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

OK, let's continue now with our analysis of our favorite MK-Ultra subject, Marina Oswald. She was held in captivity for over two months, even though she was NOT under arrest and not even a suspect in the case. 

Yesterday, we were discussing the allegation that Lee beat her, and I laid out the gross inadequacy, the veritable emptiness of the charge. It was never substantiated. 

Then, Rankin tried something that failed. He tried to get her to say that she went and told someone about about the beatings.

Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall that you called Mrs. Meller and told her about your husband beating you and she told you to get a cab and come to stay with her?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, but he didn't beat me.
Mr. RANKIN. And you didn't tell her that he had beat you, either?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't think so. 

What??? In the testimony of Mrs. Jeannie DeMohrenschildt, the wife of Lee's "handler" George DeMohrenschildt, Jeannie claimed that she was the one who took Marina to Mrs. Meller- not some cabbie. And, you read above what Marina said, that that incident did NOT involve violence. 

Mrs. De MOHRENSCHILDT. He was strange in many, many ways. But he never appeared to be violent or anything. He was a little violent once, when we came to the point that we said we are taking your wife and child away. That is the only time he showed real nastiness.

So, Mrs. DeM. said that that was the only time Oswald got a "little" violent, but notice that she gave no description of the violence. That, to me, is a huge problem. How hard is it to describe what someone did? What exactly did she see Lee doing to Marina? How could she not say, and how could Mr. Jenner (her interrogator) not ask? And remember that Marina denied that this incident involved violence. 

How did Marina remember taking a cab when Mrs. DeMohrenschildt said she and her husband drove her? 

Was somebody not getting her story straight?  

Marina certainly didn't tell Ruth Paine that Lee beat her, and Ruth was her closest friend.  Marina was a lot closer to Ruth Paine than to Mrs. Meller or to Mrs. DeMohrenschildt. We have letters that Marina wrote to Ruth from New Orleans, and they did contain intimate, personal things and complaints about Lee, but not that he beat her. For instance, one of her complaints was that he didn't make love to her often enough. 

But, there was an ironic line in the testimony:

Mr. RANKIN. Mrs. Oswald, we will ask you to be very frank with us. It isn't for the purpose of embarrassing you or your husband...

Of course not; they wouldn't want to embarrass Lee. Heaven forbid. Perish the thought. 

The bottom line is that we don't know what it was like between the two of them, Lee and  Marina. Undoubtedly, they were having problems. I don't doubt that he was difficult to live with.  I'm sure he had his faults.  And I am very open to the idea that he mistreated her at times. Did he actually beat her? Did he strike her, even once? Neither I nor anyone else can say, but her testimony sounds forged and forced, and by itself, would not hold up in court. And Oswald wasn't there to defend himself. 

How is domestic violence proven in court? I've checked on some legal advice sites for women, and what they recommend are: produce medical evidence if you ever went to the doctor or hospital; produce police records, if you had to call the police; point out bruises, scars, contusions, etc. if they exist; describe as graphically and specifically as possible what he did; and bring in witnesses who can confirm what they saw or heard.
       
One thing is for absolute certain: THEY WERE TRYING TO PAINT A PICTURE OF A MONSTER. They had to paint a picture of a monster. That's because Oswald had no motive to kill Kennedy. None.  Extreme mental derangement with propensity to violence was the only thing they could come up with.   

And Marina knew it. I'm sure she was told over and over by the FBI and Secret Service that Lee was a monster- not just a bad husband but a monster. 


Rankin kept going back to the idea that Oswald wanted Marina to return to Russia without him. Now, you'd think that they would clarify: did he mean for Marina to go alone or for June to go too? And remember, Marina got pregnant, so, at some point, there was a second child involved. Since she gave birth in October, it means she got pregnant in February. So, if it was February or later that they were talking about this, they were talking about two children. Did he really want to lose his kids?    

That seems preposterous when there is ample evidence that Oswald was very devoted to his kids. For instance, Buell Frazier often spoke of how devoted Oswald was to his kids. He speaks of it to this day.  

