Jenner. Now, I include both your mother and father and relatives on either side, to the extent that you have met those people.
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; no one that I recall that I met, relatives on either my father's or mother's side, had any tendency towards baldness.
Mr. Jenner. And you have none?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I do not.
Mr. Jenner. And your brother John?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir.
Mr. Jenner. He still has a full head of hair?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Even now?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner. What else did you observe by way of his facial appearance—whether he was drawn, or bouncy and healthy, as he had been when you had seen him in September of 1959?
Mr. Oswald. He appeared the first couple of days upon his return, June 14, 1962, to be rather tense and anxious. I also noted that his complexion had changed somewhat to the extent that he had always been very fair complected—his complexion was rather ruddy at this time—you might say it appeared like an artificial suntan that you get out of a bottle, but very slight—in other words, a tint of brown to a tint of yellow.
Mr. Jenner. What else did you notice by contrast, so far as his physical appearance is concerned? And then, next, I want to go to his demeanor.
Mr. Oswald. I believe his weight perhaps was a little bit less at that time. I would say probably 5 pounds—approximately 5 pounds less than what he was in 1959, before he went to Russia.
Mr. Jenner. Did you say he appeared drawn as compared with his appearance in 1959—facially?
Mr. Oswald. I would say to some extent; yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Now, would you please relate to the Commission any other differences, if there were any, in demeanor?
Mr. Oswald. To me, he acted the same as he did in 1959 prior to going to Russia. Our conversations at the time he returned from Russia in June of 1962—he appeared to be the same boy I had known before, with the exception of what I noted on his physical appearance.
As far as his conversations were concerned at this particular time, June of 1962, I noticed no difference.
He appeared to have picked up something of an accent. But I took this to mean that because he had been speaking the Russian language and living in Russia during a period of approximately two and a half years, that this was the reason for the accent.
Mr. Jenner. Did these differences in physical appearance, especially his hair, his skin tone, his overall facial and physical appearance, lead you at that moment, in the light of what had occurred in the meantime, your exchange of correspondence, lead you to form an opinion, at least tentative, as to what might have occurred or happened to your brother while he was in Russia?
Mr. Oswald. In reference to that, sir; his hair—I did, either on the first or second night, when he was there at the house—I pointed it out to him and actually had him bend his head down to where I could look at the top of it, and it was very thin on the top—you could see just right down to his scalp.
And his comment on that was that he thought the weather had affected his hair, the cold weather.
Mr. Jenner. Did he make any comments when you met him at Love Field, and did you ride in with him from Love Field to your home?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. We were in my personal car, and my wife and my children were with me. We met him and his wife and his baby. He seemed, perhaps the word is disappointed, when there were no newspaper reporters around. He did comment on this.
Mr. Jenner. Tell us what he said.
Mr. Oswald. I believe his comment was something, "What, no photographers or anything?"
I said, "No, I have been able to keep it quiet."
Mr. Jenner. And where was that remark made?
Mr. Oswald. At Love Field, as they came through the gate.
Mr. Jenner. Did he make any remarks on that subject as you drove into town?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; he did not.
Mr. Jenner. Did he make any other comments that arrested your attention when he arrived at Love Field or while you were driving into town?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; he did. In reference to newspaper reporters again, or photographers, he asked me if I had been receiving calls and so forth, and I told him I had received two or three calls, but I said nothing, and they were not aware of his schedule of arrival in the United States, and they were not aware at that time, to my knowledge, that he had arrived at Love Field, and that he was going to be at my home.
Mr. Jenner. Having in mind the changes in physical appearance, and also the course of events since the day of his arrival at Love Field to the present time, have you formed an opinion, Mr. Oswald, as to whether your brother may have undergone some treatment of some kind in Russia that affected his mind?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. Since Lee's death on November 24th, I have formed an opinion in that respect.
Mr. Jenner. What is that opinion?
Mr. Oswald. That, perhaps in sheer speculation on my part—that due to the nature of the change in his hair, in the baldness that appeared, I reached the opinion that perhaps something in the nature of shock treatments or something along that line had been given him in Russia.
Mr. Jenner. You base this opinion on any factors other than or in addition to this change of physical appearance that you noted on his return from Russia?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I do not.
Mr. Jenner. Has the course of events affected the opinion you have now expressed?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; since the course of events, since Friday, November 22, 1963, his death following on the 24th of November 1963, I have searched my own mind for possible reasons of why or how this all came about. That has been one of my opinions—in reference to his hair structure and so forth, and his baldness—pardon me just a minute, please.
Mr. Jenner. Have you concluded your answer?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, thank you.
Mr. Jenner. Has this course of events and your brother's physical appearance and any other factors you had in mind led you to form an opinion as to whether he was or had been an agent of the government of the USSR?
Mr. McKenzie. You are asking him, Mr. Jenner, to speculate.
Mr. Jenner. I am.
Mr. Oswald. May I have that again, please?
Mr. McKenzie. His question was—this is off the record.
(Discussion off the record.)
Mr. Oswald. No, sir.
Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Jenner, may I ask a question at this time?
Robert,
