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JFK SURVIVES DALLAS!: LEE HARVEY OSWALD
VERSUS THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES,
JANUARY 1966
A play by
Warren Burdine
347-339-0703 2
THE OVERTURE
Excerpts of pivotal JFK speeches will play between the opening of the house and the first curtain. These are up to the discretion of the production team.
Of course, there will be excerpts from his inaugural speech, including “...Ask not what your country...”
The SECOND-TO-LAST EXCERPT is from Eisenhower’s last speech as the POTUS, where he warns against the “military- industrial complex.”
THE LAST ONE, before the curtain rise, is a TAPED RECORDING by the actor who plays JFK. President Kennedy delivered this speech on April 27, 1961, at the Waldorf Astoria.
This speech is of the utmost importance: among other things, it reinforces the belief many hold that such a secret society was indeed behind the conspiracy and assassination.
JFK (V.O.) The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings...Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe...no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you are awaiting a finding of “clear and present danger,” then I can only say that the danger has never been more imminent...For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on cover means for expanding its sphere of influence on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly-knit, highly-efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its disasters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. 3
THE PROLOGUE
TIME: August 1963
SETTING: Jackson Square, New Orleans. This scene takes place near OSWALD’s “perch” for most of the play.
AT RISE: JFK’S taped “Secret Society” speech ends.
OSWALD passes out fliers to PASSERSBY—or tries.
RECORDING OF “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” by The Animals BLARES OVER.
OSWALD Fair Play for Cuba, sir. Please take and read—
MALE PASSERBY Go to hell!
OSWALD Ma’am, please take this and—
FEMALE PASSERBY Young man, why aren’t you working a real job?
OSWALD Sir, Fair Play for Cuba—
MALE PASSERBY I know you! Harvey Lee something-or-other. Saw you on the TV last week, spoutin that com-nist bull-jazz! Move y’r butt back to Russia, why don’tcha, punk!
(unseen by OSWALD, a black-clad figure moves approaches—and GRABS him)
OSWALD What the—?
BLACK-CLAD FIGURE Shut up. Come with me.
OSWALD Who the—?
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BLACK-CLAD FIGURE
I do not want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. (HE starts to drag OSWALD off)
OSWALD Officers! You two over there! Can’t you see he’s—? (by now OSWALD is totally offstage) Officers! People! Anyone!
(BLACKOUT. RECORDING OF “Sally Go ‘Round The Roses” by the Jaynettes BLARES.
SUDDENLY: IMAGE ON SCREEN of JFK’s MOTORCADE in Dallas. THREE SHOTS RING OUT. NEW IMAGE: PURE CHAOS.)
RECORDED V.O. ONE We interrupt this broadcast to tell you President Kennedy was shot at 12:30 pm, local time, in Dallas, Texas...
RECORDED V.O. TWO ...he has been rushed to Parkland Hospital where the staff works feverishly...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: a phalanx of doctors and nurses work on a patient)
RECORDED V.O. THREE ...several hours later, the President’s condition has been upgraded to serious, but stable...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: a smiling JFK gives the victory sign from his hospital bed)
RECORDED V.O. ONE ...thanks to a quick-reacting Secret Service agent, Mr. Kennedy suffered only a bullet wound to the throat...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: LBJ takes the Oath of Office on Air Force One)
RECORDED V.O. TWO ...as Mr. Kennedy will need several weeks of recovery, in an unprecedented move, Vice President Johnson was sworn in as the temporary POTUS...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: LE officials lead a handcuffed OSWALD away)
OSWALD V.O. I’m a patsy! Railroaded! Lawyer! William Kunstler! ACLU! 5
(IMAGE ON SCREEN ONE: a seven-story building. TITLE READS: “The Dallas-Textile (Dal-Tex) Building.”
IMAGE ON SCREEN TWO: POV from behind a wooden picket fence that looks toward Elm Street. TITLE READS: “Dealy Plaza, Dallas.”)
RECORDED V.O. THREE Lee Oswald, who landed the only shot on Mr. Kennedy, later confessed he was one of at least three hired guns. However, he has no details beyond his own assignment...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: JFK appears before a packed room of high-level officials)
RECORDED V.O. ONE On Tuesday, April 14, 1964, after four-and-a-half months of recovery, Mr. Kennedy returned to the Presidency...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: US TROOPS board a ship)
RECORDED V.O. TWO However, the president’s campaign promise to withdraw U.S. troops from Southeast Asia has caused a great divide...
RECORDED V.O. THREE What should have been a landslide win over Barry Goldwater turned into a surprisingly narrow victory...
RECORDED V.O. ONE All polls show a constant 50-50 split among Americans...
RECORDED V.O. TWO The removal has justified those who feared the “Domino Effect,” as Communism has spread to the predicted nations, with The Philippines—and possibly Japan—next...
JFK/OFFSTAGE Japan? Never!...At least, I hope not...!
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: a classic 1960’s clash Between opposing demonstrators)
RECORDED V.O. THREE A rally in Washington last week, with about 5,000 pro- and anti- withdrawal supporters on each side, turned violent...
RECORDED V.O. ONE Another is scheduled for this Saturday, and 2,000 National Guard troops will be on hand... 6
RECORDED V.O. TWO Ironically, on the same day of the troops withdrawal, Lee Harvey Oswald recanted his confession of being part of the Conspiracy against President Kennedy...
(RECORDING of “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones BLARES for a few moments, then...
RECORDED V.O. THREE Partly from the public’s demand to hear Oswald’s side of the story, Chief Justice Earl Warren and the Supreme Court have agreed to break certain long-standing procedures...
RECORDED V.O. TWO ...and hear his claim that he is innocent in the attack...
RECORDED V.O. THREE ...The Trial of the Century begins Tuesday, January 18, 1966, in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court Building...
RECORDED V.O. ONE ...the undefeated J. Francis Riley, a former Marine Corp captain, will represent Oswald...
RECORDED V.O. TWO ...while the relatively-unknown William Lanier Cain will be chief counsel for the People of the United States...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: classic 1960’s rally, with mostly young people.)
RECORDED V.O. THREE Thousands of young people, as they have from Day One of this situation, continue to rally in support of Oswald—and against the return of US troops to Southeast Asia!
VOICES/OFFSTAGE FREE OSWALD! HE’S JUST A PATSY! FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY! KEEP OUR TROOPS OUT OF ASIA! KEEP OUR TROOPS OUT OF ASIA!
(“Satisfaction” RESUMES, then
BLACKOUT
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SCENE ONE
TIME: Wednesday, January 12, 1966
SETTINGS: JFK’s study; CHIEF WARREN’S chamber; OSWALD’S cell
AT RISE: The chair in JFK’s study is empty; his VOICE comes from OFFSTAGE and is MIC’d; WAR- REN, CAIN, and RILEY are in WARREN’s chamber.
VOICES/OFFSTAGE FREE OSWALD! HE’S JUST A PATSY! FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY! (The CHANT continues, then peters out)
JFK/OFFSTAGE Mr. Warren! I have you on speaker phone. How are you?
WARREN Very good, Sir. I have the two lead counsels with me....
JFK/OFFSTAGE Gentlemen...
CAIN AND RILEY Mr. President!
JFK/OFFSTAGE I’m a bit behind on all this. With all the rallies that demand I send troops back to Southeast Asia—and those, mostly young people, who demand I not!
WARREN We understand, sir...
JFK/OFFSTAGE Wait ‘til the weather gets warm. That’ll bring ‘em all out: the sincere and the psychos!
WARREN Indeed. We’re going to the Media tomorrow with the details. We’d like your feedback.
JFK Like the McCarthy and Eichmann trials, live, national TV?
WARREN With a one-hour delay. To edit sensitive material, off- color comments, jargon most people can’t understand...and anything that might compromise national security... 8
JFK/OFFSTAGE Very good. The Plaintiff first demanded a trial...?
RILEY Roughly this time last year. To take place in the state of Texas, where the crime occurred.
JFK/OFFSTAGE He’d already pled guilty...days after the attempt...
CAIN He recanted, claimed he was innocent because—
JFK/OFFSTAGE He was in a prison only a dozen people knew where. How did the news of his claim and demand for a trial get out?
WARREN Some sympathetic prison officials seeped the news to the Media. First and Sixth Amendments: Freedom of Speech and Right to a Fair Trial.
JFK/OFFSTAGE [Sympathy! For—him? I understand the millions who feel for his ex-wife and older brothers—but him?] (aloud) I’m hearing that “Free...” chant in my sleep.
VOICES/OFFSTAGE FREE OSWALD! HE’S JUST A PATSY! FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY! (again, the CHANT peters out)
JFK/OFFSTAGE [Only in America can you try to kill a president, confess, recant, and become a cause celebre!] (aloud) Saints preserve us! But this is, after all, a Free Country!
CAIN To a fault, at times.
WARREN We will seriously relax the rules on recalling witnesses. The testimonies from both sides will vary so greatly...
RILEY Mr. Cain and I wholeheartedly go along with this change. [And both of us are sure it’ll work more to his advantage.]
WARREN Next point: The Power of the Polls. The Gallup survey taken just after the claim became public: 66 percent saw it as 9
WARREN (cont’d) pure bunk, plain and simple.
CAIN Eight percent saw it as not only possible, but likely.
RILEY Most tellingly: in the middle, 26 percent saw the claim as credible enough to merit the trial he’s demanded.
WARREN The next poll, different focus: millions, for or against Oswald, demanded he receive some sort of court trial, public tribunal, or open interrogation.
JFK/OFFSTAGE Which puts us here and now...
WARREN Because of public demand, and its historical importance, we leapfrogged this case before several on the docket.
RILEY The stated reason for this trial is to determine if the claim is legitimate, if Oswald acted—
JFK/OFFSTAGE I get it. And pardon my interruption.
RILEY Indeed. However, there are two equally important facets.
CAIN To repeat, nearly everybody in the Known World wants to hear his side. The details in the days that led up to, the event itself, the aftermath, in his own words.
WARREN Another matter: motive. After two years, he’s never said why he was part of The Conspiracy. We’ll get that from him.
JFK/OFFSTAGE The live audience at the Great Chamber...?
WARREN We’ll let but 10 senators and 20 members of the House in, per session. Based on seniority. A limited number from the print media. And, of course, the TV crews.
JFK/OFFSTAGE ?...No...?
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WARREN “Regular” citizens? No, for security purposes...and sir, we regret how the probe into The Conspiracy has stalled. Two years later we have Oswald, but none of the others...
RILEY Which has caused a lot of speculation—
CAIN [From a lot of drug-sotted, sexually-promiscuous young—]
RILEY Oswald’s testimony—and those of the “neutral witnesses”— could, should start to connect some dots.
JFK/OFFSTAGE A “Why-he-done-it” and “How-they-planned-to-pull-it-off.”
WARREN Our aim is to get “insider information” from the neutrals.
JFK/OFFSTAGE Such as...?
CAIN Dr. Evans Yancey, psychologist, psychiatrist, probably the world’s foremost authority on hypnotism and mind control.
WARREN ...Then there’s...Sal Giacomo—
JFK/OFFSTAGE Whoa! He’s one of the biggest Outfit Bosses in the world!
WARREN Which is why we’re interviewing him. Who better to know about high-level murder-for-hire?
JFK/OFFSTAGE Still, Your Honor—!
WARREN Mr. Giacomo offered to testify. The other judges and I discussed it and agreed.
JFK/OFFSTAGE ...I hope this works...
WARREN We’re still in negotiations with a third neutral witness.
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JFK/OFFSTAGE Who?
WARREN He came forward, about...we’re still checking his story. It sounds fantastic...but some things you can’t make up.
JFK/OFFSTAGE His name, Mr. Chief Justice?
WARREN Someone you’ve never heard of. Jacob Rubenstein.
JFK/OFFSTAGE You’re right. Never heard of him.
WARREN Another matter. The Death Penalty. Technically, Oswald is a death-row prisoner. When he confessed, he wanted to be executed. The Government refused. But he knows fully why we’re keeping him alive...
JFK/OFFSTAGE But now...?
RILEY If he loses, he still wants to die. He prefers that to...
WARREN Yes. But remember: the Supreme Court cannot hand out any penalties, based on the upcoming testimony. However, if The Court rules against his claim, the capital verdict remains.
RILEY My client is well aware of that.
CAIN The plaintiff’s plan—if his claim is vindicated?
WARREN His original confession will be overturned...
RILEY ...Which means he’ll be freed...
CAIN Just wondering: if that happens, how long before someone—?
WARREN Mr. Cain.
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CAIN I apologize to all. [How many millions have thought that— and want to be the one who...]
JFK/OFFSTAGE ...And during the trial, the Plaintiff will be...?
WARREN Watching on television, in a heavily-guarded room, nearby. Though we will have the tightest possible security, one never knows...
JFK/OFFSTAGE Indeed. There can never be too much security.
WARREN How does all this sound, Mr. President?
JFK/OFFSTAGE Okay by me, for now. If I think of anything...in the mean- time, I’ll get ready for my close up...
WARREN Very good. Lee Harvey Oswald versus the People of the United States. The Trial of the Century.
JFK/OFFSTAGE As it most likely will be. See you in six days.
WARREN Councilors, you’re excused.
RILEY Nice talking to you, Mr. President.
JFK/OFFSTAGE Likewise.
CAIN Whatever it takes, we’ll get to the truth of the matter.
JFK/OFFSTAGE I’m sure we will. (Cain and Riley exit.)
WARREN Mr. President, just between two old friends...
JFK/OFFSTAGE If that’s the case, then it’s “Jack,” Earl...
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WARREN Off the record, some wonder if Cain is the right choice.
JFK/OFFSTAGE He’s Bobby’s choice. Since Bobby cannot try this case... (IMAGE ON SCREEN: RFK) Cain’s fought his way up the ranks. Topeka, Kansas, married just after high school, his wife helped put him through Kansas State, taught high school history—and psychology—for a minute back in his hometown, signed up hours after Pearl Harbor, Navy captain—Navy!—Purple Heart. Moved to DC after the war, was a city cop for a while, Georgetown Law School at night, got on as a federal mouthpiece. He’s as American as they make them...His one loss as a fed: to William Kunstler, Riley’s boss.
WARREN Kunstler’s a tough man...Jack, it’s no secret Bobby’s your attack dog—and I mean that in a good way. He does and says things you can’t.
JFK/OFFSTAGE So some say.
WARREN So...Cain’s a stand-in for Bobby, and Bobby’s a stand in for you? In lieu of you interrogating—the Plaintiff—as millions would love to happen?
JFK/OFFSTAGE I’ll explain why that can’t be, when I take the stand. Rest assured, Earl, Bobby chose the right man.
WARREN Let the Trial of the Century begin...
DURING THE SLOW BLACKOUT:
RECORDED V.O. ONE The Trial of the Century begins today...
RECORDED V.O. TWO The Respondents, led by William Lanier Cain, will try to disprove Oswald’s claim he was abducted and brainwashed in the attempt on Mr. Kennedy’s life...
VOICES/OFFSTAGE FREE OSWALD! HE’S JUST A PATSY! FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY! (after a while, the chant peters out...)
COMPLETE BLACKOUT 14
SCENE TWO
TIME: Tuesday, January 18, 1966
SETTING: The Great Hall of the SCOTUS Building
AT RISE: WARREN, CAIN, and RILEY are in their chairs; OSWALD watches on TV from his cell.
CAIN winds up his opening statements.
CAIN ...the People of the United States will prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Plaintiff’s tale of kidnap, torture, and brainwash is the total opposite of what Mr. Riley has just told us. It is a lurid, carefully-crafted yarn that insults the intelligence of all involved.
WARREN Thank you. The Court calls its first witness. All rise for President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. (JFK acknowledges the APPLAUSE as he enters, then sits. Sir, though you are the last person on Earth who needs to identify himself, for the record...
JFK John F. Kennedy, age 48. I will explain how I escaped death on Friday, November 22, 1963. Most know the broad details, so I’ll stick to the lesser known...You’ll have to excuse my sometimes scratchy, halting voice.
WARREN We have no problem with that. We’re indescribably glad it was the only wound you suffered.
JFK Thank you. Upward and onward. Steady as she goes.
RILEY You’ve praised the due diligence of your Secret Service protectors. What did they do differently that day—that saved your life?
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: JFK’S MOTORCADE wends through downtown Dallas.)
JFK The Secret Service and Dallas Police made sure the only 15
JFK (cont’d) people in tall buildings along the motorcade route were those who belonged there, worked there.
CAIN The only reason the Plaintiff had access to the Texas Schoolbook Depository was because he worked there?
JFK Precisely.
CAIN Sir, three days after the attempt, acting on information from the Plaintiff, officers found a rifle in a third-floor bathroom of the Dallas Textile Building...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: a DPD officer holds up a rifle.)
JFK The rifle was a confirmation: a Conspiracy was afoot.
WARREN Unfortunately, that is all Mr. Oswald is able to tell us.
JFK That building was always an area of concern; however, the Conspirator was obviously denied entry, thanks to the DPD.
RILEY Sir, what other changes in procedure helped you survive?
JFK My Secret Service protector, Clayton Armstrong, trained his fellow agents to jog alongside the motorcade vehicles, when the cars were going slowly, rather than perch on the running boards. That way people could get a better look at those in the cars, and vice-versa.
CAIN Mr. President, can you tell us your thoughts when you realized you’d been shot?
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: PURE CHAOS surrounds the motorcade)
JFK Oddly, I felt no pain then: no heat, no trauma, nothing. Then Mr. Armstrong leapt upon me, covered me...he took two bullets, but harmlessly in his bullet-proof vest...The pro- tectors of Mrs. Kennedy, Vice President and Mrs. Johnson did likewise. As trained, by Mr. Armstrong... 16
(JFK coughs several times)
WARREN Take all the time you need, Mr. President.
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: the motorcade rushes along. SOUND OF SCREAMING SIRENS)
JFK What followed was a blur...the sirens...the outraged surprise from the crowd...which I was able to make out, despite all...the mad rush to the hospital.
RILEY Did you ever feel you were in mortal danger, sir?
JFK Frankly, while Mr. Armstrong shielded me...I didn’t know if I were in limbo between this life and whatever comes next, if I were already there...if this were the worst nightmare of my life...or...?
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: reprise the shot/s of the Trauma Team as it works feverishly)
CAIN Obviously, the staff at Parkland Hospital did a fine job. They were well prepared.
RILEY If possible, sir, can you state the preventive measures for when a president—or similar dignitary—visits a given city?
JFK Sure. In case of shooting, heart attack, stroke, or other things. The staffs at the nearest major hospitals are prepared...with the subject’s blood type, medical history. The drivers know the fastest route.
RILEY Which is why they were so on the ball at Parkland.
CAIN If you can answer this, please do. If you feel otherwise... (JFK motions for CAIN to continue) Millions can only wonder about...
