Mr. HUBERT.
This is a deposition of Mr. William D. Crowe, Jr., who also uses the
professional or stage name of Bill DeMar.
Mr. Crowe, my name is Leon D. Hubert and I am a member of the advisory staff of
the general counsel on the President's Commission under the provisions of
Executive Order 11130 issued by President Johnson on November 29, 1963, the
joint resolution of Congress No. 137, and the rules and procedure adopted by the
President's Commission in conformance with that Executive order and that joint
resolution, I have been authorized to take a sworn deposition from you.
I state to you now that the general nature of the Commission's inquiry is to
ascertain, evaluate, and report upon the facts relevant to the assassination of
President Kennedy, and the subsequent violent death of Lee Harvey Oswald. In
particular as to you, Mr. Crowe, the nature of the inquiry is to determine what
facts you know about the death of Oswald or the relationship that there might
have been between Oswald and Ruby and any other pertinent facts that you may
know about the general inquiry. Now, Mr. Crowe, you appear today, I believe, by
virtue of a letter addressed to you by Mr. J. Lee Rankin, general counsel of the
staff of the President's Commission, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
When did you receive it?
Mr. CROWE.
Friday; Friday, I guess.
Mr. HUBERT.
That would have been the 29th of May, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
I notice you are looking at an envelope. Is that the envelope?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
That it came in?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
What is the post date on it?
Mr. CROWE.
That is what I am looking for. It has no post date. The thing is blank.
Mr. HUBERT.
What is the date of the letter itself?
Mr. CROWE.
May 28; so it must have been the 29th.
Mr. HUBERT.
You think you received it on the 29th, last Friday. Is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
All right. Now would you please stand, sir, so I may administer the oath.
Raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to
give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you
God?
Mr. CROWE.
I do.
Mr. HUBERT.
Will you state your name for the record, please, sir?
Mr. CROWE.
William D. Crowe, Jr.
Mr. HUBERT.
Mr. Crowe, I understand that you also have a stage or professional name that
you have been using for some time and still do use, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
What is that name?
Mr. CROWE.
Bill DeMar.
Mr. HUBERT.
Now, you have never actually legally changed your name from William Crowe to
Bill DeMar, have you?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
And by legally changed your name, I mean a court proceeding to change your
name officially from Crowe to DeMar?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
This is purely a stage name?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
Where do you reside, Mr. DeMar?
Mr. CROWE.
Right now at 90 West 34th Street, Bayonne, N.J.
Mr. HUBERT.
How old are you, sir?
Mr. CROWE.
Thirty-two.
Mr. HUBERT.
Are you married?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
Have you ever been .married?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
Are you divorced?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you mind stating for the record who you were married to and when, and the
date of the divorce?
Mr. CROWE.
Her maiden name was Golden Thompson.
Mr. HUBERT.
T-h-o-m-p-s-o-n; is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
When did you marry this lady?
Mr. CROWE.
November 22, 1959, I think.
Mr. HUBERT.
And where were you married?
Mr. CROWE.
In Evansville, Ind.
Mr. HUBERT.
Evansville. Is your--
Mr. CROWE.
Home town.
Mr. HUBERT.
That is where you were born and educated and reared, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
That is correct.
Mr. HUBERT.
When were you divorced?
Mr. CROWE.
Around, I think it was around, February of 1962.
Mr. HUBERT.
And where?
Mr. CROWE.
In Evansville, Ind.
Mr. HUBERT.
Have you been married to anyone other than this lady?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you have any children?
Mr. CROWE.
One.
Mr. HUBERT.
What is the name of that child and how old is he?
Mr. CROWE.
William D. Crowe, the 3d, and he is four and a half approximately.
Mr. HUBERT.
Has your wife remarried?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes; she has.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you know the name of her husband?
Mr. CROWE.
Larry Kuence.
Mr. HUBERT.
Where do they live?
Mr. CROWE.
In Evansville, I don't know the address for sure, on the north side some
place.
Mr. HUBERT.
What is your occupation, sir?
Mr. CROWE.
Entertainer.
Mr. HUBERT.
How long have you been in that line of endeavor?
Mr. CROWE.
Off and on for 15 years.
Mr. HUBERT.
I think you said you were 32.
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
So you have been in the entertainment field since you were 17 years old?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
What educational background do you have?
Mr. CROWE.
High school graduate.
Mr. HUBERT.
