From The Weekend That Was [Walt Brown]----------edited by me
Starting some weeks before the assassination....
On Friday, November 8, "Lee H. Oswald" [allegedly] wrote the famous [or infamous] "Dear Mr. Hunt" letter, and about all we know about that moment in time is that the handwriting certainly appears to be the script of so much other material -- conveniently available involving "Lee Oswald." Speculation as to the identity of "Mr. Hunt" usually narrows to either H.L. Hunt, or E. Howard Hunt, certainly not two chaps [British speak for individuals] separated at birth, but equally certainly two blokes [British speak for individuals] who had no real use, in any sense of the word, for John Kennedy. "Lee Oswald" got a haircut at "Clifton's Barbershop" on Friday night, went grocery shopping on Saturday morning with Marina and Ruth Paine, took a test-drive in a Mercury Comet Caliente at high speeds around Stemmons Freeway on Saturday afternoon, and finished his afternoon with some twilight rifle practice-only a few shots with auto lights showing his target. On Sunday, when he was getting his driving lesson from Ruth Paine, he was also, simultaneously, back at the rifle range, acting obnoxious (if obnoxious required the sophomoric Oswald TO "act").
Of course for the record, NONE of those things happened.
Clifton Shasteen, owner of Clifton's Barbershop, located about nine blocks from the Paine residence, testified before the Warren Commission that Oswald came in on approximately six occasions in the time frame before the assassination; on some occasions, he was accompanied by a young boy, age approximate 14, who spouted politics as if Oswald had taught him what to say. Shasteen positively identified Oswald, based on the photos of Oswald taken when he was distributing "Fair Play" leaflets on August 16 in front of the International Trade Mart run by Clay Shaw -- in New Orleans. Shasteen recalled that he had cut Oswald's hair three times, and his other barbers had done the rest. Yet Oswald only returned FROM New Orleans to the Irving, Texas, area on October 4, and to get six haircuts between October 4 and November 8, a period of five weeks, would require a haircut every 5.8 days. If there was one job I would not have wanted to earn a living at in 1963, it would have been as Oswald's barber, as he was a cheapskate, and one who was very careful as to how he doled out his financial largesse. He was not also highly valued for his personal grooming skills.
Not only was he too cheap to spend money on barbers... it was mentioned by his companions at work [whenever he did work] that Oswald hated haircuts.
Mr. JENNER. [He was wearing] Sneakers?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes; slip-ons, only they were a little heavy--they were just a little heavier than just a common house shoe, and I admired them and I said, "Them looks expensive," and he said, "They are not."
"He said, "I gave a dollar and a half for them." I said, "My goodness, where did you get a pair of house shoes for a dollar and a half?" And he said, "Down in Old Mexico."
Mr. JENNER. Down in Old Mexico?
Mr SHASTEEN ..he said, "Well, I'll get you a pair the next time I'm down there,"
Mr. JENNER. How many times--you personally, now, without someone else having told you the boy was in the shop, how many times do you recall when he was in your shop?
Mr. SHASTEEN. The 14-year-old boy?
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. SHASTEEN. Three times--I know. In other words, I know he came with Oswald the night I'm talking about when he wanted to know where I was going and I went to the back door. You see, I seen them coming in and I did hurry to get out the back door.
Mr. JENNER. The boy came in?
Mr. SHASTEEN. He was with him that night and he was with him one other time.
Mr. JENNER. Can you fix that particular time?
Mr. SHASTEEN. Well, it was a couple of weeks and maybe 3 weeks before that night.
There was no attempt to locate this youngster. The young man never came forward.
Saturday morning, November 9, Clifton Shasteen looked across the street to Hutch's Market, run by Leonard Hutchison. He saw "Oswald" along with a young woman, presumably Marina, and a slightly older woman, presumably Ruth Paine. Hutchison positively identified Oswald as the man he'd had numerous contacts with, as Oswald frequently bought milk and sweet rolls in the morning, and also tried to cash a $189 check -- on a Wednesday when "Oswald" would not have been in the Paine residence. Hutchison's testimony that Oswald regularly bought a gallon of milk brought a comment from Warren Commission Counsel Albert Jenner: "Now, the IRS might be interested in this." (Warren volumes, 10:337)
to be continued