JFK ...My personal feelings toward the Plaintiff?...My senti- ments about him are not at issue here. I have long resolved my initial thoughts on him.
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CAIN [I’ll bet if Kennedy could, like most True Men, he’d rip out that—]
RILEY [From one Boston Irish to another, I know the President, his brothers, and others would love to corner Oswald and—]
WARREN His being allowed this trial in the first place?
JFK Like many...I feel this trial is the only way...to uncover certain facts, toward the goal of solving...
CAIN Mr. President, polls show an overwhelming desire by the public for you to confront the Plaintiff at this trial. In fact, millions fairly demanded you be sworn in as a US attorney and cross-examine him.
JFK Two impossibilities there. Unlike my brothers Robert and Edward, I am not a trained lawyer. I went to college to become a writer. More tellingly, such a—device—is staunchly against the rules. It has never been done before, and most likely, never will.
CAIN I see.
JFK Most importantly, we do not want this trial to degenerate into some High Noon-style face-off between the survivor and his would-be assassin. Infinitely more is at stake here.
CAIN Indeed, Mr. President...
JFK (with his trademark charm) Then there’s my June date in Paris with Messieurs Brezhnev and Chernenko of the USSR and Zhou and Li of the People’s Republic of China...
RILEY [To see if life on this planet continues as we know it...]
JFK ...Is there anything else?
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WARREN Not unless you want to add something...
JFK I’m done...for now...
WARREN (as JFK prepares to leave) All rise for President Kennedy... (JFK acknowledges the applause as HE leaves) Mr. Riley, are you ready to present your first witness?
RILEY I am, Your Honor.
WARREN Will Mr. Wesley Buell Frazier take the stand?
FRAZIER (enters and introduces himself) Army Private Wesley Buell Frazier, age 21, born in Hunts- ville, Texas. I was drafted on August 2, 1965. I am stat- ioned at Fort Lewis, outside Seattle, Washington State.
RILEY What should we call you?
FRAZIER Wes is good.
RILEY When, how, and where did you meet Lee Oswald?
FRAZIER Mid-October, ’63. I was stayin with my older sister, Linnie May Randle, her hubby, and their three li’l girls. In Ir- vine, a suburb of Dallas. Mrs. Ruth Paine, who lived a half-block down the street, told my sister of a boy who rented a room and needed a job. He had a wife, child, and another due any second. Ruth knew I’d gotten on at the Book Depository and asked if they were still hiring. I asked my supervisor, Mr. Roy Truly. They did need someone, tempo- rary. I told Ruth and Lee got the job.
RILEY When did you first meet Lee?
FRAZIER He started on a Thursday, mid-October. Since we were nearly neighbors and he didn’t drive, I gave him rides, to and from, starting that Friday. Did so...until... 19
RILEY Had you heard anything about Lee, beforehand?
FRAZIER In a way of warning, so to speak? Ruth said he was an ex- Marine...and had some Marxist views. She also said he’d lived in Russia. That didn’t faze me, one way or the other.
RILEY Did you ask him about living in Russia?
FRAZIER In a roundabout manner. He picked up quick. He answered in a tone that warned me to change the subject. I did.
RILEY What was your general impression of him?
FRAZIER He’s one smart cookie, though The Media’ll never let on to that. To hear him talk, you’d swear he was a college grad. Real quiet, classic loner. I respected that. We mostly rode in silence. He kept his politics—and just about everything else—to himself. That was fine by me. Most folks think they have to go on and on about nothin, fillin the air with silly jibber-jabber.
RILEY What were Lee’s duties on the job?
FRAZIER Same as mine: filling orders and stacking merchandise.
RILEY What was the consensus, as a worker and as a person, from his supervisor and colleagues?
FRAZIER Like me, most noticed right off he was a loner and respect- ed that. The bosses loved him as a worker. Focus like you can’t believe. Took care of business, no bull-stuff.
RILEY His co-workers?
FRAZIER At first, some sorta resented how he showed a lot could get done in a little time. Nobody had a real problem, though.
RILEY Beyond the rides, how much did you see him?
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FRAZIER That was it. No beers after work. No watchin the Cowboys games on Sunday. I knew how fond he was of his wife and kid, and with another on the way...
RILEY Did he eat his lunch alone, or...?
FRAZIER Usually solo. Most everybody was cliqued up, and he didn’t want to impose. Whenever he could, though, he ate with some colored boys. Ol’ good-lookin Bonnie Ray Williams, Harold Norman, others. Nice guys, cool cats, all.
RILEY Did anyone make comments on that?
FRAZIER Some old biddies slid ‘em the Fart Eye at first, but few else seemed to notice. Lee may of been tryin to tick folks off, but we’re more liberal in Dallas than you’d think.
RILEY Did he talk about anything on the rides?
FRAZIER The few times he opened up was about his daughters. Three days after he started the job, his second daughter, Rachel, was born. On a Sunday. You’d of thought Lee was the first daddy ever. Still, he was at work the next morning.
RILEY Did you ever see Lee write into any notebooks, Wes?
FRAZIER Yes, sir. Second, maybe the third time he rode with me. Asked him what he was writing. He gives me this side-eyed “none-a-y’r-beeswax” look. I changed the subject, pronto.
RILEY Did you ever see him do any more writing?
FRAZIER Not at all, sir.
RILEY Did he ever offer an opinion on President Kennedy?
FRAZIER Yes! Other than about his wife and kids, the only time I heard any color in Lee’s voice was when he mentioned our President. Admired him to the moon and back! Especially how 21
FRAZIER (cont’d) he was a friend to our colored brothers, despite all... That’s why I don’t believe, can never believe, Lee will- fully tried to kill Mr. Kennedy, unless...
RILEY Wesley, how did Lee behave on the morning of the attempt?
FRAZIER Truth told: spaced out. I noticed it straight off, even though he’s quiet and never says much in the first place.
RILEY Was he agitated? Angry for no apparent reason?
FRAZIER He reminded me of a guy who had to do something he didn’t want to. He was like that the evening before...and more so on the ride home Wednesday. Truth told, that Wednesday was the only time I recall Lee returning late from lunch.
RILEY Did you notice anything...?
FRAZIER The President’s motorcade route had just been announced. Lee came back...as if he’d returned from The Twilight Zone.
OSWALD [C’mon, Wes—I wasn’t that obvious!]
FRAZIER Like he’d gotten some last-minute orders, now that they knew the motorcade would pass by the—
CAIN I object! That calls for speculation!
WARREN Young man, you will refrain from such suppositions!
FRAZIER I’m sorry, Mr. Chief Justice! I didn’t know I was—
WARREN A minor mistake—one you’ll try not to make again. Next question, Mr. Riley.
RILEY When, how, and where did you learn he had become a person of interest in the attempt upon Mr. Kennedy?
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FRAZIER Two hours later. All the building’s workers but Lee was accounted for. All were asked general questions, on the premises. Not me. D.A. Henry Wade, Police Chief Jesse Curry, and FBI Agent John Shanklin whisked me over to Po- lice HQ. I knew somethin bad was brewin.
RILEY What did you think at first?
FRAZIER Because of the rides, they thought I must know something.
RILEY What happened at Police HQ, Wes?
FRAZIER They went straight to work. Let me flat know they smelled a Conspiracy and thought I was part of it.
RILEY Why? Did you have a police record?
FRAZIER Nothin close to one.
RILEY No other reason than you gave him rides?
FRAZIER They thought maybe I was the reason he got the job in the first place?
RILEY Did they get physical?
FRAZIER They started to, but I wasn’t havin it. Told ‘em if they commenced to roughhouse me, I would proceed to roughhouse them back. Still, Curry planted his meat-hooks on me, and I pushed him off. Told ‘em I had an uncle who’s a big wheel in the State Senate. That made ‘em blink and back off.
RILEY Then what happened?
FRAZIER Took ‘em three hours to find my uncle and confirm it. That was about eight pm. Still, they kept me ‘til three am. For my own protection, they said. Had me take a polygraph, which I passed like a cool breeze!
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RILEY All the while, did you know what else was going on?
FRAZIER Truth told, not at all. Learned about Lee’s capture and arraignment on my drive back to Irvine.
RILEY Did you receive any flak because of your link with Lee?
FRAZIER Thankfully, most people, especially strangers, don’t make any connection. However, there are those, local and not, who swear I must be in on the whole shebang...Boy, I tell ya! Conspiracy junkies! Lord love a duck!
RILEY Do you hold a grudge against the men who interrogated you?
FRAZIER Yes—and no. I can see why they’d want to talk to everyone close to Lee. But I’m the only one they tried to muscle. Maybe I wouldn’t be so forgiving if they’d of whupped my ass like they intended. Oops. They’ll edit that, right?
RILEY Let’s shift gears. How’s your life as a G.I. been so far?
FRAZIER Truth told, I’ve had some rough patches. My bein linked to Lee has beamed a spotlight on me I don’t like or need. Some of my fellow G.I.s—officers and not—swear I’m involved in some fashion. I’ve had to use my dukes a few times. But I’m from Texas, and an occasional donnybrook is part of life.
RILEY You were drafted at what age?
FRAZIER Uncle Sam called me last June. I was, still am, 21.
RILEY Most young men are drafted at 18, usually no later than 19. Did you think that was unusual?
FRAZIER I did, sir. But what could I say? I wasn’t gonna try and dodge the draft. And Uncle Sam does call on some boys in their early, even mid-twenties.
RILEY The flak you’ve received. Are there any particular soldiers 24
RILEY (cont’d) who persist on asking you about—that event?
VOICE OFFSTAGE C’mon Frazier—what really happened that day?
FRAZIER Now that you mentioned it, yes.
VOICE OFFSTAGE What really happened? We’re your friends. You can tell us.
FRAZIER One ol’ boy, seemed out of place with us working-class joes, kept askin ‘til I told him to shut his pie hole.
RILEY Did you get the impression he had ulterior motives?
FRAZIER Yeah...and shame on me for not pickin up on it earlier...
RILEY Wesley, I’ll ask you straight out: did you, do you see some link between...the interest in you from certain elements... and your rather belated drafting into the army?
FRAZIER ?...Uh...no...?
CAIN [He’s lying...]
RILEY There’s a saying that goes back to the Romans: “If you want to keep eyes on a young man, put him in your army.” Truth told, Wes, have you ever felt that’s the case with you, given the suspicions that just won’t die?
FRAZIER Some folks—friend and foe—tried to plant that seed into my head. One voice tells me there’s no coincidences in life. Another tells me sometimes a Mustang is just a jazzy car.
JFK [For some strange reason, I get that one.]
(LIGHTS DOWN ON TRIAL AREA, UP ON OS- WALD’S CELL as HE watches the trial. HE begins to GASP HARD. The attack ends as quickly as it began)
25
OSWALD What the hell was that?
(BACK TO TRIAL PROPER)
RILEY Last question—for now. G.I. to G.I.: did you notice any behavior from Lee that made you think—even before he made his claim—that his mind was not his own?
WARREN (re: CAIN rising) Keep your seat, Mr. Cain. Answer the question, young man.
FRAZIER Yes! Especially after he returned late from lunch, the next two rides home, and Friday morning. I swear to that on everything I am and hope to become.
RILEY Again, thanks.
FRAZIER My pleasure, Captain, sir.
(THEY exchange salutes, then RILEY gives way to CAIN)
CAIN Good afternoon, young man. May I call you Wes, also?
FRAZIER Of course.
CAIN I’d like to thank you on behalf of all Americans for your service to our country...
FRAZIER Truth told, I just started—and haven’t done much.
CAIN Still. As only the best attorneys can do, Mr. Riley has presaged many of my questions, and already asked them. And you know how much of a compliment that is, Mr. Riley.
RILEY Thank you.
CAIN Wes, the issue of your somewhat late draft call...don’t you feel the least bit suspicious—? 26
FRAZIER Second verse, same as the first: no.
CAIN You said you harbor no ill will toward those who questioned you that day. However, I know I would feel some—rancor?
FRAZIER All due respect, sir, but this trial ain’t about me: it’s about Lee and what I know of him. I’ll be glad to answer new questions about that!
WARREN Yes! Please get back to that!
CAIN Uh...yes... it’s clear you have a fondness...of sorts...for the Plaintiff. You admitted you didn’t know him that well.
FRAZIER I knew him good enough to see he was way out of sorts. Didn’t have to be a psychologist to see that. If you think I’m taking a dive, so to speak, mister, you are so wrong!
CAIN I understand that, Wesley.
FRAZIER There’s too much at stake for me to lie in front of the world! This thing is bigger than me givin him rides! I got no dawg in this fight! I just want to see Justice served! In my opinion, Lee looked like he might of been hypnotized, mesmerized, hoo-doo-ized, whatever! Might. Not sayin he was or wasn’t. Cain’t put it no plainer!
WARREN Mr. Cain, the witness has made his thoughts quite clear. Counsels, any further questions?
CAIN Not for now...
FRAZIER Mr. Chief Justice, with all due respect, I’d like to add something. If you think it’s too off-topic, edit it.
WARREN Let’s hear it, and if necessary we will cut it out.
FRAZIER Truth told, the US is losing many in my generation. Things’re getting topsy-turny. You got war vets wanting 27
FRAZIER (cont’d) troops to go back to Southeast Asia. You got youngsters who want ‘em to stay out. And the mystery about the attempt on the President. Lotsa folks’ve lost faith in the Government, the System, the Establishment—whatever you wanna call it, ’cause nobody’s figured out who or what is behind it. Lotta folks think The System doesn’t want to know! They say maybe it was an inside job. Hope to Gawd it wasn’t!
JFK [I’ve thought that...but, the Kennedys’ private security force would’ve found that out by now...]
FRAZIER The growing unpatriotism! Exploding drug use and sexual promiscuity! Because young folks feel they been betrayed! Even the music: lots of white American kids’ve turned to the Brit singers, shunning the colored and country artists who created rock-n-roll—
WARREN We appreciate your—
FRAZIER Please let me finish, sir! This “support” for Lee: the “Free Oswald” chants and rallies, marriage proposals, making him out to be a martyr—largely because, to repeat, so many are fed up with this Government!...Now I’m done!
WARREN We admire your candor, about how many in your generation are—disgruntled.
FRAZIER Not tryin to be no spokesman. Just one man’s opinion!
WARREN Counselors, any further questions?
CAIN ...None...
RILEY None here, for now.
(LIGHTS UP ON OSWALD’S CELL. HE has a similar attack. As before, it subsides)
OSWALD Damn! Again!
28
(BACK TO TRIAL PROPER)
WARREN Private Frazier, you are excused. (FRAZIER salutes and exits) The Supreme Court of the United States calls Robert Edward Lee Oswald to the witness stand!
ROBERT OSWALD (enters and introduces himself) Robert Edward Lee Oswald, former Marine Corp sergeant, born April 7, 1934, in New Orleans. I am the elder brother, by five years, of Lee Oswald. And yes, we were named in part after our ancestor, General Robert Edward Lee.
RILEY To begin, Sergeant, how close were you and your brother, generally speaking, throughout your lives?
ROBERT OSWALD I was closer to Lee than anyone. However, that comes with a disclaimer: Lee made it a point not to get close to people, to let anyone into his—world.
RILEY How old were you and Lee when your natural father died?
ROBERT OSWALD He died at age 43, of a heart attack, two months before Lee was born. I was five.
RILEY Obviously, Lee has no memory of your father. Do you?
ROBERT OSWALD Only the vaguest.
RILEY How do you think growing up without him affected Lee?
ROBERT OSWALD Like many fatherless boys, he lacked direction. A sense of identity. Maybe I did, too. But I think I got beyond it.
RILEY Your mother was married to a Mr. Edwin Ekdahl, correct?
ROBERT OSWALD Yes, sir. From May 1945 to their divorce in June 1948.
RILEY What was the main reason for the divorce, to the best of 29
RILEY (cont’d) your knowledge—if you can tell us in open court?
ROBERT OSWALD She learned he’d cheated on her. Oldest story in the book.
RILEY How did Lee get along with Mr. Ekdahl?
ROBERT OSWALD He worshipped our stepfather! For the first—and only—time in Lee’s life, he had a father figure he could love and trust—or so he thought. Mr. Ekdahl treated us like we were his own sons, and we adored him for that.
RILEY How did his departure affect Lee?
ROBERT OSWALD It shattered his heart, his spirit. Beyond repair. Surely that’s why Lee couldn’t, can’t trust anyone, especially males, and has a problem with authority figures.
RILEY Do you recall any direct outcomes of that—abandonment?
CAIN Objection, Mr. Chief Justice! Calls for speculation!
WARREN Overruled. Please answer, Mr. Oswald.
ROBERT OSWALD Lee dissolved into a fantasy world, from which he never rematerialized. Read a lot of spy novels, detective stories. Even in his early teens, he read all of Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” books and articles.
JFK [Interesting...]
RILEY The Hero With a Thousand Faces? Heavy reading for anyone.
ROBERT OSWALD He loved all the great tales in that structure. The Greek tragedies and myths, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov. And by far his favorite TV show was I Led Three Lives.
RILEY I liked that show, too. About a man who was a white-collar worker, family man, Communist spy—and FBI double agent. 30
ROBERT OSWALD After it was cancelled, Lee was depressed for weeks. He withdrew into himself—just like when our stepfather left. It was then, I’m sure, Lee began to compose fantasies in his head—where he was the hero, savior, avenging angel... He started to write, daily, into school notebooks. I assume they were his Lee-as-hero stories. He protected these books as if his life depended on nobody seeing them.
RILEY Interesting...how did he get along with your mother?
ROBERT OSWALD Like everyone else: not well. This is a terrible thing to say, but that woman is one piece of work!
OSWALD [Amen! And there’s reasons she’s not testifying!]
(LIGHTS ON SCRIM. MARGUERITE OSWALD is on the phone)
MARGUERITE OSWALD You have summoned my son Robert—and that Russian tart Lee married—but not me? I’m his mother, for crying out loud! I demand to go before the Supreme Court, to safe-guard the truth! Of course, you will pay all my expenses, fly me first class, put me in a four-star hotel, for my testimony! Hello? Hello? I know that cow didn’t just hang up on me!
(LIGHTS DOWN ON MARGUERITE, BACK TO TRIAL PROPER)
RILEY Your reaction when Lee told you he wanted to follow you and your older half-brother, John Pic, into the military?
ROBERT OSWALD Like John and me, he saw it as a way out of her house! But we were against it. Lee was 16, underage, far too immature. He wanted our mother to fake his birth certificate, but that’s not easy. He toughed it out until his seventeenth birthday, and joined legally.
RILEY When you heard of his rough going in the Corps?
ROBERT OSWALD No surprise. Resistance to Authority, dislike of older males, having lived in his own fantasy world for so long.
