The Two Marguerite Oswalds
by John
Armstrong
As students of the assassination of President Kennedy, it is important
to suspend for a moment the details on the ground in Dealey Plaza, in
order to understand a period of unprecedented change in America in the
postwar world of 1945-63. That world was becoming an increasingly
scary place. In August, 1945, the world's first atomic bombs were
dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The British Empire, Germany,
and Japan were in a state of collapse. A new world order was
being shaped with two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United
States, locked in an ideological struggle and an arms race. The
new American foreign policy of "containment" and the "domino theory"
were being taught to school children. A March 1946 poll showed
that 60 percent of Americans believed that U.S policy toward Russia was
"too soft." Winston Churchill delivered his "Iron Curtain" speech
on March 6, 1946; his famous image served to define the world in a pair
of binary opposites. A new national security network was created
with virtually unlimited powers, as the Central Intelligence Agency was
created on July 26, 1947, when President Truman signed the National
Security Act into law. In a climate of fear that extended through
the McCarthy era, the prevailing view was that extraordinary
circumstances call for extraordinary measures. It appeared as
though American people were willing to accept secrecy from their
government in return for keeping everyone safe. It was in this
world in the late 1940s that a relatively inconsequential Cold War
intelligence operation unfolded with the purpose of planting a
Russian-speaking American spy in the Soviet Union. This story has
nothing to do directly with the assassination of President
Kennedy. But it has everything to do with understanding the true
identity of Lee Harvey Oswald and Marguerite Oswald.
For hundreds of years secret agents and spies have been used to
confuse, mislead, and deceive, in order to acquire sensitive military
information. Spies often assume the identity of a person who died as a
child, died in battle, or simply disappeared. However, there are many
problems when a spy assumes the identity of a dead person. The main
problem has always been the inability to trace the biography of a spy
back to their families, to their childhood, and to their birth record.
A comprehensive background investigation of a suspected spy will
uncover their true identity and will also uncover the identity of the
person who's identity they assumed.
RUSSIAN SPIES
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Julius and Ethel
Rosenburg
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Rudolph Abel
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Kim Philby
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A basic requirement for infiltrating a spy into a foreign country is
that he/she speak and read the local language fluently. After all, it
would be pointless to send an English speaking spy into China, Russia,
the middle east, unless they spoke and read the language. Tens of
millions of people were killed in Europe during World War II, which
resulted in tens of thousands of refugee children from many different
countries. Thousands of these underage children, who spoke only their
native languages, were relocated to the United States and placed with
foster families. One of these children, in my opinion, was a 6-7-8 year
old Russian-speaking boy who was placed with a middle aged woman
caretaker in New Jersey and/or New York. This caretaker was given
the name "Marguerite Oswald." I call this woman the Marguerite Oswald
impostor.
AMERICAN SPIES
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Oleg Penkovsky
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Lee HARVEY Oswald
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1920--Robert Edward Lee Oswald &
Margaret Emma Keating
Robert Edward Lee Oswald was born on March 4, 1896. As an adult he
worked for the Metropolitan Life Insurance company in New Orleans. On
November 1, 1920, 24 year old Robert married 28 year old Margaret Emma
Keating (DOB April 28, 1892). Thirteen years later, on January 10,
1933, the couple divorced. Ms. Keating never remarried and continued
living in her home at 120 N. Telemachus in New Orleans for the next 30
years. This is a photo of Ms. Keating standing with her mother in front
of her home at 120 N. Telemachus. The one physical feature of this
woman that caught my attention was her downward-slopping eyebrows.
1929--Edward John Pic & Marguerite
Francis Claverie
Marguerite Oswald-1927
Edward John Pic (DOB August 21, 1907) and
Marguerite Francis Claverie (DOB July 19, 1907) were married on
August 1, 1929. On January 17, 1932 John Edward Pic was born. A year
and a half later the couple divorced, on July 15, 1933. Mr. Pic
eventually remarried and in 1964 was interviewed in New Orleans by the
Warren Commission. Mr. Pic lived a long life and died at age 94 on
January 22, 2002.
1933--Robert Edward Lee Oswald and
Marguerite Francis Claverie
Five days after divorcing Edward John Pic, Marguerite married Robert
Edward Lee Oswald (DOB March 4, 1896) in New Orleans on July 20, 1933.
Nine months later, on April 7, 1934, Robert Oswald was born. On August
19, 1939 Robert Edward Lee Oswald died from a heart attack at age 43.
Two months later, on October 18, LEE Harvey Oswald was born in New
Orleans.
In the early 1940s, after two marriages and three children, Marguerite
Claverie Oswald began working for the US Navy in Algiers, Louisiana,
across the river from New Orleans. Marguerite soon met Edwin
Ekdahl (DOB September 26, 1895), an electrical engineer who graduated
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Ekdahl was
working for Ebasco Services Company in New York City. One of Ebasco's
projects was the design of a large electrical generation station in the
Soviet Union, which suggests this company worked closely with US
intelligence. In 1964, following the assassination of President
Kennedy, the FBI requested information from Ebasco related to the
employment of Mr. Ekdahl. The FBI was told that Ebasco was unable to
provide such information. In 1945 Marguerite Claverie Oswald (photo
below, left) moved to Ft. Worth and married Edwin Ekdahl. Two years
later, in the summer of 1947 while living with Ekdahl and her three
sons at 1505 8th Avenue in Ft. Worth, another "Marguerite Oswald"
(photo below, right) was living at 101 San Saba in Benbrook, TX with a
young Russian-speaking boy who was given the name "HARVEY Oswald."
What follows is a detailed biographical study of a government sponsored
caretaker, who I call the "Marguerite Oswald impostor," who was given
the job of taking care of young HARVEY Oswald. For the next 12
years, this impostor and HARVEY lived in close proximity to Marguerite
Claverie Oswald and her son LEE Harvey Oswald. As these young boys
lived nearby in the same cities, often attended the same schools, and
later spent time in the Marines Corps, both HARVEY Oswald and LEE
Oswald had established very similar backgrounds. At age 18 the plan was
to have Russian-speaking HARVEY Oswald "assume" the identity of
American born LEE Harvey Oswald. HARVEY would then "defect" to the
Soviet Union, where his native speaking Russian ability would be
invaluable. The Russian KGB, if concerned or curious about this
American "defector," would then be able to track Lee Harvey Oswald's
background back to his birth.
The mother of LEE Oswald and the caretaker/impostor mother of HARVEY
Oswald were part of what CIA accountant James Wilcott called “the
Oswald Project,” a highly secret American intelligence operation
cryptonamed RX ZIM. The intent of the Oswald Project (RX ZIM) was to
send a young man who could read, write, and speak the Russian language
to the
Soviet Union with a U.S. identity. The American public was never
supposed to know anything about HARVEY Oswald (the second “Lee Harvey
Oswald”) or his caretaker, the Marguerite Oswald impostor. The
following sheds light
on both the two “Lee Harvey Oswalds” as well as the two women who
served as their mothers. It dates back to as early as 1947.
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Marguerite Claverie
Oswald
Christmas 1957
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Marguerite Oswald
impostor
126 Exchange, New Orleans 1954
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Above left is Marguerite Claverie Oswald, the tall, attractive, well
dressed mother of LEE Harvey Oswald (1957 photo). Note her horizontal
eyebrows, wide smile, and pleasant appearance. On the right is the
caretaker of HARVEY Oswald, the young man who was accused of
assassinating President Kennedy
(1954 photo). This short, heavy-set impostor switched identities with
Marguerite Claverie Oswald in 1959--in preparation for Russian-speaking
HARVEY Oswald's "defection" to the Soviet Union. She (the "impostor")
was very short (around 5'0"), had very downward slanting eyebrows, a
small mouth, was heavy-set, poorly dressed, and wore glasses.
