The John F. Kennedy Assassination Homepage

Navigation

  » Introduction
  » The Report
  » The Hearings

Volumes

  » Testimony Index
 
  » Volume I
  » Volume II
  » Volume III
  » Volume IV
  » Volume V
  » Volume VI
  » Volume VII
  » Volume VIII
  » Volume IX
  » Volume X
  » Volume XI
  » Volume XII
  » Volume XIII
  » Volume XIV
  » Volume XV
Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XI - Page 217« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Pamela Mumford)

Mr. Ball.
we were taken down to the back to sit with the Mexicans. And we were the only English-speaking people at the back of the bus.
Mr. Ball.
All others. were Mexican-speaking?
Miss MUMFORD. Yes.
Mr. Ball.
Now, who were the English-speaking people that you mentioned? Will you describe them?
Miss MUMFORD. There was a young English couple who were traveling down to the Yucatan to study the Indians and their way of life. There was an elderly English gentleman in his mid- or late-sixties, I should imagine. He told us during the journey that he had lived on and off in Mexico for 25 years.
Then there was the young Texan, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Patricia and myself.
Mr. Ball.
Now, when you first boarded the bus did you speak to the English-speaking people?
Miss MUMFORD. We got on and Oswald heard Patricia and I talking. And we had two heavy overnight bags, and he told us later that he had turned to his companion, who was the middle-aged English gentleman, and said, "I wonder how you say 'How can I help you' in Spanish", which gave us the opinion later that he couldn't speak the language; couldn't speak Spanish.
He took us for two Spanish girls, I guess, and was going to help us with our luggage.
Mr. Ball.
Did he help you with your luggage?
Miss MUMFORD. No.
Mr. Ball.
You went on to the back of the bus?
Miss MUMFORD. Yes.
Mr. Ball.
You didn't say anything to the four English-speaking people when you first got on the bus?
Miss MUMFORD. No.
Mr. Ball.
And they didn't speak to you?
Miss MUMFORD. No.
Mr. Ball.
When did you first speak to any of these four?
Miss MUMFORD. Oswald was the first one we spoke to. He left his seat and came down to the back of the bus to speak to us.
Mr. Ball.
That was after the bus had left Monterrey?
Miss MUMFORD. Yes.
Mr. Ball.
And while it was en route?
Miss MUMFORD. Yes.
Mr. Ball.
What did he say to you?
Miss MUMFORD. Well, he said that he had heard us speaking English and wondered where we came from.
He then told us the story of how he had thought we were Mexican and was going to help us if he could speak the language.
Mr. Ball.
What did he say? Can you tell me his language as close as you can?
Miss MUMFORD. No, I can't really put it into his words; not at that stage. He then proceeded to tell us about himself.
Mr. Ball.
What did he say?
Miss MUMFORD. I will have to refer to notes. Oh, yes; the first thing he told us was that he was from Fort Worth, in Texas. And he wanted to know where we had been, and we told him we were Australians. He wanted to know the places we had visited. We told him. And he mentioned that he had been in Japan while he was in the Marines, and that was the closest he had got to Australia and that he would very much like to go to Australia.
He then told us that he had been to Russia and asked whether we had ever been to Russia. We said no, and we told him of a friend of ours, a fellow Australian, who had been to Moscow, and her experiences there.
And we asked him what he was doing in Russia and did he have trouble getting in. He said that he was studying there. He had an apartment in Moscow and was studying. We didn't ask him what he was studying.
At this stage he showed us his passport that had a Russian stamp on it; some sort of a Russian stamp. And he didn't mention his Russian wife at all. But We noticed he had a gold wedding ring on his left hand.
« Previous | Next »

Found a Typo?

Click here
Copyright by www.jfk-assassination.comLast Update: Wed, 3 Aug 2016 21:56:35 CET