31
RILEY When you learned of his defection to the Soviet Union?
(LIGHTS ON OSWALD’S CELL. HE has another attack. This time it does not stop)
OSWALD Guard! Get me a guard in here! Somebody help! Please!
(BACK TO THE TRIAL PROPER)
RILEY ...his defection to the Soviet Union?
ROBERT OSWALD None of us saw that one coming. He’d spout on and on about his Marxism...but to dive into the Abyss like that...
RILEY It was front-page news, covered on TV, in magazines.
ROBERT OSWALD Yes, but it wasn’t so much about Lee, but a Joe Schmoe Marine who’d rejected his country and all it stands for.
RILEY Did you keep in touch with Lee during his time in Russia?
ROBERT OSWALD Not at all. No phone calls, no post cards for all that time, to let us know he was still alive. At first it angered me. Later I learned he had written, but the Russian censors refused to post his mail.
RILEY Did you notice any major changes after his return?
ROBERT OSWALD He retreated even deeper, if that was possible.
RILEY How long did Lee and his wife and child stay with you?
ROBERT OSWALD About six weeks. He found a job. As usual, minimum-wage, little or no brainpower needed.
RILEY Did you, Lee, and his wife part on good terms?
ROBERT OSWALD I think so. It was mostly a case of Lee being too proud to 32
ROBERT OSWALD (cont’d) impose, for too long.
RILEY What did your wife, Veda, think about Lee?
ROBERT OSWALD She put up with him because I did. Like most, she just didn’t “get” Lee. She went out of her way to be nice to him, even when he didn’t reciprocate. I made tons of excuses for him.
RILEY What did you think about Marina?
ROBERT OSWALD She barely said “boo.” Maybe it was the language barrier, living in a strange country. She seemed nice enough...How- ever—gratuitous—this may sound, but I had to take a step back when I first saw her. Pretty as a sunset. Lee’s not unhandsome, but...her...
JFK [Oswald must’ve done something right to nab her...]
RILEY What did Veda think about her?
ROBERT OSWALD She read Marina’s silence as aloofness. Like she was too good for Lee, too good to stay at our house, too good for Texas. I tried to convince Veda otherwise, but...
JFK [Yeah...with such a pretty woman under the same roof...]
RILEY Any discussions with Lee about Marxism?
ROBERT OSWALD No! Lee knew I didn’t want to hear any political pabulum, so he kept mum on it.
RILEY Ever hear Lee discuss his beliefs with others?
ROBERT OSWALD No. He knew when and where to choose his battles. This was Texas. Such talk can get your clock cleaned—or worse.
RILEY After Lee moved out, how often did you see him? 33
ROBERT OSWALD We made it a point to meet the first Saturday of every month, around noon, at a diner near my house. For con- tinuity’s sake, if nothing else. We never missed a meeting. That would be 14, 15 times.
RILEY Any particular places?
ROBERT OSWALD Always the Cattlemen’s Café, downtown Fort Worth.
RILEY Recall the names of any of the people who worked there?
ROBERT OSWALD A cute waitress, thirty-five-ish, pleasantly plump, Clemen- tina Rios. She served us more often than not. In fact, she’s already made a deposition to that effect.
RILEY (after a sideways smirk at Cain) Good memory and eye for details.
CAIN [Again well-played, King of Preemptive Strike Questions.]
RILEY What did you talk about at those lunches?
ROBERT OSWALD Mostly about our kids. Lee loved being a father.
RILEY How many times did you see him after his abduction—?
CAIN Objection! `
RILEY His alleged abduction, in August 1963?
ROBERT OSWALD Three times. First Saturday. Always.
RILEY Did Lee ever express any opinions on President Kennedy?
ROBERT OSWALD Yes! He admired Mr. Kennedy big-time, especially his stance on Civil Rights. Lee was pro-Negro, wished he could make some colored friends, but...Texas... 34
RILEY Did he ever seem—not himself—in the three months between then and the attempt on President Kennedy?
ROBERT OSWALD Yes. The last time we met. Saturday, the second of Novem- ber. The day of the coupe in South Vietnam.
RILEY How did he appear?
ROBERT OSWALD Lee’s always been moody. That day he seemed...waaayyy out of it. I chalked it up to the mess in Vietnam. Lee lets things like that bring him down, when most people don’t give it a second thought.
RILEY How was he—differently moody—than before?
ROBERT OSWALD He stared off, wouldn’t make eye contact. He mumbled—and Lee takes pride in being articulate. Couldn’t hold a thought. I tried to get him to talk about his new-born daughter, but...then I knew something was really off...
RILEY When Lee made the abduction claim, were you surprised?
ROBERT OSWALD Not at all. Lee would go on his—mind journeys—ever since I can recall. I suppose The Conspirators needed someone whose mind...was not always in its time and place. I think Lee fit their needs perfectly. That’s the only reason he would take up arms against Mr. Kennedy: if he were made to do it.
RILEY Sergeant Oswald...Marine to Marine...have you told me the Truth and nothing but?
ROBERT OSWALD Marine to Marine, Captain Riley, I have.
RILEY Thank you. For now. Mr. Cain...
CAIN Good afternoon, sir...
ROBERT OSWALD Mr. Cain...
35
CAIN As well he should have, Mr. Riley anticipated many of my questions and beat me to the proverbial punch.
ROBERT OSWALD As well he should have.
CAIN Young man, you obviously love your brother a lot.
ROBERT OSWALD I do.
CAIN Did he ever confide in you he wanted to harm Mr. Kennedy?
ROBERT OSWALD Never, sir.
CAIN Did he ever tell you he felt something, someone might have gotten inside his head, altered his mind?
ROBERT OSWALD No, he did not.
CAIN You were the first family member to speak with him after his arrest, am I correct?
ROBERT OSWALD I was.
CAIN You said, shortly thereafter, on the record—adamantly—you felt he was guilty, as charged, did you not?
ROBERT OSWALD I did. What he said, his attitude, the evidence they had— made me feel that way. Then and now.
CAIN In similar cases, a guilty plea takes the death penalty off the table. That was, is not the case with him.
ROBERT OSWALD As I learned later.
CAIN Technically, he is still a death-row prisoner. Tactically, The Government has kept him alive in the hope he can lead them to his co-conspirators. Even if only inadvertently. 36
ROBERT OSWALD I am aware of all that.
CAIN My point is that some people might want the Supreme Court to accept his claim. This would take the death penalty off, once and for all.
ROBERT OSWALD I see where this is headed, but say it anyway...
CAIN Have you fudged any of your testimony so that—?
ROBERT OSWALD No, sir! I told what I observed. As far as trying to—save Lee’s life, no! He’s made it clear he prefers death to life in prison. I just want to see justice served! Lee is no monster, no psycho! He’s a confused, gullible kid who’s made a tragic, historical mistake! One for which he must be given the proper punishment! (pause, to gather himself) Maybe what he tells us can shed light on why anyone would do what he did. So in the future we’ll have a good idea of those likely to go to that extreme...Lee, I love you—but you’ve got to pay!
JFK [Interesting...opinion...]
ROBERT OSWALD You can ask me a hundred more questions, but there’s nothing more I can say...
CAIN Thank you, young man. Mr. Riley...?
RILEY I’m sure this Marine has left it all on the battlefield...
WARREN My fellow Justices?
VOICES OFFSTAGE “No, sir,” “That’s all,” “Nothing more.”
ROBERT OSWALD I’ll stay in town until you release me.
WARREN Very good. (A PAGE enters and hands WARREN a note. 37
WARREN (cont’d) HE reads it, frowns, and motions for RILEY and CAIN to approach. THEY confer, then WARREN announces:) The plaintiff has taken sick. He would have been the next— and last—witness in his behalf. Instead, we will call the first neutral witness. It does appear, however, the plaintiff will be able to testify before the day’s end.
RILEY Let’s hope so.
WARREN The Supreme Court calls Dr. Evans Yancey to the stand.
YANCEY (enters and introduces himself) Dr. Evans Yancey, 47, graduate of Harvard Medical School. Navy Captain, in World War II.
JFK [Harvard! Another Navy officer! I like this guy!]
DR. YANCEY I have an MD in psychiatry and a PH.D. in psychology.
WARREN You are viewed as the nation’s foremost authority on hypnotism, and its variation, mind control for harmful purposes, correct?
YANCEY In all modesty, yes. But that is a niche field. Some in my profession do not take it that seriously.
WARREN Be that as it may. What is the history of the study of hypnosis and mind control, briefly?
YANCEY It began with the German Franz Mesmer—from whom we get the term “mesmerized”—in the late 1700s. James Braid, Sigmund Freud and others expanded upon it in the 1800s.
CAIN Why has hypnosis become such an important topic lately?
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: a still shot from The Manchurian Candidate)
YANCEY Several factors. The film The Manchurian Candidate has 38
YANCEY (cont’d) thrust it before the public. That’s piqued curiosity on the alleged brainwashing of American POWs by the Chinese and North Koreans, as shown in the movie. (IMAGE ON SCREEN: starved American POWs in a cage) One theory is that our Government—or branches of it—have and are conducting experiments like those in the film. Word has leaked about the MKUltra tests that use the drug LSD. Of course, no details are available.
RILEY Of course not.
YANCEY Finally, this trial itself. After Mr. Oswald’s claim, people have flooded libraries to research it.
WARREN In the broadest sense, define hypnosis...
YANCEY When one narrows his focus to one issue, with little or no awareness of other things around him, and is highly prone to suggestion. This can be self-induced, or by others...In these cases, the subject must be willing.
WARREN What are the most common, everyday examples of hypnosis?
YANCEY They’re everywhere! When anyone is engrossed in reading a book, watching a film...or a play, listening to music and tuning everything else out, that’s hypnosis. Performing in a play, music, or sporting event, being extremely focused on any task: that’s hypnosis!
RILEY Preachers, priests? Cult leaders? Politicians?
YANCEY Them, too. On a larger, collective level, of course.
CAIN We’ll get to the more malicious aspects later. For now, what are some of the benefits?
YANCEY Hypnosis can convince one not to feel pain: from arthritis, cancer, and other ills. To lose weight. To get beyond grief. To cast out negative thoughts about a daunting task ahead. Many top athletes do that—sometimes consciously, 39
YANCEY (cont’d) sometimes not, or some go to professionals.
WARREN You mentioned willingness. Can one be “put under” against his will?
YANCEY The subject might think he is consciously fighting it, but in nearly every case, his subconscious allows it.
RILEY Are some people more prone to be hypnotized than others?
YANCEY In a broad sense, that does appear to be the case. To repeat, the willingness issue.
RILEY People who grew up without fathers, in poverty or close to it, indulged in fantasy lives—are they more apt to be—?
CAIN A gratuitous, self-serving question if ever there was one—!
RILEY Like every question every attorney asks—!
WARREN Remember where we are and why we’re here! The censor will edit that exchange! And Dr. Yancey will answer.
YANCEY ...I daresay those are major characteristics for many...
CAIN Have others made claims similar to the Plaintiff’s, for like reasons?
YANCEY As far as I know, three have. All shortly after they saw or heard of The Manchurian Candidate.
CAIN What became of those claims?
YANCEY Dismissed. All three. In a heartbeat.
CAIN Murderers are at times exonerated if they can prove mental illness. To your knowledge, has anyone been absolved of 40
CAIN (cont’d) murder because he or she could prove being under the influence of others, so to speak?
YANCEY To my knowledge, no.
CAIN Are you saying it’s impossible for someone to be grabbed, brainwashed by absolute strangers to commit the vilest crimes, totally against his will? In a matter of hours?
YANCEY Based on my two decades of research, the next time that happens will be the first.
RILEY Doctor, the real-life situation that forms the basis of The Manchurian Candidate: the dozens of American POWs who denounced the US. Many chose to remain in Korean prison camps after they were granted freedom. In short, they were brainwashed against their will, one would think...
YANCEY These are rare cases of mind control—without the subject’s initial consent. However, I must point out other factors: torture, starvation, solitary confinement over months, and mind-altering drugs.
CAIN Are you saying—his—claim could be valid...had the process occurred over months...rather than a few hours...?
YANCEY As far as anyone knows, a few hours are far too short.
RILEY Are you privy to every such experiment with mind control?
YANCEY ...Of course not...neither are my colleagues...
RILEY Experiments by our Government—or branches of it? They don’t want the public to know, for obvious reasons?
YANCEY Of course not.
RILEY So nobody would know if someone has created a method that could “turn” a person in a short period of time? 41
YANCEY That’s a rhetorical question.
WARREN Which you will nonetheless answer, Doctor.
YANCEY ...However improbable, it is possible.
RILEY Sir, have you read the book by Dr. Joseph Jones that examines the minds of political assassins—and the three that did succeed in killing an American president?
YANCEY Of course. Dr. Jones is one of my most esteemed colleagues.
RILEY Do you agree with most of his findings?
CAIN Objection! Such—evaluations—are not admissible in any court of law in the—
WARREN Overruled. Remember our relaxed rules. Proceed, Doctor...
YANCEY I think Dr. Jones’ work is insightful—and impeccable from a scientific standpoint.
RILEY All known political assassins, here and abroad, throughout history, have acted in public, correct?
YANCEY According to Dr. Jones.
RILEY Yet Mr. Oswald did so behind cover, correct?
YANCEY He did.
RILEY In all previous instances, the killer did not try to escape, stayed on the scene to be apprehended, correct?
YANCEY Yes.
42
RILEY Yet Mr. Oswald fled.
YANCEY He did.
RILEY Political assassins always admit their guilt in a public forum—and immediately. Yet Mr. Oswald had plenty of chances to “brag” before the world media, but did not.
YANCEY That is true.
RILEY Not only did Mr. Oswald not trumpet his guilt but demanded— in front of the Media—legal representation.
YANCEY Correct.
RILEY Thus, though part of a Conspiracy, the aforementioned show Mr. Oswald was not a willful actor, which bolsters his brainwash claim—
WARREN That’s for the Justices to decide.
RILEY No further comments or questions.
CAIN [Gotta give it to ol’ Francis: he might’ve scored a few points with that—for now]...Likewise, sir...
WARREN Dr. Yancey, make yourself available for possible recall... (the PAGE returns with another note. WARREN reads it, then announces:) The plaintiff is still not ready. We will go with the second neutral witness, Mr. Salvatore Giacomo. (re: the mild hub-bub OFFSTAGE as GIACOMO enters) Order in the Court. Mr. Giacomo...
JFK [Steady as she goes...]
GIACOMO Salvatore “Sal” Giacomo, born June 15, 1908, West Side of Chicago, to Sicilian immigrant parents. I am in the import- 43
GIACOMO (cont’d) export business, based in my hometown.
WARREN Sir, you know you may have an attorney present.
GIACOMO I got nothin I need a mouthpiece for. Just your questions and my truthful answers. Fire away.
WARREN As agreed, we must get the thorniest, public-needs-to-know questions out of the way. And since we’ll make edits, feel free to express yourself in the language appropriate—but nothing too colorful.
GIACOMO Bingo! Let’s go to work.
WARREN Has anyone paid you for this testimony, offered incentives?
GIACOMO No, Mr. Chief Justice.
WARREN Have you been offered immunity, coerced into appearing?
GIACOMO I have not.
WARREN You’re reputed to be Chicago’s Number One Outfit Boss.
GIACOMO That’s what happens when a Sicilian is successful. His businesses must be fronts to launder dirty money. Painting us all with the same brush. Insulting. Disgusting.
JFK [Ha. Ha.]
WARREN Just after the attempt, your name came up on the list of most-likely suspects...
GIACOMO Soon’s I heard the news, I bee-lined to the Chicago FBI Office. To get my name off the list. They grilled me like a twenty-dollar steak. Satisfied, finally, they let me go.
44
WARREN Another public-needs-to-know question: did you play a role in President Kennedy’s victory in Illinois in 1960, which basically sealed the election for him?
JFK [Careful, Goom-bah...]
GIACOMO It’s impossible for any group—foreign or domestic—to rig something as big, as important as a presidential election. I wish I had that sort of sway! Anyone who thinks that can happen is loco in the coco!
RILEY Did you have any hand in the CIA-led Bay of Pigs fiasco?
GIACOMO No, sir. I heard one, maybe two from the Old Country were part of it, to get Castro out and the casinos and brothels back in. But not me. Had nothing to do with my import- export business.
CAIN Did you volunteer to appear here when you learned a secondary goal is to find those behind The Conspiracy?
GIACOMO Absolutely! I see it as my patriotic duty.
RILEY All due respect, but what makes you an expert in—?
GIACOMO The world of murder-for-hire? In my business I rub eblows with...some shady characters. I’ve heard their stories...
CAIN T.R.O.P.E.: The True Rulers of the Planet Earth, has been the top-selling book since August 1964...
GIACOMO That speculates on the who/what/when/where/why and how of the attempt on President Kennedy, and major political murders in general, right? Read it. Fascinating.
WARREN Yes. What speculations in the book do you feel are relevant to the assault on Mr. Kennedy?
GIACOMO The writers think there’s a fistful of Magnates who really 45
GIACOMO (cont’d) control the world, through politics and its effect on the economies of the major countries.
CAIN The New World Order...a planet-wide “Big Brother”...
GIACOMO Right. The ultimate Shadow Government, Secret Society—just like the President spoke on in his famous speech in—’61?
CAIN [Which surely played a major role in their decision to try to eliminate him...]
WARREN Please explain how their many tiers of ordering murders is similar to or different from what you’ve heard...or observed...in American urban crime lore?
GIACOMO In a nutshell: The biggest shots—let’s call them The Overseers—agree that so-and-so must be rubbed out. They come up with the perfect time and place. Next, they get in touch with who we’ll call The Conspirators. There’s maybe five or six teams in the entire world, according to the T.R.O.P.E. writers, and from what I’ve heard on the street.
RILEY Then...?
GIACOMO The Conspirators usually work in pairs. Just one won’t cut it. Three or more: too many cooks.
WARREN That accounts for the top two tiers. Then what?
GIACOMO The Conspirators then hire—let’s call them “The Liaisons,” who then hire the on-site shooters. Them we’ll call “The Shooters.” Totally trustworthy, disciplined beyond belief— and crack shots, of course. The Liaisons bring on at least two, but no more than four Shooters on a mission. Again, too many cooks...and a patsy, too. Almost always an odds- and-ends local. A sacrificial lamb. Dilettante with a rifle. He’s set up to be caught—and always is. While John Law dicks around with the mutt, the Pure Breds pull a Houdini. Usually for good.
CAIN Do these “shooters” know who their—mission-mates—are? 46
GIACOMO No! The Liaisons talk to each shooter, separate. Nobody knows who else is on the mission. They could bump into each other on the street, and wouldn’t know the other from Adam. Like Oswald: he had his orders; he knew there was supposed to be a guy in the textile building, but that’s all. Being able to name and point fingers: heck-frickin-no! If one does get nabbed, he can’t tell nothin, ‘cause he don’t know nuthin. All the torture in the world won’t work.
