THE TESTIMONY OF MARGUERITE OSWALD
David Von Pein
EXAMINING THE TESTIMONY OF MARGUERITE OSWALD:
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http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/2_10_64_AM.htm
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/2_10_64_PM.htm
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/2_11_64.htm
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/2_12_64_AM.htm
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/2_12_64_pm.htm
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The Warren Commission took the testimony of Marguerite Oswald (Lee
Harvey Oswald's mother) over the course of a three-day period, in
Washington, D.C., beginning on February 10, 1964.
Marguerite became convinced immediately after President Kennedy's
assassination that her son, Lee, had been working for several years as
an "agent" for the United States Government prior to JFK's murder on
November 22, 1963.
And Mrs. Oswald was furthermore convinced that her son had been framed
for the President's murder, and she also thought that Lee was framed
for the slaying of Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit as well (with
Marguerite's direct quote regarding that murder, despite the huge
amount of evidence indicating otherwise, being: "I strictly do not
believe that Lee killed Officer Tippit").
Marguerite Oswald, to be quite blunt, was a fruitcake (as the quotes
contained in this article will fully bear out). Newspaper reporter
Hugh Aynesworth said that Marguerite "was one of the weirdest people
I've ever run into". And after reading through her WC sessions, I
don't have too much difficulty believing Mr. Aynesworth.
Here are some of my favorite portions of Marguerite's lengthy Warren
Commission testimony (with a few of my own comments inserted along the
way):
==============================
W.C. CHAIRMAN EARL WARREN -- "Mrs. Oswald, you are appearing
voluntarily before the Commission, are you not?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Yes, voluntarily."
EARL WARREN -- "You requested to do so. In order that you may have a
full opportunity to testify in your own manner, and tell us everything
that you know, and particularly because we do not know what you know,
I am going to ask you if you would like first, in your own way, and in
your own time, to tell us everything you have concerning this case.
You would like to do that, would you?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Yes, Chief Justice Warren. I would like to very
much. However, there are three things that I have asked that should be
brought before the Council, three requests of mine. One has already
been granted--that is the counsel, Mr. Doyle. And I do appreciate that
fact.
"I have stated publicly that I
believe in the American way of life and justice for all men, which is
our American way of life. My son, Lee Harvey Oswald, was tried and
convicted within a few hours' time, without benefit of counsel.
"And so I am appealing to the Board
that my son, Lee Harvey Oswald, be represented by counsel. I am being
represented by counsel. My daughter-in-law Marina was represented by
counsel. And I understand that all other witnesses will have the
privilege of being represented by counsel. However, the main object of
the Commission is Lee Harvey Oswald, in the murder of President
Kennedy. So I strongly believe that Lee should be represented by
counsel.
"Now, my reasons for wanting this
done this way is, I will state, that Marina has testified. Marina has
testified, according to the papers--and I am assuming that this is
correct--that Lee wanted to live in Russia and Cuba, and that is why
he went to Mexico. I happen to know differently--because Marina has
told me the first day I was with her, "Mama, I write to Russian
consul. I want go back to Russia. I like America. But Lee no get
work."
"So you see, had a counsel been
there in behalf of my son, when Marina said that--it doesn't have to
be a court trial or a cross-examination. All I am asking is that this
man sit quietly, and when he knows of different facts, then he could
say, "Well, Mrs. Oswald, isn't it true that you wrote the Russian
consul yourself, wanting to go back to Russia?" And in this way,
gentlemen, I believe you would have both sides and a true picture."
[DVP -- I can't help but sense the irony that comes through when
reading the above words spoken by Marguerite Oswald -- i.e., she says
that she wants to make sure that "both sides" of the story are heard
at the WC hearings, but then she proceeds to misrepresent Marina's
side of the story regarding the letters that Marina wrote concerning
her request to return to Russia.
I think perhaps Marguerite, herself, might have misinterpreted
Marina's fractured English that Marguerite quoted above, because
Marina's WC testimony is quite clear with respect to the question of
whether or not Marina Oswald wanted to return to the Soviet Union in
1963:
J. LEE RANKIN -- "At the time of Exhibit 14 {July 8, 1963}, then, you
were not anxious to return to Russia?"
MARINA OSWALD -- "I never wanted to return, but Lee insisted and there
is nothing else I could do. But sometimes when I wrote these letters,
I felt very lonely--since my husband didn't want me, I felt perhaps
this would be the best way."