Marguerite Claverie Oswald, the Mother of LEE
Harvey Oswald
Marguerite Claverie Oswald was born in New Orleans on July 19, 1907.
She married Edward Pic in 1929 with whom she had a son (John Pic).
Marguerite and Pic divorced, Marguerite soon married Robert E.L. Oswald
in 1933 with whom she had two sons (Robert Oswald, LEE Harvey Oswald).
Marguerite was relatively tall (about 5' 6" - 5' 7"), attractive, well
groomed, always dressed nicely, was continually employed, had straight
horizontal eyebrows, a wide smile, and was never known to wear glasses.
On May 7, 1945 Marguerite Claverie (Oswald) and Edwin Ekdahl were
married in Rockwall, TX. The photo below (left) shows 5'6" Marguerite
and 5'11"-6'0" Ekdahl standing in front of Ekdahl's 1938 Buick on their
wedding day. The photo in the middle shows Marguerite and Ekhahl in
1947. The photo on the right is of Marguerite in 1949 standing in
front of her 1938 Plymouth at 101 San Saba in Benbrook, TX.
Marguerite Claverie Oswald was a steadying influence on her son LEE
Oswald, who always had a history of good attendance at schools in Fort
Worth, New York City, and New Orleans. In 1947 Marguerite (Oswald)
Ekdahl was living with her husband and son (LEE) in the upstairs
apartment of a duplex at 1505 8th Avenue in Fort Worth. In the summer
of 1947 fifteen year old John Pic worked at Walgreens and then at the
Tex Gold ice cream parlor, four blocks south of their apartment. By the
end of summer (1947) Pic was promoted to assistant manager. In the fall
of 1947 LEE Oswald attended the nearby Lilly B. Clayton Elementary
School. The Oswalds (Pic, Robert, LEE) spent the Christmas holidays of
1947 at 1505 8th Avenue with Ekdahl. 1947 WAS A VERY IMPORTANT
YEAR FOR THE OSWALD FAMILY.
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| Christmas 1947 at
1505
8th Avenue |
LEE Oswald, riding
his
tricyle at 1505 8th Avenue |
On July 7, 1947 Marguerite C. Ekdahl purchased a small home at
101 San Saba in Benbrook, TX, a suburb of Fort Worth. The first tenant
at 101 San Saba was the Marguerite Oswald impostor and seven year old
HARVEY Oswald. Georgia Bell, who
lived across the street, said that a "short, heavy-set Marguerite
Oswald" and her young son lived in this house from the summer of 1947
until Thanksgiving. Marguerite C. Ekdahl, who was then living at 1505
8th Ave. in Fort Worth, owned and rented this house to tenants. The
photo on the left shows the tall, nicely dressed Marguerite (Claverie)
Ekdahl standing in front of her car, a 1938 Plymouth. The photo on the
right shows the same car, a building in the background, and the
notation "Blackie, 1949." The small building was built and owned by Mr.
Sells. Both photos were taken at 101 San Saba, in Benbook, a house
which Marguerite owned and rented from July, 1947 to November 6,
1951.
In March of 1948 Marguerite Claverie Oswald left Edwin Ekdahl, filed
for divorce, and moved to a small home at 3300 Willing St. in Fort
Worth. On March 19 LEE Oswald transferred to the nearby George Clark
Elementary School in the 2nd grade. John Pic told the Warren
Commission, "We (Pic and Robert Oswald) returned from Chamberlain-Hunt
in May 1948, to a house I don't remember the address of, sir, but we
were back down in the lower class again....It was right slap next to
the railroad tracks (3300 Willing Street)....I remember we had to
listen to the trains going back and forth. She had moved into this
house a couple or 3 months prior to us returning from school."
Pic told the Warren Commission, "sometime in the summer of 1948, the
divorce took place in Tarrant County, city of Fort Worth (June 24)....
Right after this is when she purchased the house in Ben-brook, Tex.,
the little house. It was an L--shaped house, sir, being the top of the
L was her bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room with a
screened-in porch. She and Lee slept together. My brother and I slept
in the living room in the screened-in porch on studio couches."
Marguerite Claverie Oswald then began working at Leonards Department
Store, and in late July at the W.C. Stripling Company. Pic told the
Warren Commission "....my mother informed me that the best thing for me
to do was not return to school but to get a job and help the family
supplement its income....I obtained a job at Everybody's Department
Store which belonged to Leonard Bros....about the same time that I went
to work and Lee and Robert returned to school is when my mother bought
the house at 7408 Ewing (September, 1948). From John Pic's testimony we
learn that Marguerite Claverie Oswald and her three sons lived in the
small house at 101 San Saba in July and August, 1948.
From July thru September, 1949 Marguerite Claverie Oswald was Assistant
Store Manager of the Lerner's Store in Fort Worth. From September 10
thru November 24, 1949 she was working at Burt's Shoe Store. On
November 22 she began work in a booth at Cox's Dept Store under the
supervision of Mrs. Lowell Hopkins. In January, 1950
John Pic joined the US Coast Guard and was assigned to Cape May, New
Jersey. In the Spring of 1950 Marguerite Claverie Oswald was fired at
Cox's Dept Store and worked briefly for McDonald Kitchens as a hostess.
In June she began working for the Joseph Luker Insurance Agency
(National Bankers Life), where she was employed for the next year and a
half. Researchers should note that
the FBI did a good job in piecing together Marguerite Claverie Oswald's
work history in the 1940s thru the mid 1950s.
Georgia Bell remembered that when her neighbor's house burned down, her
neighbor (Mr. Otis Carleton) purchased the property at 101 San Saba.
Tarrant County land records show that on November 6, 1951 Marguerite
transferred title to 101 San Saba to Otis Carleton. Nine days later, on
November 15, Marguerite Claverie Oswald purchased a small house at 4833
Birchman, 6 blocks from Stripling Junior High School.
On March 6, 1952 Marguerite left the Luker Agency and began working for
Evans and Associates. On July 15, 1952 Robert Oswald left home and
joined the Marines. One month later, on August 20, Marguerite sold her
home at 7408 Ewing. She quit her job and two weeks later Marguerite
Claverie Oswald and her 12 year old son LEE drove their 1948 Dodge to
New York City and moved into John Pic and his wife's small apartment in
Manhattan. John Pic told the Warren Commission that LEE Oswald enrolled
in a school close to the Pic's apartment. John Pic said this school was
between 89th & 90th Streets and between 2nd and 3rd Avenue in
Manhattan. A year later, In July/August,1953, Robert Oswald took a 10
day leave from the Marines and drove to New York City. Robert Oswald,
wrote in his book (LEE, A Portrait of Lee Harvey Oswald by Robert
Oswald, pg. 63) "Lee entered the 8th grade at Public School 44 on
Columbus Avenue at 76th St." This school is the William J. O'Shea
Junior High School, identified as PS 44 (Public School 44) in Manhattan.
New York City has a different public school district for each of the
five counties that make up the city. Each county corresponds to one of
the five boroughs: Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island,
Queens.
To my surprise, I discovered there was a PS #44 in each of the five New
York City boroughs.
The FBI ignored John Pic's testimony and failed to report records from
any school in Manhattan to the Warren Commission. Judge Florence Kelley
was the Administrative Judge of the Family Court of the State of New
York in 1963, and the Oswald case file (#23979) was under her
supervision. On November 27, 1963 Judge Kelley allowed SAIC John Malone
to review the Oswald file in her chambers and in her presence. She
permitted him to take notes of pertinent portions, but would not permit
the file to be removed from her office or copied. A few days later she
conferred with the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Bernard
Botein, and with his approval agreed to turn over all original court
records in possession of the Family Court to SAIC Malone. On December
2, 1963 Judge Kelley personally gave the Oswald file to Malone with the
condition that it be transmitted immediately to the Warren Commission.