WARREN So it all goes back to The Overseers?
GIACOMO Yep! They know The Conspirators, The Liaisons, the Shoot- ers, and the target. The Conspirators know the Liaisons and shooters—but not The Overseers. The Liaisons know only the shooters and the target. The shooters know only the target.
RILEY Though you have disavowed any link to The Outfit, The Mob—
GIACOMO I get the picture. Those people.
RILEY Based on urban lore, their “hit-men” are among the best. Would The Overseers hire some of them for their—missions?
GIACOMO Of course! You build a football team, you hire the fastest, strongest, meanest S.O.B.s available. I’d say the majority of the Shooters are Mob moonlighters. In the US, anyway.
WARREN Back to T.R.O.P.E. The authors attribute nearly every major war, overthrow of government, political murder in world history to this Secret Society...all the way back to the Romans, too many popes to name here...even some presidents.
GIACOMO If they are off the mark, it ain’t by much. And the closer you read that book, the more sense it makes.
WARREN Stop all recording. I’m going to ask something, strictly not for public consumption.
GIACOMO I’ll answer what I can.
47
WARREN Are all cameras and recording devices off?
VOICE/OFFSTAGE They are, Mr. Chief Justice.
WARREN Hypothetical question. One we must ask. Could anyone in Organized Crime, or some similar cabal be behind the attempt—despite the theory in T.R.O.P.E.?
RILEY As was highly conjectured after the attempt—and still is in some circles?
GIACOMO No! By now somebody would of ratted out the perps—most likely from a rival gang that somehow piled up enough details to make a valid claim.
CAIN What about the code of silence—Omerta?
GIACOMO That’d be off the table for something like that. Plus, they’d hafta kill people left and right for silence.
WARREN Sir, dozens—hundreds—have met—questionable demises—in the wake of the attempt. Could that be because...?
GIACOMO On that I cannot speak. Next question, please.
WARREN Yet, there is evidence that leads to two Mob bosses.
GIACOMO With me, that is neither here nor there. Next. Question.
CAIN As far as we know, there’ve been no further attempts on Mr. Kennedy. As far as we know. Your thoughts on that?
GIACOMO Educated guess: whatever policies Mr. Kennedy had that ticked off The New World Order or T.R.O.P.E. or whoever are no longer in place—or no threat to them anymore. The smart money is on the removal of troops from Southeast Asia. The resulting spread of Communism to all of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, with the Philippines and Japan on deck, plays into the hands of the Overseers. Or not. Just one man’s humble 48
GIACOMO (cont’d) theory. And don’t forget: after Dallas, Mr. Kennedy has got to be the best-protected human in history!
JFK [Let’s hope!]
GIACOMO Before I go, one other thing. Hypnotize some sad-sack tumbleweed to make the hit? Get the fudge outta here! That world is teeming with guys who live to kill! Dime a dozen!
WARREN Thank you, sir. You’ve cleared up a lot of things for us. Mr. Riley, any further questions?
RILEY Nothing for now.
GIACOMO ...Uh...those pictures you want me to look at...?
WARREN Yes! After the next witness. And we’ll edit that out, Mr. Giacomo, for your safety.
GIACOMO Oops! Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mr. President, wherever you’re watching from, you’re the greatest! I love you!
JFK [Hugs and kisses from a whore!]
(The PAGE returns yet again with a note. WARREN reads it.)
WARREN The plaintiff is now ready to testify. (Two GUARDS lead in the shackled OSWALD.) Despite the slim odds of any—nonsense, Mr. Oswald must know this Court will tolerate no improper behavior... (SOUND OF FOUR SHARP CLICKS.) These are our finest marksmen, and they will not hesitate.
OSWALD Nothing to worry about from me, Mr. Chief Justice...I apol- ogize for holding things up. Let’s get this thing over with. The Truth will out...Lee Oswald, born October 18, 1939, in Nawlins, Louisiana. The Media has added the “Har- vey”—which is my middle name. I just go by Lee Oswald. May- be the Media thought the third name would bring to mind John Wilkes Booth. 49
RILEY Perhaps more benignly, to separate you from others with the same name. In this trial you are...?
OSWALD The Plaintiff. Everyone knows the reason behind my suit.
RILEY You do admit to...?
OSWALD My role in The Conspiracy? Yes. But...
RILEY We will deal with these in this order: whether you only imagined the kidnapping or if it did happen; renouncing your US citizenship; your time in Russia; your marriage to Marina; and your return to the US...Your abduction and brainwash; the events two days before and two after the attempt...and matters since...
OSWALD Yes, sir, Captain Riley, sir.
RILEY First question: could you have merely hallucinated you were abused, as claimed?
OSWALD By no means, sir! And I am not lying! It happened.
RILEY I had to ask. You’ll fill us in on the details, later.
OSWALD Of course.
RILEY Why did you renounce your American citizenship?
OSWALD I was young and naïve. I focused on all the negatives about this country. Things still need vast improvement, but I learned we got the Russians beat.
RILEY How difficult was it to convince them to allow you entry?
OSWALD Extremely. Just out of the military, the Russian officials thought I might be a spy.
50
RILEY As a ruse to get in, did you tell them you could give them military secrets in exchange?
OSWALD Of course not! What would a grunt like me know?
RILEY But you did get in. How?
OSWALD After several interviews, I convinced them I was sincere. Still, they kept a tight eye on me after they sent me to Minsk and set me up with a job.
RILEY Living arrangement?
OSWALD They granted me a flat big enough for a family of four, let alone a single man.
RILEY Why do you think they set you up so well?
OSWALD I was surprised as anyone at first. Then I realized some officials thought I might know something about military ops in the last place I’d served: Japan. Despite my denials.
RILEY Initially, how did the locals treat you?
OSWALD At first I was popular—in a backhanded way. A curiosity, a Marine who’d shunned the so-called freedom of the USA.
RILEY “At first?” What changed?
OSWALD Resentment kicked in. The large flat, the higher wages I made for the same job as others. Next, the snitty remarks. I got into a fistfight or four.
RILEY That’s unfortunate...
OSWALD The supervisors had to enact a “hands-off-Oswald” policy. That only made things worse.
51
RILEY You met your ex-wife...where...?
OSWALD At a dance. Trite but true. They played a lot of American popular music. Though they say they hate us, they love our music. Especially the Negro artists.
RILEY Rock-n-roll...in Russia?
OSWALD The final song that night was The Drifters’ “Save The Last Dance for Me.” Marina did. (re: RILEY’s side-eyed look) You can’t make this stuff up. Why would I?
RILEY Indeed...Six weeks after you met, you were married?
OSWALD Another trite but true: she was lonely, I was lonely, we’d both recently broken up with someone we truly loved. I know that’s not the basis for a good marriage, but...
RILEY Did her uncle, Ilya Prusakov, factor into this?
OSWALD I won’t lie. By then I wanted to return to the US. I knew he could open doors. Marina also wanted to leave.
RILEY Was it Marina’s idea for her uncle to run interference?
OSWALD Mostly. It crossed my mind, too. They were quite close. He was more like a father to her than her natural papa.
RILEY Why did you become so disillusioned with life in Russia you felt you had to return to the US?
OSWALD I was—am—will always be a Marxist. But their brand of Communism is not Marxism. People are anything but equal. The Innermost Party, the Outer Party, the robotic working class—just as in Nineteen-Eighty-Four.
RILEY Which is where Orwell admittedly got the idea.
52
OSWALD Then there’s the people. No ethnic diversity. Inbred, physically and mentally. Still, folks’re the same every- where: petty, jealous, crabs in a barrel. That’s why any government can dupe so many so easily...The surveillance and censorship. You need a pass to go from one town to the next. Like slaves when they stepped off their plantation.
RILEY Indeed. As compactly—but detailed as possible—narrate the capture and brainwash...
OSWALD Thursday, August 22, 1963, Jackson Square, Nawlins. Two pm. While I’m handing out “Fair Play for Cuba” fliers, two men, all in black, well over six feet and 200 pounds, erupted out of nowhere, grabbed me, and rushed me to a parked car.
RILEY Any witnesses?
OSWALD Dozens! Even two city cops! I raised holy heck! I yelled to the cops, but they just looked at me and laughed! Worst of all: none of the spectators blinked. Folks in Nawlins usually step up, do what they can!
RILEY Then...?
OSWALD They flanged me into the back of the car. There was a third guy behind the wheel. One guy stuffed a rag under my nose. Fight though I did, I went under in no time flat.
RILEY Next...?
OSWALD I’m in a warehouse. By the river: I heard the boat horns. You live in Nawlins, you know that sound. I’m floating in and out of consciousness. There were two more guys there. Also all in black—
JFK [Johnny Cash? Roy Orbison? Ha-ha.]
OSWALD Much smaller, average sized.
RILEY Next...? 53
OSWALD The smaller guys gave me—instructions. In a chant-like way. I was still wafting in and out...
RILEY The instructions?
OSWALD Of course I can’t remember, here and now. The point was for it to work on my subconscious, arise at the proper time.
RILEY Later. Your flight, the unfortunate incident with Officer J.D. Tippit... (IMAGE ON SCREEN: OFFICE J.D. TIPPIT) How were you treated after your apprehension?
OSWALD I cannot apologize enough for Officer Tippit. I would take that back if I could. My—assault—on the president was not of my free will. I wish during my confrontation with Officer Tippit...
RILEY I understand.
JFK [Tell that to Officer Tippit’s loved ones...]
RILEY ...The treatment at police headquarters...?
OSWALD I must admit the Officials treated me—humanly. All things considered. They fed me, gave me breaks from the questions, let me talk to my wife, brother, and mother...and did not use physical coercion...at first, anyways...
CAIN [“At first”?]
RILEY Access to legal counsel?
OSWALD I called John Abt, in New York. The chief counsel for the American Communist Party. They said they couldn’t reach him. They said. Next, the American Civil Liberties Union. As with Mr. Paul Robeson in 1950, they chose not to represent me.
54
RILEY We obviously changed our minds. Better late than never.
OSWALD Indeed.
RILEY A scant five days later, you admitted to your part in The Conspiracy. Why the sudden change?
OSWALD The evidence: the rifle I left on the sixth floor—which someone was supposed to pick up...and the rifle found in the Dal-Tex Building. Then there was—physical coercion...
(LIGHTS ON THE SCRIM. WILD SCREAMS FROM OFFSTAGE. TWO MEN CONVERSE.)
MAN ONE Mr. Smith. That guy is good. J. Edgar’s best.
MAN TWO He could make some poor sap admit to killing God for a nickel, then toss you back some change.
(MORE WILD SCREAMS, then back to the witness stand)
OSWALD There’s no way I can describe the pain. I told what little I knew. After I confessed, they drugged me and delivered me to a prison, Parts Unknown. About this time last year I began to have flashbacks about the kidnap and mind-job. I told the proper officials. They just laughed at me. But three sympathetic—human—guards leaked the word. Next thing, you’re on the phone with me, helping me to get this trial.
RILEY Along with others...
VOICES/OFFSTAGE FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY! FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY!
RILEY Where you were is one of the best-kept secrets ever.... How did the rifle get to the sixth floor?
OSWALD Someone snucked in, early Thursday morning, planted it. Likewise, the third floor of the Dal-Tex Building. Only...
55
RILEY ...Only that shooter was denied access...Was someone to pick up the rifle on the sixth floor, after you left?
OSWALD There was supposed to be. Of course, I had no idea who he— or she—would be.
RILEY You truly believed they would?
OSWALD I was committed to the task. By then I had no other choice.
RILEY An escape plan, when you got out of the building?
OSWALD A car and driver at the entrance of the parking lot.
RILEY Your reaction when you saw there wasn’t?
OSWALD I knew I’d been betrayed. My greatest fear all along: I was just...a patsy.
RILEY: Your plan in case nobody picked you up?
OSWALD: ...I had no alternate plan.
RILEY From that August day in New Orleans to that Friday in Dallas, did you experience any odd mental sensations?
OSWALD ...Yes...three occasions where time—just disappeared. The first was a month after I was seized. I was in the living room, alone, watching TV. Suddenly, my entire being felt numb. Next I realized 45 minutes had gone, but I don’t know where...second time, I’d just started at the Depository. One minute I’m having breakfast. Again, alone. Next, Wes is beeping his horn. I don’t remember eating, or anything.
RILEY Third time?
OSWALD Like Wes testified, the one time I was late from lunch. I walked to Union Station, as I often do. One minute I’m 56
OSWALD (cont’d) entering the station. The next I’m back on the job, 90 minutes gone: poof!
RILEY Anything else odd, between then and Friday morning?
OSWALD Twice thoughts of some sort tried to form in my head, but never gelled. I’m now sure I was fighting off memories of— that session—so I’d do as programmed.
RILEY How did you sleep that Thursday night into Friday morning?
OSWALD Best sleep I can remember. Like I’d taken the most powerful sleeping pill—and I don’t like to take even an aspirin.
RILEY Friday morning?
OSWALD Eerie calmness, to the point it scared me. The world around me was sharp, clear, moving in slow motion. I was one step ahead of everything—all my senses magnified.
RILEY Did the thought of what you were programmed to do enter your conscious mind, in any way?
OSWALD ...No...but, I felt I was set to do something—of great importance. I just didn’t know what.
RILEY What happened from roughly 11:30 am...until your capture ...after the unfortunate Tippit situation...?
OSWALD Last I remember, it was 11 am. I’d discussed the motorcade with my colored co-workers. Said I’d try to watch it. From there it’s all a blank until...I snapped to when I saw Mr. Tippit dying at my feet...I realized I had to be the reason why. I guess my first action not controlled by the brain- wash pulled me out of it.
RILEY The arrest, trip to downtown headquarters, arraignment, the rest—all clear?
57
OSWALD Yes. They told me what I’d done. At first, I couldn’t believe it, but...after a few hours my mind filled in the blanks. I realized I must have done what they said. I just didn’t know why...
RILEY That you’d shot Mr. Kennedy, whom you greatly admire...?
OSWALD Yet, I still couldn’t fathom it. Made absolutely no sense. I searched my soul and psyche. All I came up with was how I’d be the last person to do him harm. (significant pause) After several months, there was only one explanation: I must have been brainwashed. As in The Manchurian Candidate.
CAIN [How much time did they spend to rehearse that delivery?]
JFK [Next, this guy is gonna cry on cue?]
OSWALD A few weeks later the flashbacks began. Short but vivid. Never longer than 10, 12 seconds.
RILEY Lee, could you have imagined them?
OSWALD No, sir, not at all.
RILEY Could they be wishful thinking—to get you off the hook from a willful attack on Mr. Kennedy? If only in your mind?
OSWALD No, sir, not at all.
RILEY Lee, was there any pattern for the flashbacks?
OSWALD No regularity, rhyme or reason. Nothing I did, thought, ate seemed to trigger them. They just—happened.
RILEY Answer this if you can: how did the news of your flashbacks get out...and helped you secure this trial?
58
OSWALD Not everyone saw me as a crazed sub-human. I had sympathizers in prison. Of course, I can’t name them.
RILEY Let’s hope nobody was punished for getting the world out.
OSWALD If so, only the fired and the firers know.
RILEY Any words about your support, mostly from young people?
OSWALD ...I thank them for their time and energy...which shows there are many who believe...what I have claimed...
RILEY Private, your ex-wife succeeded in having your books placed into evidence. Do you know why she’d be so adamant?
OSWALD I have no clue. Maybe to make me look even more like... whatever some take me to be.
RILEY What is in them?
OSWALD Just my day-to-day thoughts. Streams of consciousness. Glorified journals.
RILEY Your two fictional pieces?
OSWALD Wishful-thinking novellas. If I had the power to better Mankind. Nothing in them can harm me further.
CAIN [Maybe. Maybe not.]
RILEY Can you look me in the eye, and tell me, Marine to Marine, none of this is a figment of your imagination?
OSWALD Marine to Marine, it happened, Captain Riley.
RILEY None of this is a cynical, flat-out lie? Designed to dupe the world, throw History a spitball? 59
OSWALD Truth is stranger than fiction. Some things you can’t make up. Please pardon the clichés.
RILEY Thank you. That will be all for now. Mr. Cain...
CAIN Good afternoon, young man...
OSWALD ...Sir...
CAIN How are you feeling?
OSWALD Sir?
CAIN After your earlier—situation. I was concerned for you.
OSWALD ?...Thank you?...I feel fine now.
CAIN Relax. Just relax...I’m sure anyone in your predicament would have experienced...
OSWALD A nervous system...spin-out? Perhaps.
CAIN Let’s make one thing clear: I am not your enemy! (re: OSWALD’s skeptical look) The Antagonist here is what stands in the way of The Truth. That’s the main reason we’re here: to uncover The Truth.
OSWALD I understand, sir...
JFK [He’s taking “killing-them-with-kindness” to a new level.]
RILEY [Careful, Lee. Keep your guard up. Like we went over.]
CAIN Again, relax, young man...let all note: much of the testimony of the Respondents’ witnesses will contradict those of the Plaintiff and his.
60
JFK [Whoa! Transition?]
WARREN We’ve discussed that. Much more so than in a normal case.
CAIN I just want to make sure the recall agreement is clear.
RILEY It is. [And if you think that gives you an advantage, Cain, it works both way.]
CAIN That will be all for now. Re-direct, Mr. Riley?
JFK [Wait! That’s—it?]
WARREN Are you sure you want to end your cross—so abruptly?
CAIN I have plenty to ask him, during the Respondents’ case, as a recall witness.
WARREN Again, are you sure...?
CAIN Most certainly. Re-direct, Mr. Riley?
RILEY Like my esteemed adversary, I’ll let future testimonies determine my questions on recall. Private Oswald, is there anything you want to add? Ask? Clarify?
OSWALD No, sir.
RILEY On that, the Plaintiff’s case rests.
WARREN This court will resume at 9:30 Friday morning. The Respond- ents will begin their case. The extra time will give plenty of time to the witnesses having trouble getting here be- cause of the horrendous snowstorms from Texas to Maine. (profound pause) One other thing. Mr. Oswald’s books. I trust all counsels have read them?
61
CAIN Of course, Mr. Chief Justice. [And I’ll read his “novellas” again. Something tells me they’ll be the key to it all.]
RILEY Yes, Your Honor. [Perused them. Ramblings anyone could’ve jotted town. His “fiction”: read a few pages. Put me dead to sleep.]
JFK [What is up with those books? I’d read ‘em myself, but I’ve got to prepare for the June summit with the Soviets and Red Chinese: to ensure we don’t blow this planet to smither- eens. I’ll have Bobby give ‘em a gander.]