And immediately after leaving high school, I suppose you got into the
entertainment business?
Mr. CROWE.
No; well, yes. I started during right before the senior year, and then I
went into the service for 3 years after high school.
Mr. HUBERT.
I see.
Mr. CROWE.
In 1951.
Mr. HUBERT.
So it was after you left the service that you entered the entertainment
field?
Mr. CROWE.
I continued with the entertainment field. I did it while I was in the
service also.
Mr. HUBERT.
You did it there also; I see. Have you ever had a partner in any of your
acts or entertainment endeavors?
Mr. CROWE.
No; not really.
Mr. HUBERT.
Can you give us by way of description what sort of entertainment act you
have done in the past?
Mr. CROWE.
Primarily a ventriloquist; also do a little standup comedy, impressions.
Mr. HUBERT.
Can you name for the record some of the places that you have played in--is
that the professional term--or appeared in?
Mr. CROWE.
Well, I have been over a great part of most of the United States and around
Germany, and Western Canada and Eastern Canada. Like the T-Bone Supper Club in
Wichita. Let's see, the Larue Supper Club in Indianapolis, the Orchid Club in
Tulsa. Club dates in Seattle, Washington, Atlanta, Georgia, New York.
Mr. HUBERT.
Well, I suppose that you have an agent, don't you, who does your booking for
you?
Mr. CROWE.
Several agents. Depending on what part of the country.
Mr. HUBERT.
You are also a member of the--
Mr. CROWE.
American Guild of Variety Artists.
Mr. HUBERT.
I suppose they have a record actually of every show or place that you have
been don't they?
Mr. CROWE.
I would imagine possibly they do.
Mr. HUBERT.
Now, have you developed any particular specialty of late?
Mr. CROWE.
Well, I have several gimmicks, I call them, that I feature in my vent act.
That would be about all.
Mr. HUBERT.
Now, I think you were playing at the Carousel Club in Dallas shortly before
the death of President Kennedy, isn't that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
Had you ever been there before?
Mr. CROWE.
Three times before.
Mr. HUBERT.
You have. Would you state the times that you have been there, just roughly
the approximate times, and the approximate length of each stay?
Mr. CROWE.
Let's see, about April of 1962 I was there for 2 weeks, and then I was gone
for about 7 weeks, came back for 3 weeks, and was out for maybe a month. Came
back for 4 weeks, was gone for about a year, and 2 months, and came back for 6
weeks.
Mr. HUBERT.
When did you come back to the Carousel the last time?
Mr. CROWE.
About the 1st of November.
Mr. HUBERT.
Was that booking done by yourself or some agent of yours?
Mr. CROWE.
Well, it was more by myself but it was a club that belonged to an agent of
mine so I paid him a commission to keep on the interest.
Mr. HUBERT.
When you say the club belonged to an agent of yours you don't mean that he
owned the club?
Mr. CROWE.
No; the agent hooked it.
Mr. HUBERT.
He owned the right to book you there, is that it?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
So you paid him a normal fee for booking at that place even though you
arranged to go yourself?
Mr. CROWE.
Between Jack Ruby and myself, yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
Was there any particular reason why you wanted to go back to Jack Ruby's
club?
Mr. CROWE.
I didn't, but Jack can be pretty persuasive at times, and because I had been
there so many times before, and the agent said that I would possibly go up to
Kansas City but it wouldn't be for a week or more.
Mr. HUBERT.
Who was that agent?
Mr. CROWE.
Wayne Keller in St. Louis.
Mr. HUBERT.
Where is he located?
Mr. CROWE.
St. Louis.
Mr. HUBERT.
Go ahead.
Mr. CROWE.
A week's out of work you know, is a couple of hundred dollars, so--
Mr. HUBERT.
Where were you at the time that he advised you of that?
Mr. CROWE.
At the T-Bone in Wichita.
Mr. HUBERT.
All right. So when he told you that he had another booking for you
elsewhere, but it would be a week, what happened next?
Mr. CROWE.
I told Jack I would go ahead and come down to his place.
Mr. HUBERT.
Jack had contacted you at the T-Bone?
Mr. CROWE.
He had called me at the T-Bone.
Mr. HUBERT.
How long before? How long before you actually went to Jack's Carousel Club
had he called you inviting you to come?
Mr. CROWE.
Four days.
Mr. HUBERT.
Was it arranged then as to how long your booking would be there?
Mr. CROWE.
