Warren Commission (13 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIII (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (13 of 26): Hearings Vol. XIII (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Mr. HUBERT. Did Servance open it one time, too?
Mr. PIERCE. He was there, but I opened it.
Mr. HUBERT. I understand that you all stood in the vestibule?
Mr. PIERCE. The other doors stay open for the convenience of people who
want to make payments of their water bill. There is a bill drop there.
Mr. HUBERT. So, you opened the door and stood in the vestibule and
sometime afterward you locked the door back again, is that correct?
Mr. PIERCE. Sometime afterward I did, but there was a whole lot which
took place in between before I locked it back.
Mr. HUBERT. What I am interested in, did anyone come in the building?
Mr. PIERCE. No one came in the building. That, I can safely swear to.
The reason I opened those two or three doors there which lock the
vestibule there from the entrance to the building that allows people at
night, or any hour of the day to come in and make payments, drop their
water bill there, and this is the reason I refer to it as a vestibule,
foyer.
Now, we are making 45 minutes, I would think or an hour’s change in
time with relation to this particular occasion when I opened up. This
happened after we had been told we couldn’t remain in the basement area.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you come up from the basement area?
Mr. PIERCE. We came up from the basement area and porters asked me why
they couldn’t stand----
Mr. HUBERT. When you came up from the basement area, who was operating
the elevator?
Mr. PIERCE. McKinzie was operating the elevator.
Mr. HUBERT. Who came up with you?
Mr. PIERCE. I and Servance and Riggs and the telephone operator named
Ruth.
Mr. HUBERT. And Kelly?
Mr. PIERCE. Who?
Mr. HUBERT. Kelly? Did Kelly----
Mr. PIERCE. I don’t know a Kelly. Maybe her last name is Kelly.
Mr. HUBERT. No; this is a man called Edward Kelly. What about Henry, or
Harold Fuqua?
Mr. PIERCE. Harold Fuqua remained in the basement momentarily. He
remained in the basement and started to stay and--he did stay--at
that time he wasn’t on the elevator when we came up. He did stay,
but later he was also required to leave though his immediate job
responsibility--he stated he was forced to leave later. At that time he
stayed----
Mr. HUBERT. At any time was the service elevator locked in such a way
that it couldn’t be operated, to your knowledge?
Mr. PIERCE. Are you asking me if there were a time when it was locked?
That, I don’t know. I don’t think it was, but it is possible that it
might have actually been locked but I don’t actually know.
Mr. HUBERT. What about the two elevators used during the week, were
they locked?
Mr. PIERCE. They were turned off.
Mr. HUBERT. They couldn’t operate at all? It is possible to lock the
service elevator so that it cannot move?
Mr. PIERCE. Well, now, that is an embarrassing question. In 5 years I
have never seen it locked, but all other elevators that I know of do
have locks on the outside, and undoubtedly it does, too, but in my mind
I am trying to----
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