Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. BALLEN. I want to read the report that I assume the Warren
Commission will ultimately publish. The circumstantial evidence as
reported in the press is overwhelming, to say the least, but there
remains a shadow of skepticism in my mind, and I am looking forward to
seeing the published report.
Mr. LIEBELER. It would certainly be fair to say, however, would it
not, Mr. Ballen, that you at no time prior to the assassination had
any reason to believe that Oswald was capable or would be inclined to
commit an act of this sort, is that correct?
Mr. BALLEN. That is correct.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know of any contact between Oswald and Jack Ruby?
Mr. BALLEN. None whatsoever.
Mr. LIEBELER. When did you first meet George De Mohrenschildt?
Mr. BALLEN. Approximately 1955, maybe 1954.
Mr. LIEBELER. Have you had any conversation with De Mohrenschildt since
this assassination?
Mr. BALLEN. Only through the mails.
Mr. LIEBELER. You have corresponded with him since the assassination?
Mr. BALLEN. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you write about the assassination?
Mr. BALLEN. Only in a very guarded way, because I understood that
mails in Haiti are subject to scrutiny, and I didn't know what his
environment was down there, so I only corresponded with him in a very
guarded way.
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you tell me in general what you wrote to him?
Mr. BALLEN. I made no reference to the assassination directly. I said
in one letter that I wanted to hear from him. I was--I wanted to know
that he was okay. I didn't use those words in the letter, but he
understood what I was asking him.
And I said it was a shame that he had to leave Dallas, that if he and
Jeanne had remained here, that possibly this never would have happened,
because they were the only people who were trying to bring this closed
mind out into the open air.
And I received one reply back from George's wife, and she thanked me
for what she thought were kind sentiments.
Subsequently he chided me a little bit, and I again wrote to him and
let him know I wondered how he was getting along.
And he wrote back and said, "I am fearful about you, all kinds of race
riots and assassinations in Dallas, but how are you getting along? Let
us hear from you."
Subsequently, as you know, his wife's daughter and son-in-law were
guests in my house for 2 weeks, and so I learned from them about George
and his wife, and I am about due another letter in the next week or so.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you keep copies of the letters you wrote to him?
Mr. BALLEN. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you still have the letters he wrote to you?
Mr. BALLEN. No; I first started to save his letters when he and his
wife walked through Central America, and this was a collection of
letters, but I am not a letter saver. But I did save them, saved them
until he returned from his trip and gave them all to him, and those are
the only letters that I have ever saved.
Mr. LIEBELER. You mentioned De Mohrenschildt's daughter-in-law?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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