Part of my 2001 email interview with Dr Ruth Peters

Dr Peters was one of the two daughters taken by Ruth Kloepfer to visit the Oswald's in September, 1963.

I had forgotten I sent this part of the exchanges to Larry Hancock and he used in one of his books.

To give further context to that, Larry was and is part of a group who believe that Oswald was part of an assassination team (or had infiltrated - not too sure on that point) and that one of the plots was set to unfold in Washington DC.

I mentioned the interview with Peters to Larry in what was at the time, a semi-regular exchange abd he asked if I would send him the part relevant to going to Washington. I had no objection to that since I had no real firm opinion at the time on the level of Oswald's guilt or involvement.

There were many exchanges with Ruth Peters covering her visit with Oswald, the visit by the FBI to her home post-assasination, David Ferrie and Jack Ruby. None survived several computer crashes. Sending this part to Larry at least preserved a small part of it.

After studying psychology, Ruth switched to medicine and was working on the human genome project at the time I contacted her.

She and her sister were learning Russian and the sister had actally been to the Soviet Union. Oswald gave her a small Russian joke book to help her with her Russian. She believed Lee was hitting on her. Ruth Paine, Marina, and her mther stayed in the kitchen, leaving her and Karol to give Lee the 3rd degree as only teenage girs can.

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“He mentioned that he wasn’t going with Marina to Dallas because he needed to go to Washington (at least I think that’s where he said he was going ... somewhere in northeastern U.S., but then I believe he mentioned several other places as well ... I was only concerned about his lack of interest in being in Dallas with his wife!). In fact, it was his mention of this that triggered my question “but don’t you want to be with Marina when she gives birth?” He indicated that he had been present for the birth of their first child so it was no big deal to him; but also that he had “important business” in (I think it was) Washington. When he used that phrase, I remember asking him what business, and his avoiding the question and saying “just business.’ I should also mention that we are Quakers, and Quakers do not consider violence an acceptable or appropriate way to solve problems. Thus both my sister Karol and I remember our shock when Karol innocently asked him ‘Why did you leave the Soviet Union?’ and he answered, “Because they won’t let you own a gun there.’ One of us persisted with something like ‘But why would you need a gun?” And he had said simply, shaking his head nervously, ‘you gotta have a gun!’ He then went on to tell us that one thing he was going to do in Washington was ‘pick up a gun.’ This exchange hadn’t helped my assessment of his lack of ‘normality.’ When Karol and I were innocently trying to make conversation with him, he was terribly secretive and evasive about his ‘line of work’ and about ‘his business’ in Washington. I wouldn’t call him paranoid, exactly; at least he didn’t seem to suspect we were part of some plot at the time. But Karol and I couldn’t figure out how he was paying his rent and purchasing groceries, and where he was getting the money for all his travel and guns!”

There are other explanations for all of this without assuming Lee was going to Washington to pick up a rifle to shoot Kennedy with in the capital. 

In other parts of the exchanges, she said he was unable to look her in the eye --- a classic Asperger sign... and that she said to her mother on her way home that she thought he was a nutcase (not sure if that was the exact word, but something similar at least) and was admonished by her mother for it. 

Firstly let me say I have seen a photo of her from a newspaper, taken while marching with a ban-the-bomb group. She was absolutely stunning. I assume her sister was as well.  Oswald would have simply been unable to work out how he was upposed to behave in this situation. Talking about "important business" in the capital and owning a gun (especially in the south) would seem lik topics that might impress. And according to both Marina and Ruth, he had certainly talked about about going east as one possibility to look for wor. In fat his notebook lists a few places which appear to have been given to him by Ruth, where he could try, or at least get help.

As for where he got gis money to live... hadn't the girls heard of unemployment checks?

Anyhow, another place he mentioned he might go looking for work, was Houston, and as shown in a post here long ago... there is very strong evidence that that was exactly where he went. 

He was not part of any plot, beyond being the unwitting patsy. But needing him to be part of a plot for theor theories at least partly explains the resistence of some to Oswald as PM.

Is this her?

https://obits.nola.com/us/obituaries/nola/name/ruth-kloepfer-obituary?pid=18017416&__cf_chl_captcha_tk__=NikzA6EBPrWMkTHJwddbVZKR2f5hHDBes_zVjZ9fyMQ-1637747713-0-gaNycGzNCD0

Yhat was the mother.

Thanks Greg.

What I had forgetten about is that Oswald's political manifesto states he is against gun ownership - although the detail is more specific and not as far-reaching.

Against rifle ownership unless approved by police.

No handguns.

Shotguns free to whoever wants them.

I have always thought that he his manifesto may well be a true rflection of gis beliefs. If so, it needs to be taken into account when considering if he had any hand in the purchase of the weapons. His beliefs seem to fit neatly with concerns of the Dodd Committee investigation.

edit to add that it also puts this episode and his discussions with Alba ina whole new light. Was he role-playing with Peters and Alba?