Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I have not.
Mr. Jenner. Did you inquire of Marina as to how she locked him in the bathroom?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. Jenner. Did it occur to you that it might be quite difficult for a 98-pound woman to lock your brother in a bathroom?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it has occurred to me exactly how this was possible, to the extent that a bathroom usually has a lock on the inside and not on the outside.
Mr. Jenner. Well, if he didn't want to be locked in the bathroom, she would have quite a difficulty—she could not force him into the bathroom.
Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Jenner, that is a question for rank speculation.
Mr. Jenner. I appreciate that, sir. I am trying to jog his recollection.
Mr. McKenzie. May I ask him a question at this time to maybe perhaps assist you?
The Chairman. You may ask, yes.
Mr. McKenzie. Robert, has Marina told you at anytime or do you now know where they were residing when this occurrence happened?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; she has not. And I am not aware from any source where this event took place.
Mr. McKenzie. Were you ever in their apartments in Dallas, Tex., at anytime?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I was not.
Mr. McKenzie. Prior to going to—with the Secret Service and Marina on Thanksgiving evening, was that the first time that you had ever seen the apartments where they lived?
Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.
The Chairman. I think we will take a break now.
I must be going to my conference. So we will recess for just a moment.
(Brief recess.)
Mr. Dulles. The Commission will come to order.
Mr. Jenner, if you will proceed.
Mr. Jenner. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Oswald, we have some data that indicates or confirms the fact that Mr. Nixon was invited to Dallas in April of 1963, by the Southeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce to receive the Good American Award, but that at the last minute it was necessary for him to cancel his attendance—he was unable to attend, and did not come to Dallas on that occasion. There was some publicity in connection with the giving of the award prior to the event. But I take it from your testimony that at least you did not pursue with Marina or with Mr. Martin their fixing the time of the event in which Marina, according to the information given you, locked your brother Lee in the bathroom to prevent him from any violence on Mr. Nixon.
Mr. Oswald. That is correct.
Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Jenner, if I may, with Mr. Dulles' approval, interrupt you one more time for another statement.
I recall when Mr. Nixon was coming to Dallas at the invitation of Mr. Carlson and others to receive this award.
However, Mr. Nixon did come to Dallas some time within 6 weeks prior to November 22, 1963. The exact date I cannot fix, because I don't recall the exact date.
But it is my best recollection that he was there in that period of time.
Mr. Jenner. Mr. McKenzie, that may well be so.
Our information indicates to the contrary—that he was in Dallas on the 21st of November 1963.
Mr. McKenzie. That is what I say, sir.
Mr. Jenner. You said several weeks prior.
Mr. McKenzie. I said some time within 6 weeks prior to November 22d.
Mr. Jenner. Well, our information is that he was in Dallas on the 21st of November 1963, and not prior to that time.
But we will——
Mr. Dulles. I think there is a misunderstanding there. You are technically correct. It was the day before.
Mr. McKenzie. I couldn't remember the exact date, Mr. Dulles, and I wasn't going to be tied down to any exact date.
Mr. Dulles. You are technically correct.
Mr. McKenzie. November 21 was before November 22.
Mr. Jenner. Well, the inference of the 6 weeks——
Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Jenner, the reason I say 6 weeks—as I explained to Mr. Dulles, I don't know exactly when it was, but I know it was prior to November 22d, Dick Nixon was in Dallas.
Mr. Jenner. Well, Mr. Chairman, we will obtain that information and make it part of the record.
Now, Mr. Oswald, in view of what you have related with regard to this particular event, I ask you this question: Would you please state why you did not report this circumstance to any agency or agent of the U.S. Government up to the time that you gave your diary to Mr. McKenzie and he turned it over to the FBI?
Mr. Oswald. An assumption on my part at the time this was told to me was that some Federal agents were aware of this. Nobody told me that they were aware of it. I repeat, again, it was an assumption on my part that somebody was perhaps aware of this, as they were, before I was—aware of the alleged shot at General Walker of the same year.
Mr. Jenner. I see.
Did you discuss this event with Mrs. Oswald, that is, your wife, Vada?
Mr. Oswald. Briefly I did, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Now, when did you do that?
Mr. Oswald. Some time around the latter part of January 1964, at which time——
Mr. Jenner. Excuse me. That is several weeks after you made this entry in your diary, and after the event occurred?
Mr. Oswald. Two or three weeks after I made this entry in my diary January 13, yes, sir, that is correct.
Mr. Jenner. What were the circumstances that led you to discuss the matter with her?
Mr. Oswald. My wife had read my diary, and she had come to this entry on January 13, 1964, and she asked me to fill in the blanks and state who it was, at which time I did.
Mr. Dulles. Did I understand you to say earlier that your wife also prepared a diary?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir, she did not. She had read my diary, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Until you retained Mr. McKenzie, had you retained counsel?
Mr. Oswald. I had consulted counsel.
Mr. Jenner. And what counsel?
Mr. Oswald. Mr. Weldon Knight, of Denton, Tex.
Mr. Jenner. Had you exhibited to Mr. Knight the diary we have been discussing?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; he was not aware of the diary we are discussing.
Mr. Jenner. I take it from your testimony you did not discuss this particular event with Mr. Knight.
Mr. Oswald. That is correct.
Mr. Jenner. Did you ever exhibit your diary to Mr. Thorne?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. Jenner. Did you ever discuss the existence of the diary with Mr. Thorne?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not.
Mr. Jenner. Prior to the time you delivered the diary to Mr. McKenzie, had you disclosed to anybody other than Mrs. Oswald, your wife Vada, the existence of the diary?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.
Mr. McKenzie. To whom?
Mr. Oswald. Mrs. Marina Oswald, approximately the first week of February 1964, or January 1964—I advised her that I——
Mr. McKenzie.