THE COVER-UP CONTINUES...

...AND CONTINUES TO UNRAVEL

In the 1950's a teenage LHO worked in New Orleans for Dolly Shoe, Tujague's, JR Michaels, and the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory. These companies were required by law to report Oswald's earnings to the Social Security Administration (and to the IRS and the Louisiana Dept of Revenue). Those very, very important records almost certainly remained safely tucked away in SSA files, at least until November 22, 1963.

On November 22nd and 23rd, 1963, the Dallas Police conducted a search of Oswald's rooming house at 1026 N. Beckley and Ruth Paine's house in Irving, TX. According to Gus Rose, he himself and R. S. Stovall and John P. Adamcik spent hours initialing every item they found at Ruth Paine's garage and Oswald's rooming house at 1026 N. Beckley. The Dallas Police then made a handwritten list of all the items found. The handwritten list was then typed at Dallas Police Headquarters and eventually became the following Warren Commission exhibits: Stovall A- typed version of the handwritten list from Nov. 22; Stovall B- typed version of the handwritten list from Nov. 23; Turner Exhibit 1-typed list of items found at 1026 N. Beckley.

In the early morning hours of November 23, FBI agent Vince Drain took all of Oswald's possessions (about 225 items) that had been gathered by the Dallas Police and departed at 3:10 am for Washington, D.C. from Carswell Air Force Base aboard a C-130 tanker. James Cadigan, an FBI document specialist, received the items (Oswald's possessions) at FBI headquarters. When Cadigan first testified before the WC, the only Commission member present was former CIA Director Allen Dulles. Cadigan said, "Initially, the first big batch of evidence was brought into the laboratory on November 23 and this consisted of many, many items.... It was a very large quantity of evidence that was brought in." Many of the items were immediately treated with a brown colored ink to check for fingerprints. Under normal conditions, when the testing was complete, items were re-treated with a special chemical that neutralized and removed all traces of the brown fingerprint ink. This neutralizing process was known as "desilvering." WC attorney Melvin Eisenberg interviewed Cadigan and asked, "Do you know why CE 820 was not processed or desilvered?" Cadigan replied, "Time was of the essence and this material (Oswald's possessions), I believe, was returned to the Dallas Police within two or three days.....There was insufficient time to desilver it." So, now we know that Oswald's possessions were taken to FBI headquarters in Washington, DC on Nov 23 and returned to the Dallas Police on Nov 26.

On November 26, all of Oswald's possessions were quietly returned to the Dallas Police. The FBI and Dallas Police then photographed and inventoried 455 items (Oswald's possessions) using five rolls of film (CE 2003). The FBI had taken 225 items to Washington, DC but returned 455 items to the Dallas Police. The FBI added an extra 220 items of evidence.  Why?

Among the additional items inventoried and photographed were W-2 forms from Dolly Shoe (1955), Tujague's (1955/56), JR Michaels (1956) and the Pfisterer Dental Lab (1956). But not one of these W-2 forms has the initials of a Dallas Police officer. None of these W-2 forms are on the DPD handwritten lists. None of these W-2 forms are on the lists typed at DPD headquarters (Stovall A & B, Turner 1). And none of these W-2 forms appear in photographs of Oswald's possessions spread out on the floor of the Dallas Police Department on November 23. But all of these W-2 forms have the initials of FBI Lab Technician Robert Frazier (FBI headquarters, Washington, DC). The evidence clearly suggests that these W-2 forms were created, initialed by Frazier, and added to Oswald's possessions while in FBI custody between November 23-26. In fact over 200 items of evidence were added to Oswald's possessions while in FBI custody. The W-2 forms were not found by the Dallas Police. They were created in Washington, DC for the purpose of altering the dates of Oswald's employment in the mid-1950s.  It is pretty hard to imagine that a 16 or 17 year old teenager would keep 1955 and 1956 W-2 forms during his 3 years in the Marine Corps, 2-1/2 years in the Soviet Union, and year and a half moving from Dallas to New Orleans and back to Dallas.  Why would Oswald keep 8-year-old W-2 forms and yet not keep W-2 forms, copies of tax returns, or any employment information from his work in 1962 and 1963?