And there is also the testimony of Ruth Paine (who probably knew
Marina better than anyone else besides LHO in the year 1963), which
shows that it was Ruth's opinion that Marina definitely had no desire
at all to go back to Russia:
ALBERT JENNER -- "During all of your contact with Marina Oswald, did
she ever express any view other than that one of wanting to remain in
America?"
RUTH PAINE -- "No, she did not."
ALBERT JENNER -- "Was she affirmative about--"
RUTH PAINE -- "Very."
ALBERT JENNER -- "Of wanting to stay in this country?"
RUTH PAINE -- "Yes."]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I cannot see how you can come to a true
conclusion by taking individual testimony. Now, I, myself, am here
today to testify. I have been sworn in. But that doesn't mean that I
can tell the whole story. I may forget something. And the counsel
would know.
"We have investigators all over the
country, the reporters are interested, the public. I have over 1,500
letters, people expressing their opinion of the way this case is being
handled. And, believe me, gentlemen, they are not satisfied. I can
produce these documents for you. They think, like I think, that the
American way of life, both sides should be heard. I don't think that
seven men of this Commission can come to a true conclusion.
"What it will be, it will be an
analysis of what the FBI and the Secret Service and the Dallas police
have--mainly speculation and opinion of other people. Now, Mr. {Mark}
Lane has affidavits, I understand, from the same witnesses that have
made statements to the Dallas police, which are contrary to those
particular statements.
"I implore you--I implore you, in
the name of justice, to let my son, Lee Harvey Oswald, who is accused
of assassinating the President, and I, the mother of this man, who is
the accused's mother, be represented by counsel. We have information
pertinent to this case. My daughter-in-law is the only one who has
testified. ....
"I can prove the statements that I
say. And I believe in this way you will have a true picture, and a
much better picture, because as you are going along you will be having
both sides, and won't have to wait to analyze the situation in the
end, as the testimony is being given by each individual, right then
and there you will have the other party's testimony..."
EARL WARREN -- "...May I say to you, first, that the Commission is not
here to prosecute your dead son. It is not here and it was not
established to prosecute anyone. It is the purpose and the province of
the Commission to obtain all the facts that it can obtain, and then
make an impartial report--not as a prosecutor, but as an impartial
Commission--on the manner in which the President came to his death.
"We are trying to recognize the individual
rights of all persons who are called before the Commission, to let
them have their lawyers, and let their lawyers have an opportunity to
examine them, as well as the Commission. You may be sure that if Mr.
Lane has any evidence of his own knowledge, or has any accumulation of
affidavits from others, to the effect--to any effect, concerning this
trial, that he will have an opportunity to come here, just as you are
here, in order to present those to the Commission.
"But so far as his being here at all times
before the Commission to cross-examine or to be present when all
witnesses are testifying--that is not in accordance with the
procedures of the Commission. But I assure you that if Mr. Lane has
any evidence of any kind bearing upon the assassination of the
President, he will be accorded the same opportunity that you have to
come here and present them, and we will give him an opportunity in his
own way to tell his story, and present his own evidence. And should he
want counsel, he may have counsel also."
www.google.com/group/alt.conspiracy.jfk/msg/8a64790b792f771f
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I appreciate and I understand exactly what you
have told me, Chief Justice Warren. But there is one thing--and, of
course, I will have to accept your decision, and will be most happy to
have Mr. Lane present his testimony the way you have suggested.
However, I am not in agreement with you.
"One point I want to make clear. We
do not know the questions that you are asking of myself or Marina or
the other witnesses. And I contend that you cannot ask them the
pertinent questions because you don't know what I know, and what Mr.
Lane knows. And so you will still have an analysis in the long run, a
conclusion..."
EARL WARREN -- "On that particular thing, may I say this: It is true
that we don't know how to examine you at the present time because we
don't know what you have to present to this Commission. But we are
affording you the opportunity before we ask you any questions to tell
your story, in your own way. Then we should know what questions we
want to ask of you."
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Yes, sir. I understand that thoroughly. But I am
a human being, going through a life story from childhood, and I may
forget something that my counsel would know. And that applies to
witnesses. They may forget to testify something that my counsel has
facts on. I will have to accept your verdict, but I don't do it
graciously. I want that for {the} record."