No; nothing definite. I said 4 or 5 weeks.
Mr. HUBERT.
You had no written contract, did you?
Mr. CROWE.
I don't recall whether I wrote the contract before I went down or after I
got there.
Mr. HUBERT.
But there was a written contract?
Mr. CROWE.
There was a contract, yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT.
Who would have a copy of that? Would you?
Mr. CROWE.
I would have a copy of it.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you have it in fact?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes; but not on me.
Mr. HUBERT.
I suppose it is a standard contract?
Mr. CROWE.
Standard AGVA.
Mr. HUBERT.
What is it?
Mr. CROWE.
American Guild of Variety Artists.
Mr. HUBERT.
What was the word you used?
Mr. CROWE.
Standard AGVA.
Mr. HUBERT.
Standard AGVA form. What was the agreed price?
Mr. CROWE.
$182.50.
Mr. HUBERT.
Per week?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
When did you begin?
Mr. CROWE.
It was about 2 weeks before that eventful weekend. That was on the 22d.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you remember the day of the week that you began. Perhaps it would help
you if you would look at this calendar of 1963, which--do you have a calendar of
1963?
Mr. CROWE.
I am not sure, I think so.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you remember what day of the week you would normally begin?
Mr. CROWE.
Monday would be, the 11th.
Mr. HUBERT.
Your thought is that you began on Monday, November 11, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
Does the fact that it was Armed Services Day or Armistice Day, as it used to
be called, assist your recollection that it was that day? I mean, is there any
doubt about the fact--
Mr. CROWE.
Was that Armistice Day?
Mr. HUBERT.
Yes, November 11.
Mr. CROWE.
I don't know.
Mr. HUBERT.
Well, let me put it this way, is there any doubt in your mind that that is
the day you started, on the 11th?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
How many telephone calls do you suppose you got from Ruby in connection with
this last engagement?
Mr. CROWE.
Oh, maybe three.
Mr. HUBERT.
Those would have been to the T-Bone Hotel at Wichita?
Mr. CROWE.
No; there was no T-Bone Hotel.
Mr. HUBERT.
What was the place?
Mr. CROWE.
The T-Bone Club. It was at the motel where I was staying.
Mr. HUBERT.
What motel was that?
Mr. CROWE.
I think it was "El" something, I don't recall. Right around the corner
there. It began with an "E".
Mr. HUBERT.
It was near the T-Bone Club, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right. E1 Morocco maybe, I don't know.
Mr. HUBERT.
When did the engagement which began on November 11, end in fact?
Mr. CROWE.
Right before Christmas, which was about, let's see--do you have a calendar
again?
Mr. HUBERT.
Here is a calendar of 1963 again. Let me put it this way: Did your
engagement last for the entire period that you contracted for?
Mr. CROWE.
Longer.
Mr. HUBERT.
I see. And your thought is that you left on the 21st of December?
Mr. CROWE.
Twenty-first.
Mr. HUBERT.
Tell us in general what contacts you had with Jack Ruby during the period of
November 11 through the 22d or the 22d of November, to the day that the
President was shot?
Mr. CROWE.
Well, outside of seeing him in the club when he was there, and going to
breakfast with him once in awhile after working hours, that was about it.
Mr. HUBERT.
Where did you live in Dallas?
Mr. CROWE.
At that time I was at the Palomino Hotel on Fort Worth Avenue.
Mr. HUBERT.
Did you choose that place yourself?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes; I had stayed there previously.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do I understand from your statement that your contacts with Ruby were
limited to a few breakfasts that you had with him?
Mr. CROWE.
That is about it.
Mr. HUBERT.
Otherwise, I suppose it would have been simply business conversations, or
were there any business conversations?
Mr. CROWE.
The only thing, about the only thing Jack ever spoke of was the club, one
club or the other.
Mr. HUBERT.
Well, on these occasions when you went to breakfast, what did he discuss, if
you recall?
Mr. CROWE.
Business, money, the show itself, the band, the girls.
Mr. HUBERT.
By the way, when you say breakfast, I assume you mean the meal that you took
after the club closed about 2 o'clock in the morning, is that correct.
Mr. CROWE.
That is right.
Mr. HUBERT.
Where did you normally go?
Mr. CROWE.
There was no normal, whatever suited his fancy.
Mr. HUBERT.
Did he discuss with you the twistboard operation that he was interested
in?
Mr. CROWE.
