1956

Using fabricated government documents to merge the identities of Harvey and Lee


The conflicting employment records of “Lee Harvey Oswald” from the year 1955 strongly suggest complicity of the FBI in the merging of the histories of HARVEY and LEE in order to create a single biography of "Lee Harvey Oswald." The FBI's evidence and initial findings a week after the assassination were eventually etched in stone by the Warren Commission.  A close study of the employment and school records from the year 1956 reveals even greater obfuscation on the part of the FBI.  Following the assassination of President Kennedy employment records and elementary and junior high school records for HARVEY and LEE were confiscated almost instantly by the FBI. At least one and probably several top FBI officials had prior and detailed knowledge about the backgrounds of these boys. Some of these records were destroyed, others were altered and, in some instances, new records had to be created. An examination of the existing evidence helps us understand how the employment records of HARVEY and LEE were merged in order to create a single "Lee Harvey Oswald." And an examination of the existing evidence shows why income from three different companies, earned by HARVEY and LEE in 1956, 1957, and 1958, was included on a fabricated 1956 tax return that was allegedly filed by Oswald.

In January, 1956 two teenage boys with the last name of "Oswald" (HARVEY and LEE) were living and working in New Orleans, LA. US intelligence was sponsoring and directing these boys in a multi-year operation that was designed to eventually allow them to switch identities (the "Oswald project"). Tall, husky, American born LEE Oswald was still working for the Gerard F. Tujague, Inc. freight forwarding company on the 3rd floor of the Sanlin Building. I met Frank DiBenedetto, Oswald's supervisor, in 1995. Frank said that Oswald worked for Tujague's "a year, maybe longer." He told the HSCA in 1978 that (LEE) Oswald worked at Tujague's "a year to a year and a half." Secretary Gloria Callaghan, who still worked at Tujague's in the mid-1990s, recalled, "I went on maternity leave in March, 1956 (her son was born March 15) and he (LEE Oswald) was still working for us at that time."

NOTE: Frank and Gloria's memories of LEE Oswald, had they testified before the Warren Commission, could have exposed HARVEY and LEE. While LEE was working at Tujague's on the 3rd floor of the Sanlin Building, in January, 1956, Russian-speaking HARVEY Oswald was working on the 2nd floor of the Sanlin Building for the J.R. Michels, Jr. freight forwarding company. The manager of J.R. Michels, Jr. was Nick Mazza, and was a close friend of Frank DiBenedetto. HARVEY and LEE worked in the same building, for freight forwarding companies, in January, 1956.

On Friday afternoon, November 22, Gerard Tujague told his employees about the assassination. Mr. Tujague said, "The FBI will be here soon, so you can all go home now." Mr. Tujague asked employee Jimmy Hudnell to gather up Oswald's payroll records, time cards, and canceled checks.  Jimmy said that when the FBI arrived they took anything and everything related to LEE Oswald's employment. Frank DiBenedetto recalled that Oswald's employment file was given to SA James Schmidt. When the FBI arrived they took anything and everything related to LEE Oswald's employment. The FBI now had payroll records that showed LEE Oswald worked at Tujague's from July, 1955 through August, 1956. None of these records were ever given to the Warren Commission and disappeared while in FBI custody.

 
On Monday, November 25, FBI agents arrived at the J.R. Michels, Jr. company, on the 2nd floor of the Sanlin Building. When manager Nick Mazza entered the ground floor lobby of the Sanlin Building one of his employees was waiting for him by the elevator. The employee told Nick that two FBI agents were in the office and wanted to talk to him about "Lee Harvey Oswald." Nick took the elevator up to his office and was immediately confronted by the agents. Nick told the agents "he never worked here," and then turned to J.R. Michels employees and asked if they remembered Oswald. None of the employees remembered Oswald but, without any explanation, one of the FBI agents told Nick, "Yes, he did work here. Go check your payroll records for January, 1956." Nick searched through J.R. Michels cancelled checks and was surprised to find one cancelled payroll check (#21499) issued to "Lee Oswald" in the amount of $34.20. Before giving the original check to the FBI Agents Nick Mazza did something that few people had done-he copied the front and back side of the check and kept the copies. He gave the agents the original check and never again saw them or any FBI agent. There are no FBI reports which indicate that agents picked up a payroll check from Nick Mazza, nor is there any indication the check was turned over to the Warren Commis­sion. Once again we see that the FBI obtained an original document, in this case Oswald's payroll check, that was never given to the Warren Commission and disappeared while in FBI custody.


