WHEN does Oswald crystallize into the patsy?

[Jason Ward]

I'm a long time lurker but new to posting in the forum, please be gentle on me....

I want to release a trial baloon and hear your reaction.  My thesis is that Oswald is undoubtedly some kind of operative in some form of US intelligence from the Marines until the day he died, however, the job at TSBD is the critical point that transforms him into a patsy.   I think there is no documentary or testimonial evidence linking Ruth Paine to the conspiracy, plus its obvious the Fraziers are not involved - so Oswald gets his job at TSBD randomly.  At this point, about a month or so before the bad day, Oswald is the patsy.  But at all times before about October 1963, Oswald is something of an unassigned pseudo-communist, with a less than outstanding performance review.  Whatever money he's received previously is now either vastly reduced or non-existant.

. . . THE CIA PAYS PEOPLE WELL . . .

In terms of Ruth Paine and/or LHO's potential role as a CIA/govt operative of some kind: I sincerely feel his severe poverty in Dallas should be given greater importance.   There are definitely places where Oswald has unaccountable money that makes us suspect a covert income of some kind.   However, from what I read about confirmed CIA operatives at every level, poverty is never part of the program.   All the other CIA hires in Miami and New Orleans were well paid.   In my view, if Paine and/or LHO were a covert operative of some importance, Oswald and his wife/kids would be at a more comfortable financial level.  That is in every other CIA story I've read one of the main incentives and guarantors of loyalty - financial improvement.   It seems more likely to me that if Oswald were getting groomed for patsy-hood at least since he met Geo. DeMohrenschildt and the Paines, there would have been somewhat more money in place.     If DeMohrenshildt and Ruth are the controllers with assassination in mind as many claim, the CIA by practice would have well-funded the project including good money for the Oswalds.   Instead, by the time Oswald is back in Dallas and attaching to the modest Russian community, I suggest he is in something of an occupational limbo.  The Russian residency and New Orleans provocations may have accomplished nothing, leaving the CIA with an Oswald who was very heavily funded into a communist identity, but currently had no real role.

. . . THE TIMELINE ILLUMINATES OSWALD'S OBJECTIVES . . .

1. I don't think that when Oswald in totally bizarre fashion exits the Marines and moves to Russia that anyone has any idea of killing the Kennedys, do you?   It's more likely his initial objective was either a. to work some intelligence angle within Russia, and/or b. go to great lengths to establish his legend as an American communist, right?
2. So, what evidence is there that the ASSASSINATION was in mind for Oswald's new role upon returning from the USSR?   None.   He's a provocateur caught up in the Cuban shenanigans. 
3. MY theory is that pinpointing the time when Oswald assumes the patsy role is a key to unmasking other secrets in the conspiracy.
4. SO...the spring of 63 is when the first real evidence appears in the timeline floated by the WC that Oswald is assuming an assassin's mindset.  The rifle purchase, the uncashed money order to Klein's; the Feb. date of the Klein's deposit shown in the WC exhibits for an April purchase, and other assassin-like behavior in the spring of 63 are bogus in my view. Retroactively manufactured.  The backyard pictures are almost laughable in their theatrics.  So what evidence is there that an assassin's identity is created more than a month or so before the bad day?   Sure, Oswald thinks he's a spy or on a good career path for spyhood - he even has James Bond novels at Beckley.  Sure, the CIA has spent some time with this Oswald investment and wants him around for some future role.   But, the various other Oswalds fit more into a general communist-identity-project than anything else...UNTIL, around the time of the TSBD job, when Oswald is suddenly seen at gun ranges and even has a bogus tag at a gun shop put in place (for mounting a scope on a gun (except the Klein's gun already has a scope)).
5. In sum, isn't a potential key here to determine at what point Oswald transforms into a patsy versus his earlier identity as a typical Cold War espionage player on ice?

I propose: until LHO gets the job at TSBD totally at random, his role as patsy is not yet finalized.  Paine is not in any way involved, and de Mohrenschildt is obviously a CIA operative, but his role is at most just kind of babysitter for a guy they've spent a lot of time turning into a communist.  THEN, through a piece of good luck, or (to me as yet unseen) conpiracy, Oswald gets at job at the TSBD, cementing his fate.  Why not look as the TSBD hiring as the moment Oswald transforms from kind of lowly not-too-successful intelligence operative into the central patsy in the world's greatest crime?