No; he mentioned, I know he had one there that he was giving away as a
prize.
Mr. HUBERT.
You were not the master of ceremonies, were you?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
You were. In addition to the act you had, you were also master of
ceremonies?
Mr. CROWE.
I introduced the other acts, yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
And then you did some acting yourself?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you recall the names of some of the other employees or performers at the
Carousel?
Mr. CROWE.
You want the performers or the employees?
Mr. HUBERT.
Well, both. If you remember their names.
Mr. CROWE.
Let's see, at that time--at the time--
Mr. HUBERT.
Of this last engagement.
Mr. CROWE.
At the assassination because they had changed. At the time I came there and
the time I left there were different ones.
Mr. HUBERT.
They changed just within that 11-day period?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
Well, can you tell us those who were there when you first came and when they
left and then which others came on afterwards?
Mr. CROWE.
Tammi True.
Mr. HUBERT.
Did she remain the entire time you were there?
Mr. CROWE.
No, no; she left a week after I was there.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you know. why?
Mr. CROWE.
No; her and Jack got into it is all I know.
Mr. HUBERT.
You mean by that she had some sort of an argument?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes; I would say.
Mr. HUBERT.
Was Jada there then?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
Was she at the T-Bone Club?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you know who I mean when I say Jada, do you know who that person is?
Mr. CROWE.
I met her once but I have never worked with her.
Mr. HUBERT.
Where did you meet her?
Mr. CROWE.
In Dallas.
Mr. HUBERT.
Was she then working for Ruby?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you recall when you me her?
Mr. CROWE.
Around November 30, maybe.
Mr. HUBERT.
Of what year?
Mr. CROWE.
At the same time I was there.
Mr. HUBERT.
1963?
Mr. CROWE.
1963.
Mr. HUBERT.
You met her after the death of the President and after the death of
Oswald?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
Where did you meet her?
Mr. CROWE.
I don't remember the name of the club. It begins with an "M," upstairs
private club, about 3 blocks from the Carousel.
Mr. HUBERT.
She was playing there?
Mr. CROWE.
No; she was shooting a film there.
Mr. HUBERT.
What sort of a film was that?
Mr. CROWE.
A film that Diamond Pictures was making.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you know what the subject of it was?
Mr. CROWE.
A stripper in Dallas, I think.
Mr. HUBERT.
Were you part of that film?
Mr. CROWE.
I did a relief, a comedy relief segment.
Mr. HUBERT.
That was about the 30th of November, you say?
Mr. CROWE.
Approximately, I don't know for sure.
Mr. HUBERT.
It lasted only a few days, I take it?
Mr. CROWE.
A couple of days I know of.
Mr. HUBERT.
You had not met her before?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
Now, prior to the President's visit to Dallas, do you recall having either
discussed with Ruby the forthcoming visit or heard Ruby say anything concerning
it?
Mr. CROWE.
No; and the time I had known him I had never recalled ever having heard him
discuss politics or anybody in it.
Mr. HUBERT.
That means over this 2 or 3 years you knew him?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
(The documents referred to were marked Crowe Exhibits Nos. 1 and 2 for identification.)
Mr. Crowe, I wish you would read both of these documents with this in mind,
their I am going to ask you in a moment whether these documents represent the
truth or whether there are any changes or corrections that should be made in
them, and so forth. So if you would look at them and you can make notes, if you
wish on this pad or just make little check marks if you see anything that
represents what is now considered by you to be not true. We will go into those
matters after you have had a chance to read those documents.
Mr. CROWE.
Those are it; no changes.
Mr. HUBERT.
You have examined the two documents which have been marked for
identification as Exhibits Nos. 1 and 2 relating to your deposition; and I
understand you now to say that those documents represent the truth as you know
it, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
Of course, Exhibit No. 2 is your own affidavit.
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
I assume that you signed it--I mean you read it before you signed it?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
Exhibit No. 1 on the other hand is a report of an interview which you have
not seen before, I take it, and I specifically ask you if such is a correct
representation of the inquiry?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes; these are the questions, yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
Now, will you tell us what is your present recollection concerning whether
Oswald was in the Carousel Club during the week preceding the death of the
President?
Mr. CROWE.
Would you state the first part of the question again?
Mr. HUBERT.
Would you give us your present recollection concerning whether Lee Harvey
Oswald was in the Carousel Club on the week preceding the death of the
President?
Mr. CROWE.