The payroll check was dated January 20, 1956, and the bank endorsement showed that the check was cashed at the National American Bank of New Orleans the same day (before 3:00 pm). By comparing the sig­nature on the reverse side of this check with known signatures of Lee Harvey Oswald in 1962 and 1963, it appears to be the same signature. The 16-year-old boy who endorsed the J.R. Michels check in 1956 appears to be the same person who endorsed payroll checks in 1963 and was later accused of assassinating President Kennedy--Lee HARVEY Oswald.

NOTE: It is worth noting there are differences between the hand­ writing of HARVEY and LEE Oswald. One difference is in the formation of the letter "L." LEE Oswald normally writes a capital "L" by using a curved loop at the bottom left side of the "L." HARVEY Oswald normally writes a capital "L" by using a sharp "V" at the bottom left side of the "L."

On 11/26/63 FBI agent Merriman Diven wrote a report, which was unsigned, that stated, "Mazza has searched the records of his firm and was only able to locate a U.S. Treasury form W-4 which listed the following information: employee's name, residence, social security number, exemptions and date."But Nick Mazza did not find a W-4 statement; he found only one cashed payroll check. Researchers have learned from experience that an unsigned FBI report may or may not be accurate and may or may not have been created by the agent who conducted the interview. In 1995 I met with Nick and asked him if J.R. Michels had an employment file for Oswald, which would have contained a W-4 form, employment application, payroll records, quarterly with­holding tax filings, and year end W-2 forms. Nick said that he never saw Oswald's em­ployment file, and the only document he ever saw relating to Oswald was the cancelled payroll check. I also asked Nick if he had checked his comp­any's bank statement to see if $34.20 had been charged against the account, but he had not. Nick Mazza said there was no W-4, no W-2, and no payroll records. The payroll check for $34.20 that was not mentioned in the FBI report soon disappeared.

THE FBI SUPPRESSES EVIDENCE AND FABRICATES US GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

The original Tujague and J.R. Michels, Jr. records showed that while HARVEY Oswald was working at the J.R. Michels, Jr. company on the 2nd floor of the Sanlin Bldg, LEE Oswald was working at the Gerard F. Tujague company on the 3rd floor of the Sanlin Bldg. These documents could never be made public. Something had to be done. To eliminate this problem the FBI created and fabricated government documents which purported to show that LEE Oswald ended his employment with Tujague's on January 14. He then began working at J.R. Michels, Jr. on January 17. Once again the Warren Commission relied upon photographs (not originals, never original documents) taken of unreliable and unverified documents provided by the FBI. One interview with Frank DiBenedetto, secretary Gloria Callaghan, Jimmy Hudnell, or obtaining certified copies of payroll checks from the originating bank would have provided the correct information.
 
NOTE: In 1995 I met with Frank DiBenedetto. Mr. Tujague died many years earlier and Frank had taken over the company. The office was still located at 442 Canal Street, in the same building and on the same floor where LEE Oswald worked under Frank's supervision 40 years earlier. Frank remembered that (LEE) Oswald lived a couple of blocks away, on Ex­change Place, and described him as well-built, approximately 5-foot-10, and dark brown or nearly black hair. Frank's description was very different from the thin, 5-foot-2 inch HARVEY Oswald who worked with Maury Goodman, Rita Paveur, and Louis Marzialle at Dolly Shoe only three months earlier-in April, 1955. Frank repeated the same story to me that he told to the HSCA years earlier--that Oswald worked at Tujague's for "a year, maybe longer."  I told Frank the Warren Commission said that Oswald began working at J.R. Michels the day after he quit Tujague's. Frank told me, "Oswald didn't work there (at J.R. Michels). He couldn't have worked there. We are on the 3rd floor of this building (Sanlin Building, 442 Canal Street) and they were one floor below us. We were in the same business. I was very good friends with Nick, and was in his office nearly every day. We went to lunch often and were good friends. If Oswald had worked for Nick, I would have known it." The tall, husky LEE Oswald worked for Frank DiBenedetto from July, 1955 through August, 1956, while the short, thin, HARVEY Oswald worked briefly at J.R. Michels in January, 1956. If and when Frank visited J.R. Michels office during this time, he would have no reason to associate the short, thin, HARVEY Oswald with the tall, well-built LEE Oswald.