The most obvious assassin-identity legend the Posners of the world parade about is the "assassination attempt" on Gen. Walker.   I doubt lho pulled the trigger, but even if he did or was somehow involved, couldn't this be part of his general anti-Right anti-US military identity?  Or did the whole Walker LHO connection surface only later, retroactively manufactured?  Isn't everything up until the fall of 63 indicating that Oswald is just a purposeless guy with no JFK assassination in mind by either himself or the conspirators?

Those who will contradict me will show evidence from the summer/spring of 63 that is not merely communist-related, but assassin related, and could not have been created retroactively.  I’ve reviwed Mary Ferrell’s detailed chronology and to me the assassin/patsy role is not crystallized until very late.   Oswald was an accidental patsy; the TSBD job made him into a patsy and that was random.

fire away

[Mathias Baumann]

Jason, you should not forget that a certain person withheld from Oswald information about a better paid job

I think a look at certain events that took place after Oswald came back to Dallas might us help determine the timeframe just when the conspirators recruited Oswald:

October 3, 1963: Oswald returns to Dallas.

October 8, 1963: Gheesling takes Oswald off the FBI's watch list - for reasons unknown.

October 10, 1963: a memo is created, compiling the latest information on Oswald http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1565#relPageId=2&tab=page. Only six senior CIA officers had access to it. http://jfkfacts.org/did-the-cia-track-oswald-before-jfk-was-killed/

October 15, 1963: Oswald gets the job at the Book Depository. Rents a room under a false name.

 

So it appears that sometime between October 10 and October 15 1963 someone concluded that Oswald's participation in the plot was desirable and they decided to recruit him. Those people had access to all the latest intelligece information on him, knew he was no longer on the watch list and they possessed the influence necessary to help him get the job at the Book Depository. That should narrow down the number of suspects.

 

[Jason Ward]

Mathias, many thanks for indulging me.

I totally agree that some time in October is when LHO becomes the designated patsy.  That is my main point.  Everything that happens before this critical time only suggests LHO was somehow connected to US intelligence, it doesn't tell us about the assassination.

However, I have to politely disagree with you about a couple things.  These small disagreements are not essential to my idea, which is that we should all be looking at October/November only and forget about anything earlier.  I just want to hear your reasoning. I do not see any evidence that the TSBD job was fixed for Oswald - as that would require the participation of the Fraziers and Roy Truly into the conspiracy.  Truly I might be able to concede as a plausible force in getting Oswald hired at the will of the conspirators, but Wesley's sister Linnie Mae Randle twice said she brought the job to Ruth.  Ruth says thats how she found the TSBD job. I see no evidence that Ruth is part of the conspiracy nor steered Oswald to the job.  The Fraziers are very far from plausible conspirators or even a family plausibly influenced by conspiratorial forces.  So, I think at most we have a slight disagreement as to timing and which event came first. I say the TSBD job came first and Oswald's role as a patsy was cemented only after this fact.  You and many others see the job at TSBD as part of the conspiracy.

As for the suggestion that Ruth withheld the better paying airport job - I don't see that in the testimony or available documents.   Oswald had the TSBD job confirmed before the airport job was offered....and once the TSBD job was confirmed there's no way his true controllers (not Paine) would have let him leave.   Again, Ruth's alleged role as a conspirator has become doctrinal in the CT community but a fresh unbiased look at the evidence shows there's nothing there; nothing links her to any US intelligence agency regardless of how many in her family are CIA agents.

The Mexico City teletype message you link to fits in with what I see as Oswald's continual Communist legend - he is constantly parading his pro-Soviet, pro-Cuban ideas apart from any assassination involvement.  Often this legend is enhanced by others using his identity (the basis for the Harvey & Lee theory), perhaps even with his knowledge. He pretty much always wants to be in Cuba and/or the USSR, or thats what his controllers want everyone to believe.  His 2nd attempt to go to the USSR began in the Spring of 1963 when he started writing letters and telling poor Marina she should go back to the motherland.  I think Oswald believed he had great things in front of him as a CIA agent; including a return to Russia or a role in Cuba.   I don't see the Mexico City teletype you reference as indicating that Oswald's role in the assassination was set.  The whole Mexico City episode is pretty much an embarrassing confused mess.  Why do you think the Mexico business indicates LHO is now firmly in the assassination plot?