Three days later, on December 5, 1963, FBI SA Michael O'Rourke advised
the Secret Service the file had been sent to the Warren Commission. On
December 10, eight days after Judge Kelley turned her court file over
to the FBI, an internal FBI memo relating to the Files of Domestic
Relations Court states, "rec'd by Assist Dir. John Malone 11/27-12/2."
From this memo and Judge Kelley's statement, it is clear that Judge
Kelley gave the original court file to SAIC Malone.
In preparation for the testimony of Marguerite Oswald in February 1964,
the Warren Commission requested Oswald's original New York school and
court records from Mayor Wagner of New York City. On February 4, Miss
Bernice McCrae of the Mayors office spoke with Judge Kelley, who
advised that she had given the original records to SAIC John Malone.
Miss McCrae then telephoned the FBI's New York Office. She asked if the
original records in the Oswald file had, in fact, been turned over to
the Warren Commission. Miss McCrae never received an answer. Later that
afternoon she wrote a letter on behalf of Mayor Wagner to Mr. Rankin of
the Warren Commission which stated, "I am attaching to this letter
copies of the school records.... Judge Florence Kelley informed me she
turned over all original records in the possession of the Family Court
dealing with the case of Lee Harvey Oswald to John F. Malone, Assistant
Director in Charge of theNew York City office of the FBI."42 There is
no evidence or documentation whatsoever that Malone turned the original
court file over to the Warren Commission. On February 7, at 3:37 pm,
FBI Inspector J. R. Malley telephoned the FBI's New York office and
spoke to the Assistant Special Agent in Charge, W. M. Alexander, about
the original court records. Malley advised that FBI headquarters in
Washington had no information that indicated the original documents had
been received from New York and he asked Alexander to check further. At
3:45 pm Alexander telephoned Malley and advised that SAIC Malone, his
supervisor, had photographed the entire file and that copies of the
file had been sent to FBI headquarters in Washington. Alexander,
however, said there was no record that photographs were sent to FBI
headquarters, but that additional photographs of the file were
available. Malley then asked that two copies of the photographs be sent
immediately to his attention at FBI Headquarters in Washington. There
is no indication that Inspector Malley made any additional inquiries
into the fate of the original court files, which were last seen by
Judge Kelley when she personally handed them to SAIC John Malone.
Whenever original records are destroyed and only copies or photographs
remain, it is probable that the original documents were altered and
then photocopied.
The FBI provided the Warren Commission
with black and white "photographs," allegedly of Oswald's NYC school
records, which the Commission accepted. These photographs showed that
LEE Oswald attended Trinity Lutheran School (Bronx), Public School 117
(Bronx), and Public School 44 (Bronx). These schools were miles away
from schools in Manhattan as reported by John Pic and Robert Oswald.
NOTE: There was a PS #44 (Public School #44) in
each of the 5 New York City boroughs--Manhattan, Bronx, Queens,
Brooklyn, and Staten Island. It appears that LEE Oswald was enrolled in
PS #44 in Manhattan, while at the same time HARVEY Oswald was enrolled,
and truanting, from PS #117 and PS #44 in the Bronx. It was HARVEY
Oswald who was placed in the Youth House.
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5' 1" husky LEE
Oswald in 6th grade in 1952. John Pic identified this photo as his
brother. The following year, in 1953, NYC school records listed LHO's
height as 5' 4" in 1953.
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In January, 1953 the House Un-American Activites Committee (HUAC) file
in New York City made reference to a "Mrs. M. Oswald" in a CIA Office
of Security file. This file contained references to 1941, Nazi's and
New Jersey. Judge John Tunheim, of the Assassination Records Review
Board (ARRB) wrote to Henry Hyde and requested the HUAC file on "Mrs. M
Oswald," but his request was denied. The day after President Kennedy
was assassinated the FBI office in NYC received a telephone call from
Mrs. Jack Tippit, of Westport, Connecticut. Mrs. Tippit told FBI Agent
James McCarthy about a phone call she had just received from a woman
with a foreign accent. The woman read about the death of DPD officer
Tippit and thought Mrs. Tippit might be a relative. The woman said she
was from NYC, would not identify herself, but had come to Westport, CN
for the purpose of calling Mrs. Tippit. The woman said, "she knew
Oswald's father and uncle, who were Hungarians and
Communists...Oswald's father and uncle had lived at 77th and 2nd Avenue
in Yorkville, NYC, were unemployed, and spent all of their time on
Communist activities." The woman mentioned the name "Weinstock," editor
of Woman's World (or perhaps Workers World), "Emile Kardos," and said
something about a "brother-in-law" before ending the conversation.
Louis Weinstock was head of the Communist Party in NYC, and may have
been secretly working for the US government. In 1962 Harvey Oswald
wrote to the "Worker," and requested literature and pamphlets.
In February, 1953 John Pic and his
family were invited to dinner at the Oswald's apartment. This was the
last time Pic would see his brother for 9 years. In 1962 Pic was
invited to Thanksgiving Dinner at Robert Oswald's home, where he met
the Russian speaking HARVEY Oswald for the first time. Pic told the
Warren Commission, "the
Lee Harvey Oswald I met in November of 1962 [Thanksgiving] was not the
Lee Harvey Oswald I had known 10 years previous [in New York]." When
the Warren Commission showed John Pic photographs of HARVEY Oswald
taken in 1953 (Bronx Zoo), 1957 (Marines), and 1963 (passing out FPCC
literature) he refused to identify these photos as
his brother. Robert Oswald most certainly knew that the Russian
speaking HARVEY was not his brother, because Robert had lived with both
HARVEY Oswald and the Marguerite Oswald impostor at 4936 Collinwood for
6 months in 1956.
On February 17, 1953 Marguerite Claverie Oswald began working at
Martin's Dept. Store, 501 Fulton St., Bronx, NY, listing former
employers as Lerners Shops (NYC--Oct, 1952 to Jan, 1953), Evans and
Associates (Ft. Worth, TX--Jan, 1952 to Aug, 1952), National Bankers
Life (Ft. Worth, TX--June, 1950 to Jan, 1952). On May 9, 1953
Marguerite began working for Lady Orva Hosiery, 404 Park Ave. South,
NYC. She voluntarily terminated employment with Lady Orva on December
26, 1953, because she had already decided to return to New Orleans with
her son LEE Oswald.
NOTE: In the spring of 1953 the Marguerite
Oswald impostor and HARVEY Oswald had appeared before judges in Family
Court, HARVEY was remanded to the Youth House, interviewed by Probation
officer John Carro, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrist Dr. Milton
Kurian. In the summer of 1953 the Marguerite Oswald impostor and HARVEY
left New York City, travelled thru Stanley, North Dakota, and returned
to New Orleans where HARVEY was enrolled part time at Beauregard Junior
High. During the fall of 1953 Marguerite Claverie Oswald and LEE Oswald
missed a court appearance in NYC and were receiving numerous phone
calls from Big Brother, who were requesting to meet in person with LEE
Oswald for counseling. If and when court personnel, councilors or
judges met with LEE Oswald, they would likely realize this young boy
was not the same boy arrested and remanded to the Youth House.
Marguerite Claverie Oswald and her son could simply avoid such a
confrontation by leaving New York City.
In January, 1954 Marguerite Claverie Oswald and LEE Oswald re-located
from New York to New Orleans, where LEE enrolled in the spring semester
of the 8th grade at Beauregard Junior
High and was assigned to homeroom #303. Marguerite rented an apartment
at 1454 St. Marys from her long time close friend Myrtle Evans and
began work at Burt's Shoe Store on February 19. Myrtle Evans and
Marguerite had known
each other for 20 years. Myrtle saw and talked with Marguerite and LEE
Oswald "nearly every day" when they lived in her apartment building in
1954. Myrtle said, "Marguerite was a very good housekeeper, very
tasty... she was always so lovely herself... she was beautiful."