On November 22nd and 23rd the Dallas Police found and confiscated 225 items of evidence (Oswald's possessions). Each item found by Dallas Police officers was initialed, dated, listed on their handwritten inventory, typed at Dallas Police headquarters, and photographed on the floor at DPD headquarters. Both inventories were printed in the Warren Volumes as Stovall Exhibit A & B (items found at the Paine residence) and Turner Exhibit #1 (items found at 1026 N. Beckley). The original 225 items of evidence were sent to the FBI in Washington, DC on 11/23/63. FBI document expert James Cadigan received the evidence and told the Warren Commission, "Time was of the essence and this ma­terial, I believe, was returned to the Dallas Police within two or three days.....There was insufficient time to desilver it." Desilvering was the process used to neutralize and remove the brown fingerprint ink. The dark portions that appear on the W-2 shown below are the result of a brown ink used by the FBI to detect fingerprints. The FBI lab did not "desilver" this document, and many other documents, prior to returning them to the Dallas Police. Three days later (11/26/63) the FBI sent the original 225 items of evidence, and an additional 230 items of evidence, to the Dallas Police. None of the additional 230 items had the initials of Dallas police officers, none were listed on the DPD inventories, and none were photographed on the floor of the Dallas Police station. Included among the 230 additional items of "evidence" was the J.R. Michels W- 2 form shown below. This form was created/fabricated at FBI headquarters between November 23 and November 25. On the reverse side of this form are the initials of FBI lab technician Robert Frazier ("RF"). The J.R. Michels W-2 form appeared, for the first time, on 11/26/63 at Dallas Police headquarters when the Dallas Police and FBI jointly inventoried and photographed 455 items of evidence. It was identified and listed as item #175 on the joint DPD and FBI inventory. After the 455 items of "evidence" were inventoried and photographed, on 11/26/63, they were immediately flown back to FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. The J.R. Michels fabricated W-2 form was now included in the joint DPD/FBI inventory which was given to the Warren Commission (CE 2003).





On 11/26/63, as the FBI and Dallas Police were busy inventorying and photographing 455 items of evidence, FBI agent Diven was writing his report about J.R. Michels in New Orleans. Diven, or whoever wrote this report, stated that Nick Mazza provided a copy of a 1956 W-4 form filled out by Oswald, which Mazza denied. Three weeks later, on December 17, 1963, the FBI tried to "legitimize" the J.R. Michels W-2 form. An FBI summary report (12/17/63) states, "The only record he (Mazza) had of his employment was a W-2 form (not a W-4 form as described by SA Diven). The FBI had changed the W-4 form, named in SA Diven's report, to a W-2 form. This report gave the fabricated J.R. Michels W-2 form the appearance of "legitimacy," and the FBI soon gave this fabricated document to the Warren Commission. The J.R. Michels W-2 form, and many other items of evidence, were fabricated in Washington, DC while Oswald's possessions were in FBI custody (Nov 23-25).

NOTE: The Gerard F. Tujague, Inc. W-2 form (below) was one of five W-2 forms listed on the joint Dallas Police/FBI inventory of November 26, 1963. None of these W-2 forms con­tain the initials of Dallas Police detectives; none are listed in the DPD inventory of November 22nd and 23rd (Stovall A, Stovall B, and Turner Ex. No 1); and none were photographed in Dallas on November 22nd and 23rd. But all of the W-2 forms appear to contain the initials of FBI lab technician Robert Frazier (RF), and all are listed on the joint FBI/DPD inventory of November 26 (CE 2003). Between November 23 and November 26, all of these W-2 forms were fabricated while in FBI custody and all were included among the additional 230 returned to the Dallas Police on 11/26/63. An obvious sign of fabrication is the fact that all five W-2 forms (not including J.R. Michels), allegedly issued by different companies, at different locations in 1955 and 1956, were all typed with the same typewriter. All W-2 forms contain the same identical typewritten characters.




THE FBI'S MISHANDLING OF THE J.R.MICHELS, JR. INFORMATION

Oswald's income from the J.R. Michels company, as reported by the FBI, is a bundle of confusion--nothing is factual. The FBI began its charade by using a single bi-monthly hand-written payroll record from Tujague's to show that Oswald's employment ended on January 14, 1956 (below, right). The FBI then claimed that his employment at J.R. Michels began on or after January 15, 1956, with no proof whatsoever. The FBI claimed that Oswald began work at J.R. Michels, Jr. on January 17th, worked on January 18th and 19th, and then quit. His gross wages for three days of employment, at $.75/hour, should have been $18.00. But the check that Nick Mazza gave the FBI, dated January 20, was for $34.20-far too much for 3 days of work. At $.75 per hour, Oswald was paid for working 57 hours, or 7 days (8 hours per day) and 1 hour. If Oswald's last day of work at J.R. Michels, Jr. was on January 19, then it appears he began work 7 days earlier--on January 10th. This clearly conflicted with LEE Oswald's employment at Tujague's.