 

thanks again for the polite conversation

Edited August 15, 2017 by Jason Ward

[Jason Ward]

Wesley Frazier's sister on how Ruth Paine decided to contact the TSBD for a job:

 

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10490&relPageId=184&search=linnie_randle

http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/randlelm.htm

Mrs. RANDLE. Well, they had--it was just general knowledge in the neighborhood that he didn't have a job and she was expecting a baby. Of course. I didn't know where he was or anything. And of course you know just being neighborly and everything, we felt sorry for Marina because her baby was due right away as we understood it, and he didn't have any work, so they said, so it was just-- 
Mr. BALL. Mrs. Paine told you that Lee didn't have any work? 
Mrs. RANDLE. Well, I suppose. It was just in conversation. 
Mr. BALL. Marina didn't take part in the conversation? 
Mrs. RANDLE. No. She couldn't. So far as I know, she couldn't speak. 
Mr. BALL. You and Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Paine talked about it? 
Mrs. RANDLE. Yes. 
Mr. BALL. Was there anything said then about the Texas School Book Depository as a place he might get a job? 
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. In fact, I didn't even know that he had even tried any place that we mentioned. 

[Ty Carpenter]

To me, the Odio incident is proof that he was made a Patsy at least by late September. The day after the visit, the Leopoldo character called Odio and stated what a good shot Leon Oswald was and that he had talked about how Kennedy should have been killed after the BOP. Unless this story is just a big coincidence, it is clear the narrative was in place.

[Jason Ward]

4 minutes ago, Ty Carpenter said:

To me, the Odio incident is proof that he was made a Patsy at least by late September. The day after the visit, the Leopoldo character called Odio and stated what a good shot Leon Oswald was and that he had talked about how Kennedy should have been killed after the BOP. Unless this story is just a big coincidence, it is clear the narrative was in place.

Thanks Ty, that's a good point.

I believe this is when the WC says Oswald is in Mexico and Odio says Oswald is in Dallas.  I personally rate Odio as somewhat less than a perfect witness, but I don't think she simply makes things up out of thin air.   Now, try this on for size - the TSBD job is still not essential to the patsy role.  In fact, given all the timing and witness issues with LHO's presence at TSBD that day, it would have been less problematic to just create a lone nut standing in the grassy knoll or somewhere in the motorcade route.  I will re-study the Odio testimony, thanks for bringing it up.   I honestly believe that everything about LHO before his role as a patsy is cemented is largely irrelevant and over processed.   He's just another guy whose done some things for US intelligence like 1000s of others until he is christened the patsy, in my view.

[Gene Kelly]

Jason:

Most authors whom I've read (e.g. Simpich, Newman, Scott) point to the machinations in Mexico City in late September and October as setting the plot/patsy in motion. They point to the secret backchannel Castro negotiations by William Atwood and Lisa Howard on September 23rd, negotiated by Carlos Lechuga, the Cuban ambassador in Mexico City.  In "State Secret", Bill Simpich states that: 

"Mexico City is as an 'epicenter' of sorts although other authors have pointed to the Atwood back-channel event as a precipitating event, springing the plotters into actual action. Orchestrated visits to the Cuban consulate and Soviet embassy are major milestones ... it's seems clear these drove the cover-up (i.e. reluctance to investigate more effectively) after the assassination."

Harvey and Angleton are implicated in these Mexico City intrigues, as are Morales and Phillips. Authors such as John Newman point to an FBI memo (October 9th Gheesling) taking Oswald off of the security watch list; others point to internal intelligence file manipulations as 'dimming the switches" and "planting a virus".  Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are being effectively neutralized by the plotters ... plotters who have insider information about how such things work.  Bill Simpich goes on to write about the specific dates when certain key things begin to happen:  

Oswald was apparently selected by the planners after Hosty wrote his September 10th memo saying that Oswald was active with the FPCC and was seeking CPUSA membership. Within days Tilton and Anderson set up their anti FPCC operation... a day later Oswald obtained a Mexican visa. On the 25th Harvey's colleague Potocki got a copy of the Hosty memo. On the 27th ‘Oswald’ showed the Cubans his FPCC and CPUSA cards; that and the Soviet Embassy visit the next morning closed out the Tilton/Anderson operation. Oswald was impersonated in the calls of 9/28 and 10/1 … and these were then tied to the plans to kill JFK as one of several options including attempts in Chicago and Tampa and Miami.

