Mrs. Evans.

New York. I could be mistaken there, but I think they went back to Texas from New York.
Maybe they did come right from New York, but I can't remember that far back. I know that they had divorced, and although no one told me, I just put two and two together, and it was my opinion that Lee evidently was just so spoiled and demanded so much of his mother's attention that they didn't get along--I mean, her and Ekdahl, because of Lee. Now, that's my opinion. She never told me why.

Mr. Jenner.

That's just your surmise?

Mrs. Evans.

Yes, sir; I can't help feeling that if she had put Lee in a boarding school, she might have hung onto her meal ticket, and considering Mr. Ekdahl's condition and everything, if all that hadn't happened, she would have been sitting on top of the world. She wouldn't have had another worry in her life, as far as money goes, but instead her children came first, I mean, Lee. She just poured out all her love on him, it seemed like.

Mr. Jenner.

Did she ever say anything to you about her experiences in New York City?

Mrs. Evans.

No.

Mr. Jenner.

She never said anything to you that would have given you an indication as to whether she had come from New York rather than Texas, or vice versa?

Mrs. Evans.

No; not that I recall, but it is my distinct feeling that she stayed in New York awhile and then moved to Texas again, and then over to New Orleans--Fort Worth, I think, but I can't say that for sure.

Mr. Jenner.

Did she say anything to you about any trouble that Lee had had in school in New York City?

Mrs. Evans.

No; she never did. But I knew Ekdahl, and I knew he was a man that was set in his ways. He was older than Margie, and he wanted, evidently, a wife. He wanted her to be with him evidently, and if you've got a kid dragging behind, you know it makes a difference, but now whether that caused the break or not, I don't know. I couldn't tell you that.

Mr. Jenner.

The point I am getting at is, she didn't say anything to you about any problem or difficulties she had had with Lee in New York City?

Mrs. Evans.

None whatever.

Mr. Jenner.

You were aware that she had been in New York City, of course?

Mrs. Evans.

Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

But she didn't say anything to you about it?

Mrs. Evans.

No.

Mr. Jenner.

Now, at that time Lee was about 15 years old; is that right?

Mrs. Evans.

He was, somewhere around there--maybe 13 or 14. I don't know exactly.

Mr. Jenner.

At any rate, you had a period here of several years between the time you saw him and he lived in your apartment with his mother, and the time you had previously seen him, so could you compare what he was like and how he acted when you saw him in 1954, as against when you had seen him before that?

Mrs. Evans.

Well, like I said, he was more spoiled than he was when he was younger. He was just a little boy when I first saw him, and this time he was quite grown up, a teenager, like I said, so I would say he was a lot more difficult this time to understand or control than he was when he was younger.
The main thing that seems to stand out in his conduct was the way he demanded to be fed when he would come from school. Margie would be downstairs maybe, talking to me or something, and he would come to the head of the stairs and yell for her to come up and fix him something to eat. He would just stand up there and yell, "Maw, how about fixing me something to eat?" and she would jump up right away and go running upstairs to get something for him.
Now, he liked records. He didn't want to see any television, but he would lock himself up in his bedroom sometimes and play these records, and listen to the radio, and read. He was a hard one to try to figure out. But other than that, he was, I would say, Just an average, spoiled teenage kid that wanted what he wanted. There are very few of them that aren't that way.

Mr. Jenner.

Would you say he was more spoiled than the average teenager?

Mrs. Evans.

Well, he was spoiled maybe more because he didn't have a father