Additional confusion comes from the fabricated J.R. Michels W-2 form. This document shows Oswald's income to be $80.00, FICA withholding of $.80, and withheld tax of $6.00. But these amounts do not agree with the J.R. Michels payroll check in the amount of $34.20 found by Nick Mazza. The $80 shown on the W-2 is not even close to the amount shown on Oswald's payroll check ($34.20), which casts further doubt on the authenticity of this form. In addition to the total lack of verifiable documentation, there is also a question as to the address listed on the W-2 form. The J.R. Michels, Jr. office had always been on the 2nd floor of the Sanlin Building at 442 Canal St. Yet the address listed on the W-2 form is shown as 805 American Bank Building.  This address appears on the check that Nick Mazza gave to the FBI, which may explain why the same address is shown on the W-2 form.



​ The Warren Commission, with nothing more than a fabricated W-2 statement, concluded that Oswald "worked briefly as an office boy for J. R. Michels, Inc." They assumed that he began work at J.R. Michels after he left Tujague's on January 14, 1956. They also assumed, from the $80  income shown on the fabricated W-2 form, that he worked at J.R. Michels for two weeks. They assumed that he was paid $40 for one week's work and assumed that he was given a second check in the amount of $40 for one week's severance pay. But the only known payroll check given to Oswald was for $34.20, and it was never shown to the Warren Commission. The WC did not have a single verifiable document to support their assumptions. It is difficult for this author, and perhaps for many people, to believe that 16-year-old Oswald was given one week's severance pay after only 3 days of work. And it is also difficult for this author to believe that 16-year-old Oswald would keep a 1956 W-2 form for the next 7 years.
16-YEAR-OLD HARVEY OSWALD RELOCATES TO CALIFORNIA

In 1956 LEE Oswald worked at Tujague's from January until August. He was there when secretary Gloria Callaghan took maternity leave in March (her son was born March 15). Frank DiBenedetto told the HSCA that Oswald worked at Tujague's "a year to a year-and-a-half." Frank told this author that Oswald worked at Tujague's "a year, maybe longer." Frank remembered that Oswald said he had to quit work because he was going to join the marines. He also remembered that when Oswald quit, "it was hot, very hot." Frank's memory is supported by the employment of Oswald's tall, nice-looking mother, who terminated her employment at Goldring's on July 31, according to office manager Marion Schubert. LEE Oswald quit Tujague's a few days later when it was "very hot," in August. Mother and son moved to Ft. Worth where LEE briefly resided with his tall, nice-looking mother in apartment #3 at 3830 W. 6th, and soon joined the Marines. On November 9 the tall, nice-looking Marguerite Oswald mailed a letter to the Ft. Worth Red Cross, and gave her address as 3830 W. 6th, Ft. Worth, TX. In late August, 1957, LEE Oswald was en route to Japan when the Naval vessel docked in Honolulu for a few days. LEE mailed a post card to his mother at 3830 W. 6th in Ft. Worth (the short, heavy-set Marguerite Oswald impostor lived at 4936 Collinwood until June 1, 1957).

NOTE: When LEE Oswald and Marguerite left New Orleans, they were probably driven to Ft. Worth by Robert Oswald. John Pic told the Warren Commission, "He (Robert) told me about a trip that he made to pick them up or something down there. They called him up one time and he drove down and got them and drove back all in the same trip." Their move to Fort Worth probably occurred in September 1956, and this date was known to former CIA Director Allen Dulles. When the short, dumpy, heavy-set Marguerite Oswald impostor became confused during WC testimony about the date she moved from New Orleans to Ft. Worth, it was Allen Dulles who said, "I think you moved to Fort Worth with LEE in September." This is a strong indication that Dulles may have known about HARVEY and LEE.
 
HARVEY Oswald worked for J.R. Michels, Jr. in January, 1956, but the dates of his employment remain unknown. After quitting J.R. Michels, HARVEY Oswald and his short, heavy-set caretaker may have moved to California. On October 7, 1955 Lee HARVEY Oswald delivered a note to Warren Easton High School in New Orleans that was found in Oswald's school file after the assassination. The note read, "Becaus (sic) we are moving to San Diego in the middle of this month Lee must quit school now. Also, please send by him any papers such as his birth certificate that you may have. Thank you. Sincirely (sic).... Mrs. M. Oswald."