So, they all go; he stays and lives alone; and that's supposed to make Oswald happy? That's supposed to be what he wants?  She reported that she did leave him for a few days during a difficult time, and she described how much he missed her and begged her to return to him- to the point of saying that he didn't think he could go on living without her.  

Mr. RANKIN. Then did he get in touch with you again?
Mrs. OSWALD. At that time there was very little room at Anna Meller's and it was very uncomfortable and I left and went to Katya Ford whose husband at that time happened to be out of town on business. I spent several days with Katya Ford but then when her husband returned I did not want to remain with her. And it was on a Sunday morning then when I moved over to Anna Ray. Lee called me and said he wanted to see me, that he had come by bus and he wanted to see me and he came that evening and he cried and said that he wanted me to return home because if I did not return he did not want to continue living. He said he didn't know how to love me in any other way and that he will try to change.

So, how does that fit with him wanting her to return to Russia? It doesn't. But now, I see the purpose of it. 

Mr. RANKIN. Did you understand when he suggested it that he proposed that you go (back to Russia) and he stay?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. Now, I think I know why he had in mind to start his foolish activity which could harm me but, of course, at that time he didn't tell me the reason. It is only now that I understand it. (psst: because of what was hammered into her during her 2+ months incarceration) At that time when I would ask him he would get angry because he couldn't tell me.

So, the idea was that Lee was already contemplating monstrous acts, and he wanted Marina to return to Russia so that he could proceed with them, unencumbered. 

This was very damning testimony, but I presume you know as well as I do that Oswald was innocent. He did not kill Kennedy or Tippit.  But, if he had, it would have been monstrous, and you don't just wake up a monster. 

Remember, the official story requires that Oswald be extremely psychotic. Because: how could he be sitting in the lunch room of the Book Depository reading a newspaper on Wednesday, November 20 and see a reference to Kennedy's motorcade and decide on the spot, "I'm going to kill him" without being psychotic?  
Psychotic, psychopathic, criminally insane- pick whichever term you like. But, that's what he had to be to do what they claim he did. 

Most people don't have any inclination to murder- although I presume that most would kill in an emergency, a life or death situation in which someone is on a rampage, attacking them or others. That's why I am opposed to gun restrictions because if guns were allowed everywhere, including college campuses, then if one guy goes berserk, other armed individuals would be able to subdue him, and I mean lethally. It's called: justifiable homicide.  

I don't have to tell you that there have been a lot of murderous rampages- including lately. But, for Oswald to decide on the spur of a totally normal, ordinary, unprovoked moment to kill Kennedy is as extreme as it gets. To be sitting in the lunch room at work on a perfectly ordinary day, getting the "stimulus" of seeing the motorcade route in the newspaper, and then responding to that with the compulsion to kill? It doesn't get any more deranged than that. 

Remember: he had no motive whatsoever to kill Kennedy. According to Marina, Lee liked and respected Kennedy and even defended him. And, the idea that he did it for infamy makes no sense. If he wanted credit for it, why didn't he take credit for it? 

So, ultimately, it came down to: Oswald killed because he was insane. And they were using Marina to build the case that he was insane.

But, here's the problem: they could claim that he got the idea to kill Kennedy in an instant just from seeing the newspaper by claiming that he was insane. But, they couldn't claim that he instantly became insane. He had to already be insane. And that's what they were using Marina for. They were painting a picture of Psychotic Lee, and most of the brush strokes had to come from his wife, Marina.  

Mr. RANKIN. Is there something that you have learned since that caused you to believe that this suggestion (of you returning to Russia) was related to (his inability) to provide for you OR was it to be sure that you wouldn't be hurt by what he was going to do?
Mrs. OSWALD. At that time I didn't know this. I only saw that he was in such a state that he was struggling and perhaps did not understand himself. I thought that I was the reason for that.

That's what you call leading the witness. Rankin was a lawyer, and he knew it. But, this wasn't a trial, and Oswald didn't have a lawyer there to object. 