NOTE: It is easy to determine if the W-2 forms, or any other items of "evidence", were added to the original 225 items of evidence brought to FBI headquarters on November 23. First, look at any item listed on the joint DPD/FBI inventory of November 26, 1963 (WC Ex. 2003) to see if that item has the initials of a Dallas Police officer. Second, see if that item was listed on the handwritten or typed DPD inventory list (WC exhibits-Stoval A; Stoval B; Turner 1). If a particular item does not have the initials of a DPD officer and is not listed on the original DPD inventory (handwritten or typed), then that item was not found by the Dallas Police. That item was added to Oswald's possessions in Washington, DC, may have been initialed by an FBI lab technician, returned to the Dallas Police on November 26, inventoried and photographed jointly by the DPD and FBI, and then listed among the 455 items that appear on Warren Commission Exhibit #2003. This is how certain items of "evidence" were added to Oswald's possessions in order to help frame him for the assassination and to help merge the backgrounds of HARVEY and LEE in order to make it appear as though there were only one "Lee Harvey Oswald."

Above are two of the four W-2 forms allegedly found among Oswald's possessions.  But it appears far more likely that they were created during the brief time the items were at FBI Headquarters in Washington between late Nov. 23 and Nov. 26.  These documents were not listed in the inventories written by the Dallas Police, nor were they initialled by Gus Rose, R. S. Stovall or John P. Adamcik. Other reasons to suspect them are explained below.

Following the assassination the Warren Commission depended upon the FBI to investigate, collect, and provide information to them. Top FBI official William Sullivan said, "Hoover did not like to see the Warren commissions come into existence. He showed marked interest in limiting the scope of it or circumventing the scope of it and taking any action that might result in neutralizing it.....when an enormous organization like the FBI with tremendous power still can sit back and shuffle the deck of cards and pick up the card they want to show you it may be you're not going to get the entire picture. If there were documents that possibly he didn't want to come to the light of the public, then those documents no longer exist, and the truth will never be known." Commission attorney Samuel Stern was skeptical and aware of a potential problem. Stern told the HSCA, "at the outset we realized that there was no possible way to penetrate any official involvement in a cover-up or conspiracy if there was such complicity......the FBI and CIA could formulate and maintain a cover-up which no one would ever penetrate."  Mr. Stern's skepticism and analysis proved to be correct.

The FBI knew there were problems with Oswald's background. Hoover knew that someone was using Oswald's identification in 1960. Hoover had reports of "Oswald" in the USA while "Oswald" was in the Soviet Union. Hoover knew that Oswald had travelled to Cuba. Hoover knew that someone had impersonated Oswald in Mexico City. Hoover knew, immediately after "Oswald" was arrested, that all records relating to "HARVEY" Oswald had to be confiscated because they would conflict with records relating to (LEE) Oswald. School records, gathered by the FBI within days of the assassination, showed that (LEE) Oswald attended Beauregard JHS in the spring of 1955. But employment records showed that (HARVEY) Oswald was working full time at Dolly Shoe on Canal Street at the same time. Store owner Maury Goodman, store manager Louis Marzialle, and co-workers Rita Paveur and Francis Mouton said that (HARVEY) Oswald worked full time. Mr. Marzialle (click here for YouTube interview) clearly remembered the day he fired young Oswald, because it was the day his first son was born. Oswald's (HARVEY) full time employment at Dolly Shoe clearly conflicted with Oswald (LEE) attending Beauregard JHS at the exact same time with a very good attendance record. Documentation was needed to resolve this conflict. A W-2 form, indicating a small amount of income, would show that one person (Lee Harvey Oswald) could have attended school at Beauregard and worked after school (part time) at Dolly Shoe. The FBI told the WC that Oswald's 1955 tax return had been routinely destroyed, and never provided verifiable employment records or cancelled checks from Dolly Shoe. The FBI gave the Commission a photograph of the newly created 1955 W-2 form from Dolly Shoe. The Commission, relying on the FBI, accepted the W-2 form and never interviewed any of the Dolly Shoe Company owners or employees. They concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had attended Beauregard JHS and worked part time at Dolly Shoe.

