Meeting Buell Frazier
In November 2024 I met Buell Wesley Frazier in Dallas, Texas. Buell was the work colleague who innocently brought Lee Harvey Oswald to their workplace in the TSBD, (Texas School Book Depository), on Friday 22 November 1963, the day JFK was assassinated. He was the last person to spend a significant amount of one to one time with Lee Oswald that morning and before the outcome of that terrible day.
I have compiled this feature to include how Buell met Lee Oswald and the circumstances that brought them together. Some conspiracy protagonists prefer to think that all or some of these circumstances were directed and planned. That’s absolutely fine of course.
We met in Lewisville, north Dallas in a Mexican restaurant close to where Buell now lives with his wife Betty.
Buell Wesley Frazier was 80 years old when we met. He was just 19 at the time; Lee Harvey Oswald was 23.
Buell had a book published in 2021, ‘Steering Truth’. It describes his connection with Lee Harvey Oswald, his innocent action of driving Oswald to work on the day of the JFK assassination, his subsequent arrest, the investigation process, the outcomes and his long and eventful life since. It is a fascinating story. He was, and still is an important character in the events surrounding and immediately preceding the JFK assassination.
He is not a complex man but his innocent role on that fateful day in November 1963 dragged him through a complicated process of arrest, suspicion, interrogation and some inaccurate bureaucratic association after the event. Even in recent times he has been approached at events by random individuals suggesting that if he had not driven Lee Harvey Oswald to Dallas that morning, JFK wouldn’t have been assassinated. It’s a strange cruel world.
I had anticipated a potential difficult process to establish a meeting with Buell simply because of who he is. I had encountered cautious responses from other witnesses to the significant shooting murders and assassinations I have researched before so I was mindful of establishing a quiet and polite approach. I am a researcher, not an investigator; there is a difference.
It is both interesting and upsetting to learn how witnesses to significant events have been abused, ridiculed, ignored and stalked by the media and researchers with agenda’s and established opinions. My initial approaches were initially diverted to his son. Eventually and thankfully Buell agreed to meet me and for that I will always be grateful.
I was not going to interrogate Buell, I just wanted him to talk about anything he preferred. I explained that I had already read his book. I was mindful that over the decades he would have been interviewed and spoken to by numerous researchers, journalists and interested parties. Some honest and good, others not so much. What I did learn was that he had received abuse over time and not just in the immediate period following the assassination in 1963
Throughout our conversation he always referred to Lee Harvey Oswald as just ‘Lee’. His connection with Lee had a closeness. In actual fact he never really got to know Lee Oswald that well and he freely admits to it. Nevertheless he feels a connection that has frozen in time. That simple domestic link was halted in a most violent and diabolic fashion. It was something I had never considered but after talking to him I could understand what happened in his mind.
According to testimonies Lee Oswald was witnessed shooting the President of the United States and less than a hour later, a Dallas police officer, JD Tippet. Of course conspiracy theories have totally countered this to the point where even simple facts have been skilfully twisted. Two days later Lee Oswald met a violent death himself, shot to death whilst in police custody.
Buell’s recollection of Lee Oswald is the antithesis of what he was officially deemed to be and have done. I found that fascinating and very human.
Buell had come to Dallas in September 1963 to find work, leaving his family home in Huntsville which is 200 miles south. He had been invited to live with his older sister and brother-in-law, Linnie Mae and Bill Randle and their two children at 2429 E 5th Street, Irving, a quiet leafy suburb 15 miles west of downtown Dallas. He had secured a job in the TSBD, (Texas School Book Depository), alongside Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas as an order filler and started work there on 02 October 1963.
Ruth Paine & Marina Oswald
Just four doors west of his sister’s property on E 5th Street was the property of Ruth and Micheal Paine and their three young children. Ruth Paine, a teacher, a practising Quaker and an enthusiastic Russian speaker. She had taken a lodger and had she not, the story and Buell’s involvement might never have happened.
This lodger was Mrs Marina Oswald along with her daughter, June. Mother and daughter had moved into the Paine household 23 Sep 1963. Ruth had met Russian born Marina and her husband Lee at a party held by a friend Everett Glover, 22 Feb 1963. This was all after Lee Harvey Oswald had returned to the USA with his Russian wife and their young daughter.
