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

 Why would a guy who was knee-deep in the drama that weekend write an article about it without saying a word about his involvement?

LIFE magazine reporter Tommy Thompson was involved with Marina Oswald that weekend in a way similar to Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night (except without any romantic or humorous elements). He even told his partner Allan Grant that it was the biggest scoop of his career.

So why, when he wrote an article about it for the November 29 LIFE did he not say a word about having been, personally, in the thick of it?

Alan Grant eventually wrote an article about it. He said he flew out from California on Friday, and, through hook and crook, he and Tommy found out where Marina was living and went to her house and were invited in. Then, they convinced Marina and her mother to let them take them to the DPD to visit Lee. It was late on Friday, so they said they would leave for Dallas and take them to the Adolphus hotel and give them their rooms, so that they could spend the night, and then be ready to see Lee in the morning.

But wait. That makes no sense. Irving is just half an hour from Dallas. I have a brother who lives in Irving, and every time I have gone to Dallas to do research in Dealey Plaza, I have stayed with him. So, why would Marina go off with these strangers to stay in their hotel room when there was no reason why they couldn't drive her out in the morning? 

And that is exactly what happened. They were told to come back in the next morning, and they would ride with them. But, the weird thing is that, when they came the next day, they took them to their hotel anyway. It was morning. There was no issue of sleeping. So, what did they need to go to their hotel for?

Then, supposedly, Marguerite got the idea to call Captain Fritz from the hotel to actually arrange the visit, and Fritz gave her a time and told her how to proceed. 

Then, an FBI agent shows up at the door. He wants Marina to go with him to answer questions, but Marguerite says no.

Keep in mind that this wasn't just a hotel room. It was like an apartment with multiple rooms. 

Then, they took them to the DPD to visit Oswald. That took several hours; mostly waiting. Then, the police returned Marina and Marguerite to the hotel.

Then, they decided that since the Adolphus hotel was crammed with reporters, it would be best if they took them to the Executive Inn, which was out of town. So, they did that, registering them under the name Mr. and Mrs. Alan Grant and family.

WHAT THE MOTHER-FLOOK? Why didn't they just take Marina home to Ruth Paine's house? That's where she lived. Grant had to return to California, so he handed Marina 10 twenty dollar bills (worth more than $2000 today) and said his goodbyes. But, what was he thinking? If there was some reason why Marina couldn't return home to Ruth Paine's house that Saturday, then how could she return there on Sunday or Monday or Tuesday or any other day? Remember, supposedly, no one knows that Oswald is going to be killed the next day. So, why was Grant thinking that she was never going to go home? 

What's amazing about this is the presumption that Marina was done staying with Ruth, and that presumption came about without any discussion whatsoever. A person is supposed to read this article without asking, "Why the hell didn't you just take her home?"

https://www.allangrant.com/oswaldstory.htm?fbclid=IwAR3JT-26xGW4LR3ZgpHlURNv9exXW7QZn2jOyZ52ZXw91B9piQDC2gFW_f0

It's not as though Marina said to them: "Don't return me to Ruth Paine's house."

When you're doing something with somebody on a given day, you don't just decide that they don't want to go home anymore.

But, here is how they parsed it: 

"At two-thirty on the 23rd of November 1963 we took the Oswalds including Lee's two young children to the courthouse as arranged and left them in custody of the police. They were returned several hours later in two cars."

"It was now quite obvious that we had to move the Oswalds to another location. But it would be complicated since the chance of discovery had increased. Most of the press corps was at the courthouse when the Oswald had been dropped off. Captain Fritz had promised the utmost secrecy. But we were still nervous."

"We decided to take them to the Executive Inn on the other side of town and register them in a suite as Mr. & Mrs. Allan Grant & Family. Then with the help of our Russian interpreter we explained to Marina, what we were doing and then helped them get settled in their rooms. I told them that if they needed anything to just sign my name to the bin and the charges would be taken care of by LIFE magazine. I then handed Marguerite ten twenty dollar bills which she slipped into her pocket."

I tell you, I'm laughing out loud. How could they write that without explaining why they couldn't and wouldn't just take Marina Oswald home?

That article was written by Allan Grant, the photographer. But, Tommy Thompson wrote an article for the November 29 LIFE which said nothing about their direct, personal involvement with the Oswalds.

But, I'll leave you with this: Do you really think the feds were going to let anyone take Marina Oswald somewhere without their knowledge and consent? You do realize how important Marina was, right? You do realize that she was the most important and most damaging witness against Oswald, don't you? If you consider the whole Warren Report and the case it made against Oswald, 75% of it was done by Marina. She was absolutely crucial to selling Oswald as murderer and monster. In a word: she was gold. You really think they were going to let her out of their sight? Out of their control?

This story was just damage-control. The feds and the cops were watching her like a hawk and controlling her motions the whole time. I'm not saying that it's all made up, but remember who we're talking about: LIFE magazine, Henry Luce, who was Skull and Bones and CIA. The same LIFE magazine that just happened to get to Abraham Zapruder also just happened to get to Marina Oswald.

The feds and the cops knew that Oswald was a dead man, and they were in control of everything Marina did and everywhere she went. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. They never lost sight of her or control of her. Even Ruth Paine knew that Marina was at the Executive Inn that night, and she learned about it from an FBI agent. She even called Marina there. It's in her testimony.

This is Tommy Thompson's article in the November 29 LIFE, which I have. I took the picture. And the article says not a word about any of this.

For me, finding out about all this makes the whole thing even more chilling. Yes, they took custody of Marina on Saturday before Oswald was killed, just as I said, but they were very tricky and Machiavellian about it.