Myrtle's husband, Julian Evans, said of Marguerite, "a beautiful woman,
with black hair streaked with a little gray, but when you saw her on
television since this thing happened, she really looked awful; nothing
at all like she used to look. She has really aged. She looked like a
charwoman, compared to what she used to look like. She used to be a
fashion plate. She dressed beautifully, but when we saw her on
television just recently, after all this happened, she looked awful.
There's no other way to describe it, the change that has come over her.
You wouldn't have recognized her if they hadn't told you who she was;
she looked that different. Where her hair used to be black, now it's
entirely gray, and she really looks old....she's the same age as my
wife, but she looks about 70 now."
In the late summer of 1953 the Marguerite Oswald impostor and HARVEY
Oswald left Stanley, North Dakota and moved to 126 Exchange in New
Orleans. HARVEY Oswald enrolled at Beauregard Junior High as a part
time student in the fall semester of 1953. His Beauregard attendance
and school records are published in the Warren Volumes. A year later,
in the fall of 1954, they left New Orleans and moved to 2220 Thomas
Place in Ft. Worth. HARVEY Oswald enrolled in the 9th grade at
Stripling Junior High School, which was directly across the street.
Marguerite Claverie Oswald and her son LEE then left 1454 St. Marys and
relocated to 126 Exchange.
NOTE: Published by the Warren Commission, John
Pic exhibits 22, 23, & 23-8 are letters from Marguerite Claverie
Oswald to Pic postmarked in New Orleans on May 10 and June 14, 1954
with the return address "Oswald, 1454 St. Mary, New Orleans, LA." Pic
exhibit 24, 24A, 25, 25A; 26, and 26A are letters from Marguerite
Claverie Oswald to Pic postmarked in New Orleans on October 14,
November 12, and November 11, 1954, with the return address "126
Exchange, New Orleans, LA."
Marguerite Claverie Oswald continued to work at Burt's Shoe Store until
she was discharged on October 9. A month later, on November 15,
she began working at Chandler's Shoe Store. In the fall of 1954 LEE
Oswald became friends with Ed Voebel, who often visited their apartment
at 126 Exchange and met Lee Oswald's mother, Marguerite Claverie
Oswald. Following the assassination Voebel saw Mrs. Oswald (the
impostor) on television and photographs of her in the newspapers.
Voebel told the Warren Commission, "...I had a picture in my mind which
was different from when I saw her in the paper after all of this
happened. I didn't recognize her. She was a lot thinner, and her hair
wasn't as grey, as I recall it, when I met her." The woman Voebel met
in 1955, the tall, nice-looking Marguerite Claverie Oswald, was not the
woman he saw in the newspapers and on television--the short, heavy-set
Marguerite Oswald impostor.
Seven months later, in June, 1955 LEE Oswald and Ed Voebel attended
Civil Air Patrol meetings at Moissant Airport. Fifteen year old LEE
soon got a full time job at the Gerald F. Tujague Company, a local
freight forwarder. LEE Oswald's supervisor, Frank DiBenedetto,
told the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) that Oswald
worked at Tujague's for "a year to a year and a half," from June, 1955
thru the summer of 1956. This was a serious problem, which the HSCA
ignored. In the fall of 1955, while "LEE Harvey Oswald" was working
with Frank DiBenedetto at Tujague's, another "Lee HARVEY Oswald" was
attending Warren Easton High School.The FBI managed to solve this
problem by manipulating LEE Oswald's employment records. The day after
the assassination the FBI collected all of LEE Oswald's weekly time
cards from Tujague's. However, they used only a small number of those
time cards for the purpose of limiting the time he worked at Tujague's.
The FBI told the WC that in the fall of 1955 Oswald attended 6
weeks of school at Warren Easton High School. This means that Oswald's
time cards from Tujague's from June, 1955 thru early October, 1955
had to be destroyed. The FBI was then able to say that Oswald quit
school in early October and began working at Tujague's thru early
January, 1956. After quitting Tujague's Oswald worked for Nick Mazza at
J. R. Michaels Co for one week in mid-January. The FBI then told the
Warren Commission, with no evidence whatsoever, that Oswald worked "a
few weeks" at the Pfisterer Dental Lab in New Orleans. The FBI then
created fake W-2 forms for 1955 and 1956 (Tujague's, JR Michael's,
Pfisterer Dental Lab) to bolster their claim of Oswald's employment at
age 15 in New Orleans. The FBI 's manipulation and fabrication of
evidence was essential in covering up the existence of two Lee Harvey
Oswalds in 1955 thru early 1956.
On January 7, 1956 Marguerite Claverie Oswald's employment at
Chandler's Shoes ended. According to neighbor Mildred Sawyer,
Marguerite then found work at Kriegers and later at Goldrings Dept
Store on March 16. It is worth noting that the FBI never obtained
employment records for Marguerite Claverie Oswald from either Goldrings
or Kriegers in New Orleans. Why? Because her employment at
Goldrings in 1956 conflicted with the Marguerite Oswald impostor living
in Fort Worth at the same time. Her employment in New Orleans from 1959
thru 1961 conflicted with the Marguerite Oswald impostor living and
working in Fort Worth.
After
working 4 1/2 months at Goldrings Dept Store Marguerite Claverie Oswald
voluntarily terminated her employment on July 31, 1956. LEE
Oswald quit his job at
Tujague's and told his boss, Frank DiBenedetto, that he was going to
join the Marines. John Pic told the WC that Robert Oswald drove to New
Orleans, picked up his mother (Marguerite Claverie Oswald) and brother
(LEE) and drove them to Fort Worth. Marguerite rented an apartment at
3830 W. 6th in September and resided in this apartment for the next two
years. At the same time Robert Oswald was living 1.8 miles away at
4936 Collinwood, with the Marguerite Oswald impostor and HARVEY Oswald.
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NOTE:
On February 21, 1961 the Ft. Worth Retail Merchants Association, at the
request of FBI Agent John Fain, provided information from their files
on Marguerite Claverie Oswald. On May 29, 1957 she was residing
at 3830 W. 6th, with previous addresses listed as 7408 Ewing
(1948-1952), 3300 Willing (summer, 1948), and 1505 8th Avenue
(1947--summer, 1948). This is an accurate and complete list of
Marguerite Claverie Oswald's addresses in Ft. Worth from 1947 thru
1959. However, not a single one of
these addresses were for the Marguerite Oswald impostor. The short,
heavy-set impostor lived at 101 San Saba, 4936 Collinwood, 1031 W 5th,
3124 W. 5th, 2220 Thomas Place, 313 Templeton Drive, 3613 Harley, 1410
Hurley St, 1407 8th Ave., 1501 W. 7th, in Waco, TX., Boyd, TX, and
Vernon, TX. In other words, while residing at more than a dozen
different addresses in and around Ft. Worth, the Marguerite Oswald
impostor avoided contact with any business that would request a credit
report on "Marguerite Oswald." This impostor did not apply for
employment at a medium or large business in Ft. Worth, she did not open
a bank account in Ft. Worth, she had no utility services in her name
(water, sewer, electricity, gas, telephone, garbage, etc), she had no
homeowners or auto insurance, and she never applied for credit. The
Marguerite Oswald impostor avoided any and all contact with businesses
that that would cause her name to be reported to the Ft. Worth Retail
Merchants Association or any other credit bureau.
