Taking Care Of The Star Witness
How Marina Oswald was bribed for her Warren Commission testimony.
Some attention is given to a trust fund set up to accommodate donations given to Marina Oswald, Lee's widow after his death. She received donations from all over the country from sympathetic Americans for the widowed mother with two young children. The amount was $75,000, donated from people around the country. Lee Oswald’s older brother Robert was one of the signatories to the trust and relayed this information in his Warren Commission testimony.
However, this was not the only amount of money Marina received. Before she was called to give testimony, in February of 1964, Marina signed a contract for a film on her life, TV appearances and interviews with news magazines. She was paid a total of $132,350. One movie company, Tex-Italia Films (Cinema International Pictures) who paid Marina $84,000 would never make a movie she signed the contract for.
Tex-Italia Films
Tex-Italia Films is the model for a “fly by night” outfit with its two interchangeable names: Tex-Italia Films and Cinema International Pictures (for the sake of clarity onTex-Italia will be used). They had an office in Rome, Italy. They rented office space on February 8, 1963 at Samuel Goldwyn Studios. By February 21, 1964, after signing and paying Marina to a film deal, they were kicked out of their office on February 21, 1964 for non-payment of rent. The year in which they maintained their Hollywood office they never made a single film, rented equipment for film production or hired actors.
The three men running Tex-Italia Films were listed as Charles Laster, George V. Douglas and Wesley B. Blankenship. After the office closing they were never heard of again. The FBI ran their names and concluded they were aliases.
The Breakdown Of Payments
The breakdown of Marina Oswald’s payment from Tex-Italia Films (or, Cinema International Pictures) is as follows:
$75,000 for worldwide movie and TV rights.
$7,500 for each film appearance.
$1,500 for each personal appearance.
For a total of $84,000
The non-film part of the contract is as follows:
$5,000 to Life magazine for North American rights to the photos of Lee holding the rifle and the pistol.
$12,500 from Stern Magazine for story and serial rights. 70% for Marina
$25,000 advance on books rights from Meredith Press (autobiography).
$2,200 for Commonwealth Rights to reproduce the rifle picture from the London Daily Mirror.
$1,000 from the This Week Magazine.
A total of $48,350 and a full total of $132,350.
In his Warren Commission testimony, Lee’s brother Robert never said a word about the film, photo and magazine deals. He had to have known since he helped Marina with her questions regarding the contract. You might think this would be of interest to the Commission but think again, they were not. He only discussed his knowledge of Marina’s donations. The commission’s staff lawyers must have known as well, apparently under orders not to inquire.
FBI Director Hoover clearly was in the know and as he told the lead counsel, J. Lee Rankin, the FBI was not going to be investigating any of Marina Oswald's financial dealings. Rankin must have breathed a sigh of relief! So the kibosh was put on this from the beginning and was never to be mentioned again.
What is interesting is that all of this financial disclosure regarding Marina was known to the Warren Commission. In fact, it is documented in file CE-325 (see above). But never mentioned in witness testimonies or the Warren Report. Nor made public in the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the 1970’s, or their final report.
The American public was kept in the dark.
The Mystery of Marina’s 1964 Tax Return
One final curious note. In Marina Oswald’s tax return for 1964, she listed a total income of $40,935.05. This is far less than the six figures she was paid for her film that was never made and her other media arrangements (that apparently occurred). If you take that money out, she is still left with $48,350. She is still underreporting her income and in this instance by over $8,000.
Was the $85,000 paid to Marina by Tex-Italia Films considered a “gift” since it was not listed as income? It vanishes and the IRS never follows up on this. Because somebody told them to ignore the discrepancy?
If so, it’s bribe.
Notes
Marina’s contract details are sourced from FBI SA Anatole Boguslar and SA Wallace Heitman’s affidavit, 11-25-63, p.7.
Dir Hoover’s letter to J. Lee Rankin regarding Marina’s finances, 6-19-64.
Some odd side deals were completed upon Marina signing the contract. Tex-Italia Films signed a letter of agreement with Howard and Bell realtors. Second letter of agreement signed with C. W. Deaton for 5% of all proceeds to Jack D. Funderburgh in return for a payment of $1500. I have no idea what this is about. More details are in the link below to the John Armstrong Baylor University collection.
Seems that C. W. Deaton was known to the FBI. File #87-16646. He was known to use several aliases. One is James William Jackson. Coincidentally, found in Oswald’s arrest possessions was a check stub made out to James Jackson. Even more coincidental was a James Jackson living in the rooming house Oswald rented prior to the assassination.
There were issues with Marina’s contact with Meredith Press to publish her autobiography. Details in this NYT archive article from 1964 show a conflict with her ex-attorney and her publishing contract. I can’t find the book, so I assume it was never published.
https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/25/archives/mrs-oswalds-exattorney-threatens-contract-suit.html
Marina’s Warren Commission testimony is riddled with inconsistencies; it brought a great deal of concern to the Commission. One staffer, Fredda Scobey, sent a memo to Commission member Senator Russell that Marina had lied on at least two occasions. Scobey lobbied for a deeper investigation but Earl Warren said no. In the end, Marina made sure that her husband was cast as the lone assassin of John F. Kennedy. She recanted this years later calling herself “A blind kitten.“ Actually, a very well paid kitten.
01.21.23
Marina got another nice perk too. Before she became an American citizen she applied for and received a Social Security number.
Sources
Harvey & Lee, John Armstong, p. 977-978
John Armstrong Baylor Univ. collection, CIA mind control - Tex Italia Films
Marina Oswald’s 1964 tax return (partial) Nation Archives, JFK Assassination Records Collection.
Mention of James Jackson’s SSI.
https://debunked.wordpress.com/the-possessions-of-lee-harvey-oswald-mystery-items/