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

Alleged Mexican and Cuban Associate Claims

This section details the Commission’s investigation into Oswald’s alleged contacts with Mexican or Cuban individuals, principally through the testimony of Mrs. Sylvia Odio (born Havana 1937, member of the anti-Castro JURE organization). Mrs. Odio testified that in late September 1963, three men visited her Dallas apartment: two appearing Cuban or Mexican (one identifying himself as “Leopoldo”) and an American introduced as “Leon Oswald,” allegedly an excellent ex-Marine shot interested in the Cuban cause. Leopoldo later called to describe the American as “kind of nuts” and reported him saying Kennedy should have been assassinated after the Bay of Pigs. Mrs. Odio and her sister were certain the American was Oswald, fixing the date as September 26 or 27 based on her October 1 move. The Commission established, however, that Oswald was provably in New Orleans on September 23 and cashed an unemployment check there between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on September 25, before traveling by Continental Trailways bus from New Orleans to Houston (arriving 10:50 p.m. on September 25) and then boarding bus No. 5133 from Houston to Laredo at 2:35 a.m. on September 26, crossing the border between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. that day as confirmed by Mexican immigration records. No evidence indicated Oswald flew between New Orleans and Dallas, no Dallas-to-Laredo bus tickets were sold September 23-26, and Oswald told bus passengers he had come from New Orleans directly. A September 25 phone call to Houston further undermined the Dallas presence theory. Despite the Commission’s conclusion that Oswald was not in Dallas at the relevant time, the FBI conducted further investigation, locating Loran Eugene Hall (an anti-Castro activist) who acknowledged visiting Mrs. Odio in September 1963 with Lawrence Howard and William Seymour (whom Hall described as resembling Oswald and speaking little Spanish). The Commission concluded Oswald was not at Mrs. Odio’s apartment. Additional testimony from bartender Evaristo Rodriguez (Habana Bar, New Orleans) describing Oswald with a Latin-appearing man was undermined by inconsistencies with bar owner Orest Pena’s prior FBI statements and evidence that Oswald did not drink to excess. Finally, attorney Dean Andrews’s testimony about Oswald visiting his New Orleans office with a Mexican companion was uncorroborated, with no records located and his secretary having no recollection of such visits.

CAPÍTULO VIII. She did not then know Oswald’s address in Dallas.[C6-367]

Chapter VIII examines two related questions arising from Lee Harvey Oswald’s documented interactions with U.S. Government agencies between his release from the Marine Corps and the assassination: whether he served as an informant or undercover agent for any Federal agency, and whether his financial transactions between June 13, 1962, and November 22, 1963, reveal unexplained income. After reviewing State Department, Immigration and Naturalization Service, FBI, and CIA records, and conducting a detailed audit of Oswald’s receipts, expenditures, debts, and pattern of living, the Commission concludes that Oswald was not an agent or informant of any Federal agency and that his known funds were sufficient to cover his known expenditures, including the purchase of the assassination rifle and revolver.

Oswald Was Not an Agent for the U.S. Government

Although Oswald dealt with several agencies of the U.S. Government—including the State Department (passport, citizenship, repatriation loan, wife’s immigration), the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the FBI (three interviews of Oswald and inquiries of Mrs. Paine), and the CIA (monitoring of his Fair Play for Cuba Committee and Mexico City consulate activities)—the Commission found no evidence that he served as a paid informant or undercover agent. Rumors to this effect, advanced by Oswald’s mother Marguerite Oswald and by Pauline Bates (a Fort Worth stenographer who reported Oswald claimed to be a “secret agent”), were investigated and either unsubstantiated or contradicted by sworn testimony. Director John A. McCone and Deputy Director Richard Helms of the CIA, and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover along with Agents John W. Fain, John L. Quigley, and James P. Hosty, Jr., all testified under oath and provided affidavits affirming that Oswald was not an agent, employee, or informant and was never assigned a symbol number or paid any funds by the Bureau. The Commission independently reviewed the complete CIA and FBI files on Oswald, which corroborated these statements. The presence of Agent Hosty’s name, office address, telephone number, and license plate number in Oswald’s address book was traced to a November 1, 1963, visit by Hosty to Ruth Paine, who handed the slip of paper to Oswald; the FBI office address itself was readily available from public sources. The Commission concluded there was absolutely no informant or undercover relationship between any U.S. Government agency and Oswald at any time.