NOTE 2: This
same report, from the Ft. Worth Retail Merchants Associatiion, shows
their file on Marguerite Claverie Oswald was opened in April, 1936. But
in April, 1936, Marguerite Claverie Oswald was married and living in
New Orleans, LA. Her first known visit to Ft. Worth was 10 years later,
in 1946, with Edwin Ekdahl. So, how and why was the Ft. Worth Retail
Merchants Association able to open a credit file on Marguerite Claverie
Oswald in April, 1936?
In October, 1956, LEE Oswald joined the Marines and visited his mother
at 3830 W. 6th, apt #3 when on leave. Marguerite's neighbor, Mr. Lee
McCracken, told the FBI that LEE Oswald resided with his mother on one
or two occasions when on leave from the Marines, and stayed around the
home for about two weeks on each trip. There are no known FBI
reports of an interview with the landlord, which would have showed that
Marguerite Claverie Oswald lived in apt 3 from late August, 1956 thru
late Spring, 1959. Such information would have conflicted with numerous
FBI interviews that placed a 2nd "Marguerite Oswald" at more than 11
different locations during the same time period. Mr. McCracken told
the FBI that Marguerite Oswald worked at the Clyde Campbell's Men's
Store in downtown Fort Worth. His memory was supported by the Fort
Worth Retail Merchants Association, whose records show that Marguerite
Oswald was working for the Clyde Campbell's Men's Store in March,
April, and May 1957 and living at 3830 W. 6th in Apartment #3. On May
29, 1957 the tall Marguerite Claverie Oswald, residing at 3830 W. 6th,
applied for employment at Leonard's Dept Store. The Retail Merchants
Credit Association, at the request of Leonard's, reported the following
information:
- Marguerite Claverie Oswald was living in apt. #3 at 3830 W. 6th
in Ft. Worth (where she had been living for the past year, since
August, 1956)
- Marguerite Oswald had been employed at Clyde Campbell's men's
store for the past two months (April, May, 1957)
- Previous addresses were listed as 7408 Ewing, 2300 Willing St.,
1505 8th Avenue.
On May 1, 1957 the Marguerite Oswald impostor left 4936 Collinwood,
moved to 1031 W. 5th, but still owed her landlady for unpaid utility
bills. On three separate occasions Mrs. James Taylor (landlady at 4936
Collinwood) drove to 1031 W. 5th and confronted the Marguerite Oswald
impostor about unpaid utility bills. Marguerite, however, refused to
pay the utility bills. It is worth noting that from 1947 thru early
1962 there is no indication that the Marguerite Oswald impostor owned a
car or knew how to drive. How she was able to travel, and pay expenses
to move from Ft. Worth to New York, to Stanley, ND, to New Orleans, to
Ft. Worth, to California, to New Orleans, to Ft. Worth remains unknown.
How she was able to move from one address to another in New Orleans
(several addresses), Ft. Worth (over a dozen addresses), and small town
(several addresses) in North Texas remains unknown. In the fall of 1957
the unemployed Marguerite Oswald impostor left Fort Worth, travelled to
New Orleans, and moved into the Hotel Senator. How this unemployed
woman was able to afford a relatively expensive hotel, month after
month, remains unknown.
After leaving Clyde Campbell's men's store Marguerite Claverie Oswald
obtained employment at Paul's Shoe Store (see photo below) at 606
Houston St. in Ft. Worth. During 1957 and 1958 Marguerite was also a
sales representative for Avon products and visited the homes of fellow
co-workers.
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Lee in 1952
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Harvey in 1953
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While HARVEY Oswald was truanting from school in the Bronx and
later placed in Youth
House, LEE Oswald was attending Public School #44 in Manhattan with
near perfect
attendance. In fact, LEE Oswald attended school, held jobs, and served
in the Marines for extended periods, while HARVEY Oswald's involvement
with schools, jobs, and the Marines was very sporadic. The Marguerite
Oswald impostor was interviewed at the Youth House by probation officer
John Carro. During this one interview this Marguerite Oswald impostor
made countless mistakes about her family background, mistakes that the
real Marguerite Claverie Oswald would never make. Following are a
few biographical mistakes made by the Marguerite Oswald impostor during
this one interview.
The Marguerite Oswald
impostor told John Carro that she was the youngest of
6 children, yet there were 5 children in the Claverie family.
She gave
Lee Oswald's father's name as Robert Lee Harvey, when his real
name was
Robert Edward Lee Oswald. She said Lee's father died at age 45,
yet we
know he was 43 years old when he died. This "impostor" gave her
marriage date as July 19, 1929, yet she married Robert Oswald in
1933.
She gave her sister's name as Lillian Sigouerette, when we know
her
sister's name was Lillian Murrett. She said she formerly owned
a house
in Corning, Texas, yet there is not and never has been a
"Corning,"
Texas. She gave Lee Harvey Oswald's birth date as October 19, when
the
correct date was October 18th. She said Lee was baptized at the
Trinity
Lutheran Church in New Orleans, when the records show he was
baptized
at the Redeemer Lutheran Church in New Orleans. When this
"impostor"
was asked whether Lee's father was right or left handed she
replied "I
do not remember, sir" (Warren Commission testimony). Marguerite
Claverie Oswald, mother of LEE Oswald, would never have made these
errors concerning her background. But probation officer John
Carro
interviewed the Marguerite Oswald impostor, and this woman was not
prepared to answer detailed questions about Marguerite Oswald's
background.
In the summer of 1953, a few months after HARVEY Oswald was released
from Youth House, the unemployed Marguerite Oswald impostor and HARVEY
somehow left New
York City and resided briefly in Stanley, North Dakota (July, Aug,
1953). Marguerite Claverie Oswald and her son, LEE, were still living
in NYC. It was in North Dakota that HARVEY became friends with William
Henry Timmer, and talked about his involvement with teenage gangs in
NYC. After the assassination Timmer's mother wrote a letter to
President Johnson and described her son's brief friendship with Oswald
in Stanley, ND. The Secret Service turned the letter over to the FBI
who sent agents to interview Timmer.
NOTE: I
say "somehow" because in the 1950s the Marguerite Oswald impostor did
not own a car, yet she managed to move from Fort Worth to NYC, to North
Dakota, to New Orleans, to Fort Worth, to New Orleans, and back to Fort
Worth.
In the fall of 1953 the
Marguerite Oswald impostor and HARVEY somehow left North Dakota and
moved to
New Orleans, where they resided at 126 Exchange Place in the French
Quarter. HARVEY began attending Beauregard Junior High school part time
in the 8th grade, while the Marguerite Oswald impostor worked as a bar
maid where little personal information or payroll tax information was
required.
In January 1954, while living at 126 Exchange Place, HARVEY Oswald
began
attending Beauregard JHS full time and was assigned to the homeroom of
physical education teacher Myra DaRouse (YouTube video
interview with Myra DaRouse). Myra only had a homeroom for a
single school year while she taught at Beauregard, and her homeroom was
located
in a basement room that also served as the school cafeteria.
During the same school year LEE Oswald, while living at 1454 St. Marys
St., attended the spring semester of the 8th grade at Beauregard JHS,
and was assigned to homeroom 303 on the third floor of the building. As
strange as it may seem HARVEY Oswald, with homeroom in the basement
cafeteria, and LEE Oswald, homeroom 303, were both in the 8th grade at
Beauregard Junior High at the same time during the spring semester of
1954.
In the fall of 1954 the Marguerite Oswald impostor and HARVEY left New
Orleans and moved into an apartment at 2220 Thomas Place, unit B (rear
apartment in a
duplex) in Fort Worth. It is worth remembering that the Marguerite
Oswald impostor had furniture and clothing stored at this same address
in 1947. HARVEY began attending the 9th grade at Stripling Junior High
school, which was directly across the street. HARVEY was remembered by
classmates Doug Gann, Jackie and Bobby Pitts, Roy Parkin, Fran
Schubert (YouTube
interview with Fran Schubert) and physical education teacher Mark
Summers. Also enrolled in the 9th grade at Stripling was Peter Gregory,
who would later befriend HARVEY and Marina after they arrived in Fort
Worth in June, 1962. Fran remembered that HARVEY was thin, short, wore
a leather jacket and his mother always wore a white nurse's uniform.
