Reclaiming History (65 page)

“We’re getting ready to talk with Oswald one more time before we transfer him to the county jail,” Fritz says. “Would you like to join us?”

“I sure would,” Holmes replies.

“Well, come on in,” Fritz says, pushing the door open. “I’m waiting here now for them to bring him downstairs from the holdover.”
¹²⁵⁷
Fritz leads Holmes into his office and closes the door. Secret Service agent Forrest Sorrels and Dallas police detective L. D. Montgomery are already there. So is Chief Curry, who has stopped by briefly to talk with Captain Fritz.
¹²⁵⁸

In a moment, Detectives Leavelle, Graves, and Dhority bring Oswald into the office, his hands cuffed in front of him. Oswald slouches into the wooden chair next to Fritz’s desk. Oswald appears in a particularly arrogant mood.

“Are there any FBI men in here?” Oswald asks, looking at the faces around him.

“No,” Fritz says, “no FBI men.”

“Well, who is that man?” Oswald snaps back, motioning toward Holmes.

“He’s a postal inspector and he has a few questions for you,” Fritz says calmly.

Oswald seems to relax at the answer.

“Okay,” he says.
¹²⁵⁹

Captain Fritz hands Oswald a telegram from an East Coast attorney who is volunteering to represent Oswald. Oswald reads it.

“Maybe you should call him,” Fritz says.

“I’ll call him later, if I can’t reach Mr. Abt,” Oswald replies, predictably.
¹²⁶⁰

There is a light knock at the door. It opens a crack and Secret Service inspector Thomas Kelley comes in, slightly out of breath, and takes a seat next to Agent Sorrels. Captain Fritz circles his desk, reaches into a drawer, pulls out the photograph of Oswald holding the rifle, and lays it on the desk next to the prisoner. Oswald purses his lips.

“Lee, why don’t you tell us where this picture was taken?” Fritz asks.

Oswald is silent.

“You know, you’ll save us a lot of time if you’ll just tell us,” Fritz continues, slow and methodical. “We’ll find the location sooner or later.”

“I don’t have anything to say about it,” Oswald answers defiantly.
¹²⁶¹

“Did you shoot the president?” Fritz suddenly asks.

“No,” Oswald says.

“Do you have any knowledge of the shooting?”

“No,” Oswald replies.

“What about the shooting of Officer Tippit?” Fritz asks.

“Look, I don’t know why you’re asking me these questions,” Oswald says, shaking his head negatively. “The only reason I’m here is because I popped a policeman in the nose at the theater on Jefferson Avenue. Okay, I admit it. But the reason I hit him was because I was protecting myself. As far as the rest of it, I emphatically deny having anything to do with shooting an officer or killing the president.”
¹²⁶²

Chief Curry has had enough of Oswald’s arrogance. Besides, he has transfer arrangements to see to. The police chief silently pulls open the office door and slips out.
¹²⁶³

9:45 a.m.

Curry hooks up with Batchelor and Stevenson and the three descend in the elevator to the basement garage to survey the security requirements for the forthcoming transfer.
¹²⁶⁴

The press has been arriving in force since nine and have nearly taken over the basement jail office. Cameramen, reporters, and all of their equipment are everywhere, including on top of the booking desk. The media have been insisting all morning that Chief Curry gave them permission to be there. When Curry comes down, they learn otherwise.
¹²⁶⁵

“Let’s clear this area out,” Curry tells jail lieutenant Woodrow Wiggins. “Move the patrol car and paddy wagon from those first two parking spaces and have the television cameras set up there. If the media want to be down here, put them over behind the rail.” Curry is pointing to an area across the ramp from the jail office.
¹²⁶⁶

The top brass are pleased to learn that Captain Talbert has already begun, on his own, making security arrangements for the transfer.
¹²⁶⁷

Back up in Homicide and Robbery, Captain Fritz motions to Inspector Holmes to go ahead and question Oswald. Holmes introduces himself and opens the folder he brought.

“Did you have a post office box here in Dallas?” Holmes asks.

“Yeah.”

“What number?”

“Box 2915,” Oswald answers. “I rented it at the main post office for a few months before moving to New Orleans.”

