Ruth Paine

[Greg Parker]

Well, Greg, your opinion that LHO never went to Mexico City clashes head-on with Lopez-Hardway Report (2003) one of the most important releases of CIA documents of the 21st century.

Well Paul, firstly, you've mistaken me for someone who gives a fig about what anyone else has said on it. Secondly, IIRC correctly, they were not as unequivocal as you indicate anyway.

[David G. Healy]

interesting twist...

http://themysteriesofdealeyplaza.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-are-paines.html

[Paul Trejo]

interesting twist...

http://themysteriesofdealeyplaza.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-are-paines.html

Thanks, David, for this link. Let's look at some of the charges, posted by Martin Hay on Mon09Aug2010:

(1) The Paines were the "guardians of much of the evidence responsible for convicting Lee Harvey Oswald in the eyes of the public."

Aha, this wording is almost identical to words found in PROBE Magazine (1993-2000) which is repeated by James DiEugenio, and Greg Parker, his apparent protégé. Now we know where we stand with this article. Ruth Paine in PROBE is blamed for the Backyard Photographs and the Walker home photographs, and for "six metal filing cabinets full of Cuban connections" which were reported by the paranoid Buddy Walthers, but never found.

(2) Ruth Paine was responsible for finding Oswald the job at the TSBD, from which to take the fall for the JFK murder.

This is incorrect - actually, Linnie Mae Randle, sister of Wesley Frazier, first raised that possibility.

(2.1) The WC claimed that on October 14, 1963, “at the suggestion of a neighbor, Mrs Paine phoned the TSBD and was told that there was a job opening. She informed Oswald who was interviewed the following day...and started to work there on October 16, 1963.” (R14-15)

It's more complicated than that. Marina and Ruth worried that LHO didn't have his own car, so transportation for a new job would be difficult unless the job was close by -- or unless he had a convenient driver -- like Wesley Frazier.

(2.2) However, alleges Hay, the neighbor, Linnie May Randle, swore before the WC, “I didn't know there was a job opening over there.” That's incorrect, because it rips out of context what Linnie Mae Randle actually said. Here's her actual statement:

"Mrs. RANDLE. Well, we didn't say that he might get a job, because I didn't know there was a job open. The reason that we were being helpful, Wesley had just looked for a job, and I had helped him to try to find one. We listed several places that he might go to look for work. When you live in a place you know some places that someone with, you know, not very much of an education can find work. So, it was among one of the places that we mentioned. We mentioned several others, and Mrs. Paine said that well, he couldn't apply for any of the jobs that would require driving because he couldn't drive, and it was just in conversation that you might talk just any day and not think a thing on earth about it."

(2.3) Also, Ruth Paine allegedly withheld from Oswald information that may have led to a better, higher paid job for Trans Texas Airways, paying $100 more per month than the TSBD. Robert Adams of the TEC, phoned the Paine home to give LHO the referral. LHO wasn't there at the time, so he left a message. Adams phoned the Paine residence again the following morning and was informed by Ruth Paine (9H389-90) that LHO already had a job. Ruth Paine told the WC that LHO had gone “into town to speak with the TEC, but was told that the job had been filled." (9H390)

Again, that's inaccurate because it ignores the all-important timing of the job offer. Here's a summary of what Robert Adams actually said in his affidavit:

"As an employee of TEC I keep careful records of all my work, and I tried to find work for LHO in October, 1963. On Monday, October 7, 1963, I referred LHO to the Solid State Electronics Company of Texas for a sales clerk for $350 per month. I called the phone number for Irving, Texas, and LHO was not in so I left a message. LHO then contacted me the next day, and I sent LHO to the interview. LHO was interviewed, but he was not hired. On Wednesday, October 9, 1963, I referred LHO to a clerk trainee job opportunity at $1.25 an hour with the Burton-Dixie Company of Dallas. I referred LHO directly to the employer on this order. I received no feedback from anybody. On Tuesday, October 15, 1963, I received an order from Trans Texas Airways for fourteen cargo handlers for $310 per month. I called the phone number for Irving, Texas, and LHO was not in so I left a message. Not hearing from LHO, I called again on Wednesday, October 16, 1963, and learned that LHO had already obtained employment the previous day, and he was already at work."

