Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

I pointed out last night that Marina testified that George DeMo knew, somehow, that Oswald had been the one who shot and nearly killed General Walker. 

If true, then George too should have been arrested because if he really believed it, then he had a moral and legal duty to inform the police, which he didn't.

They arrest you for trying to shoot someone, even if you miss. Squeaky Fromme served 34 years in federal prison for trying to shoot Gerald Ford- and she not only didn't get a shot off; she didn't even have a cartridge in the chamber.  

But, George DeMo was asked specifically about what Marina said, and he denied it.

Mr. JENNER. Was there ever an occasion after this time, when you and Mrs. De Mohrenschildt came to see the Oswalds, that as soon as you opened the door, you said, "Lee, how is it possible that you missed?"
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Never. I don't recall that incident.

Then DeMo clarified what he really said:

"I remember very distinctly saying, "Did you take the potshot at General Walker?"

And Oswald's response was:

He sort of shriveled, you see, when I asked this question.
Mr. JENNER. He became tense?
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Became tense, you see, and didn't answer anything, smiled, you know, made a sarcastic--not sarcastic, made a peculiar face.
Mr. JENNER. The expression on his face?
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. That is right, changed the expression on his face.
Mr. JENNER. You saw that your remark to him----
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Had an effect on him.
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Had an effect on him. But naturally he did not say yes or no, but that was it.

Is not the implication of that that Oswald's response suggested that he did it? What if there was a shooting attempt in your neighboorhood and a friend visited you and asked if you did it? How would you respond? Wouldn't it be something like, "Are you out of your freakin' mind?" Wouldn't you be offended and irritated that he would think, even for a second, that you could do such a thing? And apparently, Oswald didn't take it jokingly, and neither did Marina.      

Mr. JENNER. Did you see the weapon?
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. I did not see the weapon. 

Hmm. That's weird because his wife reported seeing the weapon and discussing it with Marina. And DeMo had to know that since he asked Oswald if he shot at Walker. You need a weapon to do that, right? So, let me get this straight: 

They get to the house. Mrs. DeMo follows Marina into a room where she sees the rifle leaning in a corner. She notices the scope on it, and they discuss it. Marina tells her that Lee goes to the park and shoots leaves with it. That's leaves. Those little green things. That's what Mrs. DeMo said in her testimony. And, even though George heard that Oswald now owned a rifle, at no point did he get up and go look at it. He wasn't interested, even though he owned a rifle himself. 

"I was standing there and then Jeanne told us, or Marina did, that here is a gun,"

So, he was on his feet, and he heard that, yet, he didn't go look at the rifle. Just wasn't interested. That's his story, apparently.  

Mr. JENNER. I won't show it to you then. Was there any discussion about the weapon thereafter?
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. No, no discussion. That ended the conversation, the remark about Walker, ended the conversation. There was a silence after that, and we changed the subject and left very soon afterwards.
Mr. JENNER. Did you have a feeling that he was uncomfortable?
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Very, very uncomfortable, but I still did not believe that he did it, you see. It was frankly a stupid joke on my part. As the time goes by it shows that sometimes it is not so stupid. But you know my wife will tell you probably that I have a very stupid, bad sense of humor, she says, you know.
Mr. JENNER. Some people say you have a sadistic sense of humor.
Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Possibly. She says so also, my wife usually says that I like to tease people. 

I'd call that a nifty little save at the end to avoid liability. 

Poor George. He clearly wanted to support the idea that Oswald shot at Walker- because he knew that's what the WC wanted to hear, and he was trying to deliver. 

But, you can't have it both ways, George. You can't have it that Oswald's response suggested to you that he did it, that he shot at Walker, without placing a legal burden on YOU to thwart any future attempts.    

I'm not surprised that Marina and George would give different accounts of this, and neither one is very credible.