 Gene

[Jason Ward]

1 hour ago, Ty Carpenter said:

To me, the Odio incident is proof that he was made a Patsy at least by late September. The day after the visit, the Leopoldo character called Odio and stated what a good shot Leon Oswald was and that he had talked about how Kennedy should have been killed after the BOP. Unless this story is just a big coincidence, it is clear the narrative was in place.

Hello again Ty, 

The call Odio receives after the visit is a good initial bookend for the earliest evidence-based indication Oswald is associated with the assassination.   However, Odio's initial statement to Hosty is noticeably different from her testimony reported in the WC vol. 11.

Odio says on Dec 12 that the visit from Leon Oswald was late September or early October. She claims the Cubans told her on the phone they disliked Oswald and that Oswald had said, "I bet you guys could kill Kennedy after what he did to you at the Bay of Pigs … "

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10672#relPageId=646&tab=page

...versus her 1964 testimony according to the WC, which quite remarkably has the Cubans loving Oswald and wanting to work with him against Castro.  Odio has now pinpointed the dates of her conversations and has modified the telephone call from Leopoldo such that in this version Oswald is meant to have said "Kennedy should have been killed after the BoP....it's easy to do."

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=45#relPageId=382&tab=page

So, it's certainly possible Oswald and killing Kennedy are linked by the end of September, but it's also possible Odio's memory is influenced by later events, such as the fact that Oswald is blamed for the murder of Kennedy. thoughts?

 

[Michael Clark]

Juts a couple points, for now.

-------I want to suggest that Ruth Paine gets attention, scrutiny and black eyes here, on this forum, that are significantly out of proportion to any role she had. Paul Trejo is to thank for that because of his zealous, over-the-top insistence on her saintliness. We end up spending so much effort in refuting Paul's folly that we dig deeper and look harder and scrutinize he story more than it deserves. Paul's zealotry has the opposite effect that he indents.

------- If Veciana met LHO and DAP, as I believe they did, in early September, that would point to LHO's involvement in the plot, from that time at least. This timeframe agrees with Gene's analysis, above.

 

[Paul Trejo]

2 hours ago, Mathias Baumann said:

Jason, you should not forget that a certain person withheld from Oswald information about a better paid job

I think a look at certain events that took place after Oswald came back to Dallas might us help determine the timeframe just when the conspirators recruited Oswald:

October 3, 1963: Oswald returns to Dallas.

October 8, 1963: Gheesling takes Oswald off the FBI's watch list - for reasons unknown.

October 10, 1963: a memo is created, compiling the latest information on Oswald http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1565#relPageId=2&tab=page. Only six senior CIA officers had access to it. http://jfkfacts.org/did-the-cia-track-oswald-before-jfk-was-killed/

October 15, 1963: Oswald gets the job at the Book Depository. Rents a room under a false name.

So it appears that sometime between October 10 and October 15 1963 someone concluded that Oswald's participation in the plot was desirable and they decided to recruit him. Those people had access to all the latest intelligece information on him, knew he was no longer on the watch list and they possessed the influence necessary to help him get the job at the Book Depository. That should narrow down the number of suspects.

Mathias,

You're mistaken about anybody withholding data about a better job from Oswald.

When the telephone call came in for that allegedly "better" job, Oswald had already accepted the job at the TSBD. 

Ruth Paine's concern about Oswald was that he was a leech -- a sponge.  It was bad enough that he left Marina Oswald eight months pregnant, without money, without health insurance, without having seen a doctor during her pregnancy -- but now he was starting to come over to Ruth's house, spend the weekends and eat for free.

What a freeloader.

Well, Marina was embarrassed by it, too.  And Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't particularly proud of it -- it increased his attitude. 

The TSBD offer came first.  So Oswald took it.  That's what happened.   Read it for yourself in the Warren Commission volumes.