(3) At 1pm on the day JFK was murdered, a full hour before LHO was arrested, Michael Paine made a collect call to Ruth. Hay claims that the telephone operator remained on the line as Michael Paine told Ruth that he felt certain LHO did kill JFK, "but was not responsible,” and added, "we both know who is responsible.” (FBI report of Robert C. Lish, November 26, 1963, JFK Document No. 105-82555-1437). Ruth Paine pointedly responded that "those responsible" in that conversation referred to "those who published the Black-bordered Ad and the WANTED FOR TREASON: JFK handbills in Dallas." It was a generic identification, not a specific one. But CTers just project their favorite CT into that sentence.

(3.1) Michael Paine denied it with help from WC attorney Liebeler, according to John Armstrong (Harvey and Lee, p. 832). Anything John Armstrong says, who claims that Lee Oswald and Harvey Oswald were two different men, is automatically suspicious.

(4) Michael Paine told the WC that he didn't remember his full security clearance classification. Hay doubts the veracity of this. Yet, as a veteran technician, I don't know a single engineer who knows the full details of his or her security clearance.

(5) Michael Paine had relatives in the military-industrial complex (Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable, p. 169) mainly because his mother had a childhood friend who became the lover of Allen Dulles. Such a ludicrous attempt at a connection with the CIA is beyond laughable.

(6) Ruth Paine's family was directly connected to the CIA through her older sister and possibly her father (PROBE). Ruth Paine denied knowing details about her sisters work in the CIA, and that is not at all difficult to accept.

(7) The Secret Service advised Marina Oswald to disconnect from Ruth Paine within days of the JFK murder. As Jim Garrison forced words and insinuations into Marina's mouth, Marina allegedly affirmed that Ruth Paine "was sympathizing with the CIA,” and it, “seems like she had friends over there and it would be bad for me if people find out a connection between me and Ruth and CIA.” Actually, Marina told Jim Garrison that Ruth Paine wasn't connected with the CIA, but Jim Garrison refused to accept that, and relentlessly twisted Marina's words like taffy.

(8) According to Dallas Deputy Sheriff Buddy Walthers on the day of the JFK murder, upon searching the Paine's garage, officers found “a set of metal file cabinets that appeared to be names and activities of Cuban Sympathizers.” This fiction has never been substantiated by anybody -- and it's hilarious that CTers still cite it.

Therefore, David, all of the information in that article by Martin Hay is merely a rehash of the PROBE articles we are already reviewing in this thread -- and which James DiEugenio also rehashed in the second edition of his Destiny Betrayed (2012).

I sincerely hope that Greg Parker truly "doesn't give a fig" about what other people have already written about Ruth Paine, and that we will hear new charges against Ruth Paine from Greg -- instead of this continual rehash of dated PROBE magazine articles.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited December 28, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Brancato]

Paul T - if Oswald did write the typed letter to the USSR embassy he at least had help. So who helped him? On what typewriter was the letter typed?

[Paul Trejo]

Paul T - if Oswald did write the typed letter to the USSR embassy he at least had help. So who helped him? On what typewriter was the letter typed?

Well, Paul B., I don't see why you claim that LHO needed "help" to type a one-page letter. Anybody can do it, if they had hours to spare and a typewriter.

But if you mean, who gave him the spare time, and where did he get the typewriter -- then the answer is clearly, Ruth Paine. Here's what Ruth told the WC:

Since Ruth was taking care of Marina Oswald, who was eight-months pregnant, and Lee had just obtained a job three weeks ago, Ruth also allowed LHO to spend his weekends at her home, with Marina and his children. The day that the Embassy Letter was written was November 9th -- a Saturday -- when LHO enjoyed the hospitality of Ruth Paine.

