Mr. Dulles. Did she tell anything about a letter that she wrote to a boy friend in Minsk?
Mr. Martin. After she was here in New Orleans?
Mr. Dulles. Yes.
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Dulles. What did she say about that?
Mr. Martin. Let's see, she said she wrote the letter, and I believe what it was she told the boy that she wasn't—she wanted to come back to Russia, to him, she loved him, and the letter was returned, I believe, for lack of postage, and Oswald got hold of the letter, and he asked her about it, and I think he asked her either to read it or he would read it. I believe she read it to him. This caused quite a bit of difficulty. Now, that is when she was in New Orleans.
Mr. Rankin. When she was telling you about these people that had lovers in Russia, you didn't believe these stories? Is that what you are saying?
Mr. Martin. Well, of course, I know nothing about Russian life.
Mr. Rankin. Yes.
Mr. Martin. So I more or less took it with a grain of salt. I didn't put any credibility to it or any doubt to it. It was just something that was said and I didn't either accept it or reject it.
Mr. Rankin. How did she happen to tell you about going to Minsk to get away from a married man in Leningrad?
Tell us how that came up.
Mr. Martin. I think she was just talking about boy friends, I guess.
Mr. Rankin. Did she tell you she had quite a few boy friends?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Was that in Russia that she had the boy friends?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. How many did she tell you about?
Mr. Martin. Oh, boy. Well, she didn't mention any names as such, and I don't know whether different stories got confused to being two different people or—I would say 10 or 12.
Mr. Rankin. Did she include Lee Oswald among those?
Mr. Martin. Well, you mean as a boy friend?
Mr. Rankin. Yes.
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Rankin. Did she tell you anything about her relations with these boy friends?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Rankin. You say you didn't believe these stories?
Mr. Martin. Well, I didn't have any reason to disbelieve or to believe them. They were just conversation.
Mr. Rankin. Now, on the Nixon matter, when that came to your attention, did you tell anyone else about it?
Mr. Martin. I discussed it with my wife, and with John Thorne.
Mr. Dulles. Excuse me just a moment.
Mr. Martin, this is Congressman Boggs, a member of the Commission, and this is Mr. Leech, counsel for Mr. Martin.
Mr. Leech. I know Mr. Boggs, I met him in New Orleans years ago.
Mr. Rankin. Will you tell us about the conversation when you related this to someone else?
Mr. Martin. It was on the telephone, and I was quite shocked at first about it and then thinking it over, it didn't sound logical.
Mr. Rankin. You believed it at first?
Mr. Martin. Yes. I guess I didn't see any reason for it not to be true. But then I didn't see any reason for it to be a lie, either, and I supposed it was possible.
Mr. Rankin. When did you tell Mr. Thorne about it with reference to when Marina told you?
Mr. Martin. The same day. I don't recall the date at all.
Mr. Rankin. What did you say to Mr. Thorne about it?
Mr. Martin. I just related the incident, what she had told me.
Mr. Rankin. Did you say anything to him about telling the Commission about it?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Rankin. Did he say anything about telling the Commission about it?
Mr. Martin. No, I don't believe so.
Mr. Rankin. Was there anything else said in this telephone conversation with Mr. Thorne except relating what Marina had said?
Mr. Martin. I remarked what a big bombshell that would be as far as publicity was concerned if the newspapers ever got hold of something like that.
Mr. Rankin. That it would be helpful in regard to Marina's story, did you say that?
Mr. Martin. No, I did think it would be harmful.
Mr. Rankin. Did you say that to him?
Mr. Martin. I believe so.
Mr. Dulles. Why would it be harmful?
Mr. Martin. Well, this purportedly took place after the Walker incident, and she had made a statement that if Oswald repeated anything of a similar nature as the Walker incident she would turn him over to the police, and this was a repeat or similar, he actually didn't shoot at him but threatened to, and she did not report it to the police.
Mr. Dulles. I see.
The Walker incident took place on April 10, 1963, according to our records.
Senator Cooper. I would like you if you can to repeat everything that Mrs. Oswald told you about the Nixon incident. What did Lee say to her?
Mr. Martin. This has been a very confusing 2 months——
Senator Cooper. I know that.
Mr. Martin. To me.
Senator Cooper. Do the best you can. Take your time and tell us about it.
Mr. Martin. I couldn't recall it verbatim, but she said he came in one evening, early in the evening, and said that he had tried to shoot Nixon but that he had not come into town that night as he was supposed to have, or that day, but that he would be in the next day, and he would take care of it then.
(Discussion off the record.)
Senator Cooper. I think you said that she did at least partly identify the time by saying at the time they were living on Neely Street.
Mr. Martin. Neely Street.
Mr. Dulles. May I just add there our records indicate they were living on Neely Street on March 2, between March 2, 1963, and April 24, 1963.
Senator Cooper. Did Mrs. Oswald tell you anything that he said about the way or means he intended to kill him or at what place?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Redlich. Do you recall what weapon she mentioned at the time?
Mr. Martin. I don't know if I recall that she said shoot him or kill him.
Representative Ford. Could she speak English well enough to differentiate between shoot and kill?
Mr. Martin. At the time?
Representative Ford. Yes.
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Representative Ford. She could distinguish English that well?
Mr. Redlich. Did she mention a pistol or rifle?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Redlich. Did she mention whether he was employed at the time or unemployed at the time?
Mr. Martin. I don't believe so.
Mr. Redlich. Did you ask her how it was possible for her to keep him in a bathroom for one whole day?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Dulles. Did you ask her why Lee Harvey Oswald wanted to kill Nixon, any motive?
Mr. Martin.