EARL WARREN -- "Yes. Well, that is all right, Mrs. Oswald. You may
state that for the record."
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I have one other stipulation or request. When I
tell my story, I will be including people in my story that possibly
you don't know of. I request that I have the privilege, through you,
of course, to subpoena these people that are in connection with the
story that I tell, if you do not have the names already. And I feel
sure that I have some information that you don't know about, and there
are some people involved.
"I also request that after my
testimony, that Marina Oswald...will then testify again, if you see
fit. And I believe that I have contrary testimony to her testimony
that would make it necessary for her to be recalled. I ask that that
be granted."
EARL WARREN -- "Well, Mrs. Oswald, of course you have no power of
subpoena, and we have no power to give you the power of subpoena. But
you may be sure that if your evidence produces anything that is
critical to this investigation, that we will pursue it to the end, in
order to determine the weight of the testimony for our final report.
You may be sure of that."
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I appreciate that."
EARL WARREN -- "But as to how we do it, or when we do it, you will
just have to leave that to the Commission."
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "You will give me the assurance that these people
I name, regardless of title I am liable to name some very important
people---"
EARL WARREN -- "No, we cannot give you any assurance, because we don't
know---"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I see no reason, then, for my testimony."
EARL WARREN -- "Well, Mrs. Oswald, you cannot commit us to subpoenaing
anybody. We don't know. You are talking to us, and we are in the dark.
You cannot commit this Commission to doing something that might be
improper; it might not even be helpful in any way, shape, or form.
"The Commission will be reasonable in every
respect. We have no desire to protect anyone. We have no desire to
injure you or anyone else in this matter. And certainly you ought to
have some confidence in a commission that is appointed by the
President, and not try to tie our hands in a way that would be
contrary to the manner in which commissions normally proceed."
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Now, Mr. Warren, you made a statement that you
in no way--I cannot quote your words--intimidate me. But you did not
include my son. My son is being accused of the murder of President
Kennedy. And I think that my son should be considered in this. He is
dead. But we can show cause that my son is not the assassin of
President Kennedy. And so I would like my son--he is the main object
of the Presidential Commission, is he not, sir?"
EARL WARREN -- "No, no, he is not, Mrs. Oswald. The purpose of this
Commission is to determine what the facts are in the assassination of
President Kennedy. It is not an accusation against your son. There was
an accusation against your son in the Texas courts. That is an
entirely different proceeding. We are here to do justice and be fair
to everyone concerned in this matter. And I assure you that that is
our main and our only purpose in serving on this Commission. None of
us cherish this responsibility."
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I am sure, sir."
EARL WARREN -- "And the only satisfaction we can derive from it is to
be fair to all concerned. And I assure you that is our objective in
the matter."
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I do not mean to imply that this Commission will
not be fair. I know about the men on the Commission. And they are all
very fine men, including yourself, Chief Justice Warren. If I have
implied that, I will now say I do not imply. But I do state a fact
that I do not think that you can come to a true conclusion. I want
that for {the} record."
[DVP -- Since it's fairly clear that Marguerite wants to run the whole
show herself, maybe Chief Justice Warren should have just turned over
his title as Commission Chairman to Marguerite. Ya think?]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I mentioned to Mrs. Rosenthal that Lee and
Marina didn't have a baby bed, and Lee didn't have work clothes. ....
He needed work clothes since he got this job. .... So she got out a
lot of work clothes that her husband didn't want. However, she asked
me {to pay her} $10 for 12 pairs of used pants. And I would not buy--
give her $12 [sic?].
"Here is a very wealthy woman, and
she knows the story. And she knows that I have no money. And yet she
expects me to pay for his used clothing. And so I have this principle
about me. And I did not buy the used clothing--the clothing for Lee."
[DVP -- As was discovered after President Kennedy's assassination,
most topics seemed to boil down to one thing for Marguerite Oswald---
money. Another good illustration of this fact is brought out in the
book quote shown below:
"The doorbell rings {at the home of Ruth Paine on the night of
November 22, 1963} and two men from LIFE magazine appear
unannounced. .... Marguerite is fuming...because she's beginning to
realize that LIFE magazine is going to do a "life story" segment and
she wants to be paid. In her paranoid mind, Marguerite is beginning to
suspect that Ruth Paine invited LIFE magazine to come over and that
she and Marina, while speaking in Russian, have conspired to sell
Lee's life story without her." -- From Page #168 of Vincent Bugliosi's
2007 book "Reclaiming History: The Assassination Of President John F.
