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

To me, one of the most intriguing, yet unexplored, elements of the JFK assassination is how they got Marina Oswald to say the things she said to the Warren Commission. She was taken into custody on November 22, and then on November 23, she was moved into a federal facility posing as the Six Flag Inn. Just think: Oswald was still alive, and they took possession of his wife.  And they held her. By February 3, she was ready to testify to the WC, and she was like the Stepford Wife of the FBI. It was just 72 days later. 

And what a change she underwent. On November 22, all she knew about Oswald owning a rifle was that he owned one in Russia but sold it. But, by February, she was singing about Oswald and his rifle, how he used to go out and shoot leaves with it. In November, she knew nothing about Oswald going to Mexico City, but by February, he went to the bull fight, he bought her trinkets, etc. On November 22, she knew nothing about the Backyard photos, but in February, she remembered taking them- in the winter, even though it obviously was spring in the photos.  Remember: Dallas isn't Miami, and it gets some winter.  

The process of brainwashing Marina Oswald involved several well-known cult brainwashing techniques. 

1 Isolation. She was cut her off from the outside world. During the period of her isolation, she had no contact with anyone on the outside. that is, with no one from her former life. 

2  Immersion. She was surrounded by people who were fervent about Oswald having been a monster. 

3 Comfort and Reward. This took several forms: the comfort of approval and acceptance; the reward of money (she received well over a hundred thousand dollars, an amount exceeding the worth of a million dollars today.) Are you aware that she immediately got a business agent to represent her? Because obviously there was going to be books, movies, paid interviews, etc. She had something to sell. 

4 Trauma, that is, the perception of trauma. She was told that she was traumatized, and that as a defense against trauma, her mind was blocking out certain memories, which they were going to help her get back. 

5. Sex, she reportedly had a lot of it after the assassination with various men, including FBI agents. I realize that is a bold statement, so I will tell you what it's based on. Marina reportedly became good friends with Madeleine Duncan Brown, the longtime mistress of LBJ. The investigative reporter Pat Shannan also became a close friend of Madeleine and her husband and stayed with them as a guest, repeatedly. Pat told me that Madeleine told him that Marina told her about all the sex. It began immediately with Jim Martin, the proprietor of the Six Flags Inn, and that's documented. I am mentioning this because sex is commonly used by cults to control and convert people. 

6. Drugs, and I admit that I have no evidence for it yet. But, I am convinced that drugs were an element in her transformation, and I wouldn't be surprised if they gave her LSD, among other drugs. 

I often hear people say that Marina lied to avoid deportation back to the USSR. It's not as simple as that. It's not simple as her lying. It was about mind control. Did Marina believe the things she told the Warren Commission?  At some level she did, and at another level she didn't. You really need to think of it like a cult.  Did Patty Hearst believe the things that the Symbionese Liberation Army told her? On some level she did, and at another level she didn't. Once she got away from them, the programming they did on her wore off very quickly. And the same was true for Marina. Once she got away from them, Marina changed her mind about Oswald declaring that he was innocent. This was after her having been the most damaging witness against him that the Warren Commission could muster. But likewise, it wore off. She sporadically surfaced over the years and decades and did interviews, contradicting her former self and defending Oswald- although not very coherently.

And in watching those interviews of her, I get the strong feeling that she is damaged goods. I suspect she has lived with a lot of unending internal strife. And if I could talk to her, I would first ask her about Oswald's shirt, the one he wore in the doorway. But after that, the main thing I would want to know is: what did they do to you when you were in custody? What drugs were you given? What did they tell you about the process you were undergoing? And how many times did they drill you the questions the Warren Commission would later ask you?  They practiced you, didn't they? Did you have a regular coach, like an acting coach? Did you have your children with you when you were in custody?  The whole time? Or, did they use your children to manipulate you? Are you really going to leave the world without telling us everything you know? Don't you want to? You really need to. Because: eternity is a long time. 

Here is a picture of her being sworn in at her Warren Commission hearing. Look how thin and wasted she was. She looks practically emaciated, and her weight looked perfect on November 22.  She lost a lot of weight, and all while in U.S. federal custody. Didn't they feed her? And if you think it's because she was distraught about Oswald, it didn't sound that way.