Did you notice any tendencies--this may be rationalization, of course, now that you are thinking back.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I would call him a stage below definite paranoia, which means a highly neurotic individual. But even an M.D. would not give you a right definition, or a right demarcation between the two.

Mr. Jenner.

Did you have any feeling, while you knew him, and before this tragic event occurred, that there was any mental aberration of that nature?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I did not know anything about his background, you see. I did not know anything about his previous background, except that he had been in the Marine Corps, that he came from a poor family, that he had lived in New Orleans. That is all I knew about him.

Mr. Jenner.

I wanted to ask you about that. Was your discussion with him as to his background, let us say, if I may use a conclusion myself, superficial?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Very superficial, because I was not--I know that type of person, I know his background. I know the people in New Orleans. I lived there. I know people in Texas of the very low category. I know the way they live. I could see clearly what type of background he had. I did not have to ask him questions. And he mentioned that while living in New Orleans, and very poorly, he started going to the public library to read the Marxist books, all by himself. That he was not induced by anybody. I said, "Who told you to read the Marxist books"--that interested me. And he said, "Nobody, I went by myself. I started studying it all by myself."

Mr. Jenner.

He read those high-level books, but in your opinion he did not understand them?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I would not understand them. I would not bother reading them. I never read any Marxist books, because I know what they contain.

Mr. Jenner.

But you could read them with a critical mind, could you not?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes; I could read with a critical mind. But that is something that does not interest me. And I know that they are very difficult. I know that they are written in a difficult manner, that they are highly theoretical, and to me very boring.

Mr. Jenner.

There is some intimation that at this party Oswald had said several times that he liked Russia and he might go back. Did you overhear any of that?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. No.

Mr. Jenner.

And from all your contact with him, had he ever expressed that notion to you, that he might go back?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I do not recall exactly, but something comes to my mind that he might have mentioned that, that if he does not get a better job, or if he does not become successful, he might as well go back to Russia.

Mr. Jenner.

Well, this was really something said in despair.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. More or less--"After all, what is my life in Russia"---I remember he said that, that his life in Russia was actually better than here.
But Marina never said that.

Mr. Jenner.

She didn't?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. No.

Mr. Jenner.

Do you remember some people at that party by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel F. Sullivan of Lafayette, La. a divisional geologist for Continental Oil Co.?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. No.

Mr. Jenner.

Was there any discussion at that party about the possibility that Oswald might be a Russian agent?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I never heard that.

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