Kennedy"]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "They {Lee and Marina} lived at a corner house,
and there is Carol Street, and opposite Carol Street is a parking lot
for Montgomery Ward. They live approximately two blocks from
Montgomery Ward. So I had gone by, as I am stating, several times. You
have to understand--this is just 6 or 7 weeks that they are in this
home. ....
"Marina was not home. I could not
understand where so fast that they could have so many friends, that
this Russian girl didn't speak English and know her way about, could
be gone all day long. That worried me. So I sat in the car on
Montgomery Ward's parking lot, where I could see the house, because I
wanted to see who Marina was going to come home with. The door was
open. I went in the house and no one was there. By this time, I was
wondering how she could be gone all the time, being a stranger in
town. I sat in the car all day long. She didn't show up. ....
"So...two days later I went to the
home and my son was reading...and Marina was in the bedroom. .... I
went into the bedroom, and she was nursing June with her head down.
And I started to talk. And she still had her head down. And I came
around to the front and I saw Marina with a black eye.
"Now, gentlemen, I don't think any
man should hit his wife...or beat his wife. But I will say this. There
may be times that a woman needs to have a black eye. I am not
condoning the act. But I strongly am saying that this girl was not
home. And this man was working. And I saw, myself, that this man came
home and didn't have any food. This couple doesn't have a maid or
anyone to give this working man food. And I think it was her duty to
be home and have his supper ready. That is a little thing, maybe. But
to me it shows the character of what I am trying to bring out."
[DVP -- Yeah, it shows the "character" of a man who gave his wife a
black eye because she wasn't home and supper wasn't on the table when
he got home from work (according to Marguerite's version anyway). Nice
"character", huh?]
==============================
[DVP -- Below is a hunk of hilarious testimony from the lips of
Marguerite "IT ALL COMES DOWN TO CASH" Oswald, wherein she manages to
twist things around to suit her odd way of thinking:]
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Mrs. Paine...said, "You don't have to worry
about Marina. Marina will always have a home with me, because Marina
helps." Now, Mrs. Paine speaks Russian fluently. .... Mr. and Mrs.
Paine are separated. Mr. Paine does not live here. So it is just the
two women. So, Mrs. Paine didn't graciously do anything for Marina, as
the paper stated--that Lee never did pay Mrs. Paine for room or board.
"Mrs. Paine owes them money. That is
almost the kind of work that I do, or the airline stewardesses do,
serve food and everything. Marina was earning her keep, and really
should have had a salary for it. What I am trying to say, gentlemen,
Mrs. Paine had Marina there to help babysit with the children--with
her children--if she wanted to go running around and everything. So
actually she wasn't doing my son or Marina the favor that she claims
she was doing."
[DVP -- Classic Marguerite! Mrs. Paine was providing Marina with not
only a place to live and food to eat--free of charge--for several
weeks in October and November of 1963 (and for 2 additional weeks in
late April and early May of '63 while Lee Harvey looked for work in
New Orleans) --- but Ruth was also providing Marina and her children
with additional services as well, such as transportation to and from
New Orleans (twice), which were occasions that also had Ruth's station
wagon performing double duty as a moving van.
And there were also the free car rides to and from various doctors'
offices (on multiple occasions); plus the trip to and from Parkland
Hospital, where Marina gave birth to her second baby in October '63.
And Marguerite Oswald then has the nerve to suggest, on the public
record in front of the Warren Commission, that Ruth Paine owes MARINA
money!
Somebody help me pick up my jaw, which is currently stuck firmly to
the floor....because the outrageousness of what I just read in
Marguerite's WC testimony is pretty overwhelming. And yet at the same
time, when based on the overall record concerning Mrs. Marguerite
Oswald, it's fairly typical too.]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Mr. Odum is an FBI agent. And I said, "No, we
are going to see Lee." .... So he said, "Well, will you tell Mrs.
{Marina} Oswald, please"--to the interpreter--"I would like to
question her and I would like her to come with me to be questioned."
