Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Oswald’s Weapon Purchases and General Walker Assassination Attempt

Using the alias A. J. Hidell, Oswald ordered a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver from Los Angeles (dated January 27) and a rifle from Klein’s Sporting Goods in Chicago on March 12. He used the name “Alek James Hidell” on identification cards likely produced at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall. Both weapons shipped on March 20. Oswald stored the rifle in a Neely Street storeroom he forbade Marina to enter, telling her it was for hunting. Marina photographed him with the rifle, the Worker and Militant, and the revolver strapped to his belt. Over the weekend of March 9-10, Oswald photographed the alley behind General Edwin Walker’s home. He prepared a notebook outlining a plan to shoot Walker and studied bus schedules. On the evening of April 6 or 7, he hid the rifle nearby, then retrieved it on April 10, firing at Walker but narrowly missing his head. When Marina learned of the attempt, she made him promise never to repeat it, and she kept his written instructions. Oswald compared the act to assassinating Hitler. The De Mohrenschildts later visited and saw the rifle; De Mohrenschildt jokingly intimated Oswald was the shooter, visibly unsettling him.

Oswald’s Job Loss and Denied Unemployment Claim

On April 6, Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall terminated Oswald because, in his supervisor’s opinion, he could not do the work despite trying, and he did not get along with fellow employees; his bringing a Russian newspaper to work may have contributed. Marina testified he was very upset by the loss. On April 8, Oswald informed the Texas Employment Commission he was seeking work and had been laid off due to lack of work. He filed for unemployment benefits on April 12, but the Commission disapproved the claim four days later due to insufficient wage credits.

Ongoing Marital Strife and Pressure on Marina to Return to Russia

After moving to Neely Street, the Oswalds initially got along well but soon resumed quarreling. Oswald continued preventing Marina from learning English and beating her. Since February, he had been urging her to return to Russia. Marina wrote several letters to the Russian Embassy requesting a visa, but she testified that Oswald forced her to write them and that she never wanted to return.

chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the

Chapter II, “With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the [FBI],” continues the Warren Commission’s narrative of Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities following his return from the Soviet Union, focusing on his move to New Orleans in April 1963. The chapter details Oswald’s resettlement with relatives, his brief employment at the Reily Coffee Company, his formation of a one-man Fair Play for Cuba Committee chapter, his arrest during a street confrontation with anti-Castro Cuban exiles, and his subsequent preparations to travel to Mexico City as a stepping stone to Cuba. Throughout the chapter, Agent in Charge John Quigley of the FBI’s New Orleans field office is assisted by Agent in Charge Sorrels (or, more precisely, Special Agents John L. Quigley and others), and the narrative interweaves Oswald’s daily life, his political activities, his marital difficulties, and his evolving plans to reach Cuba.

Oswald Moves to New Orleans and Stays with Aunt Lillian Murret

Oswald Moves to New Orleans and Stays with Aunt Lillian Murret On April 24, Ruth Paine visited the Oswalds at their Neely Street apartment in Irving, Texas, and was surprised to find Oswald already packed and ready to depart for New Orleans by bus. He explained that he had been unable to find employment in the Dallas area and that Marina had suggested he go to New Orleans, his birthplace. Marina later testified that her real motivation was to get Oswald out of Dallas because of the Walker incident. Mrs. Paine offered to drive Marina to New Orleans later and to have Marina and June stay at her home in the meantime. Upon arriving in New Orleans, Oswald telephoned his aunt, Lillian Murret, at 757 French Street. She had not known he had returned from Russia or that he was married with a child, but she agreed to let him stay. Once in New Orleans, Oswald visited his father’s gravesite and telephoned every “Oswald” listed in the phone book, locating his father’s brother’s widow, Hazel Oswald of Metairie, Louisiana, who provided him with a photograph of his father.