RILEY I look forward to Mr. Cain’s presentation of his case.
WARREN With that...
BLACKOUT TO INTERMISSION
62
SCENE THREE
Before the LIGHTS RISE, there will be a reprise of JFK’s Secret Society/Shadow Government speech, then:
RECORDED V.O. ONE In the past two days, several Law personnel and Oswald’s co-workers at the Texas School Book Depository have testified as the respondents began their case...
RECORDED V.O. TWO ...Among them were Oswald’s landlady in Dallas, Mrs. Ruth Paine, his work supervisor, Mr. Roy Truly, local FBI agent John Shanklin...
(IMAGES ON SCREEN: a brief montage of some of the real-life persons named)
RECORDED V.O. THREE ...Dallas County D.A. Henry Wade, Police Chief Jesse Curry, Chief Detective John Will Fritz, Negro co-workers Bonnie Ray Williams, Harold Norman, and “Junior” Jarvis...
RECORDED V.O. ONE ...at least a dozen witnesses—half of them quite credible by all accounts, have corroborated Oswald’s claim...
RECORDED V.O. TWO ...all swore to Oswald’s bizarre behavior in the days before the assault...
RECORDED V.O. THREE ...this sudden windfall of eye-witness support for Oswald has prompted the New York Times to take a special poll...
RECORDED V.O. ONE ...now 48 percent of those polled believe his story, up from 18 percent at the beginning of the trial...
(LIGHTS ON THE COURT. THE FIVE PRINCIPALS are in their places.)
WARREN Are the respondents ready to continue?
CAIN We are, Your Honor. However, our third witness, Mrs. Marina Porter, will need extra time. There was a problem with her flight from Dallas, then her hotel accommodations.
WARREN We’ll work around that as we can. Your first witness... 63
CAIN The respondents call Marine Colonel Charles Rogers...
(COLONEL ROGERS bursts in. HE crisply salutes WARREN, RILEY, and CAIN. OSWALD perks up as Rogers speaks:)
ROGERS Colonel Charles Rogers, USMC, age 45, commanding officer of Lee Harvey Oswald, during his tour of duty, Japan, 1958-59! I’ll keep this as brief as needs be! First question!
CAIN Did the Plaintiff stand out in any ways?
ROGERS Yes and no! Yes, when he’d go off on his Commie sermons! And sometimes he’d stare off into space! No, because he was one of countless boys in the Corp from hard-knock back- grounds! We turn them into protectors of the flag and country! That’s one of the things the Corp does best!
CAIN Yes, but did the Plaintiff seem particularly—?
ROGERS Bananas? On a scale for bizarreness: C-plus! Hardly the worst whack-adoo!
CAIN Was there anything about him that—?
ROGERS Let me explain something to you and the rest of the world! Oswald had his moments! So did/do a ton of our Marines! Testosterone is our gasoline, buddy-boy! Man-juice! Fight- ing men! If we hired choir boys, we’d be singing hymns, all right! In Russian! Jesus Christ and George Washington!
WARREN Colonel Rogers, please let Mr. Cain finish his questions before your answers.
ROGERS I’m sorry! I’ll try! But a Marine will be a Marine!
CAIN So the Media has exaggerated about his...oddball ways?
64
ROGERS Had his share of dust-ups! Until he learned better, he’d go on with that Commie crap! The men got sick of it. He had these notebooks! A dozen or so! The kind grade-schoolers have! Wrote in them all the time! One day a big Cheyenne Bodie-looking son-of-a-buck grabbed some! Oswald went all Ray Robinson on him! Big Time! I still wonder what was in those books that’d trigger that!
CAIN Was he ever court-martialed?
ROGERS Three times! Trivial stuff! Five measly weeks in the pokey totaled up! I’ll spare the mundane details!
CAIN Was he a loner...or...?
ROGERS Let me explain something to you and the rest of the world! Not the Nut King from Planet Zero the Media’s made him out to be! Got along okay with most! Heckuva baseball player! Busted butt on every play! Fastest white boy on the base!
CAIN Oh-kaaayyy...
ROGERS Biggest beef most had with him: thought he was more than he was! That he was the sharpest knife in the drawer. Again, his Marxist malarkey!
CAIN How did his fellow marines react to that?
ROGERS Gave him the business about it! Big Time! Called him Osvaldovich! No surprise when he defected to Commie-land!
CAIN Indeed...the details of his discharge from the Corp?
ROGERS Claimed a hardship situation! His mother was ill, back in Louisiana or Texas or one of those places, 1959! So said he! The Authorities bought it! Jesus Christ and Abraham Lincoln! We had eyes and ears on him, though! Like on all shady cases! He returns home, for a minute! Next, he’s in the Soviet Union! Begging for citizenship! Kee-rist!
65
CAIN How did you hear about his defection?
ROGERS Front page news, nationwide! His one moment in the sun... until...must of made the little piss-ant proud as punch! I know about the tape delay, but a man’s gotta say what a man’s gotta say, the way he’s gotta say it! With apologies to The Duke!
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: JOHN WAYNE)
CAIN In your time with The Plaintiff, did you ever see any behavior to support his claim?
ROGERS No! A weirdo in some ways, clearly a boy who needed a daddy to kick his keister, keep him in line! But got waylaid, hypnotized for an hour or two, then three months later, against his will, takes a crack at my president—are you bleepin kidding me? Jesus Christ and Franklin D. Roosevelt!
CAIN Despite all, you think he had the...self-awareness not to fall for what he’s claimed?
ROGERS He had enough sense of self, presence of mind, to fend them off! If it ever happened! Which I’ll bet my ever-lovin life it didn’t! Jesus Christ and John F. Kennedy!
CAIN To recap, he showed nothing that made him appear to be under anyone else’s control at any time?
ROGERS Nothing! Nada! Bupkis! Zilcheroonie! And I kept a tight- enough eye on him! Because of the commie razzmatazz!
CAIN Thank you. That will be all for now.
ROGERS One more thing! The Daddy Deal! He’d toady up to Sergeant This and Captain That! Even to me! At first, we thought he might be...you know...that way! But the camp shrink said he was the type who’d seek out males for a father figure! Then do a 180-degree turn when they rejected him! From love to hate in no time flat!
66
CAIN [Interesting...That’s something we’ll have to exploit...]
ROGERS In one way, he was an ideal Marine! If he liked you, be- lieved in you, he’d do anything for you! Anything!
CAIN Thank you, for now, Colonel. Mr. Riley...
RILEY (THEY exchange salutes.) Semper fi, Colonel...
ROGERS Semper fi, Captain!
RILEY A few quick questions, Colonel, sir.
ROGERS Fire away...then fall back and reload!
RILEY You interacted with Private Oswald...seven years ago?
ROGERS Six-and-a-half!
RILEY Six-and-a-half! Do you think people can change...after such a relatively long time? (ROGERS is oddly silent) Could the man you knew be different from the person who...? (ROGERS remains silent) ...Marine to Marine...?
CAIN I object to the repeated use of this cheap ploy!
WARREN Overruled! But please answer the question, Colonel.
ROGERS ...Yes...
RILEY You said he didn’t necessarily—stand out—but nonetheless you “kept a tight eye on him”...
ROGERS He stood out just enough! You were a Marine officer! You’ve 67
ROGERS (cont’d) got to have a gut instinct about certain—types! Little things about Oswald set off my creep-meter.
RILEY Okay...You said he’d stare off at nothing...doesn’t that suggest even the remotest chance he might be prone to...?
ROGERS No! I boxed! Played football! Pain, blood and man sports, brother! Me and others would go off, before an event, and psyche up! For longer than Oswald’s stare-offs to Planet Zoomar! Didn’t make us saps for brainwash!
RILEY You’re saying it would be impossible, after six-plus years, for my client to be susceptible to what he’s claimed?
ROGERS We’re in the same fraternity, Captain! We’re taught that nearly anything is possible!
RILEY You mentioned my client’s bent to go all out for someone and a cause he admired...
ROGERS I did!
RILEY Could that itself be a form of brainwash—self-brainwash?
CAIN I object! The witness is not in a position to—
WARREN Sustained! Save that for any recall of Dr. Yancey!
RILEY Withdrawn...Thank you. That’s it, Colonel.
ROGERS That’s it? No questions about the red tape, the hoops he had to jump through, the suicide ploy, to get into Russia! I can tell you all about those!
WARREN Thank you, Colonel. Mr. Cain...re-direct...?
CAIN ...Not now. But I might recall the witness later.
68
ROGERS Before I go: my take on Oswald: a pathetic, piss-ant—
WARREN Colonel Rogers—!
ROGERS Just give me a minute! I’ve shed blood in Korea, and the Big One! I’m waiting for President Kennedy to send us back to Southeast Asia! I’m there, pal, balls to the wall! Like Jim Brown on fourth down! If anyone deserves a minute—
WARREN One minute, sir! One!
ROGERS My birth city! I won’t sully this trial with its name! For every decent human, there’s two Neanderthals who hate everybody and everything! Crabs in a barrel! “You can’t, you won’t, you never will be” is their mantra! Instead of trying to make something of themselves, they skulk along the sidelines, waiting for those with goals to fall short in some way! Your failure is their victory! That’s Oswald! Wants to be famous, but he’s just another pebble at the bottom of the pond! So he tries to kill my president! Then he comes up with some bull about—!
WARREN Sir, your minute is—
ROGERS I’ve said what I had to say! Throw out his claim, then do like they did in Medieval times! Turn him over to the be- reaved family! If the Kennedys don’t want to discuss the matter with him, turn him over to me! Give me ninety seconds! Nine-oh, buddy-boy! That’s all I’ll need!
OSWALD [Semper fi, you son-of-a—]
ROGERS Don’t edit that! And don’t expect me to apologize!
WARREN We won’t. Colonel, can you remain available?
ROGERS My pleasure! My duty! Semper fi, America! And to all who love Democracy! (ROGERS salutes and leaves.)
69
WARREN Next witness for the Respondents...
HASTINGS (enters and introduces himself) FBI Agent James Hastings, Assistant Supervisor, Dallas/Fort Worth Field Office, age 41. I was assigned—by order of Director J. Edgar Hoover—himself—to keep an eye on Oswald, beginning with his return to Fort Worth in June 1962.
JFK [You did a bang-up job with that, boy-o!]
CAIN Sir, why were you assigned to keep tabs on—him?
HASTINGS Standard procedure when somebody defects from the US, then returns. That Oswald was able to get back into the country with relative ease, and his wife’s uncle was a high-ranking officer in the KGB raised even more red flags.
CAIN With “relative ease”...from...? The FBI thought...?
HASTINGS Somebody pulled strings. Our people...or theirs...or both.
CAIN “Our people.” By that you mean...?
HASTINGS The US Government. One theory was he’d been a spy for us in Russia. Or flip that around. Maybe their spies in the USA got him an easy return, so he—and his wife—could...
CAIN How many times did you interview him?
HASTINGS Three times. First: after he moved back to Fort Worth, June 1962. It’s policy to interview anyone with backstory like his. Second: when he got the job at the Book Depository, mid-October, 1963.
CAIN Did you see any link between him getting the job there, and it being his perch on...?
HASTINGS We looked long and deep into that. At the time, nobody knew the motorcade would pass by there. A quirky coincidence. 70
CAIN The third and final meeting?
HASTINGS Tuesday, November 19. Three days before the shooting.
CAIN Where did these meetings take place?
HASTINGS Always in my car. Parked a discreet distance from where he and his wife rented a room. We both agreed it would be a waste of time to go to the downtown Dallas Field Office.
CAIN How long did these meetings usually last?
HASTINGS Never more than 20 minutes.
CAIN Agent! Was that enough time to get to know the man? (HE sneaks a sideways glance at RILEY.)
RILEY [Nice preemptive move. I’m still gonna lean on that fact.]
HASTINGS It was. There was a handful of simple questions I needed to ask. They required simple “yes-or-no” answers. That’s often the best way to get information: short, sweet, direct.
CAIN What types of questions?
HASTINGS If he’d been meeting with any known communists or like- minded, extreme leftists.
CAIN His answer?
HASTINGS He’d reply “no,” of course. Said he did little more than go to work, come home, day-in, day-out. Said I should know: he thought we had a 24-hour tail on him.
CAIN Did you?
HASTINGS No! After the interviews, we no longer saw him as a threat. 71
JFK [Friggin’ unreal!]
CAIN Never did you get that impression?
HASTINGS Never. Nothing he said set off alarms. Kept his answers close to the vest, almost as if he knew what we’d ask.
OSWALD [I did! That’s how I was able to fool your ass!]
WARREN I have a question. Are there any other reasons why you did not see him as a threat—in light of the upcoming visit... and that he had access to a prime place of attack? Did you ever consider he might make a solo assault?
HASTINGS No! We saw him as a kook—but with no history of violence, especially on that scale. No known hatred of Mr. Kennedy. We felt he had neither the skill nor discipline to go it alone. Besides, the route was not made public until two days before. He wouldn’t’ve had time to prepare.
WARREN As part of any conspiracy?
HASTINGS We agreed no group with the ability to pull it off would even consider someone like him to be part of it.
JFK [Boy, did you lads dial a wrong number on that!]
CAIN When you interviewed him, did he seem under the influence of anything? Drugs, alcohol...mind control...?
HASTINGS Not in the least. None of them.
CAIN Did he seem totally lucid? In the moment, in this world? Did he ever seem to be in a hypnotized, zombie-like state?
HASTINGS Always in full control of himself! In fact, he was quite articulate, for someone with a limited education.
72
OSWALD [Bite my ass!]
CAIN No further questions...for now. Mr. Riley, your witness...
RILEY Did Mr. Oswald express his political views to you?
HASTINGS No. He knew how they’d sit with an agent of the government.
RILEY Did Mr. Oswald ever speak about President Kennedy?
HASTINGS ...He did...
RILEY And...?
HASTINGS I asked him his views on Mr. Kennedy in our first meeting. He said he admired the president.
JFK [Did he now? One helluva way of showing it!]
RILEY Any reasons in particular?
HASTINGS He praised Mr. Kennedy for trying to better things for Negroes. Oswald is clearly sympathetic toward colored people. Then again, most communists are.
RILEY My client is a Marxist. There is a difference. And wanting equality for all is not a bad thing.
HASTINGS I never said it was!
RILEY The meetings. In your—car. Roughly...20 minutes...each?
HASTINGS ...Yes...?
RILEY Let me get this straight. You spent roughly one hour—total— on someone you thought might harm the president? Especially 73
RILEY (cont’d) after the FBI and others knew of an aborted attempt, three weeks earlier in Chicago—
WARREN Mister Riley—!
RILEY Had heard rumors of an attack in Dallas—that did happen, and of a planned “kamikaze” assault in Miami—
WARREN Mister Riley—!
RILEY Two Fridays later on the sixth of December—and you spent one measly hour with him?
WARREN Edit that! The public knows nothing about the Chicago and Miami plans—nor should they, anytime soon! And I will hold you in contempt the next time you do not heed my commands!
RILEY Mr. Chief Justice, I had to bring them up, to put what I have to say in a particular context!
WARREN I understand! But they will be edited! And I’m putting everyone in this chamber—everyone—on the Honor System! Not a word! Agent Hastings, answer the question: despite your knowledge of—previous plans...?
HASTINGS ...There was nothing about Oswald that set off any alarms.
RILEY Either the FBI has an office full of Keystone Kops in DFW— or Mr. Oswald is one great actor! Withdrawn!
JFK [Some of both, I’d say!]
RILEY Back to my client’s claim of the brainwash: how could you tell anything in so little time?
HASTINGS ...Nobody could in so little time, but—
RILEY But, but, but! We cannot, in the most important trial in US 74
RILEY (cont’d) history, deal in “buts,” “maybes,” “ifs”—
CAIN Your Honor, Mr. Riley is—!
WARREN You’ve made your point. Go to another line of questioning.
RILEY Anyone who took the shot that wounded Mr. Kennedy would need considerable target practice. At any time did you or any agent see my client go off to hone his skills?
HASTINGS ...No...
RILEY Which means if he had, you did not have enough surveillance on him, which means you did not know enough about him to...
WARREN We get the point, counselor.
RILEY If he had no target practice, it begs the question of if he was even one of the shooters, given the difficulty—
WARREN That is not an issue here! We will forgo any “he-wasn’t- even-there” conspiracy theories in this court! Move on!
RILEY I’ve asked this witness all I need to now. For now. Re- direct, Mr. Cain?
CAIN Back to your final meeting. Did you question The Plaintiff thoroughly about the president’s visit?
HASTINGS Most stringently. What he knew of the visit, where he’d be, and with whom. Besides, there were three more vocal, anti- Kennedy factions much more apt to do harm. Foremost was the Agitated White Citizens Council.
WARREN Excuse me? The Agitated White Citizens Council?
HASTINGS Trust me: they are a force in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
75
CAIN Finally: did The Plaintiff give any indication he might...?
HASTINGS None. I reluctantly agree with Mr. Riley: Oswald is one heck of an actor. One cool customer. The opposite of the mondo-beyondo freak in the Media’s depiction.
CAIN Do you have anything to say those who blame you and the other protective agents for Mr. Kennedy being shot?
HASTINGS We put our lives on the line to prevent that! We knew that before we signed on! Anyone who thinks we wanted that to happen, or didn’t care, is crazy! We protectors can only do but so much! We have to be perfect every second of every day! Our enemies only have to succeed once!
CAIN No further questions.
WARREN Agent, you may step down. As we’ve told others, though...
HASTINGS I’ll be in town.
WARREN Mr. Cain, is your next witness, Marina Oswald—I mean, Porter—ready?
CAIN No, Your Honor. She needs more time after the foul-up with her plane from Dallas.
WARREN Then we will go with our third and final neutral witness. The Supreme Court calls Jacob Rubenstein to the stand.
RUBY (enters and introduces himself) Jacob Leon Rubenstein, better known as Jack Ruby. Age 54, born on the Westside of Chicago. I served in the Army Air Corp in the Big War as a mechanic. Honorable discharge, rank of Private First Class, in 1946.
WARREN You know you may have an attorney present, correct?
RUBY Yes. My counsel, Mr. Percy Sutton, is unavailable today. 76
RUBY (cont’d) But I don’t foresee any problems.
WARREN Sir, what is your connection to this trial?
RUBY Sunday, November 24, 1963, as Oswald was taken from Dallas Police HQ to the County Jail, I was dispatched to kill him.
WARREN (re: the HUBBUB from OFFSTAGE VOICES) Order! Order!
OSWALD [What the—? Son of a bitch! Kill me? Kill me?]
JFK [Stars above! That’ll make the world prick up its ears!]
OSWALD [A nobody like him? Tried to kill me? Who is this man?]
