(Testimony of Clifton M. Shasteen)
Mr. Jenner.
President's Commission, which is a Commission appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and all of the circumstances surrounding that tragic event.
The Commission was authorized by Senate Joint Resolution 137, and President Johnson's Executive Order 11130, appointing the Commission and fixing its scope of operation and its power. Under the regulations of the Commission, the members of the staff are authorized to take depositions and swear witnesses.
We understand from various sources, FBI reports--that you may possibly have some information with respect to Lee Harvey Oswald in which the Commission is interested and there might be some other information on which we are not immediately advised that may come to your mind.
Mr. Jenner.
As I understand it, your full name is Clifford----
Mr. Shasteen.
Clifton [spelling] C-l-i-f-t-o-n.
Mr. Jenner.
M is your initial?
Mr. Shasteen.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner.
Shasteen. S-h-a-s-t-e-e-n.
Mr. Shasteen.
Right.
Mr. Jenner.
You live at 2214 Fairfax in Irving, Tex. As I understand it, you are the owner and operator of Clifton's Barbershop?
Mr. Shasteen.
Yes.
Mr. Jenner.
At 1321 South Storey in Irving, Tex.?
Mr. Shasteen.
Right.
Mr. Jenner.
You are a native of Dallas, are you?
Mr. Shasteen.
Oh, I've been here about 20 years.
Mr. Jenner.
Well, that's good enough and you are married and have a family and live in Irving, Tex., as indicated?
Mr. SHASTEEN, Yes.
Mr. Jenner.
I understand that in the course of your looking at television on the 22d of November 1963, there occurred to you upon seeing some of the people shown on the screen that you had rendered some tonsorial services to Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. Shasteen.
I'll tell you Just as near as I can remember that day--what happened is the TV shop next to me, in other words, about two doors down----
Mr. Jenner.
Next to your business?
Mr. Shasteen.
Yes; I heard it over the radio and went to the house at noon and that was all you could see on television, just the flashing, but there wasn't anything definite, so I went back to the shop and as I went back to the shop this fellow in the TV shop said, "Why don't you come in and get a TV set and set it up in your Shop in there and watch it?" So, I went in and got a TV set and the name didn't mean anything to me when they first mentioned the name.
Mr. Jenner.
The name Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. Shasteen.
It didn't mean a thing, but later on in the evening when we began to see the pictures, you know, after they had him over here the first I remember seeing him to recognize that I had saw the face before was about----over there around 5 o'clock, when I saw him over at the jail or something and I seen him when they come out there and when he looked toward the cameras.
I didn't say anything to anybody. I had before told them, you know, what I said was just a gag--I said, "You can't tell. That guy might live here in Irving." You know how guys pop off or something, but I didn't know a thing about it. I was just going on, but anyhow, when that come on there, there was several in the shop and so I decided when I saw his picture I remembered him coming in the shop and I just knew that. It finally dawned on me where I had saw him. I knew where he lived. Actually, I knew where the station wagon was that was parked, that I saw him and this lady in, so I just took out of the shop and told the boy, I said, "I'm going to run to the house and I'll be back in a minute.
So, I drove up there and my lands of living, you couldn't get within 4 blocks of that house, and knew then I was not mistaken that that was the guy that came in my barber shop, and when I came back to the shop--when I got back to the shop somebody else had already seen me. up there and said they saw Cliff up there and everybody in that community knows me. When we got back to the shop, then, we began to talk about it. All three of- the barbers in there have
|