In early October, 1963 (probably October 8th) Texas Employment Commission (TEC) counselor Laura Kittrell interviewed a woman who told Laura that she used to work as a maid for an attorney named Murray Chotiner in California. Their conversation was overheard by a young man sitting at the desk of TEC counselor Donald Brooks. After completing the interview with Mr. Brooks the young man, wearing a black leather jacket, stood with three other people against a wall in the waiting area and watched as Laura continued to interview the woman. After Laura completed her interview the young man walked over to her desk and said, "Excuse me, I don't mean to be butting in, or anything like that, but didn't I hear that colored woman tell you that she had worked in California for Murray Chotiner?" Laura said, "Look, I know this is going to sound pretty silly to you, since you have been listening, and no doubt have heard practically everything said, but this is a government office, and there is a rule here that anything a person says at an interview is supposed to be confidential. So I can't answer your question." The young man said, "Well, I'll be damned," and pounded his hand on Laura's desk with such force that her flower vase tipped over spilling water down the side of her desk. The young man then left without saying a word.

A few days later the same young man, wearing a black motorcycle jacket, took a seat in the waiting area. Laura recognized the young man as the person who had previously asked her about Murray Chotiner. She remembered that he was clean­ shaven, his hair was neatly cut, and his fingernails were clean. After introducing herself Laura asked the young man how he knew the name "Murray Chotiner." When the young man failed to answer she asked, "Did you work for Murray Chotiner in California?" The young man remarked, "He's a crook." Laura wondered how this young man, who identified himself as Lee Harvey Oswald, could have known the name of a little-known political figure in another state unless he, like the colored woman, had worked for Chotiner in California.

NOTE: In the 1940's Chotiner defended Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and other mob­ connected people. In 1946 Chotiner became a consultant on Richard Nixon's campaign staff and in 1950 arranged a fund raising dinner for Nixon's Senatorial Campaign from members of Lansky's syndicate. From 1949-1952 Chotiner defended clients in 221 organized crime cases and, by 1963, had become a highly successful Beverly Hills attor­ney. After Nixon became President, Murray Chotiner came to national attention when he was named as special counsel for the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP).

While interviewing Oswald a Cuban man, who spoke no English, handed Laura a card with directions to a job interview. Laura tried to help the man and spoke with him in her "Tex-Mex" brand of Spanish. After the man left she had a brief discussion with HARVEY Oswald and soon realized that he knew a lot about the Cuban situation. Oswald told Laura, "You know, your Spanish isn't half bad." Laura replied, "Oh, you speak Spanish?" Oswald replied, "Oh, I speak three languages-Russian, I've been to Russia. Matter of fact, married a Russian girl." When Laura said, "Tell me, what did you like best about Russia?" Oswald replied, "The opera!" Laura then said, "I have read about this art museum in Leningrad where they have the great French Impression­ists stacked in the basement." Oswald replied, "I've never been to Leningrad... I was in Moscow for sometime and in... [Oswald named a town which Laura could not remember]. You see, I had this job in a factory there...I worked for months in this elec­tronics factory in... [name not remembered by Laura]. I was taking these little bitty metal parts and doing something with them."

Laura suggested to Oswald that he accept any type of job because he had been unemployed for months. When Oswald expressed his desire to find a white-collar job in downtown Dallas, Laura said that he would be wasting his time. Oswald replied, "I used to sell shoes (Dolly Shoe in New Orleans?) and that is white-collar experience, isn't it?" He then told Laura about working in an office in California when he was 16 years old. Oswald explained, "It was before I went into the Marines, even. It was when I was just sixteen. I had this messenger-boy job in California. It was a motor-scooter messenger-boy job, but I worked in the office too, filing and taking care of mail. It was for an investment company and I worked there six months. The name of it was the ETI Realty Company and Laura thought it was the same town the colored maid had mentioned as the place where she had worked for Murray Chotiner. Laura said, "The ETI Realty Company.... I thought you said it was an investment company." Oswald replied, "It was, the name of it was the E.T.I Realty Co., but it was an investment company too." Before Oswald left he gave Laura a new telephone number and a new address in Oak Cliff (the original address given by Oswald was the address and phone number of Ruth Paine). The telephone number was WH 3-8993 and the address was 1026 N. Beckley. The interview with the young man lasted one hour and forty-two minutes, which was one of Laura's longest interviews and was noted and recorded by her boss. Laura recalled that she interviewed Oswald during the time the Texas State Fair was running, which was from October 5 to October 20.