And notice that Marina's answer was pretty wishy-washy. She knew what Rankin wanted to establish: that Lee was nuts. And, she was trying to deliver it, but it wasn't easy. Even though she had been programmed for over two months by men who were telling her every day, over and over, "Your husband was a monster; your husband was a monster; your husband was a montser," there was only so much she could muster up. 

Rankin pressed her about their hardships and poverty, but she made light of it, saying that she was used to having little because she had had little in Russia, and that she felt that they had enough. That must have been a blow to Rankin.

Then, it was back to her returning to Russia alone.

Mr. RANKIN. Did you understand when he suggested you return to Russia that he was proposing to break up your marriage?
Mrs. OSWALD. I told him that I would go to Russia if he would give me a divorce, but he did not want to give me a divorce.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he say why?
Mrs. OSWALD. He said that if he were to give me a divorce that that would break everything between us, which he didn't want. That he wanted to keep me as his wife, but I told him that if he wants to remain in the United States I want to be free in Russia.

Again, notice that Rankin gave no consideration to what would happen to their daughter June if Marina returned to Russia. But, how could the two of them, Lee and Marina, have the discussion without addressing June? Why didn't Marina bring it up? How could she be talking about it without including her daughter?  She was, after all, the girl's mother. So, Oswald wanted her to leave, but he also wanted to remain married to her? But, wasn't it the idea that she would move back to Russia permanently? And he would stay here? Then, in what sense would they continue to be married? It doesn't make sense.   

Rankin kept hitting it because he wanted to show that Oswald was entering his monster phase and he wanted his family gone so that he could be unleashed. But again, Marina's account of it sounds contrived and forced. 

But, next came a very big issue, and it was Marina's second major fulfillment to the Warren Commission after the beatings: the rifle.

First remember: Oswald denied owning any rifle. 

Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall the first time that you observed the rifle?
Mrs. OSWALD. That was on Neely Street. I think that was in February.

According to the official story, Oswald didn't order the rifle until March 12, and he didn't pick it up at the post office until March 25. I've already discussed the problem of Oswald ordering a rifle under the name "A. Hidell" but having it sent to the post office box of Lee Harvey Oswald.  But regardless, it was practically April before Oswald could have brought the rifle home, according to the official tale. 

How significant is it that Marina mistakenly said February? It's very significant. It was a major gaffe. That's because it was only the following February. It was all very recent, and she should not have been off by that much.   

Mr. RANKIN. How did you learn about it? Did you see it some place in the apartment?

Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, Lee had a small room where he spent a great deal of time, where he read---where he kept his things, and that is where the rifle was.
Mr. RANKIN. Was it out in the room at that time, as distinguished from in a closet in the room?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, it was open, out in the open. At first I think---I saw some package up on the top shelf, and I think that that was the rifle. But I didn't know. And apparently later he assembled it and had it in the room.
Mr. RANKIN. When you saw the rifle assembled in the room, did it have the scope on it?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, it did not have a scope on it.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you have any discussion with your husband about the rifle when you first saw it?
Mrs. OSWALD. Of course I asked him, "What do you need a rifle for? What do we need that for?" He said that it would come in handy some time for hunting. 

So, Oswald left the rifle out in the open? That's unusual. I own a rifle and a handgun, and I don't leave them out in the open. I don't know of anyone who does. I did know a guy who lived east of San Diego, close to Mexico, in that high desert country, a remote, rugged area, and he was being harassed by neighbors. And, he kept a loaded rifle out in the open. But, that's different. He was kind-of under siege. The Oswald's were living in an apartment, and they definitely were not under siege.

The other thing I question is the idea of the rifle being disassembled. Would they ship a rifle that way? Why? I frankly don't believe it. And she said the rifle would come in "handy for hunting?" Handy? A multipurpose tool for camping comes in handy, but a rifle? "Handy" is an idiom that does not apply to rifles. A rifle handy for hunting? That sounds like sarcasm, and it's hard to imagine anyone saying it. 

Does anyone know which language Marina spoke in to the Warren Commission? They said that there were two interpreters present, so that sounds like she spoke in Russian. Yet, her discourse sounds like broken English. She may have spoken in both English and Russian, but I just don't know. 

Part 3 on Marina Oswald follows.