Captain Will Fritz of the Dallas Police Department in 1963 kept notes of his various interrogations of arrestee Lee Oswald conducted on 11/23-24. While they did not explicitly offer any new insights into the case, they reveal the deep corruption and criminality of Fritz and his police department.
The notes were serendipitously found in 1995 after being presumed destroyed. Fritz made the notes in his own hand while he and other law enforcement officials questioned Oswald about their allegations that he killed the president and J. D. Tippit.
In the following semantic summary, we stress strongly that the person under arrest was HARVEY Oswald as documented by John Armstrong. HARVEY was the patsy who had nothing to do with shooting either Kennedy or Tippit.
The notes differ significantly from the typed report he submitted for the official record. Fritz' interview notes are very factual and documentary of the information he obtained from Oswald. This workman like document differs sharply from the melodramatic horse manure either he wrote or was ghost written for him by Hollywood talent.
First, we shall recapitulate the notes as we read the photographic images of them which renders 8 sides of 4 pages. The first interview is of the morning of November 23, 1963. The notes reference an event from 11/21, then state that Oswald doesn't pay cash for his wife to stay with Mrs Payne. Oswald also denied owning a rifle, including the rifle planted by the vile Ruth Hyde Payne in her garage, and which she or other spooks ordered from Kleins in Chicago.
Oswald states that he came from New Orleans in 1963 and that he has had no visitors at his apartment, a term which we believe refers to his rooming house on North Beckley. He denies ordering a rifle or having a receipt for the purchase of one. The notes state that Oswald bought a gun 7 months ago in Fort Worth but does not know where he bought it. This statement may be a lie by Fritz as we know that Oswald did NOT own a gun.
The notes continue with Oswald's discussion of his residency in the USSR from where he told Fritz that he returned in July 1962, and was interviewed by the FBI in Fort Worth.
Oswald stated his opinion that Mrs Payne was intimidated by the FBI interview of her on 11/22.
Page 2 - the backside of Page 1 - has the name Jeno Markas, and 2 other numbers.
Page 3 has the time 3:15 with the first note indicating that Oswald denied owning a rifle, but that he saw one at the "building" which we presume to be a reference to the Texas School Book Depository which was a CIA front company for planning the assassination. The note on the rifle is made in connection to Mr Truly and 2 others. From other information we have, we suspect that the rifle was a Mauser brought to the TSBD by a Truly associate.
Oswald said that he went home to change his pants. He admitted going to the USSR and living there 3 years, and writing the Russian Embassy, for which semi-illiterate Fritz wrote "wrighting." This is who was leading the "investigation."
If we read the notes correctly, Fritz has Oswald leaving school in Ft Worth to join the Marines, but glaringly omits any dates. Fritz said that Oswald got the "usual medals."
Oswald denied any political beliefs but admitted to belonging to Fair Play for Cuba, and supporting the Castro revolution, which in fact the US government supported. Along with this note, Fritz wrote "? live A. H. Lee says landlady did that." We do not know what this means.
Another column begins with Oswald stating that he was on the 2d floor [of the TSBD] having a Coke when an officer came in to the first floor, which must be a reference to Marion Baker. Oswald said that he had lunch with Bill Shelley "in front." He stated that he went home believing that there was nothing to do. Fritz states that he asked about the punch clock, but Oswald replied that they were not rigid about time. We believe that the notes say that Oswald regularly worked on the first floor but that he worked "all over" the building. The note section ends with Oswald admitting that he speaks Russian.
Page 4 begins with Oswald asking to speak with Mr. Abt who is a New York attorney. Oswald said that he lived in New Orleans at 4706 Magazine St, and worked for the Wm B Reilly Co.
Fritz notes that Oswald says nothing against the President, and does not wish to talk any further. Oswald also denies refusing any package delivery in the past, which is probably a reference to the rifle frame-up.
Oswald said that he, as well as Mrs Payne, were members of the ACLU which he joined in the event he needed financial help with legal fees, and which representation he was repeatedly denied by the Dallas police.
Oswald admitted having a card with the name Alek "Heidel" as Fritz put it, and a Selective Service card, but refused to acknowledge the signature as his and would not say why he had these items. He said that the names in his address book were Russian emigrants he visited. He denied shooting the president and did not name the governor who was shot, leading us to believe that he did not know about that aspect of the plot.
Page 5 is dated 11/23/1963 6:35. Oswald was shown the famous faked photo of him bearing a rifle, but he refused to discuss it, and once again denied ordering a rifle from Kleins. Fritz says that Oswald complained about not having a jacket for the line-up. The page ends with a note about the 4th [interview] at 10 - 11:15 on 11/24/1963.
Page 6 is the blank backside of Page 5. Page 7 mentions the 4 man line-up at 11:26 PM which would have been 11/23 for the Tippit shooting which placed Oswald 2d as viewed left to right though perspective is unstated. Evidence is reviewed then filed.
The second interview is noted at 11/23 10:35 - 11:34. Oswald said that he left work by bus and got off with a transfer which was found in his shirt pocket. Although his handwriting is illegible at this point, we believe that Fritz notes Oswald denying that he had a post office box, and he also denied bringing a package to work on 11/22. He also denied telling Frazier - a co-worker and neighbor of "Mrs Payne" - of his purpose for going to Irving [the night before.] He also denied bringing curtain rods to work. Our opinion is that Frazier brought them to work to hoax people about Oswald bringing Mrs Payne's rifle to work.
The notes continue with Oswald saying that he got off of the bus due to the traffic jams to pick up a cab back to his apartment whose fare was .85 USD. After arriving home, he changed his shirt and pants.
Page 8 - the backside of Page 7 - has a note asking if Helen Travis was head of Fair Play for Cuba.
The notes are generally non judgmental, being largely a set of recording what was asked of and said by Oswald.
We then looked at the type written report from Fritz. On page 3 he wrote, "I asked him why he carried his pistol, and he remarked, 'You know how boys do when they have a gun, they just carry it.'" What a hoot! After recovering from laughter, I stopped reading Fritz' drivel which was the product of a very imaginative and fictive imagination.
No where in Fritz' notes does he indicate any demeanor of cockiness or obstinance. The tenor of the responses is always matter-of-fact. We are certain that Fritz wrote a work of fiction to make HARVEY the patsy.
Much more could be said about Fritz' notes, but our first step was to summarize their contents.
Reference
Mary Ferrell Foundation, Will Fritz's Notes from Interrogation of Oswald, accessed 6/14/2019
Mary Ferrell Foundation, Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald, accessed 6/14/2019
Copyright 2019 Tony Bonn. All rights reserved.
