(Testimony of John Carro)
Mr. Carro.
I worked with this young man in the case of the killing, this Raymond Serra, and this fellow, after blowing this boy's jaw up, he was flashing the victory sign like this [indicating], and when we visited him in jail he said, "Did you see my picture in the papers?" And the paper played this up as a coldblooded killer. And they don't realize that 2 days later, sensibility dawns on him, and these are the weakest, the most remorseful kids. This is just the bravado at the moment. And this is their one point in life where they draw everybody's attention--most of these kids in private life come from broken homes, and they take this opportunity to show that they are human beings.
Mr. Liebeler.
Are you suggesting that this is one of the factors that motivated Oswald?
Mr. Carro.
Well, I am saying that this is a young man who apparently was trying to find himself and really had been--you know, he had been knocking about a great deal from here to Russia and everywhere, and he had come back disgruntled, and nobody paid any attention to him. Some people are prone to this.
I wouldn't speculate on what drove Oswald to do this. I would say in my experience I have encountered many a boy who will do things like this to attract attention to themselves, that they exist, and they want somebody to care for them. It is hard to say what motivated him. I don't really know. I had no inkling of that at that stage.
As a matter of fact, he said when he grew up he wanted to go into the Service, just like his brothers, who were in the Service, and he said he liked to horseback ride; he used to collect stamps. But certainly these things that he said were the normal kind of outlet, the things any normal boy of 13 years of age would do. There was nothing that would lead me to believe when I saw him at the age of 12 that there would be seeds of destruction for somebody. I couldn't in all honesty sincerely say such a thing.
Mr. Liebeler.
Let me ask this, Mr. Carro: After you became aware of the fact, after it was called to your attention that Lee Oswald had been under your supervision as a probation officer, did you have occasion to review the records of the case before you.
Mr. Carro.
No; I had no--there was nothing to review. Those kind of records were all kept in the children's court. The only recollection--and they were not furnished to me. The newspaper guy who came to see me seemed to have gotten, as I mentioned---there were five reports made, and they are sent out to different institutions. I don't know. I am not privy to how newspapermen get their information, but he seemed to have a better knowledge. He was just in a sense corroborating what I may have said at a particular point and all that, with me, and I had nothing to really go on, you know, that would refresh my recollection, except this conversation with this social worker, a friend of mine, who knew of the case, because they had gotten it from me, who called me to say that.
Mr. Liebeler.
So that you yourself have not actually reviewed----
Mr. Carro.
I have no independent record of any sort or had nothing to refresh my recollection about.
Mr. Liebeler.
And you had not seen the court's papers or the petition that was filed, or the memorandum----
Mr. Carro.
No; the only thing that I might have seen, and I don't--an FBI agent come in and spoke to me a couple of months ago, and I don't know if that was the original record he had with him, but he sat down, as you are, and spoke to me, and there was little I could add to what was in the record there.
Mr. Liebeler.
The record that you prepared----
Mr. Carro.
Well, I noticed it was my handwriting. He seemed to have my record with him. I had no independent recollection or evidence outside of the records he had.
Mr. Liebeler.
The records which you would have prepared would be prepared by you in the course of your work as a probation officer, and they would have reflected your opinions at that time, is that correct?
Mr. Carro.
Correct, and I would have nothing to add now at this point as to what happened 12 years ago.
|