"I said, "It is no good. You don't
need to tell the interpreter that, because my daughter-in-law is not
going with you. We have been promised to see Lee. And, besides, Marina
has testified, made her statement at the courthouse yesterday, and any
further statements that Marina will make will be through counsel."
"Mr. Odum said to the interpreter,
"Mrs. Oswald"--to the interpreter--"will you tell Mrs. Oswald to
decide what she would like to do and not listen to her mother-in-
law"."
[DVP -- Sounds like darn good advice if you ask me. ;)]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I would say I spent about 3 or 4 minutes on the
telephone {at the Dallas City Jail, talking with Lee, on 11/23/63},
and then Marina came back to the telephone and talked with Lee. So we
left. Marina started crying. Marina says, "Mama, I tell Lee I love Lee
and Lee says he love me very much. And Lee tell me to make sure I buy
shoes for June."
"Now, here is a man that is accused
of the murder of a President. This is the next day, or let's say about
24 hours that he has been questioned. His composure is good. And he is
thinking about his young daughter needing shoes. Now, June was wearing
shoes belonging to Mrs. Paine's little girl; Marina told me they were
little red tennis shoes, and the top was worn. They were clean, and
the canvas was showing by the toe part, like children wear out their
toes.
"I ask you this, gentlemen. If
Marina had a hundred and some odd dollars in the house, why is it
necessary that my son has to tell her at the jailhouse, remind her to
buy shoes for his baby, for their child? Just a few dollars out of
that hundred and some odd dollars would have bought shoes for this
particular child.
"Another way to look at this, as I
stated previously--that the boy is concerned about shoes for his baby,
and he is in this awful predicament. So he must feel innocent, or sure
that everything is going to be all right, as he told me."
[DVP -- Or, we could look at Lee's "Buy Those Shoes" request in
another light -- from the perspective of Lee being guilty of killing
President Kennedy (which is so obviously the correct perspective,
based on the sum total of evidence to be found in the JFK case).
I.E.,
If Lee had been FALSELY accused of murdering the President (or had
been "framed" by a person or persons unknown), would you expect his
"I'm Really Innocent And I'm Being Framed For Murder" mindset to be of
such a tranquil and serene state that, just 24 hours after being
charged with two murders he says he did not commit (including Officer
Tippit's), he's not concentrating fully on these TWO charges of first-
degree murder that are pending against him -- but, instead, his mind
is so free of worry about these vile and supposedly-FALSE charges that
are staring him in the face that he's actually concentrating on
mundane and trivial things....like worrying about whether or not
Marina has bought a pair of shoes for his oldest daughter?
The jailhouse comments made by Lee Oswald about "buying shoes for
Junie" don't PROVE anything, one way or the other, of course. I don't
deny that fact. But I'm just wondering if such comments aren't more
indicative of a guilty man who has just been accused of double-murder
(and knows, of course, full well that he's guilty and will likely
receive the proper punishment), versus that of an innocent man who is
facing the same two FALSE murder charges?
That's some food for "Junie's Shoes" thought at any rate.
ADDENDUM (VIA 2 BOOK QUOTES):
"No one knew {Lee Harvey} Oswald as well as his wife,
Marina. .... Marina told {author Priscilla} McMillan that when she
visited her husband in jail on the day after the assassination, she
came away knowing he was guilty. .... She said she knew that had he
been innocent, he would have been screaming to high heaven for his
"rights," claiming he had been mistreated and demanding to see
officials at the very highest levels." -- Vincent Bugliosi; Page 962
of "Reclaiming History" (c.2007)
~~~~~~
"Marina could tell that he was guilty. If he hadn't been, she
thought, he would have been loudly protesting his arrest, and besides,
she sensed that he was saying goodbye to her with his eyes." -- From
Page #249 of Jean Davison's 1983 book "Oswald's Game"]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "They didn't want us to know {that Lee had been
shot}. They are now telling us this, Marina and I. He talked, and then
he turned around and said, "Lee has been shot." I said, "How badly?"
He said, "In the shoulder." I cried, and said, "Marina, Lee has been
shot." ....
"So I am sitting in the car with the
agent. .... Something comes over the mike, and the Secret Service
agent says, "Do not repeat. Do not repeat." I said, "My son is gone,
isn't he?" And he didn't answer. I said, "Answer me. I want to know.
If my son is gone, I want to meditate." He said, "Yes, Mrs. Oswald,
your son has just expired"."