Lee and Buell – The Back Story
When Ruth Paine first met the Oswald’s they were living at 604 Elsbeth Street in Oak Cliff, Dallas and Ruth Paine realised that their relationship was strained. She liked Marina enormously but took a dislike to Lee Oswald who she found to be aloof and arrogant. He had little problem finding work and was clearly capable of creating a good initial impression but he couldn’t keep a job down, or just didn’t want to. He was a restless and seemingly frustrated character.
Ruth Paine recognised that Marina was quietly struggling, always short of money, very much controlled by Lee Oswald and with a scant knowledge of English. She was so dependent on her American husband who would only converse with her in Russian. This was not helping her interaction and social skills now she was living in the US.
On 02 March the Oswald’s moved into this apartment at 214 Neely Street in Oak Cliff, (my image below). On 06 April Lee Oswald lost his job and on 17 April decided to seek work in New Orleans where he could stay with an aunt. Ruth Paine drove him to the bus station on 24 April. By 10 May Lee Oswald had secured a new job in New Orleans and had moved into an apartment in 4904 Magazine Street.
On 11 May Ruth Paine drove Marina and June to New Orleans where Marina and her daughter remained. Ruth returned to Dallas four days later but she continued to worry about Marina and remained in touch with her.
In the July Ruth Paine made a proposal to Marina who was now pregnant. She was happy to accommodate her and her daughter June, rent free in Irving. In return Marina could help her around the house and assist her Russian language skills. Ruth was also willing to allow the couple to store their personal possessions in her garage. The offer of accommodation did not extend to Lee. At this time Ruth was actually separated from her husband Micheal, but they were on good terms. The Oswald’s thought about Ruth’s offer and eventually accepted it. Ruth drove to New Orleans to collect Marina and June on 23 September 1963.
On 03 Oct the day after Buell Frazier had started work at Texas Books Lee Oswald unexpectedly arrived in Dallas by bus. He had quit his job in New Orleans because he was missing his family. He stayed in the YMCA. The next day he hitch-hiked to Irving and stayed with Marina and the Paine’s. On 07 Oct he went to Dallas and secured a room in 621 Marsalis Street. That didn’t last, the landlady took a serious dislike to him and he returned to Irving 12 Oct. The following day Ruth Paine drove him back into Dallas and he secured accommodation in a rooming house in Oak Cliff.
Some of the ladies on 5th Street in Irving would regularly meet for coffee and often apparently at the home of a Mrs Dorothy Roberts. On 14 Oct, Ruth Paine, Marina Oswald and Linnie Mae Randle were enjoying this social gathering when the subject of work came up. Ruth Paine explained to the group that Marina’s husband Lee was looking for work and had just moved into a rooming house in Oak Cliff in Dallas. Linnie Mae, keen to help mentioned Texas Books where her brother Buell had recently started work. She would get Buell to ask if they were still hiring. He did and they were. Ruth Paine called Texas School Books and explained the situation. Lee was advised, he got in touch, went for an interview on 15 Oct 1963 and immediately secured a full time position.
At this early stage Buell had played no part in this process, he had not met Lee and initially didn’t realise his wife Marina was living just four doors away from his sister’s. When Lee started at Texas Books his manager Bill Shelley assigned Buell Frazier to teach and guide Lee with the processes. Buell was keen to help, he had a natural ability and desire to teach, coach and guide. These were attributes he would continue throughout his life.
It was only in conversation that Buell discovered that Lee Oswald was separated from his wife Marina and actually living in Oak Cliff. Lee was living in a rooming house at 1206 Beckley Avenue which was just 2.5 miles south over the Trinity river basin from his new work location at Texas Books. He was simply planning to use a bus to get into work and back. Once Buell realised the Oswald’s connection with Irving he offered to drive Lee Oswald to Irving any time after work if he wanted to visit his family. My image below is the Oswald rooming house, now a small museum.
Marina was keen for Lee to spend time with her and their daughter at the weekends. Ruth Paine offered Lee the opportunity to visit over the weekends but not during the week, how he got there and back was his business because he didn’t drive or have a car. Buell and Lee made an arrangement for weekends. Buell was more than happy to drive Lee to Irving after work on Friday’s and bring him into work on Monday mornings. It was a simple arrangement. Lee Oswald never offered Buell any fuel money for the favour.
