Warren Commission (07 of 26): Hearings Vol. VII (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (07 of 26): Hearings Vol. VII (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. BALL. Did he ever ask you to get him a lawyer?
Mr. BOYD. No, sir; he didn't ask me to get him one.
Mr. BALL. Were you present at any time when a lawyer visited Oswald?
Mr. BOYD. No, sir; I wasn't present--we asked him, did he want a lawyer
here--Captain Fritz the next morning had asked him, and he said he
didn't want a lawyer, he wanted Mr. Abt.
Mr. BALL. Do you have some questions?
Mr. STERN. What was your impression of Oswald--the way he handled
himself, what kind of a man did he seem to you?
Mr. BOYD. I'll tell you, I've never saw another man just exactly like
him.
Mr. STERN. In what way?
Mr. BOYD. Well, you know, he acted like he was intelligent; just as
soon as you would ask him a question, he would just give you the answer
right back--he didn't hesitate about his answers. I mean, as soon as
you would pop him a question, he would shoot you an answer right back
and, like I said, I never saw a man that could answer questions like he
did.
Mr. STERN. Did he seem to be under stress or calm in those terms?
Mr. BOYD. Well, at times he was just as calm as could be, then once
in a while he would--I don't know just how to tell you, but every now
and then he would be talking and he would be just as calm and the next
minute he would just liable to be--I mean his attitude, you know, would
change, you know, rather frequently, but most of the time when he would
be talking to you he was rather calm.
Mr. STERN. When it changed, was it for any noticeable reason or did it
change apparently?
Mr. BOYD. Well, most of the time, you know, it was just when somebody
would say something--some little something he didn't like, and he
would--he didn't become mad, but the worst thing he did was when he
jumped up and slapped the desk.
Mr. STERN. During the Hosty interrogation?
Mr. BOYD. Yes, sir.
Mr. STERN. He seemed to you to understand generally his rights?
Mr. BOYD. Yes, sir.
Mr. STERN. And do you know that he wasn't required to answer?
Mr. BOYD. Yes, sir.
Mr. STERN. Of course, this was a long day for everybody--did he seem by
the end of the day still to be in command of himself, or did he appear
tired or particularly worn out?
Mr. BOYD. Well, he didn't appear to be as tired as I felt--he didn't
appear to be, because I imagine he could have been tired--he didn't
show it.
Mr. STERN. This is quite unnatural--really rather exceptional; this is,
of course, why you say somewhat unusual, a man accused of killing two
people, one of them the President of the United States, and at the end
of the day, he is pretty well in command?
Can you tell us in any other respect about the kind of person he seemed
to you--anything else that you observed about him, as you now recall?
Mr. BOYD. I don't know--he just struck me as being the man, you know,
who liked to move around a lot--I don't know that he did, but he just
struck me as being a man that acted like he was not satisfied and--in
one place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account