Regards,
--Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

2 hours ago, Ty Carpenter said:

To me, the Odio incident is proof that he was made a Patsy at least by late September. The day after the visit, the Leopoldo character called Odio and stated what a good shot Leon Oswald was and that he had talked about how Kennedy should have been killed after the BOP. Unless this story is just a big coincidence, it is clear the narrative was in place.

Ty,

I agree fully.   In fact, I will add to that -- Jim Garrison gave ample proof that the critical mass occurred in New Orleans, since Garrison showed that Oswald's FPCC branch in New Orleans was FAKE.

Now, on their drive from New Orleans to Mexico City, "Leopoldo" and "Angelo" (possibly Loran Hall and Larry Howard) drove Oswald to Odio's home in Dallas.

Add to this the Lopez Report (2003) which showed that Lee Harvey Oswald took his FAKE FPCC resumé to Mexico City with him, to try to Fake his way into Cuba.  While in Mexico City, somebody (possibly David Morales) Impersonated Oswald there to ensure that the CIA would link the names of Oswald with the KGB in Mexico City.

That was the critical mass of when Oswald became the Patsy.

IMHO, the Texas School Book Depository was optional.  The only fact needed to blame Oswald for the JFK murder was Oswald's rifle in the hands of the Dallas Police.

Gerry Patrick Hemming (he told Weberman) was the key to that side of it.

Once JFK was killed, the only fact needed would be Oswald anywhere in Dallas -- who would then be killed in the street, and end of story.

The TSBD was icing on the cake -- a bit of good luck for the JFK plotters.

Regards,
--Paul Trejo

Edited August 15, 2017 by Paul Trejo
typos

[Jason Ward]

17 minutes ago, Gene Kelly said:

Jason:

Most authors whom I've read (e.g. Simpich, Newman, Scott) point to the machinations in Mexico City in late September and October as setting the plot/patsy in motion. They point to the secret backchannel Castro negotiations by William Atwood and Lisa Howard on September 23rd, negotiated by Carlos Lechuga, the Cuban ambassador in Mexico City.  In "State Secret", Bill Simpich states that: 

"Mexico City is as an 'epicenter' of sorts although other authors have pointed to the Atwood back-channel event as a precipitating event, springing the plotters into actual action. Orchestrated visits to the Cuban consulate and Soviet embassy are major milestones ... it's seems clear these drove the cover-up (i.e. reluctance to investigate more effectively) after the ...

… and these were then tied to the plans to kill JFK as one of several options including attempts in Chicago and Tampa and Miami.

 Gene

Many thanks, Gene, this corresponds with Ty's point that the Odio incident is the first point we have some evidence that Oswald is associated with Kennedy's death.  You guys are suggesting that by the end of September, LHO is incorporated into the plot to kill JFK.  You are not without evidence and the authors you quote are reasonable.

However, I don't see the Mexico documentation we now have available as indicating any relationship to the assassination.   There is, I feel, a presumption that the CIA is involved .-.and with this mindset everything about Mexico is modulated into assassination plans with Angleton et al. involved.  I don't see it.   It's putting the cart before the horse . Start with the presumption that the CIA is not involved with the assassination and Mexico looks no different than Oswald's other clumsy adventures playing a fanatic Marxist, like Russia, New Orleans, subscribing to The Militant, and so forth.   

But, lets not argue.  I'll keep nurturing my pet theory that LSO is only in October definitely in the plot as the patsy, not earlier. There's something of a consensus with you guys that by the end of September Oswald is in the assassination plot. Fine.  But is he necessarily the patsy at this point????

 

Jason

[Mathias Baumann]

With Oswald still being on the FBI's watch list the plotters could not think of recruiting Oswald. So I don't think that the Silvia Odio incident was a deliberate attempt to frame Oswald. Maybe the remark Leopoldo attributed to him was really genuine.

Now of course I might be wrong about Ruth Paine. Maybe it was sheer luck that Oswald got the job. But I think she and Linnie Randle disagreed about what Linnie had actually told Ruth. It seems she never told Ruth of a job opening at the Book Depository. There was an interesting thread about this here on the Forum some years ago, maybe I can find it... And Ruth not telling Oswald about that other (better!) job he could've gotten fits into the picture.

I also find it very strange and unusual that a devoted anti-Communist such as Ruth Paine would house a committed Marxist together with a Russian woman that could well have been a KGB spy. The whole story is highly unbelievable in my eyes. And of course she knew nothing about the rifle Oswald supposedly kept in her garage...