“Did you rent it in your own name?” Holmes asks.

“Yes.”

“How many keys did you have?”

“Two,” Oswald says. “When they closed the box I had them forward my mail to my new address in New Orleans.”
¹²⁶⁸

Holmes glances at the forms in his folder as Oswald answers. Everything he offers is correct, although Holmes is surprised that Oswald is willing to volunteer so much information about the post office box that the assassination rifle was shipped to. Of course, Oswald isn’t telling him anything that he doesn’t already know. Holmes quickly learns that this is Oswald’s game.

“Did anyone else receive mail in that box, other than yourself?” Holmes asks.

“No.”

“Did anyone have access to the box, other than yourself?” Holmes asks.

“No,” Oswald says again.

“Did you permit anyone else to use the box?”

“Well, it’s possible that I may have given my wife one of the keys to go get my mail,” Oswald replies, “but that was rare. Certainly, no one else used it.”

“Did you ever receive a package in that box?” Holmes asks.

“What kind of package?” Oswald asks innocently.

“Did you ever have a rifle shipped there?”

“No,” Oswald says, testily. “I did not order any rifle!”

“Ever order a rifle under another name?” Holmes asks.

Oswald emphatically denies that he ever ordered a rifle under his name or any other name, nor permitted anyone else to order a rifle to be received in his post office box.
¹²⁶⁹

“In fact,” Oswald says, “I’ve never owned a rifle. I haven’t practiced or shot a rifle since I was in the Marine Corps.”

“You’ve never shot a rifle since your discharge?” Fritz asks, disbelievingly.

“No,” Oswald says, then backs up. “Well, maybe a small-bore .22 or something.”

“You don’t own a rifle?” Fritz questions.

“Absolutely not!” Oswald insists. “How can I afford a rifle on my salary? I make $1.25 an hour. I can hardly feed myself on what I make.”

“What about this?” Fritz asks, pointing to the photograph of Oswald and the rifle.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Oswald sneers.
¹²⁷⁰

“You mentioned that when you moved to New Orleans you had your mail forwarded to your new street address,” Holmes says. “Did you rent a post office box while you were in New Orleans?”

“Yes,” Oswald says. “Box 30061.”

“Why did you have a post office box if you were getting mail at your residence?” the postal inspector asks.

Oswald explains that he subscribed to several publications, at least two of which are published in Russia, one being the hometown paper published in Minsk where he met his wife at a dance.
¹²⁷¹
“I took the two newspapers for her benefit, because it was local news to her,” Oswald says. “She enjoyed reading about the hometown folks.”
¹²⁷²
He explains that he moved around so much that it was more practical to simply rent post office boxes and have his mail forwarded from one box to the next rather than going through the process of furnishing changes of address to the Russian publishers.
¹²⁷³

“Did you permit anyone other than yourself to get mail in the post office box in New Orleans?” Holmes asks.

“No,” Oswald answers.

Holmes looks at the original application for Oswald’s New Orleans post office box, which Oswald filled out in his own hand. Under the entry, “Persons entitled to receive mail through box,” Oswald has written “Marina Oswald” and “A. J. Hidell.”
*

“Your application here lists Marina Oswald as a person entitled to receive mail in the box,” Holmes reminds Oswald.

“Well, so what?” Oswald says mockingly. “She was my wife. I don’t see anything wrong with that. It could very well be I did put her name on the application.”

“Your application also shows the name A. J. Hidell as another person entitled to receive mail in the box.”
¹²⁷⁴

Oswald simply shrugs his shoulders.

“I don’t recall anything about that,” he says.
¹²⁷⁵

Secret Service inspector Thomas Kelley jumps into the fray.

“Well, isn’t it a fact that when you were arrested you had an identification card with the name Hidell on it in your possession?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Oswald grunts.

“How do you explain that?” Kelley asks.

“I don’t explain it,” Oswald says flatly.
¹²⁷⁶

Holmes refocuses on the Dallas post office box.

“Did you receive mail through box 2915 under any name other than Lee Oswald?”

“Absolutely not,” Oswald says.

“What about a package to an A. J. Hidell?”

“No!” Oswald snaps.

