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

Relations Between the Oswalds and the Paine Family

The Commission examined the Oswalds’ relations with Michael and Ruth Paine of Irving, Texas, who were not part of the Russian-speaking community but became connected through Ruth’s Russian language skills. Ruth Paine met the Oswalds at a February 1963 party, became friendly with Marina, and provided considerable assistance—including housing Marina and the child for over two weeks in late April and early May 1963, paying their travel expenses to New Orleans, corresponding during the Oswalds’ time there, and retrieving Marina and the child in late September 1963. The Commission considered whether Ruth’s New Orleans trip was meant to assist Oswald with his Mexico City venture, but the evidence showed it was not: prior correspondence made no mention of the trip, and Oswald deceived both women about his plans. Marina knew of the deception but joined in it. Oswald continued the deception upon his October 4 arrival at the Paine home. Marina lived with Ruth Paine through the birth of her second daughter on October 20, 1963, and until the assassination of President Kennedy, while Oswald obtained a room in Dallas and visited on weekends. The section ends noting that Ruth Paine was interviewed by FBI agents on November 1 and 5, 1963.

第八章 She did not then know Oswald’s address in Dallas.[C6-367]

Chapter VIII. She did not then know Oswald’s address in Dallas.[C6-367] This chapter examines what Mrs. Ruth Paine knew about Lee Harvey Oswald prior to the assassination of President Kennedy and did not share with the FBI, details the Commission’s thorough investigation into the backgrounds of Ruth and Michael Paine, and surveys Oswald’s political contacts and activities after his return from the Soviet Union, including his dealings with the Communist Party, U.S.A., the Socialist Workers Party, the Socialist Labor Party, and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Lee Harvey Oswald fabricated the existence of a New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, printing unauthorized FPCC promotional materials, distributing “Hands Off Cuba!” handbills, and even appearing on local radio as the group’s self-proclaimed spokesman, though national FPCC leadership confirmed the chapter was never authorized, no funds were allocated to support his activities there, and he never actually operated out of the office address he claimed for the organization. The Commission also investigated potential ties between Oswald and Dallas-area right-wing groups active ahead of President Kennedy’s 1963 visit, including the organizers of a black-bordered “Welcome Mr. Kennedy” advertisement published in the Dallas Morning News on the day of the assassination and the authors of inflammatory “Wanted for Treason” handbills distributed in the city in the days before the President’s arrival, and found no evidence connecting Oswald to any of these groups or their members, nor any proof to support unsubstantiated allegations that one of the ad’s organizers had met with Jack Ruby and Patrolman J.D. Tippit prior to the assassination. The chapter details the production and investigation of the “Wanted for Treason” handbills circulated around the time of the John F. Kennedy assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald’s September 1963 trip to Mexico City and his contacts with Cuban and Soviet embassies there, the process and results of his visa applications at those embassies, testimony from Cuban Embassy employee Senora Silvia Duran regarding Oswald’s visits, verification of Duran’s testimony and the full details of Oswald’s Mexico trip, and the Commission’s investigation of allegations of a conspiracy between Oswald and the Cuban government. This chapter, titled “chapter VIII. She did not then know Oswald’s address in Dallas.[C6-367]”, opens with the contextual note that the author did not know Lee Harvey Oswald’s Dallas address at the time of the events under discussion. It focuses on investigating and debunking widespread conspiracy rumors alleging foreign ties to Oswald in the assassination of President Kennedy, establishing that all claims of conspiratorial foreign contact with Oswald lacked factual basis, with many stemming from mistaken identification, before detailing specific investigations of individual allegations. Chapter VIII (chapter 20), titled “She did not then know Oswald’s address in Dallas.[C6-367]”, evaluates claims related to Lee Harvey Oswald’s firearm activities, alias usage, and alleged rifle practice sightings in the weeks before the assassination of President Kennedy, alongside assessments of the credibility of supporting witness testimony. The Commission evaluated extensive evidence demonstrating that the weapon witnesses observed being fired at a Texas firing range differed significantly from Oswald’s Mannlicher-Carcano assassination rifle, with discrepancies including a shortened “sporterized” barrel, missing components, visible flame discharge, and a different Japanese-manufactured scope of lesser value. The Commission also scrutinized the testimony of automobile salesman Albert Guy Bogard, who claimed that a man identifying himself as “Lee Oswald” test-drove a car on November 9, 1963, with the help of coworkers Frank Pizzo, Eugene Wilson, and Oran Brown, but found significant inconsistencies in their accounts, conflicting descriptions of the customer’s appearance and behavior, and a verified alibi placing Oswald elsewhere that day. Finally, the Commission examined Sylvia Odio’s testimony that she was visited in late September 1963 by an American introduced as “Leon Oswald” alongside two men of Cuban or Mexican background, concluding after extensive investigation and the FBI’s location of Loran Eugene Hall, William Seymour, and Lawrence Howard that Oswald was not in Dallas at the time and therefore could not have been the American in her apartment. 