NOTE:
In October, 1959, after HARVEY Oswald "defeccted" to the Soviet Union,
Robert Oswald was interviewed and told the Fort Worth Star Telegram
that his “brother” had attended Stripling Junior High School. In June,
1962, when HARVEY Oswald returned to the United States, Robert Oswald
was again interviewed and told the Ft. Worth Star Telegram that his
"brother" had attended Stripling Junior High School. How did Robert
Oswald know that HARVEY Oswald had attended Stripling Junior High
School? Robert lived with HARVEY and the Marguerite Oswald impostor at
4936 Collinwood in 1956. During the 6 months they lived together they
likely discussed Stripling Junior High, which was nearby, as both young
men had previously attended Stripling in the 9th grade. In 1964, when
interviewed by the Warren Commission, Robert Oswald once again said
that his brother had attended Stripling Junior High School. But Robert
did not realize that at the same time (fall, 1954) his real brother,
LEE Oswald, was attending Beauregard Junior High School in New Orleans.
THIS WAS A HUGE PROBLEM, as it threatened to expose the two Oswalds.
On Nov 23, 1963, the day after
President Kennedy was killed, assistant principal Frank Kudlaty gave
HARVEY Oswald's school records (Stripling JHS) to the FBI (YouTube
interview with Frank Kudlaty). In 1964 Robert Oswald told the
Warren
Commission that his brother had attended Stripling Junior High. In 1995
I called and spoke with Ricardo Galindo, then Principal of Stripling
JHS. Mr. Galindo told me "it's common knowledge among staff and faculty
that Oswald attended Stripling."
Today, however, the FBI denies they have any records of Oswald's
attendance at Stripling. The Stripling school records had to
disappear, because if made public they would show that LEE Harvey
Oswald attended Beauregard JHS in New Orleans while at the same time
Lee HARVEY Oswald was attending Stripling JHS in Ft Worth. (See
cumulative
Beauregard records.) This attempted cover-up was far from
perfect,
but it fooled the Warren Commission. But it did not fool Frank Kudlaty
or students who knew for a fact that HARVEY Oswald had attended
Stripling.
In January, 1955 HARVEY Oswald and the Marguerite Oswald impostor
left Fort Worth and returned to New Orleans where both began working
full time for Maury
Goodman at the Dolly Shoe Store on Canal Street. Mrs. Oswald was asked
to fill out detailed personal information required by the store's
insurance company. She ignored the request. A few months later, when
again asked to fill out detailed personal information, the Marguerite
Oswald impostor repeatedly refused and was fired. Newly hired store
manager Louis Marzialle (YouTube video interview with Louis Marzialle)
recalled that after Mrs. Oswald's employment was terminated at Dolly
Shoe he saw her working as a bar maid at the Tradewinds Bar on Decatur
St. in New Orleans. The photo on the
left is of the Marguerite Oswald impostor in 1954, and she has
extremely downward slanting eyebrows. This striking and distinct facial
feature
was later hidden by her ever present large frame glasses. The much
taller and thinner Marguerite Claverie Oswald's eyebrows were nearly
horizontal, as can be seen in the photo on the right, taken at Paul's
Shoe Store in 1957. And she never wore glasses.
In the fall of 1955, while LEE Oswald was working full time at the
Gerard F. Tujague Co., HARVEY Oswald began attending Warren Easton High
school in New Orleans (10th grade). On October 7 a handwritten note was
delivered to Warren Easton that read, "...we are moving to San Diego in
the middle of this month Lee must quit school now...." The Marguerite
Oswald impostor and HARVEY Oswald may have moved to California, but the
date of their move is unknown. They were living in New Orleans in
mid-October, 1955 (Warren Easton High School) and in New Orleans in
early-January, 1956 (J.R. Michaels Co.). Their whereabouts for the
next 7 months is unknown. On July 1, 1956 the Marguerite Oswald
impostor rented an apartment at 4936 Collinwood in Ft. Worth, and was
accompanied by HARVEY and Robert Oswald."
In
October of 1963, HARVEY Oswald was interviewed by Texas Employment
Commission worker Laura Kittrell. HARVEY told Mz. Kittrell, "It was
just before I went into the Marines. It was when I was just 16. I had
this messenger-boy job in California....It was for an investment
company, and I worked there six months. The name of it was the "ETI
Realty Company, but it was an investment company too." Laura Kittrell
remembered the company was located in Encino, CA. JFK researchers
William Weston and Steve Gaal drove to Encino and visited the library.
In the 1950's City Directories and phone books they were not able to
find "ETI Realty or ETI Investment Co." They did, however, find "Encino
Title Insurance Company," which could be the "ETI Company" where HARVEY
Oswald had worked briefly as a messenger-boy in 1955 or 1956.
In mid-January, 1956 HARVEY and the Marguerite Oswald impostor were in
New Orleans, and HARVEY began work at the J.R. Michaels Company on the
3rd floor of the Sanlin Building. LEE Oswald was still working full
time for the Gerard F. Tujague Co., which was located one floor above
J.R. Michaels in the same building (Sanlin Bldg). Oswald's employment
at J.R. Michaels lasted only a week. It appears likely that he and the
Marguerite Oswald impostor then left New Orleans and moved to Encino,
CA, where HARVEY Oswald was employed as an office worker and a
motorcycle delivery boy (question: did he have a drivers license??).
Six months later (July 1, 1956) the Marguerite Oswald impostor and
HARVEY arrived in Fort Worth and rented an apartment at 4936 Collinwood
from Mrs. James Taylor.
NOTE: On April 28, 1961 FBI agent John Fain
interviewed Mrs. Taylor (CE 1127). Mrs. Taylor told Fain that she
rented a partly furnished apartment to Mrs Oswald and her sons Lee and
Robert Oswald on July 1, 1956. She said that Lee Harvey Oswald left the
apartment when
he enlisted in the Marine Corps (October, 1956. Robert left the
apartment when he married (Vada Mercer) in November. Mrs. Oswald then
lived alone in the apartment until May 1, 1957.
Robert Oswald (age 22) moved in with HARVEY Oswald and the Marguerite
Oswald impostor. On July 13, Robert opened a checking account at the
West Side State Bank. On October 8, 1956 Robert wrote a check to Lee H.
Oswald and listed his address as 4936 Collinwood (see below). Robert
was dating Vada Mercer, who he would marry 5 months
later (November, 1956). But prior to their marriage he never
introduced Vada to the Marguerite Oswald impostor or to HARVEY Oswald,
probably because they were not his blood relatives.
NOTE: In the author's opinion it was during
this
time, while living in the apartment with the Marguerite Oswald impostor
and HARVEY Oswald, that Robert Oswald learned that HARVEY had attended
the nearby Stripling Junior High School. After HARVEY Oswald "defected"
to the Soviet Union Robert Oswald told news reporters that his
"brother" had attended Stripling Junior High School. Four years later,
in 1964, Robert Oswald told the Warren Commission that his "brother"
had attended Stripling Junior High School. Robert Oswald did not
realize that when HARVEY Oswald was attending Stripling Junior High in
Ft. Worth, his real brother (LEE Oswald) was attending Beauregard
Junior High School in New Orleans at the same time (Sept/Oct, 1954).
