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

Mrs. Oswald. He said that he probably would not come on Friday, and he didn't come—he was in jail.

Mr. Rankin. Did the quarrel that you had at that time seem to cause him to be more disturbed than usual?

Mrs. Oswald. No, not particularly. At least he didn't talk about that quarrel when he came. Usually he would remember about what happened. This time he didn't blame me for anything, didn't ask me any questions, just wanted to make up.

Mr. Rankin. I understood that when you didn't make up he was quite disturbed and you were still angry, is that right?

Mrs. Oswald. I wasn't really very angry. I, of course, wanted to make up with him. But I gave the appearance of being very angry. I was smiling inside, but I had a serious expression on my face.

Mr. Rankin. And as a result of that, did he seem to be more disturbed than usual?

Mrs. Oswald. As always, as usual. Perhaps a little more. At least when he went to bed he was very upset.

Mr. Rankin. Do you think that had anything to do with the assassination the next day?

Mrs. Oswald. Perhaps he was thinking about all of that. I don't think that he was asleep. Because, in the morning when the alarm clock went off he hadn't woken up as usual before the alarm went off, and I thought that he probably had fallen asleep very late. At least then I didn't think about it. Now I think so.

Mr. Rankin. When he said he would not be home that Friday evening, did you ask him why?

Mrs. Oswald. Yes.

Mr. Rankin. What did he say?

Mrs. Oswald. He said that since he was home on Thursday, that it wouldn't make any sense to come again on Friday, that he would come for the weekend.

Mr. Rankin. Did that cause you to think that he had any special plans to do anything?

Mrs. Oswald. No.

Mr. Rankin. Did you usually keep a wallet with money in it at the Paines?

Mrs. Oswald. Yes, in my room at Ruth Paine's there was a black wallet in a wardrobe. Whenever Lee would come he would put money in there, but I never counted it.

Mr. Rankin. On the evening of November 21st, do you know how much was in the wallet?

Mrs. Oswald. No. One detail that I remember was that he had asked me whether I had bought some shoes for myself, and I said no, that I hadn't had any time. He asked me whether June needed anything and told me to buy everything that I needed for myself and for June—and for the children.

This was rather unusual for him, that he would mention that first.

Mr. Rankin. Did he take the money from the wallet from time to time?

Mrs. Oswald. No, he generally kept the amount that he needed and put the rest in the wallet.

I know that the money that was found there, that you think this was not Lee's money. But I know for sure that this was money that he had earned. He had some money left after his trip to Mexico. Then we received an unemployment compensation check for $33. And then Lee paid only $7 or $8 for his room. And I know how he eats, very little.

Mr. Rankin. Do you know what his ordinary lunch was?

Mrs. Oswald. Peanut butter sandwich, cheese sandwich, some lettuce, and he would buy himself a hamburger, something else, a coke.

Mr. Rankin. And what about his evening meal? Do you know what he ate in the evening meal?

Mrs. Oswald. Usually meat, vegetables, fruit, dessert.

Mr. Rankin. Where would he have that?

Mrs. Oswald. He loved bananas. They were inexpensive.

The place where he rented a room, he could not cook there. He said that there was some sort of a cafe across the street and that he ate there.

Mr. Rankin. Did he ever tell you what he paid for his evening meal?

Mrs. Oswald. About a dollar, $1.30.

Mr. Rankin. What about his breakfast? Do you know what he had for breakfast ordinarily?

Mrs. Oswald. He never had breakfast. He just drank coffee and that is all.

Not because he was trying to economize. Simply he never liked to eat.

Mr. Rankin. Mr. Reporter, will you note the presence of Mr. Ruben Efron in the hearing room. He also knows Russian.

On November 21, the day before the assassination that you were describing, was there any discussion between you and your husband about President Kennedy's trip or proposed trip to Texas, Dallas and the Fort Worth area?

Mrs. Oswald. I asked Lee whether he knew where the President would speak, and told him that I would very much like to hear him and to see him. I asked him how this could be done.

But he said he didn't know how to do that, and didn't enlarge any further on that subject.

Mr. Rankin. Had there ever been——

Mrs. Oswald. This was also somewhat unusual—his lack of desire to talk about that subject any further.

Mr. Rankin. Can you explain that to us?

Mrs. Oswald. I think about it more now.

At that time, I didn't pay any attention.

Mr. Rankin. How did you think it was unusual? Could you explain that?

Mrs. Oswald. The fact that he didn't talk a lot about it. He merely gave me—said something as an answer, and did not have any further comments.

Mr. Rankin. Do you mean by that usually he would discuss a matter of that kind and show considerable interest?

Mrs. Oswald. Yes, of course, he would have told who would be there and where this would take place.

Mr. Rankin. Did you say anything about his showing a lack of interest at that time?

Mrs. Oswald. I merely shrugged my shoulders.

Mr. Rankin. Now, prior to that time, had there been any discussion between you concerning the proposed trip of President Kennedy to Texas?

Mrs. Oswald. No.

Mr. Rankin. While you were in New Orleans, was there any discussion or reference to President Kennedy's proposed trip to Texas?

Mrs. Oswald. No.

Mr. Rankin. Did your husband make any comments about President Kennedy on that evening, of the 21st?

Mrs. Oswald. No.

Mr. Rankin. Had your husband at any time that you can recall said anything against President Kennedy?

Mrs. Oswald. I don't remember any—ever having said that. I don't know. He never told me that.

Mr. Rankin. Did he ever say anything good about President Kennedy?

Mrs. Oswald. Usually he would translate magazine articles. They were generally good. And he did not say that this contradicted his opinion. I just remembered that he talked about Kennedy's father, who made his fortune by a not very—in a not very good manner. Disposing of such funds, of course, it was easier for his sons to obtain an education and to obtain a government position, and it was easier to make a name for themselves.

Mr. Rankin. What did he say about President Kennedy's father making his fortune?

Mrs. Oswald. He said that he had speculated in wine. I don't know to what extent that is true.

Mr. Rankin. When he read these articles to you, did he comment favorably upon President Kennedy?

Mrs. Oswald. I have already said that he would translate articles which were good, but he would not comment on them.

Mr. Rankin. Can you recall——

Mrs. Oswald. Excuse me. At least when I found out that Lee had shot at the President, for me this was surprising. And I didn't believe it. I didn't believe for a long time that Lee had done that. That he had wanted to kill Kennedy—because perhaps Walker was there again, perhaps he wanted to kill him.

Mr. Rankin. Why did you not believe this?

Mrs. Oswald. Because I had never heard anything bad about Kennedy from Lee. And he never had anything against him.

Mr. Rankin. But you also say that he never said anything about him.

Mrs. Oswald. He read articles which were favorable.

Mr. Rankin. Did he say he approved of those articles?

Mrs. Oswald. No, he didn't say anything. Perhaps he did reach his own conclusions reading these articles, but he didn't tell me about them.

Mr. Rankin. So apparently he didn't indicate any approval or disapproval as far as he was concerned, of President Kennedy?