President's Commission on the Assassination of - The Warren Commission (Complete Edition)

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. What ever type of playing, shooting, sitting, or otherwise, he always had the pistol, rifle or cap gun in his right hand?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. You said you were using B-B guns. Were there occasions when Lee also occasionally shot a B-B gun rifle?

Mr. Oswald. Not to my knowledge, sir.

Mr. Jenner. I have a recollection that when he was mustered out of the service in September of 1959 he spent two or three days at home in Fort Worth.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. And there was an occasion when you and he and some friends of yours went on a hunting trip.

Mr. Oswald. My brother-in-law.

Mr. Jenner. Or you went squirrel shooting or rabbit shooting.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Just the two of you, or did anybody accompany you?

Mr. Oswald. Three of us.

Mr. Jenner. Did you have a rifle?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. Those I take it were .22's.

Mr. Oswald. All three were .22 caliber, that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Where did you obtain them?

Mr. Oswald. Two of them belonged to me and one of them belonged to my brother-in-law.

Mr. Jenner. Your brother-in-law?

Mr. Oswald. My brother-in-law.

Mr. Jenner. What is his name?

Mr. Oswald. S. R. Mercer, Jr.

Mr. Jenner. What was the occasion of this trip? How did it come about? Did you suggest it, your brother-in-law, Lee or how?

Mr. Oswald. The day that I recall that Lee stayed with us in—between the time he was discharged and the time he was supposed to be leaving for New Orleans was a period of 2 to 3 days. One of those days, I feel sure was a Saturday, either we spent all day out at my in-laws' farm or the afternoon at the farm at which time Lee and I, and my brother-in-law went hunting.

Mr. Dulles. Was this a couple of days before he left for Russia?

Mr. Oswald. This was a couple of days before he left for New Orleans or about 1 day or 2 days before he left for New Orleans.

Mr. Dulles. And then he shipped out?

Mr. Oswald. To locate a job.

Mr. Jenner. On that occasion, that incident, did he have occasion to discharge the .22 caliber rifle he was carrying?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; he did.

Mr. Jenner. Did you see him do so?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. From what shoulder did he, against which shoulder did he place the butt of the gun?

Mr. Oswald. The right shoulder.

Mr. Jenner. And with which hand or fingers of which hand did he pull the trigger and discharge the gun?

Mr. Oswald. The right hand, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Did he exhibit any proficiency in the use of that .22 caliber gun on that occasion?

Mr. Oswald. I would say an average amount.

Mr. Jenner. Hunting rabbits or squirrels with a rifle takes pretty good marksmanship. Did any of you boys bring down a rabbit or squirrel, on the fly, I mean?

Mr. Oswald. As I recall, one small, very small cottontail as he ran across the peanut field, all three of us were shooting at him, and my weapon that I had, one of the weapons that belonged to me, was a semiautomatic 22 and I perhaps had a burst of four or five rounds that I said I got him. But all three of us were shooting at him.

Mr. McKenzie. Did all three of you claim him?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. Was that your only victory on that hunting trip or did someone else shoot down a squirrel or a rabbit?

Mr. Oswald. No squirrels were killed that day and perhaps I believe this was the occasion that we went into what we called a briar patch located off to the left of the farmhouse; at that particular time it was very thick with cottontails, and I believe we exterminated about eight of them at that time between the three of us because it was the type of brush and thorns that didn't grow very high but we were able to see over them, so getting three of us out there it wasn't very hard to kill eight of them.

Mr. Jenner. Now, had you and your brother engaged in this very light form of hunting at any other time during your lifetime?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Would you indicate the frequency of that?

Mr. Oswald. If I recall, only one other occasion that we had been hunting together. This was during a leave that Lee had from the Marine Corps.

Mr. Jenner. During a leave that he had?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. And at which time, if I may correct myself there, another time comes to mind, I recall two times that we had this type of light hunting out there at that farm, at the same place. One time was during a leave that he had from the Marine Corps. I don't recall of any game at that particular time that we shot. I know we did handle the rifle and fired maybe target practice, something along that line. I don't recall of anything.

The second time that I now remember is during his stay after he returned from Russia, during his stay at my home in Fort Worth, that my wife and I and our children took him and his wife and child out to the farm to meet our in-laws, my in-laws, and also to do a little hunting while we was out there, and which we did just a very little bit. I believe this was on a Sunday afternoon and we didn't stay out very long.

Mr. Jenner. What weapons did you use on that occasion?

Mr. Oswald. On that occasion, I believe the same weapons we used before.

Mr. Jenner. Would that be true of all three occasions?

Mr. Oswald. I believe on the first occasion, which was the occasion that Lee came home on leave, that at that time I only owned one .22 rifle.

Mr. Jenner. Was that the semiautomatic?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; it was not the semiautomatic, it was a bolt action rifle, with a clip on it. However, I believe Lee either used my brother-in-law's rifle——

Mr. Jenner. Was that a bolt-action rifle?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it is a bolt-action rifle. He either used that rifle or a single-shot, bolt-action rifle, another .22 that was out at the farm.

Mr. Jenner. On the occasion during which you went hunting during that 3-day period, interregnum his return and his discharge and his departure for New Orleans, was the weapon he employed a bolt-action weapon?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it was.

Mr. Jenner. Is it a fair statement on my part that on all the occasions that you recall hunting with Lee he employed a bolt-action rifle?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. During your youth and prior to these occasions about which you testified, do you know of the fact or know by rumor or otherwise that your brother engaged in this light hunting or other kind of hunting where he used a firearm even though he was not with you or you did not accompany him?

Mr. Oswald. I feel surely that he did, without recalling any particular time that he told me, but his interest along that line was generally like mine, that is hunting and fishing, and I am sure when he had an opportunity to hunt that he did do so.

Mr. Dulles. Did he ever tell you about hunting in Russia?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; he did.

Mr. Jenner. Would you relate that, please, tell us when the conversation took place and the circumstances, if it was a conversation?

Mr. Oswald. The circumstances was it was in a letter I received from him.

Mr. Jenner. Is that one of the letters you produced?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it is.

Mr. Jenner. Did you have any conversation with him in addition to the letter, apart from the letter?

Mr. Oswald. I believe I did along that line because as I stated our interests in hunting and fishing was mutual and he did state that he was able to——

Mr. Jenner. In response to Mr. Dulles' question, would you give the conversation? We will take care of the letter in the morning.

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I am trying to give the conversation.