On July 31, 1956, Marguerite Claverie Oswald quit her job at Goldrings
Dept. Store in New Orleans. LEE Oswald, after working one year at
Tujague's, told supervisor Frank DeBenedetto that he was quitting in
order to join the Marine Corps. According to John Pic, Robert Oswald
drove to New Orleans, picked up his mother (Marguerite Oswald Claverie)
and his brother (LEE Oswald) and drove them back to Ft. Worth.
Marguerite rented apartment #3 at 3830 W. 6th, where she lived for the
next 2 years. This address was given to the Marine Corps, to the Red
Cross, to the Ft. Worth Retail Credit Merchants Association, and
appeared in the Ft. Worth city directory. A neighbor, Lee McKracken,
remembered that LEE Oswald visited his mother on two occasions when on
leave from the Marines, and stayed in the apartment with her about two
weeks each time .
On September 6 HARVEY Oswald, while living with Robert Oswald and the
Marguerite Oswald impostor at 4936 Collinwood, enrolled as a sophomore
in Arlington Heights High School. Three weeks later, on September 28,
HARVEY dropped out of Arlington Heights. On October 3 he wrote a letter
to the Socialist Party of America and asked if there was a branch in
the area that he could join. A few days later, on October 8, Robert
Oswald wrote a check to Lee HARVEY Oswald in the amount of $10.00 (see
below). On the check Robert wrote his current address and phone number.
This is very important because while Robert was living at 4936
Collinwood with HARVEY Oswald and the Marguerite Oswald impostor, his
mother (Marguerite Claverie Oswald) was living nearby in apartment #3
at 3830 W. 6th.
NOTE:
It is worth remembering that Robert told the WC that he took the photo
of young HARVEY Oswald at the Bronx Zoo in 1953. Two years later, in
July, 1955, Robert lived with his mother (Marguerite Claverie Oswald)
and his brother LEE Oswald at 126 Exchange in New Orleans for one week.
A year later, in late summer 1956, Robert Oswald drove his mother and
brother (LEE) from New Orleans to Ft. Worth where they rented apartment
#3 at 3830 W. 6th. At the same time (June thru November, 1956) Robert
Oswald was living with HARVEY Oswald and the Marguerite Oswald impostor
at 4936 Collinwood.
On May 29, 1957 the unemployed Marguerite Oswald, the short and
heavy-set impostor, was still living in Mrs. James Taylor's apartment
building at 4936 Collinwood. On the same day the tall Marguerite
Claverie Oswald, residing at 3830 W. 6th, applied for employment at
Leonard's Dept Store. The Retail Merchants Credit Association, at the
request of Leonard's, reported the following information:
- Marguerite Claverie Oswald was living in apt. #3 at 3830 W. 6th
in Ft. Worth (where she had been living for the past year, since
August, 1956)
- Marguerite Oswald had been employed at Clyde Campbell's men's
store for the past two months (April, May, 1957)
- Previous addresses were listed as 7408 Ewing, 2300 Willing St.,
1505 8th Avenue.
It is important to understand the significance of these addresses. In
1947, when Marguerite Claverie Oswald was living (with Mr. Ekdahl) at
1505 8th Avenue in Ft. Worth, the short, heavy-set M.O. impostor was
living at 101 San Saba in Benbrook, TX (unknown to the Retail Merchants
Credit Association). In May, 1957, when the tall Marguerite Claverie
Oswald was living in apt. #3 at 3830 W. 6th, Ft. Worth, the short,
heavy-set M.O. impostor was living at 4936 Collinwood in Ft. Worth
(unknown to the Retail Merchants Credit Association). The tall
Marguerite Claverie Oswald was employed continuously as a saleslady in
clothing and shoe stores in both New Orleans and Ft. Worth. She had
bank accounts, was known to credit bureaus, and owned properties in New
Orleans, Ft. Worth, Dallas, and Benbrook, TX. She had a good
reputation, and had a habit of residing in a particular location
(apartment/house) for a long time. Prior to 11/22/63 the short,
heavy-set M.O. impostor, however, never owned a single property, had a
terrible reputation, sporadically worked "off the books" as a
"practical nurse/caretaker," continuously and frequently moved from one
room/apartment to another, never had a bank account, never had a phone
number, never established a credit history, and was almost always paid
in cash (the one exception was when she worked for Dolly Shoe in N.O.).
In the 1950s the short, heavy-set M.O. impostor lived a very discrete
and secret life, and was unknown to the Retail Merchants Credit
Association.
On May 1, 1957 the Marguerite Oswald impostor left 4936 Collinwood,
but owed her landlady for unpaid utility bills. On three separate
occasions Mrs. James Taylor, her landlady, drove to 1031 W. 5th, where
the Marguerite Oswald impostor was living, but she always refused to
pay the utility bills.
It
is worth noting that from 1947 thru early 1962 the Marguerite Oswald
impostor did not own a car and was not known to drive. How she was able
to travel, and pay expenses to move from Ft. Worth to New York, to
Stanley, ND, to New Orleans, to Ft. Worth, to California, to New
Orleans, to Ft. Worth remains unknown. How she was able to move from
one address to another in a New Orleans (several addresses), Ft. Worth
(over a dozen addresses), and small town (several addresses) in North
Texas remains unknown.
In the fall of 1957 the unemployed Marguerite Oswald impostor left Fort
Worth, travelled to New Orleans, and moved into the Hotel Senator. How this unemployed woman was able to
afford a relatively expensive hotel, month after month, remains unknown.
HARVEY Oswald, after attending Aviation Electronics school in Memphis
with fellow Marine Allen Felde, may have briefly lived in Yellow
Springs, Ohio. Sgt. Donald Swarz, of the Intelligence Unit of the
Columbus, Ohio Police Dept., had information that Oswald had briefly
attended classes at Antioch College (also attended by Ruth Paine). In
late September 17 year old HARVEY Oswald was living with the Marguerite
Oswald impostor at the Hotel Senator on Dauphine St. in New Orleans.
HARVEY began working at the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory, directly
across the street, where he met co-worker Palmer McBride. Linda
Faircloth, who in 1998 was President of the Pfisterer Dental
Laboratory, spoke with the owners and employees of Pfisterer's when
HARVEY Oswald was employed there. Linda was told that Oswald delivered
the company's dental products to customers with his motorbike. Readers
may remember that HARVEY Oswald told Texas Employment Commission intake
officer Laura Kittrell that he had worked in California as a motorcycle
delivery boy. On October 4, 1957, HARVEY and Palmer McBride were
together and discussed the Russian launching of "Sputnik," the first
satellite to orbit the globe. On October 12, HARVEY and Palmer attended
the Boris Godounov opera in New Orleans, where McBride's father worked
as an usher.
During the Christmas holidays of 1957 HARVEY Oswald attended the first
of several meetings of the New Orleans Amateur Astronomy Association
(NOAAA) with his friend and co-worker Palmer McBride. At the same
time Marguerite Claverie Oswald, the mother of LEE Oswald, was still
working at Paul's Shoe Store in Ft. Worth. She is pictured in a photo
that was taken during the
Christmas holidays (1957) of store employees. Her son, LEE Oswald,
was in the Marine Corps in Japan. In early 1958 HARVEY
Oswald
accompanied Palmer McBride to his home one evening. As HARVEY and
McBride talked, mostly about astronomy, their conversation began to
focus on recent Russian space successes and the virtues of communism.
McBride's father, after hearing HARVEY Oswald praise the communist way
of life, became upset and demanded that Oswald leave their home.
