Oswald and Webster

[Greg Parker]

On Dec 13, ‘63, the Dallas Office of the FBI requested a handwriting examination of what is described in CE 2444 as a “four page hand written and hand printed interview record form of the Devilbiss Company, Toledo, Ohio, bearing signiture Lee H. Oswald”.

The result of the examinaton was that the Oswald signature and other writing on Q337, except the hand writing under item 13 of Q337, was written in the hand of Lee Harvey Oswald.

The interview record form is not listed among items found at either the Paines’, or Oswald’s boarding house room. Nor was it mentioned by, or in conjuction with, any employment agency Oswald had dealigs with. Moreover, Devilbiss did not have offices or plants in New Orleans or Dallas. This leaves the real possibility that Oswald, at some stage, was actually in Toledo, Ohio, though there may be other possibilities, such as the ever helpful Ruth Paine dropping the application in for him whilst visiting in that area.

Just a few minutes out of Toledo is the town of Tiffin. Tiffin was the home town of Robert Webster who defected to the USSR in 1959 while at a Trade Expo demonstrating Rand Corp spray guns. The spray guns were designed for use in spraying protective chemicals onto space craft. Devilbiss was in exactly the same type of business, and in fact divisions of Rand and Devilbiss were eventually merged.

Ah, the coincidences in this case... ya gotta love 'em.

If anyone knows any more about this application, please jump in. I could not find it anywhere in the exhibits.

greg