(Testimony of James Herbert Martin)
Mr. Rankin.
Yes.
Mr. DULLES, Was this brought up in connection with anything in particular or just come out of the blue, blurted out?
Mr. Martin.
It just came out of the blue.
Mr. Dulles.
There was no prior conversation that led up to this or any background to it?
Mr. Martin.
Not that I recall. It was just a statement that she made. I think she was talking about Oswald----
Representative Ford.
Was she prone to come out with these kinds of comments or was this an unusual circumstance?
Mr. Martin.
No. She at times referred to some particular incident in Russia or various things like that. And they would be completely unattached to anything that we had been talking about.
Mr. Rankin.
What more did you say to her about this incident when she brought it up?
Mr. Martin.
Well, the only time I recall Nixon being in Dallas was in November. Now, she was not living with Oswald in November, and----
Mr. Rankin.
Did you say that to her?
Mr. Martin.
No. I just let the thing go.
Mr. Rankin.
You didn't even ask her how she locked him in the bathroom?
Mr. Martin.
No. I thought about it, because I know the only bathroom doors I have seen lock from the inside and they swing in.
Mr. Rankin.
Did you ask her what he did after he was locked in the bathroom?
Mr. Martin.
Yes.
Mr. Rankin.
What did she say about that?
Mr. Martin.
She said he didn't do anything. When she let him out that night, and I suppose he would be pretty mad at her, and she said no, he wasn't.
Mr. Rankin.
Did she say she kept him in the bathroom all day?
Mr. Martin.
Yes.
Representative Ford.
Was anybody else present at the time of this statement by her to you?
Mr. Martin.
My wife.
Representative Ford.
Did your wife make any inquiry?
Mr. Martin.
No. We thought it was some kind of a story.
Mr. Rankin.
You mean you thought it was an untrue story?
Mr. Martin.
Yes, and why, I don't know. It didn't sound logical.
Mr. Rankin.
Were there other conversations with Marina that you had where you thought she was telling you things that were untrue?
Mr. Martin.
She would relate stories about Russia that I would listen to but they didn't sound right.
Mr. Rankin.
Do you recall any?
Mr. Martin.
Well, they mostly dealt with boy friends.
Mr. Rankin.
What did she say in that regard?
Mr. Martin.
Oh, she would talk about some individual boy friends, usually a non-Russian, someone from Rumania or Germany or from some other country.
Mr. Rankin.
What did she say?
Mr. Leech.
Is this going to be made public?
Mr. Rankin.
This might be, yes.
Mr. Martin.
Oh, I don't know about specific incidents. She would remark about she knew--I am trying to think of a specific--one was, let's see, she left Leningrad and went to Minsk because of an association with a married man there.
Representative Ford.
In Leningrad?
Mr. Martin.
It was either she left Leningrad to go to Minsk or vice versa.
Representative Ford.
But she left one or the other to go to the other because of an association with a married man?
Mr. Martin.
Yes.
Mr. Rankin.
Where was the association, in Leningrad or in Minsk?
Mr. Martin.
Well, it was in the city that she left.
|
