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

Mr. Oswald. I believe in my car on the way to the cemetery, or returning from the cemetery, to Mr. Martin's house, in Dallas, Tex.

Mr. Jenner. Anyone other than Marina and yourself present?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir.

Mr. Jenner. All right. State the conversation.

Mr. Oswald. If I may fix the date more accurately here, sir; if I could possibly refer to my diary.

I recall this conversation on January 13, 1964, between Marina Oswald and myself in my car, at which time she stated to me——

Mr. Jenner. Excuse me, sir, to what are you now referring to refresh your recollection?

Mr. Oswald. This would be to a followup of the conversation we had in reference to——

Mr. Jenner. Excuse me—the document.

Mr. Oswald. I am referring to my notebook that I have been keeping in various events that have occurred since November 22, 1963.

Mr. Jenner. For the purpose of the record, would you read the first three words and the last three words of the page to which you are making reference?

Mr. Oswald. "Sunday, January 13, 1964. Jim advised that"——

Mr. Jenner. That is on the first line?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. The last line is "told her this story."

Mr. Jenner. All right. Proceed, sir.

Mr. Oswald. We had a discussion——

Mr. McKenzie. Pardon me just a second.

For the sake of the record, let me state this. A copy of this diary has been furnished to the Commission, photostated by the Commission, and Mr. Jenner has it in front of him.

Mr. Jenner. I will qualify it, Mr. Chief Justice. But I didn't want to take Your Honor's time at the moment, because I do want to cover another subject while you are still here.

Proceed, sir.

Mr. Oswald. What prompted my question as to whether or not Lee was ill while he was in Russia was the followup of a conversation that we had in relation to an incident that occurred some time in the year of 1963. I am not able to place the date of that purported incident. I was advised at that time in reference to this incident that on one day, that Lee was going to shoot at or shoot Mr. Richard M. Nixon, that Marina N. Oswald locked Lee Harvey Oswald in the bathroom for the entire day.

At the end of this brief remark in relation to Mr. Nixon, I asked her at that time had Lee been ill or been in the hospital while he was in Russia. And, at this time, she told me yes, that he had, on two occasions, been in the hospital in Russia.

I asked her what was the nature of the illness. My best recollection of that, sir, was that he was having difficulty with his sinus, and that the cold was bothering him somewhat. And I do not recall anything more specific than that in relation to the illness.

Mr. Dulles. Could I ask one question there?

Did Marina say whether this was while they were in Minsk, or she didn't indicate where he was at the time?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir, she did not.

Mr. Dulles. She did not?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; she did not.

Mr. Jenner. Have you now stated and exhausted your recollection of everything she said on that subject of his illness on that particular occasion?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I have.

Mr. Jenner. And you did not pursue the matter any further than you have indicated with her?

Mr. Oswald. Sir, I believe I attempted to, and with her limited knowledge of the English language, we were encountering some difficulties. And I told her perhaps at a later date, or something of that nature, that we could discuss it more fully.

Mr. Jenner. Did you ever pursue it with her on any subsequent occasion?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I have not.

Mr. Jenner. If I may, Mr. Chief Justice, I will return to that illness feature at a later point.

You have an entry in your diary under the date of January 13, 1964——

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir, in reference to Mr. Nixon?

Mr. Jenner. Yes.

Now, you have alluded to Mr. Nixon in testifying with respect to your conversation on the subject of illness with Marina.

Mr. Chief Justice, if I may, I will read the entry on that particular date, and will wish to question the witness about it.

"Sunday, January 13, 1964. Jim advised that Marina told him that Lee wanted to"—and there are a series of five dashes, followed by the letters, "NMR, also, but Marina locked Lee in the bathroom all day. This was confirmed later this day by Marina. On the way to the cemetery."

Is that in your handwriting?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it is.

Mr. Jenner. Would you please supply, if suppliable, what is indicated by the three dashes preceding the letters "NMR" and identify what the letters "NMR" refer to?

Mr. Oswald. If I may, sir, correct you there. There are five dashes there. And the word "shoot" was my intention to leave blank there. And the initials "NMR" stands for Richard M. Nixon in reverse.

Mr. Jenner. I take it, then, that the five dashes were inserted there as a substitute for the word "shoot"?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. And the initials are those of Richard M. Nixon reversed?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Now, would you please state fully when this matter or this incident first came to your attention where and through and by whom?

Mr. Oswald. The first time I was aware of this incident was at Mr. Jim H. Martin's home in Dallas, Tex.

Mr. Jenner. On what day?

Mr. Oswald. On Sunday, January 13, 1964.

Mr. Jenner. What was the occasion for your being there?

Mr. Oswald. To visit with Marina, and to take her to the cemetery.

Mr. Jenner. You entered the home?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Was your wife, Mrs. Oswald, with you?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; she was.

Mr. Jenner. Your children?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; they were.

Mr. Jenner. You entered the home, and who was there?

Mr. Oswald. Mr. and Mrs. James H. Martin, I believe their children were also present, and in the living room of their home there was two Secret Service agents, or one Secret Service agent, and two Dallas police officers.

Mr. Jenner. Are you able to identify any of those four men?

Do you recall any of them at the moment?

Mr. Oswald. I believe, sir, that one of the Secret Service agents, if he was either the only one there, or two of them were there, the one that I do recall, Mr. Bob Jameson or Jimson, of the Dallas office—the U.S. Secret Service office in Dallas.

Mr. Jenner. Now, to what Richard M. Nixon did the initials "NMR" as you have placed them in this note refer?

Mr. Oswald. To the past Vice President of the United States.

Mr. Jenner. Now, proceed to tell us about how the circumstance arose, your first conversation of it, your first notice of it.

Mr. Oswald. I was talking with Mr. Jim Martin about various other matters.

Mr. Jenner. Excuse me, sir. Where were you in talking to Mr. Jim Martin?

Mr. Oswald. I was in the den of his home, sitting on a sofa.

Mr. Jenner. And who was present?

Mr. Oswald. Jim Martin and I were sitting on the sofa, and I believe my wife and his wife were at the end of the den in the kitchen part of it, standing by the sink.

Mr. Jenner. What is the distance between yourselves sitting on the sofa and the others?

Mr. Oswald. I would say approximately 12 or 15 feet, sir.

Mr. Jenner. And was there a doorway, was it open?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; it is an open room.

Mr. Jenner. So you were all in the same room—one section of it you describe as a den?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. And the other section consists of what?

Mr. Oswald. The kitchen, the sink, refrigerator, a washing machine, built-in oven and range.

Mr. Jenner. All right. Proceed.

Mr. Oswald. We discussed other matters. I do not recall what they were. Just talking to him about how Marina was doing and so forth, and any other thing that we might be talking about in general, small talk. And we finally—he finally brought up this question.