WARREN For the record: Mr. Ruby came to us two weeks ago with his story. Though some is still open to question, the FBI and Secret Service verified his most important claims...First, we need background: details on your failed attempt, flight, life overseas, and agreement to bear witness. Sir, what was your occupation in late November 1963?
RUBY I managed the Carousel Club, on Commerce Street, downtown Dallas. Not far from Police HQ. It was a “gentlemen’s club,” frequented by many off-duty DPD officers.
WARREN How did you get to be the manager?
RUBY I won’t pull no punches. Before and after my stinch in the military, I did odd jobs for the Chicago Outfit.
WARREN Such as...?
RUBY I couldn’t become a “made man” ‘cause I’m not Sicilian or Italian. So I did what they let me: run numbers, lookout, bag man, help out in gamblin operations, and stuff.
77
CAIN “And stuff”? Does that include drugs? Prostitution?
RUBY ...No. No matter what you might of heard...
CAIN Muscle for hire? Break a few bones?
RUBY If necessary. All in a day’s work.
RILEY When did you start doing jobs for The Outfit?
RUBY Age 14. Kept checkin with my friendly neighborhood employ- ment agency, but they never had nothin for me.
RILEY When did you move to Dallas?
RUBY After the War, 1947. Some Windy City hotshots had clubs they wanted me to manage.
CAIN Why did they want you to manage them?
RUBY They figured I’d be good with figures?...‘Cause I’m Jewish?
CAIN Don’t get cute, sir. When I want “cute,” I’ll watch a Natalie Wood movie.
WARREN And don’t you get cute, Mr. Cain. Edit that exchange.
CAIN Apologies all around.
RILEY You and Oswald: who first contacted you, when, where, how?
RUBY Late October, ’63. On my home phone. Guy tells me to meet him at such-and-such place. That was it.
RILEY How did you know this call was for real?
78
RUBY Trust me: in that world, with those guys—you know!
WARREN You met...?
RUBY Colored greasy spoon, Canton Street, Deep Ellum. I thought for a sec he might be a soul brother, but no. I felt two white guys would stand out there, but nobody blinked. Some doll kept punchin up the same number on the juke: “Smokey Places.” Drifters? Beautiful, catchy as a cold.
RILEY The Liaison. Describe him.
RUBY Can’t. He was the Poster Boy for Nondescript. Mid-forties. Dark hair, olive skin, medium build and height.
RILEY You’re going fine. Voice? Accent?
RUBY He struggled to hide an accent. Cuban? Mediterranean?
CAIN The Liaison: are you certain you’d never seen him before?
RUBY Absolutely.
CAIN Nobody you’d known in your previous work with the Outfit?
RUBY Nobody.
CAIN Do you agree some—vast, Secret Society was behind it all—?
RUBY Rather than some piss-ant Mobbies, is what y’r askin? This whole T.R.O.P.E. thing is some grand cover—?
WARREN Sir, just answer the question, please.
RUBY (grossly indignant) I’ve heard the scuttlebutt, about two bosses in particular!
79
WARREN Let’s get back on track. What were your orders—at first?
RUBY The Liaison showed me Oswald’s picture. Told me to hang around where he worked, at lunchtime. Follow him on his rides home. Note anywhere he went, off his beaten path.
RILEY What was your initial reaction to these orders?
RUBY I’m thinkin: easy money. ‘Specially since it didn’t affect my managing the club at night.
RILEY Did you know Mr. Oswald beforehand?
RUBY No. Maybe seen him around. Dallas ain’t that big.
WARREN Did he ever frequent your club?
RUBY Heck, no! A drip like him’d stick out like Wilt Chamberlain flouncin balls-nekkid at a Klu Klux Clown rally.
RILEY Did Mr. Oswald ever notice you as you spied on him?
RUBY Hell, no! I don’t do much, but I’m good at what I do do!
OSWALD [I did make you, you bastard! Three times!]
CAIN Your club: notoriously popular with police officers. Did you grant them any—special favors?
RUBY Just coffee if on the job, drinks and snacks when off. Plus, a li’l T & A show from the girlies. Look but no touch. I wasn’t runnin no hook-house—like some’ve said.
CAIN Any reason you’d make yourself popular with cops?
RUBY Oh! I’m the first to give his city’s Finest a break?
80
CAIN Was it so you’d have access to Police HQ...the eventual transfer point?
RUBY Heck, no! I’d been schmoozin the cops for years. The job to pop Oswald was on a last-minute order!
RILEY Any later meetings with The Liaison?
RUBY He made some follow-up calls. In the days—before. I had to play hooky from the Carousel, trail Oswald 24-7.
RILEY When was it clear you were to “silence” Mr. Oswald?
RUBY After he got nabbed. I got a call.
WARREN Your thoughts on such an extreme demand?
RUBY Once you commit to that world, you do as told.
RILEY It’s quite a leap from breaking bones to murder. Did you think you could pull it off?
RUBY I never killed before. But I’ve doled out some near-fatal beat-downs. Anyone who’s seen me in action knows I have the killer instinct. Just a matter of time and degree.
WARREN Describe how your attempt to silence Oswald was aborted.
(LIGHTS UP ON SCRIM AREA. “RUBY” approaches an unseen target—but D.A. HENRY WADE intercepts him)
WADE Jack Ruby, Carousel Club, right?
“RUBY” ...Uh...yes...?
WADE You know who I am: D.A. Henry Wade! What the hell’re you doin here, boy? Press and po-lice only! 81
“RUBY” I...uh...
WADE You “uh” nothing! Haul y’r ass outta here! And don’t do a damn thing to make me remember you was here—lest I think you came here for no good! Now beat the bricks!
(LIGHTS DOWN ON SCRIM AREA)
RUBY Oswald survived that day the same way Mr. Kennedy did: everybody did what they was supposed to...
CAIN And whoever was to run interference for you didn’t do his?
RUBY Stuff happens...or doesn’t.
RILEY Did you ever try to find a way out? Alert the Authorities and receive protection?
RUBY You’re kidding? Right? On what planet?
WARREN You must have known if you killed Oswald, you’d be arrested on the spot. Zero chance of escape.
RUBY I knew. The Liaison promised I’d be out soon—enough. He didn’t give no details. Simply told me not to worry.
CAIN Why did you believe him? Maybe they’d let you be another patsy, like—him!
RUBY These guys have reach like you can’t imagine. Springing me would be nothing. Buy my way out, break me out, kill some- body: I’d of been free within two, three days. They could of sprung Oswald if they’d wanted to. But they didn’t.
CAIN Did you really have to take the job? Did you have a choice?
RUBY These guys say you have a choice...but you don’t, really.
82
CAIN Why not?
RUBY They choose who they figure is the best for the task...and they don’t want nobody to disrespect their judgement.
CAIN Why did they feel they needed to kill Oswald, when they knew he had no pertinent information?
RUBY They knew they didn’t have to...but wanted him dead, anyways. Send a message. That’s how they do business.
WARREN Was your aborted attempt that day your only try at Oswald?
RUBY No. The two press conferences at the jail: late Saturday morning, and seven-ish later that day.
CAIN How did you gain entry?
RUBY Contacts on the force. They figured I was harmless, just there out of sheer curiosity.
CAIN Why didn’t you...then...?
RUBY Couldn’t get close enough. Waited for a better opportunity.
RILEY Sometimes these—murder-for-hire cabals—factor in the improbability of their “missions,” and don’t penalize for failure...as long as the “shooter” made a sincere effort and got away cleanly. In other words, did you have to run?
RUBY Couldn’t take those odds. The Liaison was vague on that. So I acted on gut feelings and took it on the lam. If they shit-canned Oswald, they’d shit-can me.
CAIN Did you see someone ready to chase you? Or was this—tail on you—just a figment of your imagination?
RUBY I didn’t see anyone—but I knew they had somebody on me. 83
WARREN Did you have any help, during the escape?
RUBY I did. We agreed I wouldn’t name them in open court.
WARREN Afterwards?
RUBY Again, no! That’s my story—and I’m stickin to it!
CAIN How were you able to get passage on a merchant vessel?
RUBY I copped fake I.D.s along the way. That’s all I can say. Don’t ask where I shipped out from, and to where. That’d put too many people I came to love in harm’s way.
RILEY How did you make a living during this time?
RUBY For the same reasons, I can’t tell.
RILEY Did you maintain contact with anyone in the States?
RUBY Yes. The one person who helped me between Dallas and Van— where I shipped out from.
JFK [“Van—”? Vancouver? Makes sense.]
RILEY Did you ever learn what your family and friends thought about your sudden departure?
RUBY Couldn’t, didn’t contact them. My biggest regret. I’m from a big family, and we’re tight...My friend dropped them a line, to know I was all right. Encoded, but clear.
WARREN Did you think anyone would connect your presence at the transfer point, your friendship with DPD officers, the attempt on Mr. Kennedy—and your sudden departure?
RUBY It crossed my mind. But I didn’t worry. Besides, it was all 84
RUBY (cont’d) in my rear-view mirror. Literally.
CAIN Did you fear you’d be the object of an FBI search?
RUBY I learnt the FBI sent an agent looking for me, days after I fled Dallas. They did put two-and-two together: but came up with zero. And technically, I’d committed no crime. Intent is one thing, actual commission...
WARREN Did you fear The Liaison—and the Overseers—would have a protracted search out for you?
RUBY Of course. Kept lookin over my shoulder for two-plus years.
RILEY While away, did you run across anyone from your past life?
RUBY ...Saw two guys from Chicago. From a distance. Didn’t know if they was lookin for me, or out to get drunk and laid in Mani—! I zoomed outta there faster’n Bullet Bob Hayes!
JFK [Manila...?]
WARREN What are the real reasons you agreed to testify?
RUBY To fill in some blanks: the previously “untold story,” another angle on the kill-for-cash world...and to get protection from...those guys...
WARREN Have you made any formal agreement with the Government?
RUBY They’re gonna set me up, with two of my loved ones...Mr. Sutton is still in negotiations...
CAIN Do you really think you can survive this situation...or...?
RUBY Or will I foolishly step out, try to make my moment in the spotlight pay off...? I really can’t say...
85
CAIN Even though that might—most likely—will get you killed?
JFK [Uh-oh! Cain’s starting to go Bobby on this guy!]
RUBY Let’s not get melodramatic here, my friend.
CAIN Have you hired an agent: for a book, a movie—?
RUBY I’m not that bright, pal. I can’t see two hours in front of me, let alone two years!
CAIN Is to put yourself in the world spotlight, in the most important trial in US history, your real objective here?
RUBY Now you’re Doctor Froid?
WARREN That’s enough!
CAIN Who was nothing but a pathetic little sharecropper for The Outfit? Who wants to cash in on the stupidity of millions, who see someone, anyone on TV and think that alone gives him credibility—?
RUBY Where the hell is this comin from? I don’t know you, you don’t know me! I never done you nuthin! I didn’t volunteer to be insulted before the world—!
WARREN That’s enough! Both of you! Remember where we are and why we’re here!...Mr. Cain, I’m especially surprised at you!
JFK [Bobby must be loving this!]
CAIN I got carried away, Mr. Chief Justice. I hope Mr. Ruby accepts my humblest apologies.
RUBY Just don’t do it again, pal.
86
WARREN Mr. Ruby...Mr. Riley, do you have any further questions?
RILEY ...Not now. Maybe later.
RUBY I know. Stay until...
WARREN Thank you for your testimony...and what we agreed on...can you do it, say later today?
RUBY Sure.
(THE PAGE hands WARREN a note. He reads it.)
WARREN Young man, you’re earning your pay today. (the PAGE grins and exits) Mrs. Porter is now ready to testify. (OSWALD shows no emotion as MARINA enters and takes the stand)
JFK [Saints preserve us! Lyndon was right!] (LBJ imitation) [That shitbird’s wife looks like a fuckin’ film star!]
MARINA Marina Prusakova Porter, born Molotovsk, USSR, July 17, 1941. I was marry to Lee Oswald April 30, 1961, until... after his arrest and imprisonment...
CAIN You now use the surname Porter. Explain that, please.
MARINA I divorce Lee. I meet my now husband, Kenneth Porter, at party. We marry four month ago, September 25, 1965.
CAIN How, where, and when did you meet The Plaintiff?
MARINA At dance in Minsk, Russia. Mid-March, 1961. He kept staring at me, but too shy to approach. I feel sorry. When time was right, I introduce myself.
87
CAIN Your ages at the time?
MARINA He, 21; I, 19. I was pharmacist. Liked it. Paid well.
CAIN What did he do for a living?
MARINA He operate lathe at Gorizont Electronics Factory. They make radios, TVs...and things for military and space industries.
CAIN As far as you could tell, was he happy doing this?
MARINA He hated it. Said any monkey could operate any machine.
CAIN What was your initial attraction to him?
MARINA He was—when he wanted to be—nice, sweet. He seem so... lonely. On other side of world from home. No friends. No family. And...
CAIN Continue, please...
MARINA Lee was different from most young men. They thought to be man was to be loud. Drunk. Try to do sex with every women. Then brag all over town. Lee was—sensitive. He read books. He thought about other than alcohol, football, fast sex.
CAIN What do you think he found most attractive about you?
MARINA He said he like my big blue eyes...and many people think I’m pretty. Lee did, too, so he said.
JFK [Doll, Ray Charles can see you’re a knockout!]
CAIN I have to ask this: did you love him? Really love him?
MARINA I did not not love him. We had goals the other could help achieve, let us say. 88
CAIN To the best of your knowledge, did he love you—genuinely?
MARINA Depend on what you mean by love. Not in Hollywood and rock- and-roll song sense. Besides, Lee was not—how can I put it— a person of sex!
OSWALD [Oh, yeah? Our two girls—who look just like me?]
JFK [Whoa, sister! Too much information!]
MARINA (re: the laughter) Why do you people laugh? I am not here to crack jokes!
WARREN Order! Settle, people!
CAIN Who is Ilya Prusakov and how does he factor into this?
MARINA Uncle. I live with him and his family when I was student. He is colonel in Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs...
CAIN Quite an important person, one would wager.
MARINA He is.
CAIN Was your uncle the reason it was fairly easy for The Plain- tiff to return to the US—and with you and the child?
MARINA Just one reason. Of many. Important people pull strings.
CAIN When you moved in with Robert Oswald, how did the two brothers get along, to the best of your observations?
MARINA They...got along. Often siblings do not. They seem okay with each other. Just okay.
CAIN How did you get along with Robert Oswald?
89
MARINA Okay. Nothing good or bad between us.
CAIN His wife, Veda?
MARINA She take fast dislike to me and I take one back to her.
CAIN Do you think it’s because you’re Russian?
MARINA Some woman are jealous and suspicious of other woman. Some.
CAIN How close did they keep in contact after you moved out?
MARINA With me, not at all. As if I never exist.
CAIN With...him...?
MARINA As far as I know, Lee did not visit them once in their home. He had lunch with his brother few times, so he said.
CAIN Did they have a pattern? Every week? Month?
MARINA I did not count.
CAIN This next question is quite personal. Please be honest... did your ex-husband ever beat you?
MARINA ...Twice. You ask for honesty. First time—I can be frank?
CAIN By all means.
MARINA I wanted him to do me love. He would not, could not. I make remarks. I said—
WARREN We get the picture.
90
OSWALD [Lying slut!]
MARINA Second time. I find notebooks he write in. I start to read one. From what little I read he was superhero—
OSWALD [Lies, lies, lies!]
CAIN He caught you reading them and...?
MARINA He hit me—hard—but I fight back! I’m Russian, remember! I beat him up that time! I think.
CAIN The notebooks.
MARINA He would write in them. Sneaky-style. I saw him hide four in Mrs. Paine’s garage. When he was working, I dig them up, read some, replace them. He never knew I knew of them.
CAIN What was in them?
OSWALD [Nothing that can worsen things for me!]
MARINA Nonsense! Rubbish! Ramblings of a child.
CAIN ...Can you be more specific...?
MARINA In two, just day-to-day observation. In other two, ficti- onal story, short novel! He was like super-hero. All-know- ing, all-powerful. Well...minus X-ray vision, ability to fly. One of most famous people in world. Loved by all.
CAIN Why did you recommend the books be placed into evidence?
MARINA Maybe clues to his—how you call it: psyche? Maybe things in his writings about himself even he does not realize...?
CAIN Most interesting...Back to the attempt...did he seem... 91
CAIN (cont’d) unlike himself shortly before the assault?
MARINA By “unlike himself,” mean you how?
CAIN Did he act strangely?
MARINA He always act strange, so I could not tell.
CAIN How did he act the morning of November 22, 1963?
MARINA He left before I got up, which often happen.
CAIN The day before?
MARINA Same. Silent, angry-at-world.
CAIN How did you learn your ex-husband was a person of interest in the attempt on Mr. Kennedy?
MARINA Like most: TV news. Mrs. Paine and me watch, how do you call them: soap tragedies, when ours was interrupted. Hour after that, law people and Media hit like hurricane.
CAIN What were your first thoughts when you heard?
MARINA First: shock. Second: outrage, anger. Third: I hate to admit, not too surprised.
CAIN Why not?
MARINA I cannot say why. He always seem to hide something, not let anyone into his thoughts, his world. I figure this was big secret he held for so long.
CAIN Did he show any signs he was under someone else’s control? Did he appear to be—acting like a zombie?
92
MARINA No! And I am surprise anyone would fall for that garbage!
CAIN Not even the faintest hint?
MARINA Nothing!
CAIN Thank you for now, Mrs. Porter. Mr. Riley, your witness...
RILEY Good afternoon, ma’am...
MARINA ...Same to you...
RILEY An observation: in late ’63, you needed a slew of inter- preters. I dare say your English is...quite good.
MARINA Who would live in country and not learn its language? How crazy—stupid—is that?
RILEY How did people treat you, generally, once they learned Lee had been arrested, then confessed to the crime?
MARINA There were calls and letters of hate. Threat to kill me. But most had sympathy. They send nice letters. Some send money, clothes for my girls, things like that.
RILEY What did you think when you learned there was—and still is— a growing number of people who support Lee, feel he was—?
MARINA They would not be so—liberal—if they really knew him!
RILEY Back to you and Lee in Russia. Why did you want to leave?
MARINA I was tired of many things: weather, too cold and gray. Government control of your life. People with small minds.
RILEY Did you want to go elsewhere in general, or did you have a particular place in mind? 93
MARINA I would have gone to, maybe London or Paris. Big cities with lot to do. But my dream was United States.
RILEY Why the US?
MARINA Freedom! Despite propaganda I hear growing up, I knew you could be what you want, if you try hard enough. Within limits, of course. More than in Russia.
RILEY What did you intend to do in the US—assuming you had never met and married Lee?
MARINA Most likely: no Lee, no US.
RILEY What were your plans after you married him and moved here?
MARINA I would try to be best wife I could. Stay with him—if I could. Do not think I would dump him at first chance. It was up to him, how he treat me.