Despite being just four doors apart at weekends, Buell and Lee never socialised in Irving during those periods or indeed at any time during the week in Dallas. Buell is clear about that, he admits to not even knowing exactly where Lee roomed in Oak Cliff; he never went there. When Lee came back with Buell to Irving for those weekends he would focus on his wife and daughter. He would play with Ruth Paine’s children and indeed other children in the neighbourhood but he clearly wasn’t keen to freely socialise with adults.
Buell has memories of Lee entertaining the children under the oak tree that stood in the front yard of the Paine’s house, it is still there. It had recently been trimmed and pruned. Many people who came into contact with Lee Oswald didn’t like him very much. They found him intense, arrogant, aloof and friendless. But he could be a different person to differing people. His love for his own children and his ability to genuinely attract and entertain other folks children was a real and delightful aspect. Such was the complex nature of Lee Harvey Oswald.
The story
Buell described Lee as quiet, polite, intelligent and diligent at work at Texas books. That is not how many people would describe him but that is Buell’s recollection. I suspect Lee Oswald adapted himself to circumstances and to the people he interacted with. Buell Frazier is mindful of that but his recollection is what it is, and he can’t change it. His personal memory of Lee Oswald is opposed to what Oswald is now associated with and it still haunts him. Buell Frazier is not a conspiracy protagonist, he just has a clear memory of what he felt at the time. He finds it difficult to believe that Lee Oswald perpetrated those two killings. That is all.
The weekend before the assassination Lee Oswald advised Buell that he wasn’t going to come back to Irving on the Friday after work; that was 15 Nov 63. He told Buell that he was going to focus on getting his Driver’s Licence. He didn’t go into detail and Buell just accepted what he said without giving it much thought.
At work the following week, on Thursday 21 November 1963 Lee asked Buell if he could travel back with him to Irving that afternoon after work. Buell instantly agreed but casually asked him why he was going back a day earlier than usual. Lee informed him that he was missing the children and would be picking up some curtain rods from Marina and Ruth for his room in Oak Cliff. Buell readily agreed and had absolutely no reason to doubt or question that and one has to get into the context of this. Buell never gave it another thought.
Lee Oswald arrived in Irving with Buell after work on that Thursday afternoon which was a surprise to Marina and Ruth Paine. There were no curtain rods to pick up and there had never been any discussion about them.
On the Friday morning Lee Oswald walked the short distance to Buell’s home and immediately placed a long paper package on the rear seat of Buell’s Chevy. The unlocked car was parked on the property. Linnie Mae, Buell and their mother who was staying at the time saw Lee through the kitchen window. The paper package of course became a key source of evidence after the assassination but the sight of it that morning did not provoke or stir any suspicion.
Linnie Mae’s property features in the image below, the yellow house with the red car on the driveway. The Ruth Paine property is adjacent to the black car on the left of the photograph. You can appreciate how close the two properties were.
Both Buell and his sister Linnie Mae in police interviews and when they later testified in front of the Warren Commission considered the package was no more than two feet in length, give or take a couple of inches, therefore 24/26 inches. That paper bag was found by Dallas Police Officers in the TSBD later that day. It measured 38 inches in total and it had been folded at one end. Buell had been advised by Lee the afternoon before that he would be bringing curtain rods into work the next day. When Buell got into his car that morning he’d forgotten; noticing the package on the rear seat he nonchalantly asked Lee,
‘What’s in the package Lee?’
When Lee reminded him about the curtain rod story, Buell immediately berated himself for not remembering Lee’s errand.
Buell Frazier had no idea that Lee kept a 6.5 mm bolt-action Mannlicher-Carcano rifle at Ruth Paine’s. In exchange, Lee had no idea that Buell kept a .303 bolt-action Lee-Enfield rifle at his sister’s. The context therefore was completely neutral.
The drive to work and their interaction was normal. Buell had noticed that Lee was not carrying any lunch and asked him what he was planning to do. He simply answered by saying he would buy something from a vendor on this day. Nothing odd about that.