A few days later Laura tried to contact Oswald (Oct 17 or 18?) and recalled that a woman with a gruff voice answered the phone and identified herself as the house­ keeper (Earlene Roberts). When Laura asked for Mr. Oswald the woman said, "Who? Who?.... Oh, You mean Mr. Lee [Oswald registered as "O.H. Lee"]? The woman told Laura that "Mr. Lee" was not in and said that his wife lived at another location. After the assassination Laura recognized Lee HARVEY Oswald as the young man that she had interviewed in her office. She repeatedly tried to contact authori­ties and tell them about her meetings with Oswald, but was ignored. On December 26,1963 she sent a 2-page letter to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and kept the postal receipt for her certified letter. In April 1964 she sent a 20-page letter to the Warren Commission through the US Attorney's office in Dallas, and asked that someone from the Commission contact her. She later wrote a lengthy manuscript about the difficulties she encountered as she tried to report her contacts with Oswald to authorities. On June 4,1965 she sent a 14-page letter to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and asked that someone contact her. In July, 1965 two FBI agents interviewed Laura Kittrell for the first time. They asked her to explain who Murray Chotiner was and then asked her if there was such a per­son. Laura recounted this contact in her manuscript.

NOTE:  In 1963 Lee HARVEY Oswald was interviewed by TEC counselors Helen Cunningham, Don Brooks, and Laura Kittrell. None of these counselors were interviewed by the Warren Commission and all TEC records of their interviews with Oswald were given to the FBI and disappeared.
From the chart below we can see the location and activities of HARVEY Oswald (left) and LEE Oswald (right) in 1956. From the end of January through June, 1956, the whereabouts of HARVEY Oswald are unknown. This may have been the time during which HARVEY Oswald worked "6 months as a motor-scooter delivery boy" for Murray Chotiner in California. We can also see how the FBI and Warren Commission merged the identities of these two boys into a single "Lee Harvey Oswald." 

 

The year 1956 is also critical in introducing the extent to which Robert Oswald had a relationship with both HARVEY and the Marguerite Oswald impostor. On July 1, 1956 HARVEY Oswald, Robert Oswald, and the short, heavy-set Marguerite Oswald impostor moved into a furnished apartment at 4936 Collinwood in Ft. Worth. The  living arrangement gave Robert his first opportunity to reside under the same roof with HARVEY and the "Marguerite Oswald" impostor. On July 13, Robert opened a savings account at the West Side State Bank with a deposit of $220 and listed his address as 4936 Collinwood. Stripling Junior High school was a few blocks south of their apartment, where Robert Oswald had attended the 9th grade in the spring of 1949. While residing with his new "family" at 4936 Collinwood, Robert probably learned from HARVEY that he too had attended the 9th grade at Stripling, in the fall of 1954.  Robert went along with the HARVEY and LEE charade, but his occasional lapses in memory during his Warren Commission testimony provide us with a window into the truth about the two Oswalds.

NOTE: In 1964, while testifying before the Warren Commission, Robert Oswald became confused about the backgrounds of HARVEY and LEE. He mistakenly told the Commission that his "brother" had attended Stripling Junior High in Fort Worth. But school records show that Robert's brother, LEE Oswald, attended all of his junior high school years in New York and New Orleans-not a sing/e day in Fort Worth. It was HARVEY who attended Stripling, and Rob­ert was momentarily confused. Robert's blunder caused this author to contact Frank Kudlaty, the former assistant principal at Stripling. Frank gave HARVEY Oswald's school records to the FBI less than 24 hours after the assassination. Those records disappeared. This author then contacted former students at Stripling who remembered that Oswald was in the 9th grade and lived directly across the street at 2220 Thomas Place (click to view Frank Kudlaty/Fran Schubert).

The Marguerite Oswald impostor, HARVEY, and Robert Oswald moved into 4936 Collinwood in Ft. Worth on July 1, 1956. The tall, nice-looking Marguerite Oswald and LEE moved into apt 3 at 3830 W. 6th in September. When testifying before the Warren Commission the "Marguerite Oswald" imposter became momentarily confused. When asked what year she and her son moved from New Orleans to Fort Worth this "Marguerite" answered, "I said 1959-I am sorry. 1955. No, wait now. 1956-when we left New Orleans is 1956. Am I correct?" It was former CIA director Allen Dulles who helped resolve Marguerite's "memory lapse" by stating, "I think you moved to Fort Worth with LEE in September, 1956." Dulles knew the date that LEE Oswald and his tall, nice-looking mother moved from New Orleans to Ft. Worth. It is clear that Dulles was working from a carefully prepared timeline of the two Marguerites and the two Oswald boys (HARVEY and LEE).  The former CIA Director knew the entire story of Oswald becoming an "agent" and wanted to steer the conversation into what would become a single "merged" biography of the two Oswald boys. Dulles had considerable first hand knowledge about HARVEY and LEE, and this was the reason why he attended more WC hearings than any other member.

