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

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. And of whom did you make that request?

First I would put it this way: Did you see Lee Harvey Oswald on that day or evening?

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

Mr. Jenner. But you did make a request? Of whom did you make that request?

Mr. Oswald. To a police officer. I cannot recall his name. He reportedly passed on my request to captain of police, Captain Fritz.

Mr. Jenner. And what was his response?

Mr. Oswald. The police officer who passed on my request asked that I stay around, that Captain Fritz was quite busy, that he would see me later.

Mr. Jenner. And did you see Captain Fritz later?

Mr. Oswald. I did see him, but I did not talk to him. By this, I mean he was in his glass office, within an office, and I did see him through the glass, but I did not talk to Captain Fritz.

Mr. Jenner. What was the disposition of your—at least as of that day—of your request to see your brother?

Mr. Oswald. None, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Not decided either way?

Mr. Oswald. I never did receive an answer either way, sir.

Mr. Jenner. I see.

And you eventually left the police station, did you?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. You record on page 7 that you walked to your automobile, do you not?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I do.

Mr. Jenner. Now, would you trace your course from the time you left the Dallas City police office to the time you retired that evening?

Mr. Oswald. You are referring to the time that I first left the Dallas police office?

Mr. Jenner. Yes—start there, and trace your steps to the time you retired for the evening.

Mr. Oswald. Well, my departure of the Dallas police office—I walked to my car that was in a parking lot approximately seven blocks away.

Mr. Jenner. About what time of day or evening was this?

Mr. Oswald. To the best of my recollection, approximately 8 o'clock at night, sir.

Mr. Jenner. All right, sir. When you left the Dallas police office or station, did you then have a definite route in mind as to where you were going?

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

Mr. Jenner. You had no arrangements with anybody, and no one had any with you, with respect to where you might or could go?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. All right. Proceed, please.

Mr. Oswald. On arrival at my car in the parking lot in Dallas, Tex., I started to drive, I did drive to Fort Worth, Tex., by Highway 80.

Mr. Jenner. You were then—you then had in mind doing what—returning home?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; that was not the direction of home, sir. I did not have anything in mind other than I wanted to drive and to arrange my thoughts at that particular time.

Mr. Jenner. All right.

Now, you do say, and I quote from your memorandum, "I was attempting to arrange my thoughts and my fears."

Do you find that expression on page 7?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Now, would you please explain to the Commission what was meant when you recorded the sentence, "I was attempting to arrange my thoughts and my fears"?

Mr. Oswald. What I meant by that statement, sir—not being disrespectful—I believe it speaks for itself in view of the happenings of the day. To further elaborate on that, I wanted to have some time by myself to think about the happenings of the day and the arrest of my brother, Lee Harvey Oswald, and the reference to my fears, whether or not he could have possibly done this. He had been up to that time either accused or arrested for the death of Police Officer J. D. Tippit, and the investigation that was now going on in Dallas as to the death of the President of the United States and the wounding of Governor Connally, of Texas.

Mr. Jenner. All right. You were then driving in your automobile.

Did you actually reach Fort Worth?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. And then what did you do?

Mr. Oswald. After driving through Fort Worth, to the west side of Fort Worth, I turned around and headed back toward Dallas.

Mr. Jenner. Excuse me. Up to this point it was continuous driving, except as you might have been resting or waiting a change of stoplight or something of that character?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Did anybody contact you, or did you speak with anybody during the period of this drive up to the moment we now have reached?

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

Mr. Jenner. All right, sir. You reversed your course and then where did you go?

Mr. Oswald. When I reversed my course, I still did not have any idea as to exactly where I was going. But I did reverse my course, and I started driving on the turnpike between Fort Worth and Dallas.

Mr. Jenner. Does that have a highway number?

I notice you mentioned a Highway 80.

Is that the same as the turnpike?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; it is not.

Mr. Jenner. Would you explain that, please?

Mr. Oswald. Highway 80 is on the old highway from Fort Worth to Dallas, the turnpike being a later and more modern trafficway.

Mr. McKenzie. And a toll road.

Mr. Oswald. And a toll road.

Mr. Jenner. Did you take Highway 80 in going to Fort Worth?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. But you returned by the toll road?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. All right, sir.

I take it you continued your drive—continued to drive along, while you were attempting to rearrange your thoughts.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And you eventually arrived where?

Mr. Oswald. At Dallas, Tex., sir.

Mr. Jenner. Did you become a guest of a hotel; did you register anywhere?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir, I did.

Mr. Jenner. Where?

Mr. Oswald. At the Statler Hilton Hotel.

Mr. Jenner. In Dallas?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Now, up to that moment, having in mind your route, had anybody contacted you, had you spoken with anybody? Up to the time that you entered the Statler Hilton Hotel to register?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I had spoken to somebody.

Mr. Jenner. Who was that?

Mr. Oswald. A gas station attendant midway on the turnpike where I stopped to buy gas.

Mr. Jenner. But other than that incident, you had no contact with anyone?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. All right. You registered?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Did you go to your room?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Dulles. Approximately what time was this?

Mr. Oswald. Approximately 10:30 p.m., that night, sir.

Mr. Jenner. After registering, did you retire for the evening, or did you go somewhere?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not retire for the evening. I did, in fact, go into the coffee room of the Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas, and have a ham sandwich and some milk, and shortly after completing this, I walked across the street, which was approximately a half a block down the street, to the Dallas police station again.

Mr. Jenner. All right.

Now, up to that moment, other than was necessary for you to register and your conversation with a waitress, in connection with your having some evening lunch, did you have any contact with anybody?

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

Mr. Jenner. Did you have any contact at all of any kind or character up to this moment with anybody in connection with the events of the day?

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

Mr. Jenner. All right.

You went across the street to the Dallas City police station?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir, I did.

Mr. Jenner. Had you had an appointment?

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

Mr. Jenner. What was your purpose in going across the street for that visit?

Mr. Oswald. I wanted to speak to Captain Fritz, if possible.