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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XIII - Page 57« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Forrest V. Sorrels)

Mr. Hubert.
So that you have been special agent in charge actually of the Dallas district since 1938.
Mr. Sorrels.
Actually--it was in my territory since 1935, but the office was moved back there in 1941, and I have been there ever since.
Mr. Hubert.
And you have lived there.
Mr. Sorrels.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Hubert.
What does the Dallas territory now, under your jurisdiction, and control, consist of?
Mr. Sorrels.
Roughly it consists of the northern half of Texas, exclusive of the territory west of the Pecos River. We have in the Dallas district the entire northern judicial district of Texas, the Waco division of the western district of Texas, the Tyler, Jefferson, Texarkana, Parris, and Sherman divisions of the eastern district of Texas.
Mr. Hubert.
By divisions, you mean divisions in the United States court system?
Mr. Sorrels.
That's right.
Mr. Hubert.
How many men do you have?
Mr. Sorrels.
At the present time we have six special agents besides myself.
Mr. Hubert.
They all work out of Dallas?
Mr. Sorrels.
Yes, sir. One special agent actually headquarters, so to speak, in Fort Worth. He remains in that section most of the time.
Mr. Hubert.
Would you tell us something about your family.
Mr. Sorrels.
I am married.
Mr. Hubert.
How long have you been married?
Mr. Sorrels.
I have a daughter 16 years of age and a younger daughter 7 years of age. I have 2 children by a former marriage, a son who is a captain in the United States Army and a daughter who is married to an employee of the IBM Company in New York City.
Mr. Hubert.
How long have you been married to your present wife?
Mr. Sorrels.
Since 1946.
Mr. Hubert.
Mr. Sorrels, Mr. Stern is going to take a deposition with respect to security measures and other matters, I think, in regard to the President. I am going to depose you with reference to a number of matters concerning principally the security of Oswald after he was arrested and until his death, and your activities with reference to Ruby after he had shot Oswald.
Mr. Sorrels.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Hubert.
Now, getting into the first matter, can you tell us what you observed yourself of the security measures which were in effect and actually operating with reference to Oswald after his arrest.
Mr. Sorrels.
The first time that I saw Oswald was on the afternoon of November 22 as he was coming out of Capt. Will Fritz' office in the Dallas Police Department on the third floor.
Mr. Hubert.
AbOut what time was that?
Mr. Sorrels.
The exact time I cannot give you, because I had been working at a frantic pace. It was some time probably past the middle of the afternoon. I had previously been informed by my office that Captain Fritz had endeavored to locate me because he had a suspect in custody. And when I arrived there, Captain Fritz was in his office, apparently talking to the suspect, whom I determined to be Lee Harvey Oswald.
As he was being removed from the office, I told Captain Fritz that I would like to talk to this man when an opportunity was afforded, and he remarked "You can talk to him right now--just go right around the corner there by the side of the office," which I did.
Oswald was brought around and was seated there. There were a number of other officers present, detectives, I think possibly some FBI agents, and maybe some of my agents had come in in the meantime.
I started to----
Mr. Hubert.
Before you go into that, would you tell us about the security measures that you observed with reference to protecting the person of Oswald from the time you first saw him, say up until the time you have reached now.
Mr. Sorrels.
As far as I know, there was no one except authorized officers
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