RILEY Was your—attraction—to Lee based strictly on his possible ability to get you into the US?
MARINA Yes. And no. Yes, because I see him as way out. No, because I would not go with just anyone.
RILEY ...How well did you know Lee?
MARINA ?...As well as any wife could know her husband...?
RILEY What was his father’s name?
MARINA I do not know. He never bring it up; I never ask.
RILEY How many cities did he live in while growing up?
MARINA ?...Noo Or-leens...Dallas...Fort Worth...? 94
RILEY That’s three of fifteen. Some of the schools he attended?
MARINA I do not know! He never bring these things up!
RILEY His favorite sport, the only one he was really good at—?
MARINA Baseball! He loves colored fielder—Willie Mays!
RILEY [As well he should. Best friggin’ ballplayer ever.]...Did he meet with any Marxist sympathizers in the DFW area?
MARINA ?...Not that I know of...?
RILEY He did. Several times. But don’t feel bad. The FBI locals didn’t know that, either.
MARINA Your point you have proved.
RILEY All which lead to this point: since you do not know so many things about Lee, could you have missed the signs he was not himself in the days before...? (MARINA glowers at him) That will be all for now...oh—one more question: did you and Lee ever see the movie The Manchurian Candidate?
MARINA Yes. At Texas Theatre. Just after we moved in with Mrs. Paine. She go with us. Lee fall to sleep right away. People complain about his snoring.
RILEY Your take on Lee’s views of President Kennedy?
MARINA Lee had for him high regard. He loved to hear Mr. Kennedy speak! During Cuban Missile Crisis, watching TV, Lee hang onto his every word—though Lee was for Castro—then!
JFK [Well, well, well...]
RILEY Thank you. Re-direct, Mr. Cain? 95
CAIN ...Not now, but we may recall the witness.
MARINA I know: stay around ‘til you let me go home.
WARREN Thank you, Mrs. Porter. (SHE leaves) On that, we will end today’s testimonies. We will recess for three days. As per prior agreement, The Court will recall the Plaintiff to the witness stand. I’m sure both teams of counsels will be well-prepared...
RILEY Definitely, Mr. Chief Justice.
CAIN Most thoroughly, Sir.
BLACKOUT 96
SCENE FOUR
DURING THE BLACKOUT:
RECORDED V.O. ONE The Trial of the Century winds down today with the recall of Lee Harvey Oswald...
RECORDED V.O. TWO William Lanier Cain, the lead US attorney, will focus on the major contradictions in testimony to date...
RECORDED V.O. THREE Las Vegas bookies have placed even-up odds on Oswald’s exoneration. Though The Supreme Court cannot impose sen- tences, if it agrees with Oswald’s claim he was brain- washed, the next step would be for Oswald to be removed from death row...
RECORDED V.O. ONE Where he goes from there will be decided in another trial in another venue...
RECORDED V.O. TWO In other news, there is an unconfirmed report that two men have been taken into custody, purported as would-be shooters in the Dallas attempt...
RECORDED V.O. THREE Of course, the FBI and Secret Service are tight-lipped on the matter...
(LIGHTS SLOWLY BEGIN TO RISE)
TIME: Three days later.
SETTING: THE SCOTUS TRIAL VENUE.
AT RISE: LIGHTS UP ON THE TRIAL VENUE. JFK, WARREN and CAIN are in their places. OSWALD is behind the three-sided booth. He appears to be calm and alert. RILEY is on other side of the booth.
WARREN We will begin with the recall of the Plaintiff by the Respondents.
CAIN Hello again, young man. How are you feeling? 97
OSWALD ...Fine...
CAIN As before, just relax...
OSWALD I am relaxed.
CAIN I re-read your books. Especially your fiction. You have quite an imagination, way with words, gift of imagery, control of structure.
OSWALD ?...Thank you...?
CAIN You’re clearly a devotee of Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” template.
OSWALD ...I am...
CAIN The Everyman Hero, the call to action for him to save his community, the initial fear and reluctance...
OSWALD The meeting with the Mentor, who prods him into action...
CAIN Leaving his everyday world to champion his community...the obstacles on his Odyssey, suppression of any instincts to quit, then finally...victory...
OSWALD ...Victory...
CAIN But at a price: sacrifice, redemption, reinvention...after he realizes most of his life-long belief system was wrong.
OSWALD ...Belief system was wrong...
CAIN Relax, lad. Tune out everything and everyone, but you and me. Oh. Forgot an important one: Atonement With the Father.
OSWALD ...Atonement With the Father... 98
CAIN Just relax, Lee...
RILEY [“Lee”? “Lad”? Kee-rist!]
CAIN I am not your enemy. The Antagonist here is anything that stands between us and The Truth.
OSWALD Between us and The Truth...
RILEY [Don’t. Let. Him. Draw. You. In!]
CAIN In both your fictional pieces you emerge as the conquering hero, the savior.
OSWALD Most writers do. We put on the page what we want to do, but can’t, in real life. Same with actors. Wishful thinking, art as compensation, call it what you will.
CAIN You are the Avenging Angel in your sagas?
OSWALD ...The Avenging Angel...
CAIN Lee, based on your fiction, you are one of those undis- covered geniuses.
RILEY [Don’t let him reel you in with that line of bull! Oldest trick in the book!]
OSWALD ...You think...?
CAIN Though unsung, I daresay your work stacks up with some of our finest authors. Jack Kerouac, James Baldwin, Flannery O’Connor come quickest to mind!
OSWALD Please. Sir. Do. Not. Try. To. Patronize. Me.
CAIN I’m not. I firmly believe that. 99
RILEY [Don’t fall for it, don’t fall for it...]
JFK (overlapping) [That’s right! Lap it up! Lap it all up!]
OSWALD ...If you say so...
CAIN Have you tried to find a publisher for your fiction?
OSWALD No, sir. Mainstream publishers, editors, most readers would not get my writing...and...I’m not from Yale.
CAIN Lee, my empathy for you has no limits.
JFK [How the hell so?]
OSWALD How so?
CAIN How frustrating it must be, to have all the talent in the world and zero recognition.
OSWALD Yeah—like me and no telling how many others. It’s rarely about talent, but how The Machine selects and promotes an artist. Always has been, always will be.
CAIN Lee, in lieu of the rest of the world being able to read and appreciate your talent, would you like to show those skills—with an impromptu, hypothetical scenario?
OSWALD How? When?
CAIN Based on a situation I’ll provide, here and now.
OSWALD ...Okay...
RILEY Your Honor, I object—adamantly—to this proposed use of a gratuitous, abstract situation! 100
WARREN Overruled! This falls under the umbrella of the relaxed rules we discussed! We’ll allow a few questions—unless, until they take this trial afield. If the Plaintiff wants—
OSWALD I do! Most—adamantly!
RILEY Your Honor, a brief recess to confer with my client?
OSWALD No! I’m dying to be heard! Give me the situation!
WARREN You heard your client. If we’re spinning our wheels after two minutes, I’ll cut it short. Mr. Cain, begin your line of questioning.
CAIN Continue to relax. Focus solely on my voice. What comes next is for the greater good. Repeat: hypothetical... nothing we will-or can—use against you...legally...
OSWALD Is that true, Mr. Chief Justice? No legal consequences?
WARREN (after some thought) Not for a hypothetical situation...
RILEY [My ass! We’ll see!]
CAIN You do not want History to remember you as a kook, just another failed assassin, do you?
OSWALD ...No...of course not...
CAIN That might happen if you don’t provide an—alternate scenario, to your claim. Come clean, get to The Truth behind the attempt, History will see you as noble. An American Hero.
OSWALD ?...Noble?...An American Hero...?
CAIN Campbell’s model... 101
OSWALD ...Sacrifice...redemption...atonement...re-invention...
CAIN This is your first—only—chance to prove you are not the pathetic, uneducated victim the Media has painted. Do as I say: create a what-if picture. Forget how it contradicts your original claim. Relax. Create. Tell your story.
OSWALD My...original claim? No contradiction? No legal liability?
RILEY Mr. Chief Justice, with all due respect—!
WARREN What I said stands. Do not make me hold you in contempt!
RILEY (clearly insincerely) My apologies to all.
WARREN Continue, Mr. Cain...
CAIN If the New Orleans event had not happened, how would you have received the orders? Through face-to-face meetings with a Liaison? How many? Relax and imagine...
RILEY [He’s leading my client and I can’t do a thing about it—for now, anyway!]
OSWALD (instantly deep in thought) ...Yes...a Liaison...
CAIN Just relax, Lee...
OSWALD ...I...am...relaxed...
RILEY Sidebar, Mr. Chief Justice?
WARREN (clearly irked as HE motions the the counselors to his bench) Make this quick!
102
RILEY If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Mr. Cain is trying to hypnotize my client?
CAIN Are you out of your mind? Even if I were that desperate, I don’t have the skills! And there’s no Law against it!
RILEY Still, Your Honor!
WARREN Mr. Cain is right, Mr. Riley. Perhaps your client’s claim has planted that seed in your mind. And, as Dr. Yancey said, nobody can be hypnotized without his compliance.
CAIN Mr. Riley, you know of a basic trial tactic: using speech rhythms, suggestion, imagery and whatnot to sway a witness. Like your “Marine to Marine” schtick.
WARREN Another basic, Mr. Riley: it is a lawyer’s job to undo on re-direct any harm his client has done on cross. Let Mr. Cain do his job, then you’ll do yours! Your next objection had better be a good one! Am I clear?
RILEY You are, Mr. Chief Justice.
WARREN Mr. Cain, continue your cross...
CAIN The Liaison. Lee, were the meetings over several months?
OSWALD ...Yes...several months.
CAIN The meetings were man-to-man, no hypnosis?
OSWALD In these fictional meetings, no hypnosis.
CAIN Think. Create. Imagine. First contact?
OSWALD (deep, deep thought) June 1962. Just after I returned to the US, moved my family in at my brother’s in Fort Worth. Typical hot Texas day. 103
CAIN What did the Liaison look like?
OSWALD Middle—everything. Middle-aged, medium height and weight. Only thing noticeable: he was somewhat swarthy.
CAIN Latinate? Middle Eastern? Quadroon/Octoroon?...Black Irish?
JFK [Cute.]
OSWALD Couldn’t tell. No giveaway accent.
CAIN Where did you meet?
OSWALD Lunch room. Greyhound Bus station. Downtown Fort Worth.
JFK [Talk about hiding in plain sight!]
CAIN How did he contact you, initially?
OSWALD Phone. At my brother’s. Seemed to know I was there alone.
CAIN In this scenario you’re creating, did he play it close to the vest, not divulge much?
OSWALD Close to the vest...just enough to prickle my interest.
CAIN What did he say? Anything about the shake-up in the world order?...Relax...take your time as you make this up...
OSWALD I should be honored to be one of the few “civilian agents” chosen...if I agreed to the terms...that he would spell out at the next meeting...
CAIN Did you ever think this could be a hoax—or a trap?
OSWALD Of course...for half a moment...he was so convincing... 104
CAIN Any indication of a concrete plan?
OSWALD It was a work in progress...he’d fill me in on what I needed to know, when I needed to know it.
CAIN Did he make you commit, one way or the other?
OSWALD ...He gave me a chance to walk away. As if the meeting had never happened.
CAIN When you had the chance—perhaps—to exit, why didn’t you?
OSWALD I can’t lie: I was flattered to no end...and morbidly curious as to where this was going...I knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime...but for exactly what...?
JFK [He had so little excitement in his—“life”...]
CAIN Did he threaten you in any fashion?
OSWALD Subtly. If we met again, he’d give me one more “out.” After that, I was in ‘til the end.
CAIN Anything else?
OSWALD “We have eyes on you. Around the clock.”
CAIN Did he set a date for the next meeting?
OSWALD No...he’d contact me...when he contacted me.
CAIN Of course, you told nobody?
OSWALD Of course. Nobody.
CAIN The second meeting? 105
OSWALD September, ’62. General Worth Square, Fort Worth.
JFK [Again, plain sight! Where the holy hell was the FBI?]
CAIN What transpired?
OSWALD He told me why the New Order would have to take over...
JFK [Aha! The same Secret Society I spoke about in April, ’61, at the Waldorf!]
OSWALD He spoke of the need to kill certain world leaders.
CAIN Then...?
OSWALD He stopped. He’d say no more, unless I agreed to participate. If I did, no turning back.
CAIN If you reneged...?
OSWALD He had no need to spell out the obvious.
CAIN Evidently you agreed to go along. Then...?
OSWALD The leaders. Most vulnerable: the American president, any American president, with his many public appearances. The Soviet and Chinese leaders—too difficult to get to. Castro’s death: minimal effect in the world picture.
CAIN ...But your oft-stated fondness for Mr. Kennedy...?
OSWALD He hinted I’d take no direct action against...him.
JFK [We know how that turned out.]
OSWALD ...But I’d follow all commands...regardless... 106
CAIN Still no specific orders?
OSWALD Too early. Said I might have to relocate to New Orleans.
CAIN Third meeting...?
OSWALD January, ’63, corner of Union Station, Dallas. Crowded.
JFK [Like they were daring the FBI to see and do something!]
CAIN The message?
OSWALD I was to be on one of the “elimination teams.”
CAIN Then...?
OSWALD He seemed to be spooked by two guys, nearby...only time I ever saw him rattled. He cut short the meeting. He’d told me the most important thing: being on a hit team.
CAIN The next...fourth?...meeting...?
OSWALD April, ’63. Fairgrounds, shadow of the Cotton Bowl.
CAIN The message?
OSWALD They’d changed their minds on Castro...I would go to New Orleans, set up a “Fair Play for Cuba” office. Pretend to be for Castro. Hopefully meet him, get close enough to...
CAIN What happened?
OSWALD Total snafu. Got my butt kicked. Arrested. Three times.
CAIN Next meeting?
107
OSWALD Day after Labor Day. City Park, by the lake. I was to return to Dallas, wait for my new orders.
CAIN The sixth meeting?
OSWALD October 19, ’63. Day after my birthday, day before my daughter Rachel was born. Fairgrounds again.
CAIN Please continue...
OSWALD The Dallas plan was nearly complete—provided the attempt on Mr. Kennedy in Chicago, Saturday, November 2, never got—
WARREN Edit that! Continue. Focus on your story, you and Dallas.
OSWALD He said there’d be a motorcade, noon-ish, November 22.
CAIN The Media didn’t know that yet. How did the New Order?
OSWALD They know everything. Though the route was not announced ‘til two days before, they figured it out.
CAIN How?
OSWALD Love Field to the Trade Mart via downtown Dallas: the most logical way, by far.
CAIN Do you think there’s any link between you getting the job at the Depository...which was on the assumed route?
OSWALD Of course! There are no coincidences with them! They have their tentacles everywhere. Tall building on the sure-to-be parade route—perfect perch for a shooter. One who could get into the building if only workers were allowed. At the Depository—and other tall buildings.
CAIN Yes! Outsiders were denied entry into similar and nearby.
108
JFK [The one thing the three LE groups got together on!]
OSWALD The sixth was the shortest meeting. The next would be the last, a day or two before...he gave me my final orders, told me about the first shooter, Dal-Tex Building...
CAIN He was to eliminate Mr. Kennedy, while you...?
OSWALD Only relation to me in that murder was it was my cue to take out the vice president. Within seconds. Closer the two murders, greater the chaos.
CAIN Then...?
OSWALD He studied my reaction...I deadpanned it. He reminded me I might have to kill Mr. Kennedy. He asked if I had a problem with that.
JFK [Obviously, you didn’t.]
CAIN Your answer?
OSWALD “No.” He seemed satisfied.
CAIN The Event. You testified you panicked, briefly, when the motorcade turned and the president was still alive...?
OSWALD I did.
CAIN What were your thoughts when you realized you had to...?
OSWALD The programming kicked in. I was not to see a human, but a symbol, a puppet for a corrupt system.
CAIN Did anything about his upbringing, your upbringing, how different they were, influence you?
109
OSWALD ...No...just a prop, puppet, figurehead...
CAIN Raised in obscene wealth...everything handed to him— including his presidency...he never had to work a “real” job in his life...those didn’t influence you...?
OSWALD (weakly) ...Didn’t influence me...
CAIN You had to scramble for everything you gained in life...
OSWALD ...My life...a mean life...a shit life...
CAIN The love, adulation heaped on him, by millions...you, a brilliant young man, totally ignored...
OSWALD ...Silver spoon in his mouth, rusty fork in mine...
CAIN A beautiful, loving wife, two adorable children...
OSWALD Not one who married him to get out of a hellhole...
CAIN A loving mother, a father who did all he could to support the president and his brothers...
OSWALD His dad: a bootlegger...made a fortune running booze during Prohibition...Irish Outfit...bought him the office...
CAIN You, with no lasting father figure, worked job after job, all far beneath you...
OSWALD Yes! Nobody appreciated what I had to offer! Nobody, but...
CAIN The New Order! T.R.O.P.E.! Only they saw your brilliance!
OSWALD Only they saw my brilliance...
110
CAIN Still, hypothetically...that prompted you to take up arms against Mr. Kennedy? (OSWALD NODS—vaguely) In your fiction, are they part of the shadow government/ secret society President Kennedy warned the world about?
OSWALD ...Yes...
CAIN What did you—your made-up alter ego—find most compelling of their grand plan?
OSWALD (speaks ROBOTICALLY, as if from a text, in all his subsequent, multi-sentence speeches) The one thing, the only thing I found repulsive: the need to kill some world leaders. The most attractive: fixing the failures of the two main political machines: Communism, Capitalism. The New Order’s worst fear is nuclear war. Our motives are economical, not altruistic. The Order will do what We must to prevent World War III. When We take over, We will begin anew.
CAIN How?
OSWALD With a system based on true Marxism. Not the bastardized mishmash they practice in Russia and elsewhere.
CAIN What will this Order resolve, for starters?
OSWALD The two failed systems. False reporting by the Media. Billions of apathetic, politically-illiterate people.
CAIN The New Order will change all that?
OSWALD That’s our plan.
CAIN Briefly, how will this New Order rule?
OSWALD As an oligarchy. Most humans can’t think for themselves. One percent will command ninety-five. 111
CAIN Which leaves four percent. As the rulers’ henchmen?
OSWALD Facilitators is a better word. People are lemmings, swine at a trough, mindlessly slopping up what’s dumped on them.
JFK [“The masses are asses”: Alexander Hamilton.]
OSWALD They must be told—everything. How to vote. Choices in books, movies, music, friendships, when and whom to marry. The Order’s plan is to guide them in a way that’s most beneficial, most humane.
CAIN In your story, you were to be one of the...?
OSWALD Teachers. Interlocutors. Ambassadors.
JFK [Storm troopers. Gestapo. KGB.]
