(Testimony of Chief Jesse E. Curry)
Mr. Curry.
Either by telephone or go down to the office and talk to him.
Mr. Hubert.
All right, go ahead.
Mr. Curry.
Well, nothing of significance that I can recall occurred. Later in the evening someone told me that they had enough evidence that he had been identified as the slayer of our police officer. Captain Fritz thought he had better go ahead and file on him and I think it was about 7:30 on the day they did file on him, and I think he had been down--had been to the showup a time or two--there were some witnesses who had identified him, so I was told, as being the man who shot Tippit.
Mr. Hubert.
Did you see Oswald then, or when was the first time you saw him ?
Mr. Curry.
I don't recall exactly the first time I saw him, but I believe it was in the evening--in the early evening. When I did see him I remember that he impressed me as being a sullen, arrogant individual, and he didn't seem particularly perturbed with the fact that he was being interrogated or that he was causing such a commotion he was pretty cool.
Mr. Hubert.
You didn't question him yourself, did you?
Mr. Curry.
No, sir; I did not.
Mr. Hubert.
So, he was filed upon about 7:30 with respect to Tippit?
Mr. Curry.
Somewhere around in there I don't know exactly when it was.
Mr. Hubert.
All right, go ahead.
Mr. Curry.
Then, after he was filed on for this offense, I believe it was Captain Fritz who told me that they were working now on the possibility that he was the same suspect or the assassin of the President, and they began to, when I say "they" I mean Captain Fritz, principally, told me of some of the evidence that was piling up against him. In fact, he told me that he worked in this Building and that that morning he had carried a package into the Building.
Mr. Hubert.
This information was being relayed to you ?
Mr. Curry.
Relayed to me by Fritz---Just summing up what they found out about him. He told me that, as I recall, he told me that Oswald had been in the Building on this day and that one of the Negro porters had seen him go to the sixth floor, I believe, at lunch time, and that after the shooting, some of our officers went into the Building and they saw Oswald at a lunch counter or in the recreation room and started to approach him or question him and they were told by Mr. Truly, who is the Building manager, that this was one of their employees, and I think the officer passed him on up and went on upstairs to try to determine where these shots came from.
In the meantime, I believe Inspector Sawyer was several blocks away from there, from that location, and when he heard what was happening, he immediately went to the location to take over all security and searching there.
Chief Lumpkin and some of his party went on to Love Field with me and they went back to the Texas School Book Depository. So, several minutes elapsed from the time of the shooting until anyone could have gotten--any officers could have gotten actually to the Building.
As soon as it was feasible or possible, they did seal off this Building and also that they had checked all of the employees of the Building and found out that there was one missing, and I think this is when they suspected him of being involved in the fatal shooting of the President, and from the description, I believe they began to tie the two suspects together--the suspect of the shooting of the officer, and all this was told to me by people of the homicide bureau.
Mr. Hubert.
Well, when we last talked about Oswald, I think it was when he was being charged with respect to Tippit, and then I gather that the information you are giving us now is the background for charging him as the assassin of President Kennedy?
Mr. Curry.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Hubert.
And you were aware of that too---you were still in the Building?
Mr. Curry.
Yes.
Mr. Hubert.
Do you recall a meeting--it has sometimes been called a showup or a lineup--I don't know that that is accurate, but it took place in the assembly room.
Mr. Curry.
And some of the members of the press were there, yes, sir.
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