“Did you order a gun in that name to come there?” Holmes asks.

“No, absolutely not.”

“If one had come under that name, could this fellow Hidell have gotten it?” Holmes presses.

“Nobody got mail out of that box but me,” Oswald retorts.
¹²⁷⁷

Holmes has the impression that Oswald has disciplined his mind and reflexes to the point that the inspector personally doubts he will ever confess.
¹²⁷⁸

10:15 a.m.

Lieutenant Rio S. Pierce walks through the City Hall basement garage and checks security arrangements. Pierce can see that Sergeant Dean and his men have done a fine job. He deems the basement secure and returns to the third-floor homicide office to await further instructions.
¹²⁷⁹

I
n Washington, Commander Humes arrives at Bethesda Naval Hospital for a conference in Admiral Calvin B. Galloway’s office with his colleagues from the autopsy, Drs. Boswell and Finck. Dr. Humes has been up half the night
*
working on a longhand draft of the autopsy report, incorporating notes made during the autopsy with the information he had obtained from Dr. Perry on Saturday morning. The result is the fifteen-page draft he now has in his hands. Humes, Boswell, and Finck carefully review the language of the handwritten draft, making minor corrections and clarifications.
¹²⁸⁰
Although the details are extensive, the conclusion is short and to the point:

It is our opinion that the deceased died as a result of
two
perforating gunshot wounds inflicted by high-velocity projectiles fired by a person or persons unknown. The projectiles were fired from a point
behind
and somewhat
above
the level of the deceased. The observations and available information do not permit a satisfactory estimate as to the sequence of the two wounds.

The fatal missile entered the skull above and to the right of the external occipital protuberance. A portion of the projectile traversed the cranial cavity in a posterior-anterior direction (see later skull roentgenograms), depositing minute particles along its path. A portion of the projectile made its exit through the parietal bone on the right, carrying with it portions of cerebrum, skull, and scalp. The two wounds of the skull combined with the force of the missile produced extensive fragmentation of the skull, laceration of the superior sagittal sinus, and of the right cerebral hemisphere.

The other missile entered the right superior posterior thorax above the scapula and traversed the soft tissues of the supra-scapular and supra-clavicular portions of the base of the right side of the neck. This missile produced contusions of the right apical parietal pleura and of the apical portion of the right upper lobe of the lung. The missile contused the strap muscles of the right side of the neck, damaged the trachea, and made its exit through the anterior surface of the neck. As far as can be ascertained, this missile struck no bony structures in its path through the body.

In addition, it is our opinion that the wound of the skull produced such extensive damage to the brain as to preclude the possibility of the deceased surviving this injury.

A supplementary report will be submitted following more detailed examinations of the brain and of microscopic sections. However, it is not anticipated that these examinations will materially alter the findings.
¹²⁸¹

It will take some time to type up the final draft, but Commander Humes is confident that he can deliver it to Admiral George Burkley at the White House by Sunday evening as promised.

10:19 a.m.

Jack Ruby and his roommate George Senator are still in their underwear when the phone rings, and George can tell from Jack’s end of the conversation that it’s Little Lynn.

She says she is calling “to try to get some money, because the rent is due and I need some money for groceries, and you told me to call.”

“How much will you need?”

She confers with her husband Bruce and asks for twenty-five dollars.

“I have to go downtown anyway,” Jack says, “so I’ll send it to you by Western Union.”

She asks him to use her real name, Karen Bennett, and wonders what time she should expect it to arrive at the Western Union office in downtown Fort Worth, but he can’t say. He’s not dressed yet and he has to do something about the dog, but he promises to take care of it this morning.

“I sure would appreciate it,” she says.

He still seems sort of hateful and short with her, but not as much as last night, and she’s grateful that he doesn’t give her any problem about the money.

Jack finally gets it together enough to shower, shave, and get dressed—an elaborate process that never takes him less than half an hour—but his mood doesn’t change. Even after he’s fully dressed and ready to go out, he paces nervously from bedroom to living room and back for another ten minutes or so, mumbling to himself, too low for George to catch any of it, and George is too wrapped up in his newspaper to pay much attention in any case.
¹²⁸²