Reclaiming History Page 34

  Eventually, the FBI’s New Orleans office sent Hosty what was believed to be the Oswalds’ new address at Ruth Paine’s home in Irving, Texas, and asked that he verify their presence before it transfers the case file back to his jurisdiction.

  On Friday, November 1, 1963, Hosty stopped at the Paine residence. Ruth Paine told him that Mrs. Oswald and her two children were living with her, and that Mrs. Oswald was temporarily separated from Lee, who visited his wife and children on weekends. Paine knew Oswald was working at the Texas School Book Depository and living somewhere in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, but she wasn’t quite sure where.

  While they were talking, Marina came into the room. She looked as though she had been napping. Through her body language, Hosty could see she was frightened and he didn’t try to interview her that day. He did intend to later, but he needed some of the materials from the Oswald file, which he had not yet gotten from New Orleans, to do it properly. He told Marina through Ruth that he would come back to see her at a later time. Ruth Paine told Hosty that she would find out where Lee was living and let him know.

  On November 5, Hosty and a fellow agent dropped by Ruth Paine’s again. The two agents chatted with Mrs. Paine briefly while standing at the front door. Ruth still didn’t have Lee’s address, and the only new information she volunteered was that Lee had described himself to her as a Trotskyist Marxist. They had been there less than five minutes and didn’t see Marina until they were about to leave. Neither of the agents said anything to her.

  Having confirmed that both Marina and Lee were living in the Dallas area, Hosty was waiting for the FBI’s New Orleans office to send him copies of their entire file at the time of the assassination.803

  As he pulls into the FBI’s parking area, Hosty shakes his head and wonders how it could have come to this. What could he have possibly done differently that might have prevented the assassination? His actions concerning the Oswald file might be explainable, but Hosty knows it won’t do his career any good.

  Hosty heads up to his office, where a secretary tells him that he is wanted in Gordon Shanklin’s office, pronto. Hosty finds his supervisor, Ken Howe, waiting there with Shanklin. They tell him to shut the door.

  “What the hell is this?” Shanklin asks, clutching what appears to be a letter.

  Hosty takes it and immediately recognizes it as the anonymous note delivered ten days or so earlier, the note he now realized had been delivered by Oswald.

  “It’s no big deal,” Hosty says, trying to shrug it off. “Just your typical guff.”

  “What do you mean, ‘typical guff’? This note was written by Oswald,” Shanklin screams, “the probable assassin of the president, and Oswald brought this note into this office just ten days ago! What the hell do you think Hoover’s going to do if he finds out about this note?” Shanklin is more upset than Hosty can remember, pacing behind his desk, puffing a cigarette.

  Hosty again tries to convince Shanklin that the note is not a big deal, that Oswald hadn’t threatened the president. But Shanklin knows much more will be made of the note.

  “If people learn that Oswald gave you guff a week before the assassination, they’ll say you should have known he’d kill the president,” Shanklin cries. “If Hoover finds out about this, he’s going to lose it.”

  Howe looks on gravely, arms folded. Hosty pleads that once they explain everything, the note, the background of the case, everyone will understand that there was no way in hell anyone could have guessed that Oswald was going to kill anyone, much less the president. Shanklin rubs his neck, unconvinced. Finally, he orders Hosty to write a memo surrounding the circumstances of the note.

  Hosty returns a short while later with a two-page memo and hands it to Shanklin, with the note. The agent-in-charge shoves it into his “Do Not File” desk drawer, that special place in Hoover’s FBI where every special agent in charge of an FBI field office kept personal notes on all his agents. The material in the drawer never enters the official record, and gives Hoover “plausible deniability” if anything objectionable ever reaches the public eye.804

  7:50 p.m.