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "We were escorted upstairs into a room. They said
it was a morgue, but it wasn't. Lee's body was on a hospital bed. ....
And there were a lot of policemen standing around, guarding the body.
And, of course, his face was showing. And Marina went first. She
opened his eyelids. Now...I am a nurse, and I don't think I could have
done that. This is a very, very strong girl, that she can open a dead
man's eyelids. And she says, "He cry. He eye wet." .... I didn't even
touch Lee. I just wanted to see that it was my son---"
J. LEE RANKIN -- "You were satisfied it was your son?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Yes, sir. That is why I wanted to see the body.
I wanted to make sure it was my son. So while leaving the room, I said
to the police, "I think some day you will hang your heads in shame...I
happen to...know some facts, that maybe this is the unsung hero of
this episode. And I, as his mother, intend to provide this if I
can"."
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I did say...I wanted my son buried in the
Arlington Cemetery. Now, gentlemen, I didn't know that President
Kennedy was going to be buried in Arlington Cemetery. All I know is
that my son is an agent, and that he deserves to be buried in
Arlington Cemetery."
[DVP -- I guess everybody is entitled to their fantasies -- including
the mother of a Presidential assassin named Lee Harvey Oswald.]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "I don't remember if I stated while at Six Flags
that this particular agent...was very, very rude to me. Anything that
I said, he snapped. And I took it for quite a while. At this
particular time that they showed the gun on television, I said, "How
can they say Lee shot the President? Even though they would prove it
is his gun doesn't mean he used it--nobody saw him use it." He snapped
back and he said, "Mrs. Oswald, we know that he shot the President."
"I then walked over to Mr. Mike
Howard and I said, "What's wrong with that agent? That agent is about
to crack. All he has done is taunt me ever since I have been here." He
said, "Mrs. Oswald, he was personal bodyguard to Mrs. Kennedy for 30
months and maybe he has a little opinion against you." I said, "Let
him keep his personal opinions to himself. He is on a job"."
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Now, there was another instance with this same
agent. He followed Marina around continuously. I'm going to make this
plain. .... The pictures will always show him by Marina. We were in
the bedroom, and he was in the bedroom. And we were getting ready for
the funeral {of LHO}. .... While Marina was complaining about her
dress, my little grandbaby...was standing by her mother...and Marina
was combing her hair. She took the comb and she hit June on the head.
I said, "Marina, don't do that." And this agent...snapped at me and
said, "Mrs. Oswald, you let her alone." I said, "Don't tell me what to
say to my daughter-in-law. .... Now, why did this man do these
things? ....
"I am going to say it as strongly as
I can...and I have stated this from the beginning...I think our
trouble in this is in our own Government. And I suspect these two
agents of conspiracy with my daughter-in-law in this plot."
EARL WARREN -- "With who?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "With Marina and Mrs. Paine--the two women. Lee
was set up, and it is quite possible these two Secret Service men are
involved."
J. LEE RANKIN -- "Which ones are you referring to?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Mr. Mike Howard and the man that I did not know
the name." ....
J. LEE RANKIN -- "What kind of a conspiracy are you describing that
these men are engaged in?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "The assassination of President Kennedy."
J. LEE RANKIN -- "You think that two Secret Service agents and Marina
and Mrs. Paine were involved in that--in the conspiracy?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Yes, I do."
[DVP -- Marina was probably the "Grassy Knoll" shooter....and Ruth
Paine drove the getaway car (that Nash Rambler seen by Deputy Roger
Craig, remember). We'll just have to invent a way for the two Secret
Service agents to become embroiled in this plot with the two
housewives; but that shouldn't be too difficult to do -- after all,
Marguerite has managed it quite nicely, while using zero pieces of
evidence to support her notion.]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Marina...stated publicly that in her mind she
thought that Lee shot President Kennedy. What an awful thing for this
22-year-old foreign girl to think. She thinks in her mind. She doesn't
know. But she thinks, gentlemen..."In my mind, I think Lee shot
President Kennedy." She doesn't know our American way of life. Lee
Harvey Oswald will be the accused assassin of President Kennedy when
this information is over with, believe me. .... Marina Oswald was
brainwashed by the Secret Service. .... I am sorry, gentlemen, but
this is a true story."