[Paul Trejo]

21 minutes ago, Jason Ward said:

Many thanks, Gene, this corresponds with Ty's point that the Odio incident is the first point we have some evidence that Oswald is associated with Kennedy's death.  You guys are suggesting that by the end of September, LHO is incorporated into the plot to kill JFK.  You are not without evidence and the authors you quote are reasonable.

However, I don't see the Mexico documentation we now have available as indicating any relationship to the assassination.   There is, I feel, a presumption that the CIA is involved .-.and with this mindset everything about Mexico is modulated into assassination plans with Angleton et al. involved.  I don't see it.   It's putting the cart before the horse . Start with the presumption that the CIA is not involved with the assassination and Mexico looks no different than Oswald's other clumsy adventures playing a fanatic Marxist, like Russia, New Orleans, subscribing to The Militant, and so forth.   

But, lets not argue.  I'll keep nurturing my pet theory that LSO is only in October definitely in the plot as the patsy, not earlier. There's something of a consensus with you guys that by the end of September Oswald is in the assassination plot. Fine.  But is he necessarily the patsy at this point????

Jason

Jason,

I find little evidence in the Mexico City episode that the CIA was behind it.  

And actually Jim Garrison's "New Orleans" theory still plays the major role in Mexico City, in my reading.

My "primary document" would be the Lopez Report, which published the FAKE FPCC resumé that Oswald had in Mexico City.  That came from New Orleans, and was established by Guy Banister, Ed Butler and the whole New Orleans Team.

IMHO, Jim Garrison gave the first solid evidence of the Patsification of Lee Harvey Oswald.

Regards,
--Paul Trejo

Edited August 15, 2017 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Trejo]

1 hour ago, Mathias Baumann said:

With Oswald still being on the FBI's watch list the plotters could not think of recruiting Oswald. So I don't think that the Silvia Odio incident was a deliberate attempt to frame Oswald. Maybe the remark Leopoldo attributed to him was really genuine.

Now of course I might be wrong about Ruth Paine. Maybe it was sheer luck that Oswald got the job. But I think she and Linnie Randle disagreed about what Linnie had actually told Ruth. It seems she never told Ruth of a job opening at the Book Depository. There was an interesting thread about this here on the Forum some years ago, maybe I can find it... And Ruth not telling Oswald about that other (better!) job he could've gotten fits into the picture.

I also find it very strange and unusual that a devoted anti-Communist such as Ruth Paine would house a committed Marxist together with a Russian woman that could well have been a KGB spy. The whole story is highly unbelievable in my eyes. And of course she knew nothing about the rifle Oswald supposedly kept in her garage...

Mathias,

I don't see why you say that Ruth Paine was a "devoted anti-Communist."   Do you see only Communists and anti-Communists in 1963?

There were nuances then as there are nuances today.

In 1963 Ruth Paine was a Quaker, an Idealist, who wanted to end the Cold War by diplomacy.  She has a very high IQ.  As a high-school student she believed she received a Divine Calling to learn the Russian language so that she could be of help to the USA in establishing Peace on Earth.

Ruth Paine did not see Marina Oswald as a Marxist, but as a mother (and also Marina was a fairly religious person, who baptized her children in the Eastern Orthodox Church).  Ruth Paine did not see Lee Harvey Oswald as a Marxist, either, but as a PHONY.  A genuine Marxist joins a Party and works for the cause.  Oswald was a show-off who liked to pose for pictures and be the center of attention.

Ruth Paine thought of Lee Harvey Oswald as a dead-beat dad -- that's mainly it.  She had no idea that his secret dream was to be hired as a spy for the CIA.

As for Oswald's rifle -- it wasn't in Ruth Paine's garage until sometime after Oswald returned from Mexico City.   Evidently he put it there secretly.  Marina knew about it, but didn't tell Ruth.  After the JFK assassination, and after the blanket was laid bare, Marina kept repeating to Ruth, "I'm so sorry!  I'm so sorry!  I'm so sorry!"  (c.f. Mrs. Paine's Garage (2002), Thomas Mallon)

Regards,
--Paul Trejo

Edited August 15, 2017 by Paul Trejo