When Buell and Lee reached the designated car park close to Texas Book Lee got out and reached for the package on the rear seat. Lee began to move towards the building while Buell sat in his car with the engine still running, charging his battery. Buell Frazier described Lee Oswald as carrying the package cupped in his right hand and the other end nestling into his armpit. Buell says he is absolutely sure that is how he carried it but in his Warren Commission testimony he on more than one occasion stated that he wasn’t paying much attention, and why would he? The Warren Commission concluded that Buell Frazier was mistaken in his estimate and whilst Lee could well have had one end cupped in his hand the other end extended beyond his armpit but could have been out of site.
The length of Lee Harvey Oswald’s dismantled Carcano rifle was 34.8 inches/88 cm, too long to be able to physically do this. Whatever Buell Linnie Mae or indeed anybody that morning thought, they had absolutely no reason to think Lee Oswald was carrying a dismantled rifle to work.
The Warren Commission concluded of course that Lee Oswald had indeed brought his dismantled Carcano rifle in the bag. Was the upper end of the package actually nestled in Lee’s armpit or was it protruding in front of his shoulder and unseen from behind?
It is perhaps interesting to consider if indeed Lee was carrying curtain rods why did he bother to secure and cover them in a homemade hard paper sack that coincidentally was long enough to accommodate his rifle. Why not simply convey them exposed in a taped or tied bundle.
Buell is quite adamant about what he saw. When Lee Oswald was interrogated by the Dallas Police he firmly denied carrying a ‘long package’ and owning a rifle. He claimed to have just brought his lunch in a small paper sack.
The staff in Texas Books had been given permission by the management to watch the Presidential convoy pass the building on Elm Street. Some of them moved outside in the vicinity of the main entrance steps for a view. This included Buell. Throughout this stage he never saw Lee Oswald. One conspiracy view, (from the grass area opposite), ‘identifies’ Lee Oswald as standing on these steps. This person was indeed an employee but it was Billy Lovelady. Buell Frazier can verify this because he was standing next to him.
The image below is the view they had looking towards Elm Street and captures how close everything was. The white car represents the proximity of the Presidential vehicle. You can appreciate how it was just out of site to the right when the three shots were fired. Howard Brennan was directly opposite Buell and his colleagues on the stairs; he was sitting on the white wall at the end of the reflecting pool facing the building. Howard Brennan told police he saw the shooter in the sixth floor window directly above and he was able to describe him.
Buell clearly remembers hearing the three shots, he witnessed the panic that ensued and the rush of police officers at the scene. He remembers seeing Lee Oswald from behind emerging from the building soon after this time walking towards Houston street off to the left. He thought nothing of it and assumed Lee was just getting himself some lunch from a vendor exactly as he had said. At this stage few people knew what had happened, the Presidential convoy had quickly disappeared. There was confusion. Buell had absolutely no reason to think Lee Oswald was even remotely involved. He never saw or spoke to Lee Oswald again.
He was of course questioned during the Warren Commission investigation in 1964/65 and the Jim Garrison prosecution and subsequent Clay Shaw trial in 1969, (which was the subject of the Oliver Stone 1992 film – JFK).
In 1986 he was invited to London by the attorney Vincent Bugliosi to appear as himself in an unscripted mock trial film of the trial of Lee Harvey Oswald. This was sponsored by London Weekend Television. He described Vince Bugliosi as somewhat eccentric, always in his dressing gown in the hotel, fast talking, always working. Buell enjoyed a coach trip out to Wallingford in Oxfordshire to see Winterbrook House. This was one of the homes of the famous author, Dame Agatha Christie.
I think Buell has struggled with his memory of Lee Oswald, perhaps feeling duped, let down, even lied to. One can see how Buell was doubted and how he attracted suspicion when he simply and honestly described his short relationship with Lee. He emphasised to me that he never felt any cause for concern and had no reason to suspect that Lee would wish to harm anyone.
Sadly his honest and straightforward view has not been entirely accepted and respected by the Sixth Floor Museum which is now situated in the former Texas School Books Depository. The museum is very focused on the official Warren Commission outcome of the JFK assassination investigation. Over the decades Buell had been a regular visitor and speaker at the location, and rightly so. In recent years he has begun to feel somewhat marginalised by the recent management teams and doesn’t feel so welcome.
That is a great shame. What Buell thinks and feels is his business and it should be respected. He emphasises that Lee Harvey Oswald never faced a trial and as such the case is still open. He is not just a random JFK conspiracy pundit with a constructed opinion, there are millions of those people. Buell is an extremely important witness, he was there and his memory is clear.
