Yes.
Mr. Rankin. When did you first learn that he used such a name?
Mrs. Oswald. In New Orleans.
Mr. Rankin. How did you learn that?
Mrs. Oswald. When he was interviewed by some anti-Cubans, he used this name and spoke of an organization. I knew there was no such organization. And I know that Hidell is merely an altered Fidel, and I laughed at such foolishness. My imagination didn't work that way.
Mr. Rankin. Did you say anything to him about it at that time?
Mrs. Oswald. I said that it wasn't a nice thing to do and some day it would be discovered anyhow.
Mr. Rankin. Now, the weekend of November 15th to 17th, which was the weekend before the assassination, do you know what your husband did or how he spent that weekend while he was in Dallas?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I don't.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know whether he took the rifle before he went into Dallas, that trip, for that weekend?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know. I think that he took the rifle on Thursday when he came the next time, but I didn't see him take it. I assume that. I cannot know it.
Mr. Rankin. Except for the time in New Orleans that you described, and the time you called to Dallas to ask for your husband, do you know of any other time your husband was using an assumed name?
Mrs. Oswald. No, no more.
Mr. Rankin. Did you think he was using that assumed name in connection with this Fair Play for Cuba activity or something else?
Mrs. Oswald. The name Hidell, which you pronounced Hidell, was in connection with his activity with the non-existing organization.
Mr. Rankin. Did you and your husband live under the name Hidell in New Orleans?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. You were never identified as the Hidells, as far as you knew, while you were there?
Mrs. Oswald. No. No one knew that Lee was Hidell.
Mr. Rankin. How did you discover it, then?
Mrs. Oswald. I already said that when I listened to the radio, they spoke of that name, and I asked him who, and he said that it was he.
Mr. Rankin. Was that after the arrest?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't remember when the interview took place, before the arrest or after.
Mr. Rankin. But it was in regard to some interview for radio transmission, and he had identified himself as Hidell, rather than Oswald, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. No—he represented himself as Oswald, but he said that the organization which he supposedly represents is headed by Hidell.
Mr. Rankin. He was using the name Hidell, then, to have a fictitious president or head of the organization which really was he himself, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. You have told us about his practicing with the rifle, the telescopic lens, on the back porch at New Orleans, and also his using the bolt action that you heard from time to time.
Will you describe that a little more fully to us, as best you remember?
Mrs. Oswald. I cannot describe that in greater detail. I can only say that Lee would sit there with the rifle and open and close the bolt and clean it. No, he didn't clean it at that time.
Yes—twice he did clean it.
Mr. Rankin. And did he seem to be practicing with the telescopic lens, too, and sighting the gun on different objects?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know. The rifle was always with this. I don't know exactly how he practiced, because I was in the house, I was busy. I just knew that he sits there with his rifle. I was not interested in it.
Mr. Rankin. Was this during the light of the day or during the darkness?
Mrs. Oswald. During darkness.
Mr. Rankin. Was it so dark that neighbors could not see him on the porch there with the gun?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Now, during the week of the assassination, did your husband call you at all by telephone?
Mrs. Oswald. He telephoned me on Monday, after I had called him on Sunday, and he was not there.
Or, rather, he was there, but he wasn't called to the phone because he was known by another name.
On Monday he called several times, but after I hung up on him and didn't want to talk to him he did not call again. He then arrived on Thursday.
Mr. Rankin. Did he tell you he was coming Thursday?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. Did you learn that he was using the assumed name of Lee as his last name?
Mrs. Oswald. I know it now, but I did not ever know it before.
Mr. Rankin. Thursday was the 21st. Do you recall that?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. And the assassination was on the 22d.
Mrs. Oswald. This is very hard to forget.
Mr. Rankin. Did your husband give any reason for coming home on Thursday?
Mrs. Oswald. He said that he was lonely because he hadn't come the preceding weekend, and he wanted to make his peace with me.
Mr. Rankin. Did you say anything to him then?
Mrs. Oswald. He tried to talk to me but I would not answer him, and he was very upset.
Mr. Rankin. Were you upset with him?
Mrs. Oswald. I was angry, of course. He was not angry—he was upset. I was angry. He tried very hard to please me. He spent quite a bit of time putting away diapers and played with the children on the street.
Mr. Rankin. How did you indicate to him that you were angry with him?
Mrs. Oswald. By not talking to him.
Mr. Rankin. And how did he show that he was upset?
Mrs. Oswald. He was upset over the fact that I would not answer him. He tried to start a conversation with me several times, but I would not answer. And he said that he didn't want me to be angry at him because this upsets him.
On that day, he suggested that we rent an apartment in Dallas. He said that he was tired of living alone and perhaps the reason for my being so angry was the fact that we were not living together. That if I want to he would rent an apartment in Dallas tomorrow—that he didn't want me to remain with Ruth any longer, but wanted me to live with him in Dallas.
He repeated this