  The assembly room in the basement of City Hall is once again abuzz with activity, as officers prepare for the third lineup. In the holdover area, adjacent to the stage, Detectives Sims, Boyd, Hall, and H. M. Moore arrange and handcuff the men who will appear with Oswald in the lineup. This time a pair of city prisoners have been included—Richard Walter Borchgardt, held for carrying a prohibited weapon and investigation of burglary and theft, and Ellis Carl Brazel, in custody for failing to pay some long-overdue traffic tickets. Borchgardt takes the number 1 position, Oswald is 2, Brazel is 3, and Don Ables, the jail clerk who participated in the first two lineups, takes the fourth spot.805

  Detectives C. W. Brown and C. N. Dhority accompany sisters-in-law Barbara and Virginia Davis into the darkened end of the assembly room and have them sit down. The women, who haven’t seen pictures of Oswald in the evening paper or on television, are nervous.806 In a moment or two, Secret Service agents Forrest Sorrels and Winston Lawson, who had tracked Brennan down at his home, escort Howard Brennan into the room. The construction worker is petrified that he is the only witness who saw the gunman firing from the sixth-floor window and could give a fair description of him,* and over the last few hours has convinced himself that he may be putting his family in danger by stepping forward and identifying him. “Howard, I’m afraid, we don’t know who might be out there looking for you,” his wife, Louise, had said when he returned home earlier in the day, around three o’clock, and told her, “Louise, I was there. I saw him do it. I saw the man shoot President Kennedy. It was the most terrible thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Brennan thinks of moving his wife, daughter, and grandson, who was living with them at the time, out of town, but Louise seems to think there is no way to really get away.807 Brennan is looking for a way out of his predicament.

  “I don’t know if I can do you any good or not because I have seen the man that they have under arrest on television,” Brennan told Sorrels when he first arrived at the police station. He adds, “I just don’t know if I can identify him positively or not.”808

  As they walk into the assembly room, Brennan tells Sorrels that he would like to get back a ways and view the man from a distance, closer to what it was at the time of the shooting. “We will get you clear on to the back,” Sorrels says, “and then we can move up forward.”809

  The signal is given and the detectives begin marching the prisoners under the bright lights of the stage. As soon as Oswald appears, and before each man has even settled under a number, the Davis women react.810

  “That’s him,” Barbara says. “The second one from the left.” When the officers have the men turn sideways, and Barbara sees Oswald from the same angle she saw him crossing her front yard, she is positive.811

  Her sister-in-law, Virginia Davis, agrees. The man they saw running from the Tippit murder scene is the number 2 man in the lineup—Oswald.812

  Howard Brennan looks over the men carefully. He will later confide that he recognized the number 2 man, Oswald, immediately, but was afraid to say so.813 Brennan figures that the authorities don’t really need his positive identification anyway. It’s not as if they’ll let Oswald go if he doesn’t identify him. After all, the police are already holding the man for the murder of Officer Tippit. Brennan calculates that he can always tell police what he really thinks at a later date, when it really matters, and not risk endangering his family.814

  Sorrels has Brennan move a little closer.

  “I cannot positively say,” Brennan finally says.

  “Is there anyone there that looks like him?” Sorrels asks.

  “The second man from the left,” Brennan answers cautiously, referring to Oswald. “He looks like him. But the man I saw wasn’t disheveled like this fella.”815 (Of course, Oswald hadn’t yet been roughed up by the police during his arrest at that point.)

  Brennan can tell that Sorrels is disappoint
ed.

  “I’m sorry,” Brennan says, “but I can’t do it. I was afraid seeing the television might have messed me up. I just can’t be positive. I am sorry.”816

  The agent turns and makes arrangements for Brennan to be taken home.

  In New Orleans, a telephone rings at the home of Abraham Plough, foreman of the mails for the U.S. Post Office at Lafayette Square Station. The caller is Postal Inspector Joseph Zarza, who wants Plough to come to Lafayette Square Station immediately to open up the premises. When Plough arrives, Inspector Zarza tells him that postal investigators in Dallas want him to retrieve the application form for post office box 30061. Plough flips on a light, walks over to the file cabinet containing the application forms, and within a few minutes locates the one in question.817 The form shows that box 30061 was rented to “L. H. Oswald” on June 3, 1963, and Oswald showed his home address as “657 French” Street. The box had been closed on September 26, 1963, with mail forwarded to 2515 West Fifth Street, Irving, Texas. Under the entry, “Names of Persons Entitled to Receive Mail Through Box,” Oswald had written the names, “A. J. Hidell” and “Marina Oswald.”818*

  Inspector Zarza calls Dallas inspector Harry Holmes and notifies him of the discovery.819

  7:55 p.m.

