(Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine Resumed)
Mrs. Paine.
Senator COOPER. From this vantage point, is there anything about him now which you think of which seems consistent with the fact that he, that you believe he did shoot the President, President Kennedy?
Mrs. Paine.
Well, what has led me to the conclusion that he did shoot President Kennedy is the massive circumstantial evidence that surrounds his relationship or where he was, what he had at the time of the assassination. Perhaps we should get into the matter of motive.
Senator COOPER. In other words, a person's personality, is there anything you can think of now which would change your mind or change the viewpoint that you held previously that he wasn't violent?
Mrs. Paine.
No; I still can recall no incident that I saw, nothing or thought at the time, with this small exception of the one reference to Mrs. Rainey that--
and that was a conjecture in reference to myself. Nothing that violent or indeed that insane.
Senator COOPER. Was it your opinion that Mrs. Oswald was shaken by the assassination and by the fact that her husband was charged with it?
Mrs. Paine.
She was certainly shaken on the afternoon when the policemen were out there, when he was at that time just charged with the shooting of Tippit. I never saw her after he was charged with the shooting of the President.
Senator COOPER. One other question: I think you said when Marguerite Oswald, Lee Oswald's mother, came to your house, and the Life people later appeared, you spoke of that, did you say that both of them, both Marina and Marguerite, seemed to be interested in making some kind of a deal with Life in order to get money?
Mrs. Paine.
No.
Senator COOPER. Or were you speaking only of Marguerite Oswald?
Mrs. Paine.
I was speaking only of Marguerite Oswald. I could add here that Marina appeared to me to want to be courteous and polite toward her mother-in-law, and wished to go along with whatever wishes Marguerite had on the subject.
Senator COOPER. Has anyone tried to make any kind of a business transaction for your statement or story
Mrs. Paine.
At that time or since?
Senator COOPER. Since.
Mrs. Paine.
Yes.
SENATOR COOPER. What?
Mrs. Paine.
Yes. The Commission has a copy of an article that was written for Look which was not published and will not be.
Senator COOPER. Has that been testified?
Mr. Jenner.
Will not be what?
Mrs. Paine.
Published. It is now my property and I don't plan to, I have no plans presently, at least.
Senator COOPER. Just for the record, have you entered into any kind of business transaction by which you would be paid for a story about this assassination?
Mrs. Paine.
I will not be paid for any story I write, and I am certain now
I don't want to write any such story. I have, however, worked with Miss Jessamyn West, who is an author for an article which will appear in Time and Red Book magazine, or I expect it will. She is writing that, she talked to me.
Mr. Jenner.
She approached you on that article?
Mrs. Paine.
No one approached me in that article. Was already decided before I was asked. But that is-----
Mr. Jenner.
Who decided it?
Mrs. Paine.
I had implied that I would be willing to do this, but not to anyone I thought was making an offer. This is aside.
Mr. Jenner.
This was an offer to help the subject of the interview being interviewed?
Mrs. Paine.
All I really should say in clarification here is that there was bad communication between Red Book, Miss West and myself, and she was under the impression that I had agreed to do this before she had in fact been contacted, but then the fact of Red Book and Miss West thinking that this was something I had agreed to I then did agree to do it.
(Discussion off the record.)
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