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. Chapter VIII, drawn from the Warren Commission Report, addresses two distinct investigative matters. The first concerns the credibility of witness testimony regarding Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities, specifically challenges to grocery store owner Henry H. Hutchison’s account of Oswald attempting to cash a check, and an examination of a Western Union manager’s claim that Oswald sent telegrams and collected money orders before the assassination. The Commission concluded that both accounts were unreliable. The second and larger portion of the chapter turns to the possibility of a conspiracy involving Jack Ruby, who shot Oswald on November 24, 1963. It details Ruby’s movements and associations from November 21 through November 24, including his activities on the eve of the assassination, his time at the Dallas Morning News when the President was shot, the disputed claim that he visited Parkland Hospital, and his decision to close his nightclubs. Chapter VIII traces Jack Ruby’s movements and activities from the afternoon of November 22 through the early morning hours of November 23, 1963. After leaving the Carousel Club, Ruby closed his clubs for three days, made numerous emotional phone calls, attended Friday evening synagogue services, arrived at Dallas police headquarters by approximately 11:30 p.m., was present at Oswald’s midnight press conference, visited radio station KLIF, and continued to interact with acquaintances into the early morning hours, before photographing an “Impeach Earl Warren” signboard with companions. This chapter documents Jack Ruby’s activities, movements, and statements in the roughly 24 hours following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, from the evening of November 22 through the late night of November 23, 1963, including his emotional responses to the killing, his investigation of controversial political signage and advertising, his visits to Dallas businesses and venues, his numerous phone calls, and the conflicting witness testimony surrounding his whereabouts in the hours before he fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald. This chapter details Jack Ruby’s activities on the morning of November 24, 1963, leading up to his fatal shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald in the Dallas Police Department basement, alongside evaluations of Ruby’s conduct surrounding the John F. Kennedy assassination and assessments of unsubstantiated rumors that Ruby and Oswald were previously acquainted. This section of the report examines claims of a pre-assassination acquaintance between Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald, including witness sightings of the pair together, analysis of those claims, review of other potential association evidence, and background details on Ruby’s personal, business, and political activities. This section details the Commission’s investigation into allegations of Jack Ruby’s ties to political and subversive groups, first concluding there is no reliable evidence Ruby was ever associated with Communist or radical causes, and dismissing a claim that he took part in Communist activities in Muncie, Indiana between 1943 and 1947 after military records placed Ruby on active military duty in the South during two of the alleged visits, no corroborating lists or witness accounts confirming his presence in Muncie were located, and all individuals named as Ruby’s associates in the claim denied knowing him or having any connection to Communist activity. The section also addresses allegations of Ruby’s ties to ultraconservative groups, pro- or anti-Castro Cuban activity, and organized criminal enterprises, finding none of these claims are substantiated: while Ruby had two right-wing radio scripts from H.L. Hunt’s program in his possession at the time of his arrest, there is no evidence he actively participated in right-wing political efforts, allegations he met with officer J.D. Tippit and right-wing activist Bernard Weissman at the Carousel Club are unsupported by club employees and other witnesses, and no links between Ruby and Cuban revolutionary groups or organized crime were uncovered. The section additionally covers the Commission’s review of Ruby’s roommate George Senator, finding no evidence Senator ever engaged in political activities, and noting inconsistencies in his accounts of his actions on November 22 and 23, 1963, including omissions of accompanying Ruby to photograph the “Impeach Earl Warren” sign and an unverified claim that he offered to make breakfast for friends the morning after Oswald’s shooting. Chapter VIII examines whether Jack Ruby acted alone or as part of a conspiracy when he shot Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963. The chapter reviews a senator’s alleged foreknowledge, Ruby’s activities in the months preceding President Kennedy’s Dallas visit, and the Commissioner’s conclusion that no credible evidence links Ruby or Oswald to a broader conspiracy.