More than that, Ruth Paine had her own typewriter, and LHO politely asked her that morning if he could use it. Ruth had no reason to say no, so she said yes.

It was odd, however, how LHO proceeded. He began with a handwritten rough draft. He was, actually, taking hours, working on this single page. Then, as he was typing, so close to Ruth's kitchen, Ruth might glance over her shoulder to watch her children, and LHO would quickly turn the typewriter away, and push his shoulders into her vision.

It seemed to Ruth that LHO was trying to hide what he was doing there. (It seemed to Carol Hewett, however, that LHO was trying to tempt Ruth to read his letter.)

That evening, after everybody else had gone to bed, Ruth, who was always the last to go to bed, noticed that LHO had left his handwritten draft on her desk, folded in half. She thought about reading it, but then she decided against reading other people's personal correspondence. So, she just went to bed that Friday night.

On Saturday morning, Ruth woke up first, as always, and she couldn't resist at least one glance at LHO's letter. She just glanced at it -- and she saw the words, "notorious FBI." That made her angry. Ruth remains a supporter of the ACLU -- so she's not a rightist. But Ruth is also patriotic and she likes the FBI, and she didn't appreciate LHO calling them "notorious."

So, Ruth decided to read the rest of the letter. It made no sense to her. What's all this nonsense about Mexico City? What's all this nonsense about the FPCC? What's all this nonsense about the FBI warning LHO about anything? The FBI, Ruth knew, had come by her home twice in the past month, when LHO was back in Texas, and LHO wasn't at her home those times. Hosty never said any of those things that LHO said. And why was LHO writing to the Soviet Embassy?

Ruth didn't like this letter, and she decided she would show it to the FBI next time they visited her house (because they said they would be back). But, she worried, what if LHO woke up and saw the note there, and then took it? So, she quickly made her own hand-written copy of the note, to give to the FBI next time they visited her home. That was her plan.

After she hurriedly copied the note, she put the original, hand-written version back on the desk where she found it. Nobody else in the house had yet emerged from their bedroom. She was safe. This was on Saturday morning.

That Saturday night, LHO and Ruth were the last ones to go to bed. LHO was watching a spy movie on TV, and Ruth sat down in the living room, wondering if she should say something about the Embassy Letter that she found. But what could she say without starting a fight? So, she decided to say nothing, and she went to bed before LHO for the first time.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, when Ruth needed LHO and Michael to move some furniture around for her, she noticed that LHO's note was still on her desk. It had been there, out in the open, for two full days. So, it seems that LHO simply forgot about it. So, when LHO and Michael came to move that desk, Ruth quickly swished the note into one of the desk drawers, because it would be much better to give the FBI the original note, in LHO's own handwriting.

Sure enough, LHO never mentioned the note, ever. (For this reason, Carol Hewett is convinced that LHO really intended for Ruth Paine to be tempted to read the note, and to read it and keep it.)

Of course, anybody who has read Ruth's WC testimony already knows all these details. Trouble is, so few people have read her testimony. The WC has three versions of the Embassy Letter -- the typed copy that the FBI intercepted before it arrived at the Soviet Embassy in Washington DC., and also Ruth Paine's hand-written copy, and also LHO's original, hand-written copy. FBI handwriting experts have determined that LHO's handwritten copy is indeed LHO's own hand-writing.

So, Paul B., you ask, "who helped LHO with the Embassy Letter?" If you mean who gave LHO the leisure and permission to use her typewriter -- that was Ruth Paine. But if you mean, "who helped LHO compose his letter," then the answer is, "Nobody."

What does this show? It shows that LHO really went to Mexico City (as the 2003 Lopez-Hardway Report proves), and that he really did make a fool of himself at the Cuban Consulate and the Soviet Embassy, and that he was still lying about being a "Secretary" of the FPCC in NOLA. In other words, LHO was trying to fool the USSR for some reason. LHO was trying to pretend that he was a Communist -- when the FPCC and the CPUSA (and the Cuban Consulate and Soviet Embassies) were completely convinced that LHO was nothing of the sort.

