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

Treatment of Oswald in Custody

The focal point of activity during Oswald’s detention was the third floor of the Police and Courts Building, which housed the Dallas Police Department’s main offices. Public elevators opened into a lobby at the midpoint of a 140-foot corridor running the length of the floor. At one end were the offices of Chief of Police Jesse E. Curry and his immediate subordinates, and at the other end was a small pressroom. Between them lay other police offices, including those of the major detective bureaus, with the homicide and robbery bureau—headed by Capt. J. Will Fritz—located between the pressroom and the lobby. Commission Exhibit No. 2175 illustrates this layout.

Chronology

Oswald arrived at the police department around 2 p.m. on Friday and was held in the third-floor offices of the homicide and robbery bureau until Captain Fritz returned from the Texas School Book Depository. About 15–20 minutes later he entered Fritz’ office for his first interrogation. Between approximately 4:05 p.m. and shortly after midnight he underwent two lineups, was searched (five cartridges were found), was arraigned before Justice of the Peace David L. Johnston for the murder of Patrolman Tippit at 7:10 p.m., provided fingerprints, palmprints, and a paraffin test, and at 11:26 p.m. was charged with the murder of President Kennedy. Around midnight he appeared briefly before the press in the basement, was placed in a maximum security cell on the fifth floor near an empty cell on each side and a guard, and was arraigned at about 1:30 a.m. on Saturday for the President’s murder. On Saturday he was questioned twice in Fritz’ office, received visits from his wife and mother and his brother Robert, tried unsuccessfully to reach attorney John Abt by phone, underwent another lineup, gave fingernail scrapings and hair samples, and spoke briefly with Dallas Bar Association president H. Louis Nichols, who offered him a lawyer but was declined. On Sunday morning he was signed out of jail at 9:30 a.m., taken to Fritz’ office for a final interrogation, departed for transfer at about 11:15 a.m., and was shot at 11:21 a.m.; he was pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital at 1:07 p.m.

Interrogation Sessions

Between about 2:30 p.m. Friday and 11:15 a.m. Sunday, Oswald was interrogated for roughly 12 hours total. On Friday he was questioned intermittently for more than 7 hours and given 8–9 hours to rest that night; on Saturday he was questioned for about 3 hours across three sessions; and on Sunday he was questioned for less than 2 hours. The interrogations took place in Fritz’ small 14-by-9½-foot office, which was typically crowded with as many as seven or eight people, including Dallas detectives, FBI and Secret Service investigators, and occasionally a post office inspector and the U.S. marshal—more than 25 different persons participated overall. Captain Fritz conducted most of the questioning but was frequently called away, leaving others to question Oswald in his absence. Interrogators disagreed on whether the corridor chaos affected the atmosphere inside; Oswald remained calm most of the time but refused to answer any questions he deemed pertinent to the investigation. As Chief Curry later acknowledged, “we were violating every principle of interrogation.”

Oswald’s Legal Rights

All available evidence indicates Oswald was not subjected to physical hardship during detention; he was fed, allowed to rest, and had his handcuffs switched from behind to front at his request. He made no complaints to officers about his treatment, and the visible marks over his right eye and under his left—sustained during his arrest at the Texas Theatre—were seen by all who encountered him. Before his first Friday interrogation, Fritz warned Oswald that he was not required to speak and that any statements could be used against him. He was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Johnston for the Tippit murder at 7:10 p.m. and for the President’s murder about 6½ hours later, and on each occasion was advised of his right to counsel and to remain silent. Nevertheless, Oswald was never represented by counsel; at the midnight press conference he protested the lack of legal representation. ACLU representatives who visited Friday evening were assured Oswald had been informed of his rights and was free to seek a lawyer. On Saturday he repeatedly tried without success to reach New York attorney John Abt, declined an offer of counsel from H. Louis Nichols of the Dallas Bar Association, and as late as Sunday morning told Postal Inspector Harry D. Holmes he preferred to obtain his own lawyer.