CAIN We must return to that Friday. Despite your admiration for President Kennedy, you still took that shot...
OSWALD My affection for him froze my fingers...until...all the resentment, rejection, looking in from the outside while spoiled brats grew up to rule the world, while the ninety- nine-point-nine percent of the rest of us...that erased any misgivings I had about squeezing that trigger!
CAIN (oddly supportive tone) From a Nobody to a Somebody who kills the most powerful man in the Free World! Yes! Imagine the moment! Take us there!
OSWALD And fling History on its ass! As I shot, I thanked the New Order for making me part of this. My life would’ve never been complete without that moment!
CAIN (grossly disappointed parent) But you failed. And here we are. You’re still a little man, totally naked to the world, denuded by your own words.
112
JFK [Classic Bobby!]
RILEY Your Honor, Mr. Cain is—!
OSWALD No! Let him have his say! That I’m getting this notoriety, explaining to the world: this makes me—and billions like me—Somebodies. This is the best thing that could and has happened to me!
CAIN Still—hypothetically—for the reasons you just cited, nobody had to brainwash you into doing what you did...?
OSWALD No!—Yes! In this hypothetical...no...?
CAIN The Hero’s Journey: his actions are always of his Free Will! Yet you claimed you were grabbed and the victim of—!
RILEY Mr. Chief Justice!
WARREN We need to hear this! Continue, Mr. Cain!
CAIN So, according to your claim, you’re no Hero! Just a victim. The furthest thing from a Hero!
OSWALD I’m not, I’m not, I’m not—!
CAIN Heroes act on their own Free Will, not suckered into—
OSWALD I did act on my own Free Will!
CAIN Being snatched and mind-altered is not Free Will!
OSWALD I’m confused...so confused...
CAIN Hypothetically, the seven meetings you—just imagined—would have been enough...had you made the conscious choice to be part of the Conspiracy? 113
OSWALD ?...Yes...?
CAIN (returns to the paternal mentor) Lee, your Redemption, Salvation, place in History all ride on your answer. Do. You. Understand? (OSWALD says nothing) Your Atonement—with the Father Figure you never had: a system of government you can believe in—lies in your answer. Shall I go on? (OSWALD NODS weakly) The human mind is the strangest organ: one conceives a scenario, replays it enough times, for all intents and purposes it did happen...if only in one’s imagination...
OSWALD ...If only in my imagination...?
CAIN I daresay your fictional version is much more enlight- ening...and credible...than your original claim.
OSWALD ...Than my original claim...?
CAIN Is that what happened? You made up the brainwash scenario, and finally convinced yourself? (OSWALD seems on the brink of an answer, but remains silent) New Orleans...never happened? Heroes make choices: you elected to be part of The Conspiracy.
WARREN The Plaintiff will answer the question...Mr. Oswald...?
OSWALD I chose to be part. My fiction became my reality.
CAIN As you said, this is the best thing that could happen to you. You are well on the road to Redemption.
OSWALD ?...How’s that...?
CAIN You’ve Sacrificed your selfish needs by telling the Truth— and help us get to the heart of the—Plan. You’ve Atoned with the Father, the stand-in for the one you never had...
114
OSWALD ?...Would that be...Mr. Kennedy...?
JFK [If I am: God. Help. Us!]
CAIN The office and the nation he represents. The country you renounced, then returned to. The one you love, but thought didn’t love you back. But now you’ve told The Truth, it will. The Truth will make you the Hero you’ve wanted to be. (re: OSWALD’s blank stare) This is how you really wanted it to end. Purge your sins of being part of The Conspiracy, the anger over how you felt the world had ignored your great gifts...
OSWALD (after considerable thought) Yes...this is how I wanted it to end...Mr. President, if you can forgive me...I am sorry...so sorry...
CAIN You are truly a Hero, and will go down in History as such.
OSWALD ...Thank you...
WARREN (after a respectable length of time) Counsels, do have any final questions?
RILEY None, sir. This Marine has left it all on the battlefield.
CAIN None, Your Honor.
WARREN We will recess for three days. We will then hear the re- spective closing speeches. I will then make some state- ments of my own, and render the Court’s ruling.
CAIN I have all faith it will be the most just possible.
RILEY As do I.
BLACKOUT
115
SCENE FIVE
TIME: Three days later.
SETTING: THE SCOTUS TRIAL VENUE.
AT RISE: LIGHTS UP ON THE TRIAL VENUE. WARREN and CAIN are in their places. OSWALD is in his cell. He seems calm and alert. RILEY is on other side of the booth. JFK is in his “Oval Office” perch.
CAIN ...In summary, the Plaintiff has written my closing argu- ments, with his admission of his fake claim, his motives behind it—and taking up arms against Mr. Kennedy. There is nothing more to say.
WARREN Mr. Riley, you have already made your summary. Before the ruling, in lieu of the Plaintiff making his comments, as agreed, you will read his prepared statement.
RILEY Indeed.
WARREN Be warned: the Court will cut him off, if, when...
RILEY We are aware of that.
WARREN Proceed.
(RILEY will read he first words of each speech. OSWALD will take over until the end of each speech.)
RILEY/OSWALD You know my revised stance on The Order. Thus, what I say is a warning. It is unlikely nobody will ever find those who hench for The Order. Their murders of Julius Caesar, the six popes we know who were assassinated and several others we don’t; Alexander Hamilton, Lincoln, Harding, FDR—
JFK [FDR? Whoa!]
116
RILEY/OSWALD And countless others have either gone unsolved, or attributed to others.
CAIN [Harding and FDR...long heard those rumors...hmmm...]
RILEY/OSWALD For those who believe in the existence of The New World Order, The True Rulers, The Illuminati, The Freemasons, whatever you call it and think we’ve gone dormant, guess again. We’re biding their time, manipulating world events to serve our purpose.
CAIN [As they supposedly have since Time Immemorial.]
RILEY/OSWALD ...There’s one situation they’re going all out to create...
(IMAGE ON SCREEN: a map with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and Japan IN RED)
JFK [They’re banking on the continued spread of communism in Asia: soon, the Philippines, next Japan. Then, a trium- virate: the Soviets, Red China, and Red Japan: which’ll be a convenient launch spot for a nuclear Pearl Harbor.]
RILEY/OSWALD My so-called “supporters.” They roil and rally and ramble— even riot, in my name! Yet, few, if any, have asked about my mental and physical health, creature comforts, day-to- day doings. I’m just an excuse for these trust-fund babies to drop out of school and society, post-pone lush careers in their daddies’ billion-dollar firms. Instead of taking the Rich Brat’s Tour of the Continent, they’ve stood here and made me a symbol with no substance, a cause with no context, a living, breathing martyr. Go back to your families, go back to school, go back to work—better yet: go to hell...And the women who’ve sent me marriage proposals, nekkid pictures, the whole nine. The Media chalk that up to what they call my—“creep appeal.”
CAIN [“Creep appeal.” I like that phrase. Wish I’d made it up.]
RILEY/OSWALD The Machine won’t let me get any of that mail. Here’s what I say to those women: what kind of skank loser would have anything to do with a presumably dead man walking like me—? 117
WARREN That’s enough. Mr. Riley, find a new thread.
RILEY/OSWALD Cain hypnotized me? Hypnotized me? You all wish! I went along with him. I faked “being under” because it was the best way to get my story across. I even figured he’d try that, was hoping for it, and am glad he did! Free will! As Cain said, Hero’s don’t get duped! My choice! Thank you, Mr. Cain, for your—ploy! The perfect conduit to my story! And this whole shebang is my story! The one the world wouldn’t have heard otherwise.
WARREN End that thread. His last comment...
RILEY/OSWALD I’ve had my say. To the millions—hundreds of millions of Lee Oswalds out there: take heart.
WARREN This court—this world—has heard enough. What we have not heard is any remorse, any concern for Mr. Kennedy, any regrets for the results of the foul deed—though events could have turned out far worse. (poignant pause) I will now make my statement...then render the ruling...I thank both counsels and my fellow Justices. Of course, I thank President Kennedy...I also commend Colonel Rogers, Marina Porter, Robert Oswald, Private Frazier, and Dr. Yancey for their valuable, patient, testimonies... (IMAGES ON SCREEN: some just mentioned) Personnel from the FBI, Dallas Police Department, and Secret Service; the co-workers at the Book Depository; others who spoke in person, or in depositions elsewhere. I also thank Mr. Salvatore Giacomo. Despite his history with certain Law Enforcement officials... (IMAGE ON SCREEN: RFK) ...Mr. Giacomo volunteered his knowledge. His insights into the demimonde of murder-for-hire, its hierarchy to lower- archy are priceless...Similarly, we must give Mr. Jacob Rubenstein some credit. He has helped in ways we dare not explain. And though it is not my place to judge the purity of his motives, I must second Mr. Cain’s comment that Mr. Ruby has tried to wedge himself into the back-basement win- dow of History...Yet, Mr. Ruby has merely walked through a door some in the Media have opened: the Outlaw-Outcast as Anti-Hero. Some in the Fourth Estate have overstated the trickle of sympathy for the Plaintiff until it is now a sizeable river with a life of its own.
118
VOICES/OFFSTAGE FREE OSWALD! HE’S JUST A PATSY! FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY!
WARREN I had thought about some of the things the Plaintiff said about his “supporters.” I could not have said them, at least not in this venue. Let us give these—media creations— a name: “The Vocal Outliers.” As is their moral and legal right, many of them have lost faith in this government. Many have enjoyed privileged upbringings, which they have looked past. That these Outliers, raised mostly by parents from our “Greatest Generation,” have grown up to be so spoiled, undisciplined, and entitled is beyond me... However, Private Frazier said something striking: many of them believe there is a coverup in the search for Mr. Ken- nedy’s attackers: the “Alphabet Agencies,” the US govern- ment, even the president himself are involved. This notion is sadly, tragically absurd. These people have disregarded the Plaintiff’s admission to his role in the Conspiracy. Shame on them for their foolishness, their hypocrisy!
CAIN [Draft ‘em all: let Uncle Sam straighten them out!]
WARREN The Bailiff will please bring in the Plaintiff...
(LIGHTS DOWN ON the chamber, up on JFK. He is on the phone.)
JFK Mr. Hoover...Great! Great! The suspect admitted he is the would-be shooter at the textile building...but couldn’t get past security...”Mr. Smith” and his “intensive question- ing” have won the day again. (BLOODCURDLING SCREAMS from OFFSTAGE) Have him “re-interview” the second suspect, whom many feel was at the—what do the locals call it?...The Grassy Knoll, that’s right...Neither could tell us any more than—him— but...We’ll talk later: they’re bringing him in. We’ll get to the bottom of this, sooner rather than later...
(LIGHTS DOWN ON JFK as a BAILIFF enters with OSWALD and escorts him to his booth.)
WARREN The Defendant will rise...
RILEY Excuse me, sir, but do you mean “The Plaintiff”?
119
WARREN My mistake. The Plaintiff. And counsel. (OSWALD and RILEY rise) Young man, you have created a fantasy realm in which you are some brand of—hero. Yet, there is nothing vaguely admirable about you. Rather than do something laudable, you tried to slink into History via the murder of a truly great person. You are a pathetic, frustrated little man. You have proven to be a loser in your every life endeavor.
JFK [Gee, Mr. Chief Justice, who don’t you tell him what you really think about him?]
WARREN You say your motive was to expedite the rule of “The New World Order.” In the turnabout History would make, you would be a hero, equal to those of mythology, literature, and real- life figures. That is what you say compelled you-
OSWALD It did, Your Honor—
WARREN Quiet! Yet, Mr. Cain, with his mental jiu-jitsu, exposed your real motives. Yet you still believe in the power of the “New Order.” Did it ever occur to you that History would see you as but a failed assassin, a failed human?
JFK [I’m starting to feel sorry for this bastard. No, I’m not!]
WARREN You’ve failed with everything, everyone you’ve embraced: your stint in the military; your espousal, then rejection of a political dogma; your defection from and inevitable return to this country; your “marriage” that was doomed from the start—
OSWALD That is out of bounds—
WARREN One more word out of you... (RILEY grabs OSWALD’s wrist. OSWALD fumes, but remains silent.) The one thread in your life: the love/hate affairs with all the above...and with Mr. Kennedy himself...The New World Order. For centuries—millennia—people have thought a sil- ent, invisible, but all-powerful entity exists—in some form. Mr. Kennedy himself spoke on it. If some from such did recruit you, they found the perfect fall guy. As you 120
WARREN (cont’d) have long contended, you are but a patsy. They knew you were just a scared, pathetic little man they could leave holding the bag. Or the rifle. You were the human equiva- lent of a small-caliber, throwaway pistol. (profound pause) If your account of your alliance with the secret society is yet another fabrication, that is another example of your dangerous, delusional mind. Still, hardly anyone believes you had the wherewithal to act alone. Be that as it may. Some speculate your puppeteers may not have been part of something so ancient, so global, but home-grown thugs who almost managed to pull off the Crime of the Century.
JFK [Judge, please! Let sleeping dogs lie!]
WARREN Be that as it may...some have found your admittedly-false kidnap-brainwash claim believable, compelling, even enter- taining. Still, it is but a lie, which you yourself admit. (pause) In large part to Mr. Cain’s machinations, in your own mind you have achieved salvation, atonement, remaking of self. In your own mind. Again, you have emerged as the—hero—in the saga of your fantasies. But this is the Real World... This Supreme Court upholds your original sentence and terms of imprisonment. You are still technically on Death Row—
OSWALD Great! I’ve made it plain all along I’d much rather die! Execute me! As soon as possible.
WARREN That is between you and the federal prison officials—
OSWALD Gas chamber, gallows, firing squad, the chair! Bring them on! I won’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me grow old—and insane—in prison! I’ll starve before that happens! All the force-feeding in the world won’t keep me alive!
VOICES/OFFSTAGE FREE OSWALD! HE’S JUST A PATSY! FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY!
OSWALD I want to die! I tried to murder the president, for fuck’s sake! What’s a man got to do to get himself killed?
WARREN That will do. Bailiffs! Take this man away!
121
OSWALD (as two BAILIFFS spirit him off) New World Order! Though you’ve stood me up three times, please put the Fear of God into the world and break me out! Show your true power! Give the planet a pre-view of what’s in store! Save me, Karl Marx! Save me! (by now HE is offstage)
VOICES/OFFSTAGE FREE OSWALD! HE’S JUST A PATSY! FREE OSWALD! JUST A PATSY!
WARREN I struggle to refrain from a personal statement...In a live remote, some final words from Mr. Kennedy...
(LIGHTS DOWN ON THE TRIAL AREA, SPOT- LIGHT ON JFK—who speaks into a “Camera”)
JFK I thank all involved—and that includes the hundreds of millions, worldwide, who have followed this trial. I will honor the decision of the Court. As a practicing Catholic, I can only pray for the soul of the Plaintiff. (pause) The Media coverage—by some—on the Outliers. To sell news- papers, magazines, get high TV ratings is one thing. To peddle counterfeit “news” is another. We condemn their shady, shoddy methods. Some do not check the facts; some show blatant bias; some exaggerate events; some knowingly lie. That walks a tightrope over Treason. That fringe element preys upon those who lack critical-thinking skills, and defends those least deserving of empathy. These lem- mings view these outlaws as celebrities because some in the Media paint them as such! We cannot allow the Fourth Estate to become a Fifth Column! (pause) This must not portend a world in which the Media can sway enough minds to where lock-stepped, regulated thinking and behavior become the norm. The issue of mind control under- pinned this trial; we must not let George Orwell’s warnings become a reality...We see inklings of that in the Media’s dealings with the Plaintiff’s “fans.” Let this be an aber- ration, not a foreshadowing... (pause) I conclude with cautious optimism: some testimonies have led to the apprehension of—more than one—prime suspect in the attempt on that Friday in Dallas. The investigators are quite pleased with the progress in that direction. I wish I could say more, but of course I cannot...When—if—we can gather the clearest possible proof, there will still be many who won’t believe it. Conspiracy theories will last as long as the memory of that Friday... 122
JFK (cont’d) (pause) I—we—cannot thank you enough for your support. May God bless Humankind...and save us from Ourselves.
(THE SPOTLIGHT DIMS ON JFK and his most charismatic, impossibly handsome smile...)
CAMERAMAN/OFFSTAGE Five...four...three...two...one...we’re off the air.
BLACKOUT AND END OF PLAY
123
SCENE BREAKDOWN
THE PROLOGUE: Jackson Square, New Orleans. August 1963
SCENE ONE: JFK’s study; CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN’S chamber; OSWALD’S jail cell. Wednesday, January 12, 1966.
SCENE TWO: The Great Hall of the SCOUTS Building; OSWALD’S cell inside the SCOTUS Building. Tuesday, January 18, 1966.
INTERMISSION AFTER SCENE TWO
SCENE THREE: The Great Hall; JFK’S study; OSWALD’S cell inside the SCOTUS Building. Three days later.
SCENE FOUR: WARREN’S chamber, the SCOTUS Building. The next morning.
SCENE FIVE: The Great Hall. The next morning.
SCENE SIX: The Great Hall; JFK’s study. The next morning.
124
STAGE LAYOUT
The set requirements are minimal.
The witness chair, where most of the action takes place, is downstage right.
Close enough to it, downstage right-center, are the tables of the two lead counsels, Riley and Cain.
Behind them, on a slightly raised level, is Judge Warren’s seat.
At extreme downstage left is Oswald’s cell, where he will be most of the play.
Behind Oswald, on a raised level upstage, is where JFK will be when he is not testifying.
There is a SCRIM at a slightly raised level, extreme upstage right. 125
DRAMATIC CONCEITS:
This is a “what-if” story that employs a lot of people and situations from real life. That notwithstanding, many familiar with the Kennedy/Oswald/Ruby triangulation might see what they feel are glaring omissions.
At the time of the real-life assassination, Oswald rented a room at 1026 North Beckly Street, in the Oak Park section of Dallas, from Monday evening to Friday morning. On weekends he stayed with his wife in their room with Mrs. Ruth Paine, at 1525 Fifth Street, Irving, Texas.
The author has eliminated the Oak Park house. That he had two different residences has no dramatic payoff in this play.
Days before that Dallas Friday, Oswald delivered a note—in person—to the Dallas FBI Field Office. To this day the content of that note is a matter of dispute. In this play, however, the author has eliminated the note and whatever Oswald wrote in it.
The author has eschewed the whole question of the alleged curtain rods Oswald somehow got into the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) that fateful Friday. Any mention of this will compromise the narrative drive.
Likewise, The Author has not made Oswald’s real-life trip to Mexico City weeks before the shooting as part of this story. Again, there is no dramatic payoff.
ASIDES abound in this play. They will appear in brackets. If the character continues his/her speech after the bracketed aside, ellipses will follow the brackets, and the actor will say aloud what comes next.