The FBI collected hand-written time cards that showed that (LEE) Oswald worked at Tujague's (an import/export company) in 1955 and 1956, but they provided no verifiable employment records or cancelled checks. Robert Oswald said that his brother (LEE) was working for an import/export company in July, 1955 when he visited New Orleans for a week. Oswald's supervisor, Frank DiBenedetto, and secretary Gloria Callaghan said that (LEE) Oswald worked at Tujague's "a year to a year and a half." Frank said, "he quit to join the marines (Oct, 1956)." Oswald working at Tujague's from July, 1955 through June, 1956 created a big problem. A year of full-time employment at Tujague's left no time for one person (Lee Harvey Oswald) to attend Warren Easton High School (fall, 1955) or work for JR Michaels or the Pfisterer Dental Lab before re-locating to Ft. Worth (June, 1956). The FBI solved the school problem by giving the Warren Commission a few hand-written time cards that showed Oswald worked at Tujague's in November and December, 1955. They also gave the WC a photograph of a 1955 W-2 form, with a small amount of income, to show that LHO worked at Tujague's for a few months in the late winter of 1955. This provided the time frame necessary for (HARVEY) Oswald's 6-week attendance at Warren Easton High School in the fall of 1955. But there was another problem. (LEE) Oswald's employment at Tujague's through June, 1956 meant there was no time for one person (Lee Harvey Oswald) to have worked at either JR Michaels or the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory before joining the U.S. Marine Corps. Once again, the FBI solved this problem by giving the Warren Commission a few hand-written time cards that showed Oswald worked at Tujague's in January, 1956, but no verifiable employment records or cancelled checks. They also gave the WC a photograph of a 1956 W-2 form, with a small amount of income, to show that LHO worked at Tujague's in January, 1956. The Commission accepted the photographs, but never interviewed any of the owners or employees of the company. By ending his employment at Tujague's in January, 1956 there was now a "window of opportunity" (Feb, 1956 through June, 1956) for one person (Lee Harvey Oswald) to work for JR Michaels and the Pfisterer Dental Lab.

A single cancelled payroll check, obtained by the FBI within days of the assassination from owner Nick Mazza, showed that (HARVEY) Oswald worked for a very short time at the JR Michaels Company in early 1956. The FBI never gave a copy of this check, or any verifiable employment information, to the WC. The only "documentation" the FBI gave to the WC was a photograph of a 1956 W-2 form that showed a small amount of income earned at the JR Michaels company in 1956. The Commission accepted this photograph and never interviewed any of the owners or employees of JR Michaels. They concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for this company following his employment with Tujague's.

The biggest problem for the FBI and the Warren Commission was (HARVEY) Oswald's employment at the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory. Employment records obtained by the FBI within days of the assassination showed that (HARVEY) Oswald worked at the lab in 1957-58. Palmer McBride, Harry Vance, Paul Fiorello and current Pfisterer President Linda Faircloth (see interview below) said that (HARVEY) Oswald worked at the dental lab from October, 1957 through May, 1958.

click to see 1997 interview of Linda Faircloth

McBride, William Wulf, Walter Gehrke, and other members of the New Orleans Amateur Astronomy Association remember meeting (HARVEY) Oswald in early 1958 when he attended astronomy club meetings. But (HARVEY) Oswald's employment in New Orleans in 1957-58 conflicted with (LEE) Oswald serving in the Marine Corps in Japan in 1957-58. Once again, the FBI resolved this problem by providing the WC with a photograph of a 1956 W-2 form. The photograph allowed the WC to conclude that one person (Lee Harvey Oswald) worked at the dental lab in 1956, prior to re-locating to Ft. Worth and prior to joining the Marine Corps. The WC concluded, without interviewing any of the Pfisterer Dental Lab owners or any of the employees and without any supportive documentation, that Lee Harvey Oswald worked at the dental lab in the spring of 1956 (instead of 1957-58).