While Carol Hewett and her followers would probably disagree with my conclusions here, I point out that Dr. Jeffrey Caufield's work supports my interpretation 100%.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited December 28, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Jon G. Tidd]

Paul Trejo,

Did Ruth Paine say anything that implicated Marina's husband in the murder of JFK?

[Paul Trejo]

Paul Trejo,

Did Ruth Paine say anything that implicated Marina's husband in the murder of JFK?

No, Jon, in fact, Ruth Paine often said that she didn't believe that LHO was the killer of JFK. She never saw LHO behave in a violent manner. She repeated this several times in her WC testimony.

She did say, at the end of the WC proceedings, that the circumstantial evidence against LHO was "overwhelming," and so she tentatively concluded that LHO was guilty. Over the past half-century, however, Ruth Paine has kept an open mind, seeking any convincing CT to convince her that LHO wasn't the Lone Nut that the WC said he was.

Ruth never found any CT that was convincing to her. She thought that Oliver Stone's JFK (1992) was pure Hollywood. She still keeps an open mind, but it's been a half-century.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited December 28, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Greg Parker]

Paul T - if Oswald did write the typed letter to the USSR embassy he at least had help. So who helped him? On what typewriter was the letter typed?

Paul,

she described in great detail, the circumstances under which she found and copied the handwritten draft to pass on to the FBI (who were intercepting all mail to the USSR Embassy anyway). It is a very touching story of how a privacy advocate justifies breaching someone's privacy - using his very act of trying to maintain his privacy as the excuse for breaching it!

Mrs. PAINE - He was using the typewriter. I came and put June in her high-chair near him at the table where he was typing, and he moved something over what he was typing from, which aroused my curiosity.

The reason she was giving this story was in answer to this:

Mr. JENNER - When was the first time that you heard, or had any notice of the fact that this man had been in Mexico, or possibly may have been in Mexico?

So Ruth knew he had been to MC no later than Nov 10 - if we are to believe the official accounts.

So can someone explain this

"On Dec 2, the Dallas Office further advised that information had been received that Oswald's wife and Mrs. Ruth Paine had last seen Oswald in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 23, 1963 at which time he indicated that he had a friend in Houston, Texas and might proceed to Houston or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When Oswald next contacted his wife and Mrs. Paine at Irving on October 4, 1963, he reportedly claimed he had been in Houston, Texas looking for a job."

This is part of a report outlining the FBI attempts to link Horace Twiford as the Houston friend.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1141&relPageId=329&search=philadelphia

Why is the FBI even bothering? Allegedly the FBI already knew from both Ruth Paine and their own mail opening operations that Oswald had been to MC...

Does anyone know when this letter to the Embassy entered the evidence stream? I'm betting it was after Dec 2 because the letter never existed before then.

Oswald was exactly where he said he was, doing what he said he would be doing. In Houston looking for work.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1141&relPageId=37&search=%22selling_books%22

Edited December 29, 2015 by Greg Parker

[Greg Parker]

Paul Trejo,

Did Ruth Paine say anything that implicated Marina's husband in the murder of JFK?

Look at what she did, not at what she said.

[Paul Trejo]

Paul Trejo,

Did Ruth Paine say anything that implicated Marina's husband in the murder of JFK?

Look at what she did, not at what she said.

Fair enough, Greg, but let's also remind Jon that what Carol Hewett and her followers emphasize is not what she really did, but what they can accuse her of doing.

For only one of many examples, Ruth Paine delivered a care package to Marina Oswald through the Irving Police Department and the Secret Service. In that package was a book in Russian entitled, "Helpful Household Hints." The Secret Service then found the WALKER LETTER inside that book, and they initially thought Ruth Paine was sending a secret message in Russian to Marina Oswald.

