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

Mr. Jenner. You record on page 8 that you entered the Dallas police station, you were interviewed or consulted by some FBI agents in a small office.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Do you recall their names?

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

Mr. Jenner. I take it in any event, however, that they questioned you, did they?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And were all the answers that you gave the truth and nothing but the truth to the best of your information, recollection, and belief, at that time?

Mr. Oswald. It most certainly was, sir.

Mr. Jenner. All right, sir.

When did you learn, if you ever learned, that your brother, Lee Harvey Oswald, had in fact been charged with the assassination of President Kennedy?

Mr. Oswald. At approximately midnight or a few minutes before midnight, November 22, 1963.

Mr. Jenner. And is that recorded on page 8 of your memorandum?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir, it is.

Mr. Jenner. What was your reaction when that information was conveyed to you? What were your thoughts?

Mr. Oswald. I do not recall if I had any thoughts at that particular time, sir. I did not make any comment that I recall. I believe I just shook my head.

Mr. Jenner. I was going to ask you in connection with page 8, your opinion respecting the possible involvement of your brother, Lee Harvey Oswald, in the assassination of President Kennedy, but Mr. Dulles this morning in his questions has covered that subject, so I will skip it.

Now, did you see Captain Fritz that evening?

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

Mr. Jenner. Did you attempt to see him?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. Did you inquire further with respect to an opportunity on your part that you wished to see your brother?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I had been told so many times that Captain Fritz was quite busy, and I realize, of course, he was, and I let it go at that.

Mr. Jenner. Now, following your visit to the police station, which you do record there, and therefore I won't go into it further, what did you do that evening?

Mr. Oswald. I returned to my hotel, sir.

Mr. Jenner. And retired?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Now, between the time you left the Statler Hilton Hotel and the time you returned there to retire, were you contacted by anybody or did you have any conversation with anybody respecting the course of events of the day, other than you have recorded in your memorandum?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not. And I might add I did register under my regular name at the Statler Hilton.

Mr. Jenner. I didn't even think to ask you that, because I assumed it was so.

On page 9, you record and report the following morning an occasion when you were in the barber shop of the Statler Hilton, obtaining a shave. Isn't that correct, sir?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And you also record an observation by one or both of the barbers, I think the gentleman who was shaving you, on the subject of your brother, Lee Harvey Oswald deserved a fair trial like anybody else.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And then you end up that comment, "but I did leave my barber a 50-cent tip."

That followed an observation on your part that you did not engage in that conversation, and you merely listened.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Now, would you indicate to me the significance if there is any significance, of the expression "but I did leave my barber a 50-cent tip."

Mr. Oswald. The only significance, sir, that I put to it at that time was that for the first time I was listening to somebody other than police officers and FBI agents as to the past events of the preceding day, and I was more or less hearing again for the first time a reaction, either—pro and con, to these two gentlemen's opinions, who I would take at that time would be average people, as to whether or not Lee did have a right to a fair trial, regardless of what he had done or been accused of.

Mr. Jenner. And do I take it a fair interpretation of your comment is that you were pleased that average everyday people, that their reaction was that your brother, Lee Harvey Oswald, was entitled to, and they hoped he would obtain a fair and impartial trial when put to trial?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And your reference to a 50-cent tip was an emphasis in your own mind of your pleasure that a spontaneous reaction of ordinary people was that he was entitled to and they hoped he would receive a fair and impartial trial?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Would you turn to page 10, please? You record events—you were then in the district attorney's office?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. You refer to a "H. Wade." Who is H. Wade?

Mr. Oswald. Mr. Henry Wade.

Mr. Jenner. And what office did he hold?

Mr. Oswald. Dallas District Attorney.

Mr. Jenner. All right.

I don't know as I interpret your handwriting clearly. It looks to me as though you have written reference to a Jim Bowie. Who was Jim Bowie?

Mr. Oswald. First assistant district attorney to Mr. Henry Wade.

Mr. Jenner. On page 10 you use—you make a reference to, or a comment with regard to a conversation which I take it took place between you and Mr. Wade and Mr. Bowie, either or both of them, which was "not too informative." Do you find that?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir, I do see the section that you are referring to—if I may elaborate on that.

Mr. Jenner. I would like to have you elaborate.

Mr. Oswald. "Not too informative on either side."

Mr. Jenner. Either side of what?

Mr. Oswald. Referring to the district attorney's office as one side and my side as the other side.

Mr. Jenner. On what issue?

Mr. Oswald. Of the conversations that we had in reference to the legal standing of Lee Harvey Oswald or to his guilt, of the accusations that had been—that he had been charged with.

Mr. Jenner. Would you turn to page 12?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. There is a reference there to a conversation as to whether Lee Harvey Oswald would say anything to you when and if you interviewed him.

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. What did you have in mind as to the subject matter about which Lee Harvey Oswald might speak with you?

Mr. Oswald. To the amount of involvement, if any, with relation to the death of the President of the United States on November 22, 1963.

Mr. Jenner. You were then contemplating your prospective conversation with him?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. And you use an expression also there that you would do your best. Do you find that?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I do.

Mr. Jenner. Now, you would do your best to do what, sir?

Mr. Oswald. To find out.

Mr. Jenner. From whom?

Mr. Oswald. From Lee Harvey Oswald, during our conversation or our——

Mr. Jenner. Your prospective interview?

Mr. Oswald. Our prospective interview, whether or not he did in fact perform the acts, either alone or with other people, that he had been accused of.

Mr. Jenner. I see.

Now, following that conversation that you do record on that page, did you see your brother?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. Where?

Mr. Oswald. Dallas police station.

Mr. Jenner. Will you describe the surroundings?

Mr. Oswald. I was taken up on the elevator by a Dallas police officer—Mr. Tom Kelley, inspector from Washington, D.C., U.S. Secret Service joined us, and one agent, Mr. Mike Howard. On arrival to the floor where Lee was being held, the police officer passed through a glass slot in the window to another police officer the pass, I believe signed by Captain Fritz, which authorization was for me to see Lee Harvey Oswald. Two or three minutes went by, and I was advised that he was now ready to see me, and I was taken to a small room to the left of the elevators on this floor, and no one else was in this room on his side, or my side of the glass partitions that separated the locked side from the unlocked side.