Creation of the W-2 forms temporarily resolved the problem of two Oswalds being in different places at the same time. But original records of Oswald's earnings undoubtedly were still on file at the SSA and other government agencies and these records could be problematic if left unattended. The Warren Commission accepted the FBI photographs of the W-2 forms and reported Oswald's teenage employment in the Warren Report. But the Commissions failure to request additional information from the SSA, Louisiana Dept of Revenue (state income tax withheld), or the Board of Labor in New Orleans (issues work permits for persons under the age of 18) to determine and verify the dates of Oswald's employment remains a mystery to this day.

Social Security Administration records

The Social Security Administration had Oswald's file and records on November 22, 1963.  On January 24, 1964 the Warren Commission was provided with those records:



Social Security taxes were paid for military service earnings for personnel on active duty (including active duty fro training), beginning on January 1, 1957.

But in the days and weeks following the assassination, something happened to those records, and for a very good reason. HARVEY Oswald's full-time employment at Dolly Shoe during the first half of 1955, for which SS taxes were paid, conflicted with LEE Oswald's near perfect 9th grade attendance at Beauregard Junior High in New Orleans. LEE Oswald's full time employment with Tujague's in the fall of 1955, for which SS taxes were paid, conflicted with HARVEY Oswald's attendance at Warren Easton High School. And HARVEY Oswald's full time employment at the Pfisterer Dental Lab in New Orleans, from October, 1957 thru May, 1958, for which SS taxes were paid, conflicted with LEE Oswald serving in the Marines and having been stationed in Atsugi, Japan. In 1957 and 1958 SS taxes were paid by both the Pfisterer Dental Lab and the Dept of the Navy (Marine Corps). US Government Social Security records, and reports filed quarterly by Dolly Shoe, Tujague's, Pfisterer Dental Lab, and the Dept. of the Navy, showed that SS payments were made on behalf of Lee Harvey Oswald from two different locations at the same time. Oswald's SS records could never be made public.

Six weeks after (HARVEY) Oswald's death, on January 9, 1964, the Social Security Administration Office in Dallas, Texas received a completed "Application for Survivors Insurance Benefits" filled out by "Marina M. Oswald." Prompted by the form to enter LHO's "employers during the 12 months before his death," Marina listed Jagger-Chiles Stovall and Wm. B. Reily Co., Inc, and wrote "con't." She listed Oswald's service dates as 10/24/56 to 9/11/59, his Social Security No. as 433-54-3937, provided her maiden name, and gave a few other details. According to the "Determination of Award" form (shown below), the "First Base Yr. or Starting Date" field was marked "1951," and the "Last Base Yr. or Closing Date" box marked "1963." Therefore, the Social Security Administration should have provided all of Oswald's earnings from 1951 (age 12) through his death in 1963 (age 24), including earnings from Dolly Shoe, Tujague's, J.R. Michaels, the Pfisterer Dental Lab, and the Dept. of the Navy (Marine Corps).

In response to Marina Oswald's "Application for Survivors Insurance Benefits" the SSA failed to include Oswald's earnings from Dolly Shoe, Tujague's, J.R. Michaels, the Pfisterer Dental Lab, and the Dept. of the Navy (Marine Corps). The only earnings the SSA included were those from Oswald's earnings in 1962 and 1963, after his return from the Soviet Union. The SSA reported Oswald's total life-time earnings as $3306.85 (based upon the following documents).

From the document above, we see that at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall, Inc. Oswald earned $727.81 in the fourth quarter of 1962, and $945.69 and $121.67 in the first two quarters of 1963.

