Warren Commission (04 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (04 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. FRITZ. That first showup was for a lady who was an eye witness and
we were trying to get that showup as soon as we could because she was
beginning to faint and getting sick.
In fact, I had to leave the office and carry some ammonia across the
hall, they were about to send her to the hospital or something and we
needed that identification real quickly, and she got to feeling all
right after using this ammonia.
Mr. BALL. Do you remember her name?
Mr. FRITZ. I have her name here.
Mr. BALL. Was that Mrs. Markham?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, Helen Markham.
Mr. BALL. That was the first showup, was it?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Were you there?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. With her?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. Will you tell me what happened there?
Mr. FRITZ. She looked at these people very carefully, and she picked
him out and made the positive identification.
Mr. BALL. What did she say?
Mr. FRITZ. She said that is the man that I saw shoot the officer.
Mr. BALL. Who did she point out?
Mr. FRITZ. She pointed out Oswald; yes, sir.
Mr. BALL. In your showup room you have the prisoners separated from the
visitors?
Mr. FRITZ. There is a screen. They are on a stage with numbers over
their heads for identification, and measurements to show their height,
and this is lighted back there so the people can see them plainly,
and the people who are looking at them usually sit at desks out some
distance, probably as far as here from that window from the showup
screen.
Mr. BALL. Near the window, you mean about 15, 20 feet.
Mr. FRITZ. Yes; about that far.
Mr. BALL. And then, now in this showup there were two officers of the
vice squad and an officer and a clerk from the jail that were in the
showup with Oswald?
Mr. FRITZ. That is true. I borrowed those officers, I was a little bit
afraid some prisoner might hurt him, there was a lot of excitement and
a lot of feeling right about that time so we didn't have an officer in
my office the right size to show with him so I asked two of the special
service officers if they would help me and they said they would be glad
to, so they took off their coats and neckties and fixed themselves
where they would look like prisoners and they were good enough to stand
on each side of him in the showup and we used a man who works in the
jail office, a civilian employee as a third man.
Mr. BALL. Now, were they dressed a little better than Oswald, do you
think, these three people?
Mr. FRITZ. Well, I don't think there was a great deal of difference.
They had on their regular working clothes and after they opened their
shirts and took off their ties, why they looked very much like anyone
else.
Mr. BALL. They were all handcuffed together, were they?
Mr. FRITZ. I am not sure, I don't remember for sure if they were all
handcuffed together or not. They probably did. I couldn't be positive
about that.
Mr. BALL. Now, after you had had the showup with Helen Markham, did you
question Oswald again?
Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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