On May 17, 1958 a $1000 life insurance policy on LEE Harvey Oswald
lapsed due to non-payment of premium. On June 10, 1958 the National
Life and Accident Insurance company notified Mrs. Oswald of the policy
lapse, by letter, addressed to 126 Exchange Place in New Orleans. The
letter was delivered 3 weeks later to LEE Oswald, in Japan. On June 30,
1958, while incarcerated in the brig/jail in Atsugi, Japan, LEE Harvey
Oswald applied to the company for reinstatement of the policy. He
listed his address as US Marine Corps, MAG 11, MAC S-1, FPO San
Francisco, CA., and listed his mother's address as 126 Exchange Place
in New Orleans. The application was witnessed by fellow Marine, Peter
Cassisi, who later told the FBI that he "did not recognize (LEE)
Oswald as a former Marine associate when pictures of (HARVEY) Oswald
were published in the media (after the assassination)."
NOTE: Why LEE Oswald would list his mother's
address as 126 Exchange in New Orleans is odd. In the fall of 1956,
while LEE Oswald was en route to Japan, he mailed a postcard to his
mother at 3830 W. 6th in Ft. Worth from Honolulu, Hawaii. During leave
from the military LEE Oswald returned to Ft. Worth and stayed with his
mother at this address.
After leaving New Orleans in the early summer of 1958 HARVEY Oswald
wrote a
letter to the dental lab and said that he was working for a shoe store
in Fort Worth. The letter was read to employees by the office manager
of the dental lab and remembered by Palmer McBride.
NOTE: From October, 1957 thru
late spring, 1958 the short, dumpy, heavy-set Marguerite Oswald
imposter was living in New Orleans, while Marguerite Claverie Oswald
was living at 3830 W. 6th in Ft. Worth. When this impostor testified
before by the Warren Commission her continual moving from apartment to
apartment, from city to city, and from state to state often conflicted
with the whereabouts of Marguerite Claverie Oswald. When asked what
year they moved from New Orleans to Fort Worth the Marguerite Oswald
impostor answered, "I said 1959-I am sorry. 1955. No, wait now.
1956-when we left New Orleans is 1956. Am I correct?" Former CIA
director Allen Dulles quickly interviened to resolve Marguerite's
"memory lapse" and said, "I think you moved to Fort Worth with Lee in
September, 1956." In reality, after HARVEY Oswald dropped out of Warren
Easton High school in October, 1955 the whereabouts of the impostor and
HARVEY is unknown until July 1, 1956 when they moved into 4936
Collinwood with Robert Oswald in Ft. Worth.
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NOTE: It is worth remembering that Marguerite
Claverie Oswald (3830 W. 6th, apt 3) and the Marguerite Oswald imposter
(4936 Collinwood) lived nearby each other in Ft. Worth from August,
1956 thru May, 1957. In May, 1957 the Marguerite Oswald impostor and
HARVEY moved to 1031 W. 5th in Ft. Worth. In early October, 1957 they
had moved to New Orleans and were living at the Hotel Senator, directly
across the street from the Pfisterer Dental Lab where HARVEY worked and
became close friends with co-worker Palmer McBride. At the same time
Marguerite Claverie Oswald (mother of LEE Oswald) was still living at
3830 W. 6th in Fort Worth, and working at Paul's Shoe Store. When
HARVEY and the Marguerite Oswald impostor left New Orleans and returned
to Ft. Worth in the summer of 1958, Marguerite Claverie Oswald was
still living at 3830 W. 6th and was now working at Family Publications.
After returning to Ft. Worth the Marguerite Oswald impostor began
working for King Candy Company on August 28, 1958. She worked alone and
sold candy in a booth at the Fair Ridglea Department Store located at
4109 Westridge Ave. At the end of October, 1958 the Marguerite Oswald
impostor was living at 1013 5th Avenue and still working for King
Candy. On Friday, Oct 31
(Halloween), John Pic and his family spent the night at his mothers
home while driving to the west coast. Pic told the Warren Commission
that during their stopover in Ft. Worth he visited his mother
(Marguerite Claverie Oswald) while she was working at Cox's Dept Store
selling women's clothing.
NOTE: When
interviewed by the FBI officials of King Candy, upon reviewing
Margerite Oswald's employment application, said, "She came to Ft. Worth
from New York City and had excellent references." This was the
first job, since 1955, in which the Marguerite Oswald impostor worked
for a company that paid her a salary, withheld taxes, and was provided
with workers compensation insurance.
On Dec 5, while working at King Candy, the Marguerite Oswald impostor
claimed that a jar fell on her head, causing injury. The following day,
December 6, she was examined by Dr. Milton N. Goldberg of Fort Worth.
His examination revealed a small laceration on her nose with swelling.
Dr. Goldberg took X-rays which revealed no fractures. On December 8,
"Marguerite" returned to Dr. Goldberg's for another examination. She
returned again on December 29 and complained of headaches and pains in
her neck. Dr. Goldberg X-rayed her cervical spine which revealed no
fractures and told "Marguerite" that she had suffered no partial or
permanent disability. Three days later, on December 11, the King Candy
Company filed an "Employers First Report of Injury" with the Industrial
Accident Board of Texas. The "probable length of disability," as listed
on the report, was one week. Dr. Goldberg's rejection of the extent of
her "injury" strongly suggests that the Marguerite Oswald impostor was
feigning a disability in order to provide HARVEY Oswald a rationale for
his hardship case in resigning from the Marines. Unsatisfied with
Dr. Goldberg's opinion she made appointments with several other
physicians.
On January 30, 1959, she returned to Dr. Goldberg's office for a follow
up visit. During this visit the Marguerite Oswald impostor told Dr.
Goldbert that her "son" (Russian speaking HARVEY Oswald) wanted to
"defect" to Russia. In February she visited two more doctors and the
following month received treatments on March 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27,
and 30. In April she received treatments on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th,
11th and was referred to Dr. W.W. McKinney and Dr. J. C. Baker. On
April 20 the Marguerite Oswald impostor filed a "Notice of Claim for
Compensation" with the Industrial Board of Texas. On May 9 she had
x-rays taken at the Ft. Worth Osteopathic Hospital. On May 19 Liberty
Insurance suspended compensation payments. On Aug 4 the Texas
Industrial Accident Board ordered Liberty Insurance to pay $29.19 per
week for 12 weeks. Unsatisfied with the result the Marguerite Oswald
impostor hired an attorney and filed suit on August 11. Following her
"injury" on Dec 5, 1958, the Marguerite Oswald impostor was unemployed
for the entire year of 1959. While the Marguerite Oswald impostor
was
unemployed and busy visiting doctors, Robert Oswald told the Warren
Commission that he visited his mother (Marguerite Claverie Oswald) at
Cox's Dept. Store on a Saturday in April, 1959. Robert Oswald and John
Pic place their mother at Cox's Dept Store in the fall of 1958, and
both men saw her working when they visited the store in the Spring
(April) of 1959.
THE MARGUERITE OSWALD IMPOSTOR WAS WORKING FOR KING CANDY,
AUG-DEC, 1958, AND WAS THEN UNEMPLOYED THRU ALL OF 1959. AT THE
SAME TIME MARGUERITE
CLAVERIE OSWALD (mother of LEE, Robert, and John Pic) WAS WORKING AT
COX DEPT STORE FROM THE FALL OF 1958 THRU APRIL, 1959. TWO MARGUERITE
OSWALDS, LIVING IN FT. WORTH, AT THE SAME TIME, AND WORKING FOR
DIFFERENT COMPANIES.
In August, 1959 the Marguerite Oswald impostor applied for a hardship
discharge to the US Marine Corps so that her "son" (Russian speaking
HARVEY, now at MACS 9 in Santa Ana, CA) could return to Fort Worth and
care for her. On the Parents Dependency Affidavit, her son is listed as
"HARVEY Lee Oswald." The Marguerite Oswald impostor, pictured below,
was now
the one and only "Marguerite Oswald." She would claim to be the mother
of "Lee HARVEY Oswald" who would soon "defect" to Russia, and four
years later be accused of killing President Kennedy.