We spent a couple of hours in the restaurant. I was mindful about Buell’s concern for his wife Betty who was nursing an injured shoulder. Having finished our meal we had some photos taken by a kind staff member and we ventured outside. We signed each other’s books and Buell advised me to contact Kevin Kendro who was the curator at the Ruth Paine museum house in Irving. I took the details; it was indeed my intention to visit the Irving location two days later.
We said our goodbyes; I was so grateful to Buell. I left and drove a short distance west to the site of the Bonnie and Clyde 1934 police shooting near Grapevine. From there I headed south to Waco and Austin. Two days later I returned to Dallas and made my way to Irving and found the Ruth Paine museum house on E 5th Street. Buell had told me about Kevin Kendro, the guide and curator who was employed by the local authority. His office was apparently nearby. The weather was bright and sunny. I had Kevin’s contact details but I initially parked outside the neat single story property. It was interesting how the house simply blended in with the properties around it.
I realised that I had to make an appointment to view inside so I got out of my car to read some material near the front door. As I approached, the front door suddenly opened. Out stepped a middle aged woman and Kevin Kendro. I felt somewhat embarrassed just being on the drive. Kevin approached smiling,
‘Are you the gentleman from England? Buell told me you were coming’.
It couldn’t have been more fortuitous. After my grateful thanks and introductions Kevin was able to give me a private tour there and then. I spoke briefly to the lady who was from Kansas, she had just been shown around. She was surprised I had never heard of a particular British JFK conspiracy researcher she seemingly knew and admired. I told her that I did however live on the Isle of Wight just a short distance from David Icke, the world famous conspiracy advocate. She looked at me quizzically; I wasn’t joking. Once she’d gone Kevin in his very quiet and polite manner described how he’d not been required to say much to this particular lady because she already knew everything about everything.
Kevin showed me around the property, room by room. A great deal of work had restored it to how the house would have looked in November 1963, inside and out. It was remarkable. Some of the fittings and furniture were original. The reproduction fittings were perfect. It was both sad and slightly haunting. The oak tree in the front yard was still there, recently tidied. Kevin’s knowledge was both thorough and remarkable.
Towards the end of my visit he told me an interesting story. An elderly lady lives directly across the street from the Paine Museum house. Now in her 80’s and living alone, her husband has now passed away. The couple lived in the same property in their 20’s at the time of the assassination in 1963.
Not so many years ago when her husband was still alive a film crew were doing a documentary at the museum house and Kevin advised them that this couple opposite lived there at the time. The Producer was immediately excited and went across the road to speak with them. The husband was keen to say a few words to camera. The crew crossed the street and set up in front of the house. The husband was invited to recall if he remembered the morning of 22 Nov ’63. Without hesitation he described Buell Frazier pulling up outside the Paine house in his Chevy that very morning, Lee coming out of the Paine house with the package and placing it on the rear seat.
The Producer immediately and quietly stopped the crew filming. He politely thanked the gentleman and the crew retired back to the Paine house.
That gentleman cannot really be blamed. On that particular morning, Friday 22 November 1963 it didn’t happen like that. The gentleman was perhaps sat at breakfast or was already on his way to work. His recall became a convoluted story based on what he later discovered and read. An event of monumental relevance in his street in Irving.
Goodness he and his wife lived opposite, surely being so close entitled them to some sort of witness involvement. Nevertheless, I think he can be forgiven because on some occasions Buell did indeed pull up in the front of Ruth Paine’s on a Monday morning to pick up Lee or a Friday afternoon to drop him off; but not that morning. And on the occasions he did, Lee Oswald never placed a long package on the rear seat of Buell Frazier’s Chevy.
I hesitated at the thought of introducing myself to the elderly lady who was pottering in her front yard. Perhaps it was because Kevin Kendro had remarked that the neighbours in the vicinity of Ruth Paine’s museum house were largely indifferent to the historical association.
Indeed he suspected that some of them had no idea or interest about the events that had occurred there in November 1963. Before I left I walked the short distance to Buell Frazier’s sister’s house. It was there on the corner. Freshly painted, neat and tidy, as was the entire neighbourhood. Some children’s toys on the front yard. It was a quiet peaceful setting.
My sincere thanks to Buell Frazier and Kevin Kendro. True gentlemen both. November 2024.