[DVP -- I can envision Earl Warren and Gerald Ford, et al, being
forced to cover their faces at various times during Mrs. Oswald's
testimony, so that Marguerite wouldn't be aware that the Commissioners
were about ready to bust out laughing at any moment (such as during
the "brainwashed" testimony quoted above).]
==============================
J. LEE RANKIN -- "And you think she {Marina} could understand English
fluently?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Yes, sir. I also told you when she lived with me
that month in my home, how we conversed and talked. And yet the
impression is that Marina came here and didn't speak English at all."
J. LEE RANKIN -- "How does that show she conspired 'to assassinate the
President?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Because Marina now is not happy."
[DVP -- I guess it never occurred to Marguerite that a major reason
for Marina to suddenly turn into an unhappy person after November 22nd
is due to the fact that she has had to face a series of crises -- such
as: her husband being accused of murdering two people (including the
U.S. President) and the fact that her husband was himself killed just
two days after the President was slain.
But evidently, according to Marguerite, Marina's sudden turn from
happy to unhappy was because Marina herself was part of some sort of
plot to kill the President in which she apparently helped to FRAME HER
OWN HUSBAND for that murder.
The further we get into Marguerite's testimony, the more obvious it
becomes that this woman is slightly off her rocker.]
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "It is also a serious charge that my son is the
assassin of President Kennedy. You see, we have two sides here. ....
Lee Harvey Oswald, or Mr. J. Lee Rankin, or anyone in this room could
not have been in that many places in 29 minutes' time. It is utterly
impossible. ....
"The reports said that he was on the
sixth floor, and then they saw him in the cafeteria drinking a Coca-
Cola, and the President came. Then he had to leave the building. He
had so many blocks to walk before he caught a bus. He had to board the
bus, he had to pay his fare, he had to get out of the bus, then he
walked a few blocks, then he caught a taxicab, paid the taxi man, then
he walked a few blocks, went to his home and got a coat. Then he
walked a few more blocks and shot the policeman. Then he walked a few
more blocks and he was in the theater. In 29 minutes' time, it cannot
be done."
[DVP -- And it wasn't done in just "29 minutes". Mrs. Oswald, for some
reason, seems to think that all of the above things were accomplished
between 12:30 and 12:59 PM on 11/22/63, which is an incorrect
timeline. In actuality, Lee Oswald had approximately 1 hour and 10
minutes to perform all of the above tasks laid out by Marguerite.]
NOVEMBER 22, 1963 -- A LEE HARVEY OSWALD "TIMELINE":
www.google.com/group/alt.conspiracy.jfk/msg/3a3d654f3c43ed16
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Well, now, Mr. Rankin, I have not changed my
testimony, if you are implying that. I may not have put it in a
position you understood. because as I say, I certainly did not mean to
imply that I had proof, because if I had proof {of a conspiracy to
kill JFK} I would not be sitting here taking all my energy and trying
to show you this little by little. I would have had an affidavit and
show you the proof. So if you want to call it speculation, call it
speculation. I don't care what you call it. But I am not satisfied in
my mind that things are according to Hoyle. And I believe that my son
is innocent."
[DVP -- So, Mrs. Oswald apparently thinks that if she (or somebody
else whom she thinks has knowledge of some grand conspiracy "plot")
had filled out and signed an official "affidavit", that would,
therefore, be tantamount to "proof" that a conspiracy did, in fact,
exist with respect to the President's murder in Dallas.
I guess it didn't bother Marguerite one bit that there was NO PHYSICAL
EVIDENCE at all to support any of her conspiracy theories (and there
still isn't any such hard evidence of that kind to this day, here in
2008).
It would have been enough, per the elder Mrs. Oswald, to merely have
an "affidavit" on file (signed by Marguerite? Or somebody else?)
stating that some kind of "conspiracy" existed on November 22, 1963.
What a kook.
And to think that the Commission had to sit there in Washington for
three solid days and listen to this nutcase ramble on and on about
absolutely nothing of any consequence whatsoever....and, on top of
that, the Commission had to endure Marguerite's absurd make-believe
tale of perceived "conspiracy" involving Ruth Paine, Marina Oswald,
Mike Howard, and another unnamed Secret Service agent.
(And this kook wanted to be awarded the power to subpoena witnesses of
her own choosing! Ain't that a hoot?!)
