Does the entire set-up of the Patsy hinge on his going home at his own request on the 21st?

[Jim Hargrove]

From Harvey and Lee, pp 601-602:

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September 24 - Ruth Paine and Marina arrive in Irving, Texas


On September 24 (Tuesday) Ruth Paine, Marina, and June arrived at 2515 W.
5th in Irving at 1:20 pm. Commission attorney Albert Jenner questioned Mrs. Paine to
see if she unloaded a package which could have contained a rifle from her station wagon:

Jenner: "When you arrived in Irving, Mrs. Paine ..... do you distinctly recall the

hard-sided luggage you described yesterday?"

Mrs. Paine: "Yes."

Jenner: "Now, was there a separate long package of any kind? ..... Was there a

separate package of any character wrapped in a blanket?"

Mrs. Paine: "No."

Jenner: "When you arrived in Irving, Texas were you present when your sta*

tion wagon was unpacked?"

Mrs. Paine: "Marina and I did that with the exception of the duffels."

Jenner, still trying to prod Mrs. Paine into recalling a long package which could
have contained a rifle, continued his questioning:

Jenner: "Now, in the process of removing everything other than the two duffel

bags-on the occasion on the 24th of September 1963 when you reached
Irving, Texas, did you find or see any long rectangular package?"

Mrs. Paine: "I recall no such package."

Jenner: "Did you see any kind of package wrapped in the blanket?"

Mrs. Paine: "Not to my recollection .... I don't recall seeing the blanket either."47

NOTE: Neither the rifle nor the blanket was in Mrs. Paine's garage as of Sept. 24.

Marina Oswald told the Commission that Oswald had a rifle at 214 W. Neely,
had a rifle at 4905 Magazine Street in New Orleans, and saw a rifle in Mrs. Paine's ga*-
rage in Irving. But Commission members failed to understand how the rifle was trans*-
ported from Dallas to New Orleans and now they could not understand how the rifle
was transported from New Orleans to Mrs. Paine's garage. Commission member Hale
Boggs asked Mrs. Paine, "Did you see the rifle that he had in the room in your home?"
Mrs. Paine answered, "In the garage, no .... I never saw that rifle at all until the police
showed it to me in the station on the 22nd of November."48


Ruth Paine told the Commission that she asked her husband, Michael Paine,
to unpack some of the heavy things from their car, so the Commission questioned
Michael.

NOTE: Michael and Ruth Paine had not lived together as husband and wife since late

1962. Michael moved into an apartment in Arlington and later into an apartment in

Grand Prairie. According to both Michael and Ruth Paine, her estranged husband was

at 2515 W. 5th when Ruth arrived home on Sunday, September 23rd.

Michael Paine told the Commission that he recalled unpacking duffel bags and
other items from the station wagon, but nothing that resembled a rifle. He then told the
Commission about a package that he found laying on the floor of the garage. Michael
said, "I do remember moving about this package which, let's say, was a rifle, anyway it
was a package wrapped in a blanket .... .! moved it several times, and I think I thought
progressively each time. I moved it twice." Michael Paine said he never looked inside
the package and when asked by Liebeler, "If you at any time ever saw this rifle prior
to November 22, 1963" Michael Paine answered, "I did not."49


No evidence of a rifle


The Warren Commission, through their questioning of Ruth Paine, Michael
Paine, Mr. and Mrs. Garner, and Eric Rogers, failed to show that Oswald had possession
of a rifle in either Dallas, New Orleans, or Irving. They also failed to show that Oswald
shipped or transported a rifle, or a package that could have contained a rifle, from their
apartment at 214 W. Neely in Dallas to their apartment at 4905 Magazine Street in New
Orleans or to Ruth Paine's garage in Irving.


From March 1963 until November 22, 1963 there was only one witness who
placed a rifle in Oswald's hands-Marina.

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There is more that is relevant to the discussion here, both before and after this excerpt,
but this is a copyrighted work.