The Secret Service forcefully confronted Ruth Paine with a charge of forgery, and Ruth Paine insisted she never saw the WALKER LETTER before in her life. Later, of course, the WC showed that the WALKER LETTER actually was written in LHO's handwriting, not Ruth's, and the Secret Service apologized to Ruth Paine.

Nevertheless, Carol Hewett and her followers continue to accuse Ruth Paine of forging the WALKER LETTER in order to frame LHO for the murder of JFK. (Not that there's any obvious connection between Walker and JFK -- but it doesn't look good for LHO).

So, what is it that Ruth Paine actually did? (1) She delivered a care package to Marina Oswald; and (2) she denied that she ever saw the WALKER LETTER before in her life.

But what is it that Carol Hewett and her followers accuse Ruth Paine of doing? (1) Forging the WALKER LETTER to make LHO look like a homicidal maniac; (2) feeding it to the Secret Service through a bogus care package; and (3) denying all of this.

So, Jon, please also bear in mind that Carol Hewett and her followers make a quick switch of what Ruth Paine really did and what they want to accuse her of doing. Fact-checking is always good.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited December 29, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

Paul,

She described in great detail, the circumstances under which she found and copied the handwritten draft to pass on to the FBI (who were intercepting all mail to the USSR Embassy anyway). It is a very touching story of how a privacy advocate justifies breaching someone's privacy - using his very act of trying to maintain his privacy as the excuse for breaching it!

Mrs. PAINE - He was using the typewriter. I came and put June in her high-chair near him at the table where he was typing, and he moved something over what he was typing from, which aroused my curiosity.

The reason she was giving this story was in answer to this:

Mr. JENNER - When was the first time that you heard, or had any notice of the fact that this man had been in Mexico, or possibly may have been in Mexico?

So Ruth knew he had been to MC no later than Nov 10 - if we are to believe the official accounts.

So can someone explain this

"On Dec 2, the Dallas Office further advised that information had been received that Oswald's wife and Mrs. Ruth Paine had last seen Oswald in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 23, 1963 at which time he indicated that he had a friend in Houston, Texas and might proceed to Houston or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When Oswald next contacted his wife and Mrs. Paine at Irving on October 4, 1963, he reportedly claimed he had been in Houston, Texas looking for a job."

This is part of a report outlining the FBI attempts to link Horace Twiford as the Houston friend.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1141&relPageId=329&search=philadelphia

Why is the FBI even bothering? Allegedly the FBI already knew from both Ruth Paine and their own mail opening operations that Oswald had been to MC...

Does anyone know when this letter to the Embassy entered the evidence stream? I'm betting it was after Dec 2 because the letter never existed before then.

Oswald was exactly where he said he was, doing what he said he would be doing. In Houston looking for work.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1141&relPageId=37&search=%22selling_books%22

What you're missing, Greg, is the following:

(1) Ruth had no idea that the FBI was going to intercept LHO's mail to the USSR Embassy in Washington DC.

(1.1) Only those who follow Carol Hewett and insist that Ruth was an FBI agent will insist that Ruth Paine knew that.

(1.2) Carol Hewett repeatedly objects to Ruth Paine's "breaching LHO's privacy." But that's contradictory, because Carol also accuses Ruth of *helping* LHO to write the EMBASSY LETTER!

(2) Ruth admitted that LHO's moves at her typewriter aroused her curiosity. You, Greg, note that she was answering Jenner's question about whether Ruth knew anything about LHO's Mexico City trip.

(2.1) That's because the first time that Ruth Paine ever heard about LHO's Mexico City trip was in the EMBASSY LETTER. So it makes sense.

(2.2) But you conclude, Greg, that, "Ruth knew he had been to MC no later than Nov 10."

(2.3) But that ignores Ruth Paine's testimony, because Ruth said that she didn't *believe* anything in that letter, since it was so full of lies, anyway.