  In the third-floor hallway at Dallas police headquarters, detectives lead Oswald off the jail elevator and back through the crowd of reporters toward Captain Fritz’s office. Oswald tells newsmen that the only reason he is in custody is because of his stay in the Soviet Union, defiantly adding, “I’m just a patsy!”820

  8:05 p.m.

  With Oswald again seated in Fritz’s office,821 FBI agent Clements continues his interview of the suspect, asking Oswald to provide the names, addresses, and occupations of relatives, as well as a sequential list of his own occupations and residences.822 Oswald answers the agent’s questions readily enough, even courteously, although he doesn’t volunteer any information. Finally, on a perfectly innocuous question about his present occupation, Oswald balks.

  “What started out to be a short interrogation turned out to be rather lengthy,” he complains. “I refused to be interviewed by other law enforcement officers before and I’ve got no intention of being interviewed by you. I know the tactics of the FBI. You’re using the soft touch. There’s a similar agency in the Soviet Union. Their approach would be different, but the tactics would be the same. I believe I’ve answered all the questions I’m going to answer, and I don’t care to say anything else.”823*

  Nevertheless, when Clements ignores his complaint and asks the same question again—what his present occupation is—Oswald answers. At that, Clements terminates the interview.824

  8:18 p.m. (9:18 p.m. EST)

  Alan Belmont, at FBI headquarters in Washington, is on the phone with Dallas special agent-in-charge Gordon Shanklin. The head of the Dallas office tells Belmont that he has made arrangements with Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth to fly one of his agents back to Washington with the rifle, cartridge cases, and metal fragments removed from Governor Connally just as soon as police release the evidence to the FBI.

  “See if the police want us to make a ballistics test on the pistol that was used to kill Officer Tippit,” Belmont asks. “If so, have it forwarded for examination along with the bullets removed from Tippit’s body. If they don’t want to release the pistol to us, find out all you can about the make, caliber, how many bullets were fired.”

  “Okay,” Shanklin agrees. “I also realize that it’s extremely important to locate and interview Oswald’s coworkers to determine his whereabouts and actions at the time of the shooting. This is being done as we speak.”

  “Good,” Belmont says. “President Johnson has been in touch with Mr. Hoover and wants to be sure that the FBI is on top of this case and is looking to us to solve it. You understand what that means, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Shanklin answers.

  “It is imperative that we do everything possible in this case,” Belmont says firmly.

  “Understood,” Shanklin reaffirms.

  To handle the number of leads pouring into the Dallas office and expedite the interviewing of Depository employees, Belmont tells Shanklin that he’s ordering an additional twenty agents, four stenographers, and ten cars to go to Dallas immediately.825

  8:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. EST)

  At Bethesda Naval Hospital, the three pathologists have rolled the president onto his left side and are examining the oval-shaped bullet wound located to the right of his spine and just above the right shoulder blade. Dr. Finck can see that the edges of the wound are pushed inward and recognizes the reddish brown skin around the margins as an abrasion collar, characteristics typical of entrance wounds.826 After taking photographs of the bullet hole,827 Dr. Humes probes the wound with his little finger, but finds that the bullet path seems to stop less than an inch into the hole.828 Dr. Finck attempts to explore the wound using a flexible metal probe, but after repeated attempts he can’t seem to find the path of the bullet. Afraid of making a false passage, Finck removes the probe and examines the front of the body. There are no corresponding exit wounds, only a tracheotomy incision in the front of the throat. Finck, Boswell, and Humes examine the margins of the incision, but cannot find any evidence of a bullet exit.

  The doctors are perplexed. Where did the bullet go? Dr. Finck asks to examine the president’s clothing, hoping that it might give a clue as to what happened to the bullet, but finds that the clothing is not available.829 Dr. Finck then suggests that a whole-body radiographic survey be conducted before proceeding any further with the autopsy. All three of the pathologists know from experience that bullets can do crazy things when they enter the human body and might end up anywhere. The only way to be sure they haven’t missed it is to x-ray the entire body.830 Finck’s decision doesn’t set well with Admiral Burkley, who can see his idea of a quick recovery of evidence giving way to hour after hour of difficulties and delays.* Burkley says that Mrs. Kennedy had only granted permission for a limited autopsy, and questions the feasibility of finding the bullet that entered the president’s back without conducting a complete autopsy.