From the document below, we see that at the William B. Reily Co. Oswald earned $422.25 in the second quarter and $191.25 in the third quarter of 1963.

From the document below we see that at the Texas School Book Depository Oswald earned $261.68 in the fourth quarter of 1963.

One item that is missing from the material Social Security forwarded to the HSCA was an employer statement from Leslie Welding, where Oswald worked from July 17, 1962 to October 8, 1962. Thirteen cancelled paychecks written to Oswald from Leslie Welding are included in Warren Commission Exhibit 1173 (Vol. XXII, pp. 273-277). The Social Security Administration did account for Oswald's Leslie Welding income in the material it forwarded to the HSCA. Note the $636.50 "for 1962" from "another employer" in the handwritten report above was a reference to Oswald's income at Leslie Welding.

Below are the grand totals for Oswald's income in 1962 and 1963:

Less than a month after receiving a completed "Application for Survivors Insurance Benefits" filled out by "Marina M. Oswald," the SSA office in Dallas had completed a "Determination of Award" form. Below is the first part of that form:

The amount shown under the heading "Total Earnings" is, according to the Social Security Administration, Oswald's total earnings from 1951 (First Base Yr. or Starting Date) through 1963 (Last Base Yr. or Closing Date). Oswald's SSA records were safely tucked away in their files from the date of his employment at Dolly Shoe (1955) to his death on November 24, 1963. Yet within two months following the assassination the SSA failed to include any of Oswald's pre-1962 earnings from his employment at Dolly Shoe (1955), Tujague's (1955-56), J.R. Michaels (1956) the Pfisterer Dental Lab (1957-58), and the Dept. of the Navy (Marines) in the Determination of Award given to Marina Oswald in 1964.

Fifteen years later, on May 15, 1978, the House Select Committee on Assassinations chief counsel Robert Blakey wrote to the Social Security Administration requesting "access to all files and documents concerning or referring to Lee Harvey Oswald and Marina Oswald." On July 28, Social Security Administration associate commissioner Robert P. Bynum formally responded. In a three-page cover letter to Ms. Jackie Hess, an HSCA employee, Bynum cited 36 different documents that were being forwarded from the Social Security Administration to the HSCA. This is a remarkable document, and three excerpts from it are reproduced below.

July 28, 1978; Social Security Administration to the Select Committee on Assassinations:

Following this introduction are 36 numbered items extending through three pages. The following excerpt is from page 2:

After the 36th numbered paragraph, Mr. Bynum closes his letter with these words:

In 1978 the SSA once again failed to provide information relating to Oswald's pre-1962 employment (House Select Committee). In an attempt to avoid answering questions or providing Social Security records about Oswald's pre-1962 income someone at the SSA took the time to copy and forward to the HSCA copies of Oswald's employment as reported by the Warren Commission (line 23). It is obvious that in 1978 someone at the SSA knew there was problem with LHO's pre-1962 income. That someone knew there was a big problem and was trying hard to avoid the issue 15 years after the assassination.

On November 22, 1996, Marina Oswald Porter and the Assassination Record Review Board's John Tunnheim appeared on the Oprah Winfrey television program. On that broadcast, Tunnheim asked Marina point blank to release Oswalds tax forms and said, "We're asking her to cooperate as well with help getting access to Lee Harvey Oswald's tax files...." Marina refused, adding: "It's not important." But the missing information was and is very important. We have to wonder WHY Marina refused to allow access to Oswald's tax information.

SSA records relating to Oswald's pre-1962 earnings either disappeared or were withheld shortly after his death in 1963. Their disappearance was actively managed and continued through 1978 and beyond, and someone knew the reason. Someone knew and someone still knows. Today, if the SSA "magically" produced Oswald's pre-1962 records, there is little doubt those records would be "sanitized." If Oswald's earnings from employment at Dolly Shoe, Tujague's, JR Michaels, and the Pfisterer Dental Lab had been properly maintained and reported by the SSA fifty years ago, then those records would show that two people were using the name and social security number of Lee Harvey Oswald.