(3) As for the question about Houston, Ruth Paine's testimony says that when she picked up Marina and June in NOLA on 9/23/1963, to drive them to Irving, Texas (because Marina was 8 months pregnant and LHO had no job), that LHO told Ruth that he was going to Houston for help from a friend he knew there, or perhaps also to Philadelphia, to look for work.

(3.1) So, I see no problem at all that this exact same story came out again on December 2nd.

(3.2) As for the FBI story in the link you provided about Horace Twiford as the Houston friend, there is no indication at all that Ruth Paine ever heard the name of Horace Twiford at any time.

(3.4) That link to the FBI report you shared, Greg, contradicts nothing at all, and actually confirms Ruth Paine's story, namely, that LHO told her on 9/23/1963 he was going to Houston to look for work, and that LHO told her on October 7th, when he arrived in Irving that he had been to Houston to look for work.

(3.5) The fact that the Lopez-Hardway Report has clear evidence of LHO in Mexico City during that time, and not in Houston, is also confirmed by that FBI report you shared, Greg, because Horace Twiford and his wife both denied seeing LHO in Houston between 9/23/1963 and 10/7/1963.

(4) So, Ruth Paine never had any idea that LHO had been to Mexico City until after the JFK murder. On November 10th, when Ruth read LHO's EMBASSY LETTER, though it mentioned Mexico City, Ruth said that the letter was so full of lies that she didn't believe anything it said. It just seemed like a pack of lies.

(5) You ask, Greg, when the EMBASSY LETTER entered the evidence stream, and you're betting it was after December 2nd. But actually the FBI intercepted it on November 11th, and that is part of the FBI evidence stream.

(6) You offer a link, Greg, from Mary Ferrell's web site to show that LHO was in Houston looking for work when he said, but that was clearly a case of mistaken identity, because the DATES mentioned for that LHO sighting in Houston was in late OCTOBER, and not in late SEPTEMBER, as LHO claimed.

(6.1) There is no way that LHO was in Houston looking for work. LHO lied to Ruth Paine. He was in Mexico City as the Lopez-Hardway Report (2003) plainly demonstrates.

(6.2) Jim Garrison's theory fits very well here -- LHO was playing spy games with Guy Banister and his Fake FPCC. That's why LHO was in Mexico City, and why he lied about it.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited December 29, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Greg Parker]

If you want to debate Carol Hewett's take on Ruth Paine, you are probably best served contacting her.

Ruth had Oswald covering up his draft so she couldn't see it when she came over (thus giving her an excuse to become "curious") and then carelessly leaving it lying around for her to find when he conveniently slept in so she could find and copy it.

Ruth could have given Marina her "care package" any time but did so just when that letter was needed.

Ruth clearly stated that the letter was the first clue she had that he went to MC. She never said that she disbelieved everything in the letter at all. Bottom line - every time evidence was needed - she found it - the so-called Walker letter - Mex bus ticket - Embassy letter. Which now appears not to have have entered the evidence stream until Dec - right when needed to support a wilting MC investigation. Your belief that the FBI had it on Nov 11 is belied by the fact that they were acting on information from YOUR witnesses instead. Her finding the bus ticket likewise was extremely timely.

So you contend that there was a person who arrived in Houston looking for work from Louisiana and who had a pregnant wife and a mother who lived in Fort Worth and who had himself attended school in Fort Worth but it could not be Oswald - even though he also looked like Oswald - because the FBI report says it all took place in late October instead of late September.

I mean... spare me. Either she miss-remembered, or the FBI fudged the time-frame in the report to negate it, at the same time as getting her to retract her previous positive ID and also retract information that was not publicly available such as his claiming to have a friend in Houston - sure! Jackson just made that bit up out of whole cloth!