  “Well, it’s my opinion that the bullet is still in the president’s body,” Dr. Humes tells him. “And the only way to extract it is to do a complete autopsy, which I propose to do.”

  As tempers flare, Secret Service agent Roy Kellerman confers quickly with FBI agents Sibert and O’Neill. They agree that from an investigative and prosecutorial standpoint, the bullet must be recovered, no matter how long it takes. They advise Admiral Burkley of their position, but he remains resistant to furthering the probe. Admiral Calvin B. Galloway, commanding officer of the U.S. Naval Medical Center, steps up to break the deadlock and orders Dr. Humes to perform a complete autopsy.831 Now, to Admiral Burkley’s annoyance, they will have to wait more than a hour for the entire body to be x-rayed.832

  At Dallas police headquarters, Captain Fritz ambles back to his office to face Oswald once again. The prisoner doesn’t seem to be tiring as the night drags on, although the detectives around him are beginning to feel the wear of the day.

  Detective Elmer Boyd never saw a man answer questions like Oswald. He never hesitates about his answers. He shoots back an answer just as soon as the questions are asked, sometimes even before the questions are finished. Though most of the time he is calm, rather frequently his attitude suddenly changes and he gets mad, especially if he is asked something he doesn’t like.833

  “Did you keep a rifle in Mrs. Paine’s garage in Irving?” Captain Fritz continues with his questioning.

  “No,” Oswald replies, having apparently decided to answer more questions despite his earlier refusal.

  “Didn’t you bring one with you when you came back to Dallas from New Orleans?” Fritz asks.

  “No, I didn’t,” Oswald says.

  “Well, the people out at the Paine residence say you did have a rifle,” Fritz states firmly, “and that you kept it out there wrapped in a blanket
.”

  “That isn’t true,” Oswald shoots back.834

  Fritz lets the response hang there in the silence. He circles the desk.

  “You know you’ve killed the president,” Fritz says bluntly. “This is a very serious charge.”

  “No, I haven’t killed the president,” Oswald responds dryly.

  “He is dead,” the captain says.

  “Yeah, well, people will forget that in a few days and there will be another president,” Oswald replies, as if the day’s events mean nothing.835

  8:40 p.m.

  In Chief Curry’s third-floor office, Dallas FBI head Gordon Shanklin informs FBI agent Vince Drain that the FBI in Washington wants their Dallas agents to acquire the rifle found on the sixth floor, the revolver used to shoot Officer Tippit, and other various items, and bring them all to Washington immediately for examination. Drain discusses it with Chief Curry, telling him that he will personally stay with the evidence the entire trip to and from Washington to keep the chain of evidence intact.836 Personally, Curry doesn’t give a hoot what the FBI wants. This is a Dallas case under Dallas jurisdiction and the responsibility is his. Wanting to appear cooperative, though, Curry promises Drain that he’ll consider the FBI’s request.837

  8:52 p.m. (9:52 p.m. EST)

  The FBI sends a second Teletype to its fifty-five field offices:

  The Bureau is conducting an investigation to determine who is responsible for the assassination. You are therefore instructed to follow and resolve all allegations pertaining to the assassination. This matter is of the utmost urgency and should be handled accordingly, keeping the Bureau and Dallas, the office of origin, apprised fully of all developments.838

  8:55 p.m.

  Crime-lab sergeant W. E. “Pete” Barnes makes his way through the throng gathered on the third floor outside Homicide and Robbery. The size of the mob there is unbelievable, and frankly, Barnes finds it disgusting. He can’t imagine how anyone can carry on an investigation properly with this kind of commotion going on.839 Barnes has been ordered by his boss, Lieutenant Day, to make paraffin casts of Oswald’s hands to see if there is any evidence that he has fired a weapon recently. Crime-lab detectives J. B. “Johnny” Hicks and R. L. Studebaker have come along to assist him.840