NOTE: A key figure is James Jesus Angleton, who was serving as liaison between the CIA and the Warren Commission.  With his files on the "Oswald Project," Angleton may have prepared the "script" used by Dulles in merging the biographies of the two boys. 

In September HARVEY Oswald enrolled at Arlington Heights High, a large school located in an upper-middle class section of Fort Worth. One day Lee HARVEY Oswald walked up to Richard Garrett, a former student at Ridglea West Elementary School where tall, husky LEE Oswald was the tallest kid in his class. Garrett, who was 6 ft 4 inches tall in high school, told Life Magazine, "I remember I had to look down to talk to him, and it seemed strange, because he had been the tallest, the dominant member of our group in grammar school. He looked like he was just lost. He was very different from the way I remember him." Short, thin HARVEY Oswald withdrew from Arlington Heights on September 28, 1956. On October 24 HARVEY Oswald joined the Marines and was sent to Camp Pendleton in California for basic training.

NOTE: Garrett knew and befriended the tall, husky LEE Oswald at Ridglea West Elementary School, and met the short, thin HARVEY Oswald 11 years later at Arlington Heights High. Garrett was one of the few non-conspiratorial people who knew both HARVEY and LEE and, like Ed Voebel, died at a young age.

During the summer of 1956 Mrs. James E. Taylor, the manager of 4936 Collinwood, remembered that "Marguerite" often quarreled loudly with both Robert and Lee HARVEY. Robert Oswald became engaged to marry Vada Mercer, yet he never introduced his future wife to his "family" while living with HARVEY and the MO impostor. Vada told the FBI that during this period prior to her marriage she never met her husband's brother, "Lee Harvey Oswald." She also never met her future mother-in-law, the short, dumpy, heavy-set "Marguerite Oswald" impostor. This makes perfect sense when we realize that HARVEY Oswald was not Robert's brother and the short, heavy-set caretaker was not his mother. Mrs. Taylor said that Robert Oswald remained in the apartment until he was married (November 20, 1956) and then moved out. "Marguerite" remained in the apartment until June 1, 1957, and left with unpaid utility bills.

NOTE: Rachel Oswald Porter said that Robert Oswald has never once communicated in any way with either her or June.

After the assassination John Pic suggested that Robert Oswald may have been withholding information about "Lee Harvey Oswald." The FBI reported, "In his (Pic's) estimation, Robert Lee Edward Oswald, Jr. knows considerable more about 'Lee Harvey Oswald' than does Pic." The FBI never questioned John Pic about this state­ment or its meaning, but Pic may have been referring to Robert Oswald's knowledge of both HARVEY and LEE.
 

OSWALD'S 1956 INCOME TAX RETURN


To resolve the problems created by HARVEY and LEE's conflicting employment records, the FBI had to "merge" their employment histories (see chart above). They had to fabricate documents that showed one "Lee Harvey Oswald" worked for J.R. Michels, Tujague's, and the Pfisterer Dental Lab BEFORE he moved to Ft. Worth in July, BEFORE he attended Arlington Heights High School in September, and BEFORE he joined the Marines in October. They accomplished this by fabricating the W-2 forms and fabricating a 1956 income tax return.


As we all know, one of the first steps in preparing an income tax return is gathering information related to our income. Oswald's 1956 return shows that the income reported matches perfectly with the fabricated W-2 forms. When Oswald was hired he allegedly filed out W-4 forms for each company and listed his address as 126 Exchange. But in late January or February, 1957, when J.R. Michels and Tujague's mailed the 1956 W-2 forms, both HARVEY and LEE were in the Marines in California, and the Marguerite Oswald impostor was living at 4936 Collinwood in Ft. Worth. Without notifying each employer, or filing a USPS change of address (126 Exchange to 4936 Collinwood), the W-2 forms would have been mailed to 126 Exchange and then returned unopened to each company. If the W-2 forms were, somehow, mailed to 4936 Collinwood, then who provided this new address to J.R. Michels, Tujague's, and the Pfisterer Dental Lab?  There is no record that any of these businesses were notified of a change of address. However if, somehow, the W-2's were mailed to 4936 Collinwood, then the MO impostor would have to re-mail the W-2's to Oswald at Camp Pendleton in California. Once again, there is no record of such communication. And without these W-2 forms Oswald would have no way of knowing his income and withholdings to show on his tax return. Whoever completed the 1956 tax return for 17-year-old Oswald had possession of these three W-2 forms.  But one very important W-2 form was missing.

