(Testimony of Declan P. Ford)
Mr. Ford.
wife told me, whether they were my wife's opinions or things she had heard directly from Marina.
Apparently Marina was surprised that he would come home in the middle of the week rather than on weekends or come to visit her, and I gathered that Marina had thought of these things after the assassination, as she tried to figure things out. Well this increased her belief that Lee Oswald was the man who assassinated the President, because he did so many strange things that week, I mean that day before, not the week, the day before the assassination.
Mr. Liebeler.
To your knowledge, has Marina expressed any feeling about Oswald's guilt while she lived with you or while you were acquainted with her after the assassination, other than the fact he was guilty?
Mr. Ford.
No; so far as I know she just accepts the fact he was guilty. He was the man who shot the President. And she believes this is true.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you ever discuss this question with Robert Oswald?
Mr. Ford.
No, not specifically, I didn't. I never asked Robert Oswald if he believed that his brother shot the President.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did Oswald ever indicate to you that he did not believe that?
Mr. Ford.
Not directly. The only thing that might have indicated it was when Life published a picture of Lee Oswald on the front cover and I read a newspaper article which stated that Mrs. Marguerite Oswald was intending, to sue Life Magazine and I wondered why, was the picture faked, and Robert Oswald said no it was a true picture of Lee Oswald but the title of the picture, that is what he was upset about, and I think the title was Lee Oswald holding the gun he either used to shoot or used to kill the President, and I didn't pursue the subject further with him.
I don't know specifically what he was upset about, if he thought his brother did shoot the President. There was nothing wrong with the statement except he may not have liked it in print.
Mr. Liebeler.
That was the only statement Robert Oswald made to you about the subject.
Mr. Ford.
But he never said he didn't believe his brother did it.
Mr. Liebeler.
Do you have any other reasons for thinking that Oswald is the kind of person who would claim to do something that he hadn't done just to get attention drawn to him?
Mr. Ford.
Well, yes; I think he was erratic enough in his behavior throughout his whole life to indicate that. Of course, I have read a lot about his life since the assassination, so it is not all opinion I formed prior to the assassination.
It is hard for me to distinguish which things I thought before the assassination from those I have thought about since the assassination.
Mr. Liebeler.
In that respect let me ask you this question: Were you surprised when you heard that Oswald had been charged with the assassination?
Mr. Ford.
Yes, I was.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you think on the basis of your knowledge of him before the assassination that he would have been capable of such a thing?
Mr. Ford.
No; I wouldn't have thought so prior to the assassination and when I first heard he was picked up, I first thought, well, as I said to my wife, "This nut has gone down and got himself mixed up just to get some publicity."
Representative Ford.
You said that to your wife?
Mr. Ford.
Yes; that was my first opinion. When I heard that Lee Oswald was the man arrested, and I said I think I said, "This idiot has got himself arrested and got himself mixed up to get some publicity".
Mr. Liebeler.
What made you say that?
Mr. Ford.
Again, I considered him to be erratic and unpredictable, I don't know how to explain the things that he would do.
For example, he had gone to Russia and he didn't like it there, he had gone back to Fort Worth and he didn't like it there. He didn't seem to like any place that he was, he didn't seem to make lasting friendships with anybody. And he would hop from one job to another, and move from one town to another. He never seemed to be satisfied and I considered his whole behavior rather erratic, and I suppose the main reason was, I felt that he had no desire to support, and I felt this prior to the assassination, he had no desire to support his wife and child, and he wanted and would be quite
willing to sponge off anybody to get
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