Edited December 29, 2015 by Greg Parker

[Gene Kelly]

In the summer of 1964, Ruth Paine told a Redbook journalist that she was glad Oswald was dead because it spared Marina the trauma of a trial (Jessamyn West, "Prelude to Tragedy: The woman who sheltered Lee Oswald's family tells her story."July 1964) ... just like Jack Ruby's reason for killing Oswald. Ruth did not attend Oswald's funeral, despite her dear friend Marina's loss. However, she donated the stipend from the Redbook article to the ACLU.

Ruth was asked by Oswald (in jail for murder) to call a lawyer for him (John Abt of New York). Ruth Paine told the Warren Commission: "... he sounded to me almost as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I felt, but did not express, considerable irritation at his seeming to be so apart from the situation, so presuming of his innocence if you will. I was quite stunned that he called at all or that he thought he could ask anything of me, appalled, really." Ruth claimed she tried without success to call Abt, but followed through with Oswald that she couldn't reach him.

This does not appear to be too sensitive to Oswald's civil liberties. Nor very 'charitable'.

[Paul Trejo]

If you want to debate Carol Hewett's take on Ruth Paine, you are probably best served contacting her.

Ruth had Oswald covering up his draft so she couldn't see it when she came over (thus giving her an excuse to become "curious") and then carelessly leaving it lying around for her to find when he conveniently slept in so she could find and copy it.

Ruth could have given Marina her "care package" any time but did so just when that letter was needed.

Ruth clearly stated that the letter was the first clue she had that he went to MC. She never said that she disbelieved everything in the letter at all. Bottom line - every time evidence was needed - she found it - the so-called Walker letter - Mex bus ticket - Embassy letter. Which now appears not to have have entered the evidence stream until Dec - right when needed to support a wilting MC investigation. Your belief that the FBI had it on Nov 11 is belied by the fact that they were acting on information from YOUR witnesses instead. Her finding the bus ticket likewise was extremely timely.

So you contend that there was a person who arrived in Houston looking for work from Louisiana and who had a pregnant wife and a mother who lived in Fort Worth and who had himself attended school in Fort Worth but it could not be Oswald - even though he also looked like Oswald - because the FBI report says it all took place in late October instead of late September.

I mean... spare me. Either she miss-remembered, or the FBI fudged the time-frame in the report to negate it, at the same time as getting her to retract her previous positive ID and also retract information that was not publicly available such as his claiming to have a friend in Houston - sure! Jackson just made that bit up out of whole cloth!

Well, Greg, there are more alternatives than those two. There are plenty of people in the world looking for work with pregnant wives in Houston, some of whom look like an ordinary white man.

There are plenty of "mistaken identity" cases with regard to LHO, the most infamous man in the world in late 1963 and 1964. (John Armstrong twists as many as possible into his CIA conspiracy of two Oswalds.)

Yet the fact remains that even if the date was really late September -- and she misremembered -- then it still fails because the pregnant Marina Oswald was in Irving Texas in late September, along with her baby June, living with Ruth Paine.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

In the summer of 1964, Ruth Paine told a Redbook journalist that she was glad Oswald was dead because it spared Marina the trauma of a trial (Jessamyn West, "Prelude to Tragedy: The woman who sheltered Lee Oswald's family tells her story."July 1964) ... just like Jack Ruby's reason for killing Oswald. Ruth did not attend Oswald's funeral, despite her dear friend Marina's loss. However, she donated the stipend from the Redbook article to the ACLU.

Ruth was asked by Oswald (in jail for murder) to call a lawyer for him (John Abt of New York). Ruth Paine told the Warren Commission: "... he sounded to me almost as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I felt, but did not express, considerable irritation at his seeming to be so apart from the situation, so presuming of his innocence if you will. I was quite stunned that he called at all or that he thought he could ask anything of me, appalled, really." Ruth claimed she tried without success to call Abt, but followed through with Oswald that she couldn't reach him.

This does not appear to be too sensitive to Oswald's civil liberties. Nor very 'charitable'.