From what I recall, the face appeared familiar and I possibly saw Lee Harvey
Oswald in the club the week before.
Mr. HUBERT.
Were the lighting conditions in the club such that you could have seen
him?
Mr. CROWE.
To some extent. If he was sitting right at the foot of the stage.
Mr. HUBERT.
If not, that is if he were not sitting right at the foot of the stage, then
what?
Mr. CROWE.
Then I wouldn't have used him and I wouldn't have seen him.
Mr. HUBERT.
In other words, your act required that you use the people up front in the
first place?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
And secondly, the lighting was such that you couldn't have seen him if he
were not in the first row; right?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
So that whomever you saw you thought and think might have a resemblance to
Lee Harvey Oswald must have been in the first row?
Mr. CROWE.
Right. I might say this: Bill Willis, the drummer in the band at the club,
said he seemed to remember Lee Harvey Oswald sitting in the front row on
Thursday night right in the corner of the Stage and the runway.
Mr. HUBERT.
Did you get this from Willis himself?
Mr. CROWE.
Right. But I wouldn't make that statement myself. But then I don't .recall
the night or the exact spot.
Mr. HUBERT.
I would like to Show you a number of pictures which I am not going to give
identifying numbers for this deposition since they have already been given
identification numbers, but, for example, I now hand to you four pictures, the
first two that I am going to call out being really a series of pictures--no, the
first one, I am sorry, being a series of pictures, and the other three being
individual pictures. These have previously been identified as Exhibits Nos.
5212, 5221, 5206, and 5205 in the deposition of C. L. Crafard, taken in
Washington, D.C., on April 10, 1964.
I am going to ask you to look at these pictures and see if in any of them you
see anybody that resembles the man that you may have seen there and who might
look like Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. CROWE.
When were these taken?
Mr. HUBERT.
Well, I don't know. I would just like to ask you to examine them and see if
there is anybody in there that looks like the man you used in your memory act
and who was in the front row, and who you think looked like Lee Harvey Oswald.
And whom you said may have been in the Carousel Club during the week prior to
the death of the President?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
You have said no after examining the picture which has been previously
identified as No. 5212 of the deposition of Crafard. Now, you are looking at the
picture which has been identified as Exhibit No. 5221 of the deposition of C.
L. Crafard, and I ask you the same question as to that picture?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
All right, your answer no is in response to the question relative to Exhibit
No. 5221, deposition of Crafard. Would you look at the next picture, please,
which has been identified previously as Exhibit No. 5206--
Mr. CROWE.
And all backs of heads.
Mr. HUBERT.
In the deposition of Crafard. I am sorry, I didn't get your answer?
Mr. CROWE.
I say all backs of heads. He kind of favors it.
Mr. HUBERT.
You are saying "he" and pointing. To whom are you pointing in the
picture?
Mr. CROWE.
I don't know.
Mr. HUBERT.
I mean describe it by way of position.
Mr. CROWE.
Well, he is standing on stage.
Mr. HUBERT.
Is it correct to say he is almost in the middle of that picture?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
And that the microphone is right behind him?
Mr. CROWE.
Right behind him.
Mr. HUBERT.
He seems to have his sleeves halfway rolled up his arm?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes; got a cigarette in his right hand.
Mr. HUBERT.
That he seems to be leaning over a bit?
Mr. CROWE.
And leaning forward.
Mr. HUBERT.
Does that person resemble the person that you think you saw in the Carousel
Club the week prior to the death of the President?
Mr. CROWE.
No; I wouldn't say that. I say he favors.
Mr. HUBERT.
Favors whom?
Mr. CROWE.
Oswald. But I don't recall him as being the one that I saw.
Mr. HUBERT.
You think the man you just talked about in Crafard Exhibit No. 5206 is not
the man that you have been referring to as possibly Oswald in your previous
statements to the FBI, to the press, and so forth?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
But that he does bear some resemblance to him?
Mr. CROWE.
Right. I could be wrong.
Mr. HUBERT.
Would you look at--
Mr. CROWE.
Oh--
Mr. HUBERT.
Exhibit No. 5205 of the deposition of C. L. Crafard, and I ask you to
examine that picture with the same purpose in mind.
Mr. CROWE.
Yes, the second person in the foreground has some similarity to Oswald,
doesn't he?
Mr. HUBERT.
