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

chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the (Part 12 of 21)

Marina’s uncle, Ilya Prusakov, was a lumber industry executive with lieutenant colonel rank in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not intelligence. The Oswalds received no unusual treatment leaving the Soviet Union; other Americans had brought Russian wives out before and after. Marina’s exit visa took at least 5.5 months; other Soviet wives of Americans had been granted visas more quickly. They received visa approval December 25, 1961; Marina picked up her visa January 11, 1962, while Oswald delayed his until May 22 due to the 45-day validity.

The Commission found no credible evidence linking Oswald’s Mexico City trip to a conspiracy. His passport was processed routinely; twenty-four other New Orleans applications were authorized simultaneously. The Internal Security Act of 1950 required no affidavit from citizens who had attempted to expatriate themselves. Oswald had sufficient funds for his seven-day trip, estimated at less than $85; he traveled alone by bus. He never received permission from Cuba or Mexico to enter Cuba; a confidential Cuban airline check found no record of him. No evidence supported the rumor he returned with $5,000. A USIA-monitored tape of Castro’s November 27 speech contained no reference to surreptitious Cuban visits.

The Directors of the CIA and FBI both testified Oswald was never employed by either agency. Mrs. Marguerite Oswald believed her son was a U.S. agent but could not prove it. Pauline Bates denied Oswald told her he was a “secret agent.” FBI Agent James P. Hosty gave his name and phone number to Ruth Paine to pass along Oswald’s address; Marina recorded Hosty’s car license number after a visit. The FBI had no prior information about the rifle but traced its purchase by Oswald within twenty-four hours. The last FBI interview with Oswald before the assassination was in New Orleans in August 1963, after his arrest for distributing Fair Play for Cuba handbills.

The Commission found no evidence linking Oswald, Jack Ruby, and Tippit in conspiracy. Oswald’s room was 1.3 miles from Ruby’s apartment; Tippit lived seven miles from each. No credible evidence showed Oswald received money from Ruby or anyone else; IRS analysis confirmed sufficient funds. The allegation that Dallas police planned to arrest Oswald and Ruby for the General Walker attack originated in a fabricated Deutsche National Zeiting und Soldaten Zeitung statement. Although Oswald’s notebook contained Walker’s name and phone number, Walker said he did not know Oswald before the assassination. Mrs. Eva Grant denied describing Tippit and Ruby as “like two brothers”; Ruby knew a different Dallas policeman named Tippit. No credible evidence showed Ruby active in the criminal underworld. The shooting of Warren A. Reynolds January 23, 1964 by Darrell Wayne Garner was unrelated; Betty MacDonald had not worked at Ruby’s Carousel Club.

The Commission found no evidence Oswald was involved in Marine Private Martin D. Schrand’s death by accidental shotgun discharge January 5, 1958, in the Philippines. The Texas School Book Depository was a private corporation; Oswald obtained his position through Ruth Paine, who arranged an interview with Roy S. Truly. Neither Dallas police nor the Secret Service had searched other buildings along the motorcade route; it was not Secret Service practice. Sheriff E. J. Decker’s 12:30 p.m. transmission directed officers to the railroad track area near Elm Street, not the Depository. Dallas police had no one under surveillance November 22 except at the Trade Mart. Witnesses saw a man resembling Oswald at shooting ranges in October and November 1963, but investigation failed to confirm it was Oswald. Oswald had no driver’s license. Western Union records contained no money orders payable to Oswald or his aliases; employee C. A. Hamblen could not confirm the man he saw was Oswald. The rumor that Oswald applied for a job at a radio station in Alice, Texas, October 4, 1963, was contradicted by his bus travel from Mexico City arriving in Dallas October 3 without passing through Alice. No evidence showed Oswald arranged an airplane getaway, and no money was found in his room; he had left $170 at the Paine residence and had $13.87 at arrest. Dallas police inventories contained no file boxes with Castro sympathizer lists. Variations in spelling and grammar in Oswald’s letters reflected his own drafting; wife and mother confirmed he worked hard on better-constructed letters. The story of a Negro janitor in protective custody was unfounded. Marina received Secret Service protection she could terminate anytime. The photograph Mrs. Marguerite Oswald was shown by FBI Agent Bardwell D. Odum November 23 was not Jack Ruby. Mrs. Helen Markham’s sons were not involved in conspiracy; James Alfred Markham was arrested June 30, 1964, for burglary. Captain Richard C. Cloy’s claim that the Army had rehearsed Kennedy’s funeral before the assassination was based on the unit’s earlier rehearsal for President Hoover’s funeral. The SS Marion Lykes docked only at Le Havre and La Pallice, France, never at Havana.