==============================
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "That {CE203} is a picture of the Book Depository
the day of the assassination of President Kennedy. And there are
people in the picture."
EARL WARREN -- "Well, is there anything you want us to see in the
picture?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Well, I would rather you see it yourself. I see
what I see."
EARL WARREN -- "What do you see?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "...I see Marina and the child--the girl and the
baby--it could be Marina. .... This girl with this baby could possibly
be Marina and June. .... This girl holding the baby."
J. LEE RANKIN -- "Right next to the door?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Yes, sir; right next to the door. In back of her
is the hat of a man."
[The following day, 2/12/64, Marguerite testified some more about the
things she thinks she sees in the famous photo taken by James
Altgens....]
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "On the picture...you might think I am crazy to
say so--the first thing I saw in this picture...was my son, Lee, and
Marina and the child. .... That was my first reaction. And, if I am
correct--I don't say I am correct--but if I am correct, this would be
the solution. Lee was escorted out of the building. Kennedy is shot
now...he has passed the window where Lee's rifle is supposed to be.
And he is shot in the neck. He has passed this particular part. He is
shot in the neck. And then this man that I think is Lee...is being
escorted out of the building...I am speculating, sir, I have no proof
of this. I wish I did. Could be escorted out of the building by a
policeman. .... This is Lee's build and everything. The first thing I
saw. Now, they think this is Lee. No, sir, I do not. Everybody thinks
this is Lee."
J. LEE RANKIN -- "When you say they think--it is the man leaning
against the side of the doorway, is that right?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "Yes. That is the picture that everybody is
convinced is Lee."
J. LEE RANKIN -- "And you think it is the one next to him that doesn't
show any face? It shows the arms over the head?"
MARGUERITE OSWALD -- "He has his arms up in the air. Now, that is what
I saw immediately--against everybody else seeing it. And this woman
and child could possibly be Marina. Now, to explain this--whether I
thought Lee shot Officer Tippit or not--Lee could be escorted out of
this building with a gun in his back possibly. I am just speculating,
sir. .... And that is how he got out of the building. And this same
officer could have been killed, because he was involved in this, and
then he could have been killed, to be kept quiet. There is a
possibility of this, gentlemen."
[DVP -- So, per Marguerite, BOTH Lee Oswald and Marina Oswald were
probably standing in front of the Texas School Book Depository
Building when JFK was shot.
You see, if you are taking part in a covert plot to assassinate the
President, instead of laying low and staying out of sight, I guess it
must be a good idea to make yourself HIGHLY VISIBLE as the murder is
taking place, so that you will very likely get yourself photographed.
This apparently was Marguerite Oswald's mindset as of February 1964
when she hinted to the Warren Commission that both Lee and Marina can
be seen within James Altgens' picture (linked below).
CE203:
http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/html/WH_Vol16_0304b.htm
Well, at least Altgens' photo provided Lee and Marina with perfect
alibis in case they were to ever be accused of being actual gunmen in
Dealey Plaza. (Or perhaps the baby in the picture is really a gun--
merely disguised as a baby in a blanket.)
It's just too bad that Lee Harvey decided NOT to use that perfect "I
Was On The Steps" alibi after he was charged with the murder of the
President. Instead, Lee admits to the press and to the world (on live
television) that he was "inside" the Book Depository when Kennedy was
shot:
I wonder if Marguerite ever wondered WHY Lee never spoke up and told
the police that he had been in front of the building....if he had
REALLY been there at 12:30 PM on November 22nd?
And if Lee was being "escorted out of the building by a
policeman...with a gun in his back" [LOL break required here], I
wonder which "Lee Harvey Oswald" imposter popped up on the second
floor of the TSBD just 90 seconds after the assassination?
Maybe we should hold a seance and ask Marguerite. She could probably
tell us.]
==============================
PHOTOS OF MARGUERITE OSWALD:
http://www.jfkresearch.com/101/jfk101-05.jpg
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/images/grant5.jpg
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/imagehosting/226494770923a1597c.jpg
http://tommcmahon.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/oswaldpaine2.jpg
==============================
"Lee Harvey Oswald, my son, even after his death, has done more
for his country than any other living human being." -- Marguerite
Oswald; circa Late 1963; At Rose Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/marguerite2.ram
www.durangotexas.com/eyesontexas/dallas/oswald.htm
==============================