NOTE: The last employer listed on the 1956 tax return, the Pfisterer Dental Lab, will be discussed in the 1957 and 1958 essays. However, in the next two essays we will see that HARVEY Oswald was working in New Orleans in 1957 and 1958, while LEE Oswald was in the Marine Corps in Japan at the same time.

On February 7, 1957, the date the tax return was signed, HARVEY and LEE were both in the Marine Corps in California. Both young men had received income from the Marine Corps since enlistment on October 24, 1956. Incredibly, Oswald's income from the Marine Corps in 1956 was not included on the tax return! It is nearly impossible to believe that either young man, going through Boot Camp in 1956 and Marine Corps infantry training in February, 1957, would forget to include their Marine Corps income on a federal tax return. But there was a very good reason why Oswald's Marine Corps income was not included--because Oswald was not the person who filled out the tax return, and the person who filled out the tax return did not have access to military payroll records!

Above is the forged 1956 tax return allegedly signed by "Lee Harvey Oswald."
 Does anyone believe that an active Marine Corps soldier would forget to
 report his Marine Corps income?


In mid-to-late January, 1957, employers mailed W-2 forms to their employees. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) mailed W-2 forms to military personnel. Oswald's address, listed in his military file, was 4936 Collinwood, Ft. Worth, TX. The Warren Commission would like us to believe that Oswald somehow received the J.R. Michels, Tujague's, and Pfisterer W-2 forms, but never received the W-2 form mailed by the DFAS. The WC would also like us to believe that Oswald kept the J.R. Michels, Tujague's, and Pfisterer W-2 forms for the next 7 years--from 1956 to 1963, yet lost or never received the W-2 form from the Marine Corps.  If Oswald never received a W-2 from DFAS, he could easily have obtained payroll information through his company commander. Why would a Marine complete a tax return and not list his Marine Corp income on the return? The answer is simple: Oswald did not complete the 1956 tax return. Finally, the 1956 tax return was mailed from California on February 7, yet the return was received by the IRS only one day later in Dallas, TX, on February 8.

A W-2 form from DFAS was never found by the FBI nor requested by the FBI or Warren Commission. Is it possible that income for both HARVEY and LEE would appear on DFAS W-2 forms (1956-1959)? The individual who filled out the 1956 1040 did not have a W-2 form from DFAS and did not have access to Oswald's payroll records from the Department of the Navy. In fact, the Department of the Navy did not release Oswald's military pay records until Sept, 1964 (see below). With no information whatsoever concerning Oswald's earnings from the military, the Marine Corps was not listed as an employer and no income was reported. The 1956 return was fabricated/created by the same people who fabricated/created the J.R. Michels, Tujague's, and Pfisterer W-2 forms.


 



The W-2 forms were created at FBI headquarters, and supplemented the 1956 tax return in order to show that one "Lee Harvey Oswald" worked at J.R. Michels, Tujague's, and the Pfisterer Dental Lab during the first half of 1956, BEFORE he moved to Ft. Worth in July, BEFORE he attended Arlington Heights High School in September, and BEFORE he joined the Marines in October (see chart above). After the FBI confiscated and destroyed HARVEY and LEE's employment records these fabricated government documents provided a fictitious background for one "Lee Harvey Oswald." They were instrumental to the merging of HARVEY and LEE. But the truth about HARVEY and LEE comes from the memories of co-workers like Frank DiBenedetto, Gloria Callaghan, Jimmy Hudnell, Nick Mazza, Richard Garrett, and the many people who knew these young boys. These people were never interviewed by the Warren Commission for a very good reason: because their statements could have easily exposed HARVEY and LEE.
WARREN COMMISSION DOCUMENT 353A


In 1964 the Social Security Administration was administered by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). On 2/3/64 Mr. J.Lee Rankin received a letter (shown below) from HEW (NOT FROM THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION) that contained information that was allegedly "extracted" from Social Security files concerning Lee Harvey Oswald. There are no dates of employment, no financial information included, but there are enough errors to question the authenticity of this document:





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