 1964, with appended translation, pp. 5–7; Warren Commission Document No. 651, March 11, 1964, declassified October 2, 1975, p. 30; Warren Commission Document No. 426, February 21, 1964, declassified January 14, 1971, p. 4; 111-page Memo to J. Lee Rankin from William T. Coleman Jr., and W. David Slawson, February 14, 1964, entitled “Oswald’s Foreign Activities: Summary of Evidence Which Might Be Said to Show that There Was Foreign Involvement in the Assassination of President Kennedy,” declassified March 13, 1975, pp. 91–96.
8. On August 27, 1964, I was present when Marina came across several items of Oswald’s which had not been previously confiscated. They included a portion of his return bus ticket; a booklet called “This Week—Esta Semana,” a schedule of events for the week September 28–October 4 in Mexico City; and a folding guide map of the city, which included an enlarged map of the downtown area. Oswald had marked several sites on the downtown map: the bus terminals at which he arrived and from which he departed; his hotel; a travel agency; the Cuban and Soviet diplomatic establishments; the Plaza Mexico bullfight arena; and the Palace of Fine Arts. On the index beside the map he had also marked several places of historical interest, a theater, and the Anthropology and Natural History museums (Exhibits No. 1400, Vol. 22, p. 739, No. 3073, Vol. 26, pp. 667–676, and Nos. 2488–2489, Vol. 25, pp. 689–706). And on the booklet, “Esta Semana,” he had written his own name in full, both in Latin and Cyrillic, and had added a doodle, which proved on close inspection to be a tiny, fancy, old-fashioned-looking dagger, drawn very carefully in ink.
9. According to the Soviet defector Yury Nosenko, a decision was made by the KGB in Moscow to deny Oswald a reentry visa.
10. Exhibit No. 2460, Vol. 25, pp. 618–619; Warren Commission Document No. 872 (declassified November 3, 1970), pp. 4–8.
11. Exhibit No. 2541, Vol. 25, pp. 768–769.
12. Warren Commission Report, p. 737.
13. Affidavit of Theodore Frank Gangl, Vol. 11, pp. 478–479, and Gangl Exhibit No. 1, Vol. 20, p. 3. On this job application, October 4, and on another, October 10, Oswald gave the name of George de Mohrenschildt as a reference.
14. Testimony of Mary E. Bledsoe, Vol. 6, pp. 400–406.
15. Conversation with Ruth Paine, November 23, 1964.
16. Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine, Vol. 2, p. 509.
17. Conversation with Ruth Paine, September 11, 1964.
18. Testimony of Michael R. Paine, Vol. 2, p. 422.
19. Conversation with Ruth Paine, July 11, 1964.
&nb
sp; 20. Testimony of Roy Sansom Truly, Vol. 3, pp. 213, 214. Ironically, on October 15, the Texas Employment Commission got a call for twelve to fourteen baggage handlers from Trans Texas Airways at Love Field. The job was permanent and paid $310 a month, $100 more than Oswald would earn at the depository. Oswald was considered a good prospect, and the employment commission called him at the Paine house two days running, October 15 and 16. The second time, the person answering the telephone said that he had a job, and he was crossed off the list. (Affidavit of Robert L. Adams, Vol. 11, pp. 480–481.) Students of the assassination have noted that if Oswald had been considering killing the president as early as mid-October, this is the job he would have taken, since the one thing sure about the president’s itinerary at that date was that he would be landing and leaving at Love Field. I agree that Oswald was not thinking about killing the president at this time but doubt that his failure to try for this job is evidence. I do not know who happened to answer the telephone at the Paine house—a neighbor or a babysitter, perhaps, certainly someone who failed to inquire about the salary and apparently did not take any message—and therefore I cannot say how Lee missed this opportunity at a higher-paying job. The affidavit of Robert L. Adams, the employment officer who called the house, makes clear that Oswald was crossed off the list for the Trans Texas job on October 17, his second day of work at the depository, and it appears that he never received any message about the employment office call. If he had, and had followed up on the Trans Texas job, it seems likely that he would have considered it even though he liked the job he had, because it paid $100 more a month and was permanent, not temporary. (Asked about the job in her testimony, Vol. 9, pp. 389–390, Ruth Paine did not know about it.)
21. Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine, Vol. 3, pp. 39–40.
22. Ibid., p. 40.
23. Audrey Hepburn, who played the role of Natasha in the Italian-American film version of War and Peace, one of Marina’s favorite films, was in private life married to Mel Ferrer, who played her betrothed, Prince Andrei, in the same film. Marina thought Ferrer bore a resemblance to her former suitor, Anatoly, in Minsk, and to President Kennedy.