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

Second Fort Worth FBI Interview with Oswald

On August 16 the FBI again interviewed Oswald, this time in the back seat of a car in front of his home. The session covered substantially the same material as the first. Oswald again denied making any deal with Soviet representatives, protested his undesirable Marine discharge, and confirmed that his wife was registered at the Soviet Embassy. He continued to refuse to discuss why he had gone to the Soviet Union but was less hostile than in the earlier interview. According to Marina, however, he was very upset by the FBI’s interest in him.

Oswalds’ Fort Worth Residency and Employment

The Oswalds remained with Robert for about a month. During that time Oswald’s mother moved from Crowell, Texas, to Fort Worth, and sometime in July the family moved into her apartment at 1501 West Seventh Street. Mrs. Oswald testified that she and Marina and Lee got along well during what she described as “a very happy month,” and that she helped Marina with the house and baby and aided Lee in seeking employment. Marina testified, however, that Lee did not get along well with his mother and decided after several weeks to move to their own apartment. Oswald did not file a change-of-address card when they moved to West Seventh Street, suggesting he may have planned a short stay there. Around mid-August, the Oswalds moved to a one-bedroom furnished apartment at 2703 Mercedes Street, paying $59.50 in advance for one month. In the third week of July, Oswald obtained a job as a sheet metal worker at the Louv-R-Pak Division of the Leslie Welding Company, a manufacturer of louvers and ventilators, referred by the Texas Employment Commission. On his application he falsely claimed prior experience as a sheet metal worker and machinist in the Marines and an honorable discharge. He worked eight or nine hours a day at $1.25 an hour, was regarded as a good but uncommunicative employee, and remained with the company until October, when he quit. The Mercedes Street apartment was later described as “decrepit” and poorly furnished, without telephone service, and the family was observed to have little food, poor clothing, and at first no bed for the baby.