You are talking about the man who is just left of center in the lower
quadrant of that photo?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
As to whom there is pointing a little pen written arrow; is that
correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
What is your comment as to that man, with reference to the possibility that
he is the man you saw a week before the President was shot, in the Carousel
Club, and who took some part in your memory act?
Mr. CROWE.
Well, I wouldn't say that he was the man I saw.
Mr. HUBERT.
What comment do you have to make about him then?
Mr. CROWE.
He does favor Oswald.
Mr. HUBERT.
I gather that your comment as to the man in the picture identified as
Exhibit No. 5205 is substantially the same as your comment made with reference
to the man in Crafard Exhibit No. 5206, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
Is it stronger or weaker, that is to say, do you think the resemblance to
Oswald is stronger in one picture than it is in the other?
Mr. CROWE.
I would say stronger in Crafard Exhibit No. 5205. He is not smiling.
Mr. HUBERT.
Now, as to the man you have pointed out in Crafard Exhibits Nos. 5205 and
5206, do you recall ever having seen him in the Carousel before?
Mr. CROWE.
As to him personally, I couldn't say for sure. The clothes are not familiar
to me.
Mr. HUBERT.
How was the man dressed who ,took part in your memory act that you think
might have been Oswald?
Mr. CROWE.
I have no idea as to how he was dressed.
Mr. HUBERT.
Your statements concerning the possibility it was Oswald therefore was based
entirely on the facial--
Mr. CROWE.
The face alone.
Mr. HUBERT.
Of course, you never saw Oswald in person, that is to say unless it was
Oswald in the club?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes; I never met him.
Mr. HUBERT.
Your identification of the man in the club and the possibility he was Oswald
is based, therefore, upon pictures which appeared in the paper and which the
police exhibited to you, or the FBI, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you have any recollection now or have you ever had any recollection at
any time of the position of the person who might have been Oswald in your memory
act relative to other people. Do you understand what I mean? You know he had to
be in the first row. Have you any recollection or have you ever had any, as to
whether he was center, the left, or the right or what?
Mr. CROWE.
No; they have three runways running out from the stage, and the customers
are seated along and around the runways, and they can either be alone or with
somebody, you would never know, you had no way of telling.
Mr. HUBERT.
You don't recollect whether the man who might have been Oswald was alone or
was with someone else?
Mr. CROWE.
No; you can't tell the way they are seated.
Mr. HUBERT.
By the way, with reference to those four pictures identified as Exhibits
Nos. 5212, 5221, 5205, and 5206 in the deposition of C. L. Crafard, are you able
to state that you recognize those pictures generally as being the interior of
the Carousel Club?
Mr. CROWE.
Yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
What is your present thought as to the possibility that the man that you had
previously spoken about in the pictures identified as Exhibits Nos. 5205 and
5206 of the deposition of Crafard, may have been the man that you stated was a
part of your memory act a week prior to the death of the President?
Mr. CROWE.
It is a possibility.
Mr. HUBERT.
Do you think it is a greater possibility that from the pictures you have
seen of Oswald that it was Oswald than that it was the man in the pictures,
Exhibits Nos. 5205 and 5206?
Mr. CROWE.
No; I wouldn't say it was greater or any less.
Mr. HUBERT.
In other words, having seen the pictures of Oswald and having seen the
pictures of the man in five, Exhibits Nos. 5206 and 5205, your thought is that
it could have been either?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
That you do not favor the identification of one over the other in terms of
strength of identification?
Mr. CROWE.
No.
Mr. HUBERT.
Did you receive any sums of money or any kind of recompense for any story or
appearance you may have made concerning this matter of your having possibly
seen Oswald in the Carousel?
Mr. CROWE.
Definitely not.
Mr. HUBERT.
Have you anything else, Mr. Crowe, that you would like to add?
Mr. CROWE.
I was just taking a breath to say that the only reason why Oswald was
mentioned and thought of was because of the possibility of being or that I
thought he was one of a part of a series of coincidences. And the coincidences
was the only thing that I had in mind.
Mr. HUBERT.
All right.
Now, Mr. Crowe, neither I nor Mr. Griffin have ever interviewed you before the
commencement of this deposition, is that correct?
Mr. CROWE.
That is correct, yes.
Mr. HUBERT.
That is to say all of the examination or conversation or contact between us
has been in this room and while the reporter was recording it, is that
correct?
Mr. CROWE.
Right.
Mr. HUBERT.
All right, sir, thank you very much.