Ruth Paine makes no secret of the fact that her real interest in the Oswald family was Marina Oswald. Marina, as early as March 1963, had prejudiced Ruth's mind about LHO by telling Ruth that LHO wanted to ship her and her baby back to Russia without him.

That enraged Ruth Paine.

From that moment on, Ruth Paine tried to find ways to gracefully separate Marina from Lee. She thought about moving Marina to New York, where non-English-speaking Russians could find a large Russian community in which to work and raise a family -- without yet knowing the primary language of the USA. Marina was a trained pharmacist, a college graduate, and Ruth Paine had lots more respect for Marina Oswald than for LHO.

But the feeling was mutual -- LHO gave Ruth Paine the cold shoulder from the very first time they met on a personal basis.

It was only after LHO was out of work again (for the second time in six months) in late September 1963, that LHO began to treat Ruth Paine with some kindness and respect. That's when Ruth began to change her mind. Then, in early October 1963, when LHO came back from Mexico City (though he told Ruth Paine he was in Houston) LHO began to pull his own weight -- sort of -- and help with chores around the house. Also, LHO never came over to Ruth Paine's house without first calling and asking permission. That showed respect.

That's when Ruth wrote to her mother on October 14, 1963, saying that she had come to like LHO, and had changed her earlier, negative opinion about him.

However, LHO occasionally slipped back into disrespect. For one thing, even though he was working, he never chipped in a single penny for Marina in October or November 1963, nor did he offer to pay for his meals at Ruth Paine's house on the weekends.

Then the FBI began to call on Ruth Paine, asking about LHO. This is when Ruth Paine's opinion about LHO changed again to worry. The FBI visited twice, and Ruth and Marina told LHO about both visits. LHO began to behave in a sullen manner after that. He would watch TV for long periods, and snap at Marina on occasion.

The straw that broke the camel's back was the EMBASSY LETTER. Here was LHO writing to the USSR, and telling them lies about the FBI. Ruth was really angry about that. Also, he was also spinning lies about the FPCC and Mexico City, as far as she could tell. Suddenly, LHO appeared to her to be mysterious again, secretive and arrogant.

Yet Ruth never actually feared LHO. She never saw him behave violently, and besides, Ruth took her cues from Marina, who would just roll her eyes in exasperation at LHO always playing spy or amateur politician.

For Ruth, the visits by the FBI were a big deal, and a responsible man would have called the FBI right away and had a frank, man-to-man discussion with the FBI to settle all issues immediately. LHO acted like a child in that regard, according to Ruth Paine.

When LHO was finally accused of murdering Tippit, Ruth Paine didn't believe it. But when Marina Oswald told the DPD that LHO had a rifle there in Ruth Paine's garage, Ruth Paine practically fainted. This was NEWS to her. And her good, trusted friend, Marina Oswald, had kept this important fact a SECRET from her! She felt betrayed not only by LHO, but by Marina Oswald, too.

Still, Ruth Paine never really blamed Marina Oswald. In the mind of Ruth Paine, the real victim here was Marina Oswald, an innocent mother with two small babies, while LHO was her ne'er-do-well husband who could barely hold down a minimum-wage job, and threatened to ship her and her babies back to the USSR alone, just to make his own life easier.

After the preponderance of the "circumstantial evidence" against LHO for the murder of both J.D. Tippit and JFK was leaked to the whole world, Ruth Paine's heart went out -- not so much to LHO as to Marina Oswald. Here was Marina, in a foreign land, barely speaking English, and her husband was now in jail and would become the Top Villain of the USA in the months to come on radio, TV and dinner table conversation world-wide. Ruth truly felt sorry for Marina Oswald.

That's why, when LHO was cut down by Jack Ruby only two days later, Ruth Paine heaved a sigh of relief for Marina Oswald.

I don't blame her. As for charity -- nobody's perfect. Yet it's unfair to deny that Ruth Paine was trying to care for Marina Oswald when Marina needed somebody really badly from September to October 1963.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

<edit typos>

Edited December 30, 2015 by Paul Trejo