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(Testimony of Michael R. Paine)
Mr. Paine.
help his cause, and I didn't think he was irrational. It did not seem to me that he could shoot a man as he would shoot a tin can. Difficulty of a person shooting another person was not the reason for my doubting, and the circumstantial evidence seemed quite powerful to me.
Mr. Liebeler.
Seemed quite powerful?
Mr. Paine.
Yes. But then I realized with subsequent people calling from all over the country, somebody had said it is only a single-shot rifle, and I recognize one little fact like that could alter my thinking entirely. Somebody else said there was a shot through the windshield of the car. We went down to the place and looked around, and he thought that--he had a theory that the man had been shot from a manhole in the street, so I recognized that my views could change with evidence.
Mr. Liebeler.
Do you have a view on Oswald's guilt at this time?
Mr. Paine.
Most of these other things have proved to be false. It seems to be a clip-fed rifle. The man who thought it was shot from the place, I went down and saw the diagram drawn by Life seemed to be quite accurate so far as I could reconstruct the thing, and there was confusion about the number of bullets. I never did discover--it didn't quite make sense, but for the most part, I accept it, the common view that he did it.
Mr. Liebeler.
Where were you on the morning of November 22, 1963?
Mr. Paine.
I was having, at the time of the assassination I was at work, of course, but at the time of the assassination I was in the cafeteria associated with the bowling alley having lunch.
Mr. Liebeler.
Who was with you?
Mr. Paine.
A student, a co-op student called Dave Noel happened to be with me. We happened to be talking about the character of assassins at that lunch-time, of all things.
Mr. Liebeler.
Prior to the time you heard of the assassination?
Mr. Paine.
That is right. When we first sat down at the meal we were discussing it, beside the point, except unless you believe in extrasensory perception, but we happened to just--we didn't have enough historical knowledge to explore it, but I just raised the question and tried to pursue it, and then dropped it, and then a waitress came and said the President had been shot, and I thought she was cracking a nasty joke, and went over to a cluster of people listening around a transistor set, and heard there was some commotion of this sort from the tone of the voice of the transistor set, and we went back to the lab where there is a good radio, and followed the news from there.
When it was mentioned, the Texas School Book Depository Building was mentioned, then I told Frank Krystinik that that was where Lee Oswald worked, and then in a few minutes he came back and said, he asked me, didn't I think I had better call the FBI and tell them.
So over a period of about 20 minutes, I trying to carry on work in a foolish way, or talking or discussing other things or something, we were discussing this problem, and I thought, I said to myself, or said to him, that the FBI already knew he worked there. Everybody would know he was a black sheep, and I didn't want to--a friend or one of the few friends in position of friendship to him, I didn't want to--join the mob barking at his heels or join in his harassment, so I declined. I didn't tell Frank that he couldn't call the FBI, but I said I wasn't going to do it, so I didn't.
I called Ruth immediately after getting back just to see that she would turn on the radio and be clued in with the news, but this was before the Texas School Book Depository Building was mentioned, to my knowledge, and she was already watching the news. So we communicated nothing at that time.
Mr. Dulles.
Do you know whether your luncheon companion did or did not telephone the FBI?
Mr. Paine.
This is not the luncheon companion. This is Dave Noel Frank Krystinik brings his lunch, and he eats his lunch at the lab.
Mr. Dulles.
At the lab?
Mr. Paine.
Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
Mr. Paine, would you give us the nature of the conversation you were having concerning assassination prior to the assassination. First let
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