A limited number of typed uninked indentations are also present. Thus the indented letters “CT” appear before the letters “GR” (under color of eyes) and the indented letters “EY” follow “GR.” An indented “9” appears above the visible “9” for the inch figure of height, and an indented “i” appears before the weight, “155.” Much of the typed material on the reverse side of the Hidell notice was not very legible under ordinary lighting, since it was typed with a typewriter which left a very weakly inked impression.[A10-206] In fact, it is difficult to tell whether some of the material, particularly the word “Brown” under color of hair, was put in by stencil or by ribbon.
The Hidell Certificate of Service
The face and reverse side of the Hidell certificate of service were produced from the face and reverse side of the Oswald certificate of service[A10-207] by photographing the Oswald certificate, retouching the resulting negatives to eliminate typed and handwritten material, and making a photographic print from the retouched negative.[A10-208] As in the case of the notice of classification, this is shown by the negative itself, in which the opaqued-out information is still visible, and by defects in the printed material on the Hidell certificate at points where handwritten material had crossed over printed material on the Oswald certificate. Thus, in the Oswald certificate the upper portion of the name “Lee” in Oswald’s signature crosses the letter “u” in the printed word “signature.” The consequent mutilation of the printed letter “u” can be seen on the Hidell certificate. Similarly, the ending stroke in the letter “y” in the name “Harvey” in Oswald’s signature crosses the letter “n” in the printed word “certifying.” This stroke was not removed at all, and can be seen as a stroke across the “n” in the Hidell certificate.[A10-209] As the final step in producing the Hidell certificate, new material was typed into the blanks on the photographic print. On the face, the words “ALEK JAMES HIDELL” were typed into the blank where “LEE HARVEY OSWALD 1653230” had appeared. A sidelight photograph shows that these words had been typed in stencil at least twice before being typed in with the ribbon apparently to determine proper centering and alignment.[A10-210] In producing the reverse side of the Hidell certificate, the signature “Lee Harvey Oswald,” and the dates “24 October 1956” and “11 September 1959,” showing the beginning and end of the period of active service, had been opaqued out. No signature was inserted into resulting blank signature space. However, just below the word “of” in the printed line “signature of individual,” there are two vertical indentations which fill about three-fourths of the height of the signature blank, and a diagonal indentation which slants from approximately the base of the left vertical to approximately the midpoint of the right vertical—the total effect being of a printed capital letter “H.” Also, just below the second and third “i’s” in the printed word “individual” are two more vertical indentations, which could be the vertical strokes of “d’s” or “l’s”—although the circular portion of the letter “d” is not present.[A10-211] These indentations could have been made by any sharp instrument, such as a ballpoint pen which was not delivering ink, a stylus of the type used in preparing mimeograph forms, or even a toothpick.[A10-212] The indentations are brought out rather clearly in a sidelight photograph, but can also be seen on the card itself if the card is held so that light strikes it at an angle.[A10-213]
Into the space for the beginning of active service was typed the date “OCT. 13 1958.” The space for the end of active service contains several light-impression and stencil typewriting operations. It was apparently intended to read “OCT. 12 1961,” but because of the lightness of the impression and the many stenciled characters, the date is barely legible.[A10-214] Interestingly, one of the stenciled impressions in the blank for end of active service reads “24 October 1959,” as determined under a microscope, while a stenciled impression in the blank for beginning of active service reads “24 October 1957.”[A10-215]
The counterfeiting of the Hidell cards did not require great skill, but probably required an elementary knowledge of photography, particularly of the photographic techniques used in a printing plant.[A10-216] A moderate amount of practice with the technique would be required—perhaps half a dozen attempts. Practicing retouching on the balance of the negatives found at the Paine garage would have been sufficient.[A10-217] The retouching of the negatives could have been accomplished without any special equipment. However, the preparation of the negative, apart from retouching, would probably have required a very accurate camera, such as would be found in a photographic laboratory or printing plant.[A10-218]
The Vaccination Certificate
A government-printed form entitled “International Certificates of Vaccination or Revaccination against Smallpox”[A10-219] was found among Oswald’s belongings at his room at 1026 Beckley Avenue, Dallas.[A10-220] The form purported to certify that “LEE OSWALD” had been vaccinated against smallpox on “JUNE 8, 1963” by “DR. A.J. HIDEEL, P.O. BOX 30016, NEW ORLEANS, LA.” The card was signed “Lee H. Oswald” and “A. J. Hideel,” and the name and address “Lee H. Oswald, New Orleans, La.” were hand printed on the front of the card. All of this material, except the signatures and the hand printing, had been stamped onto the card. The Hideel name and address consisted of a three-line stamp—“DR. A. J. HIDEEL/P.O. BOX 30016/NEW ORLEANS, LA.” A circular, stamped, illegible impression resembling a seal appeared under a column entitled “Approved stamp.”[A10-221]
On the basis of a comparison with the standards, Cole identified all of the handwriting on the vaccination certificate, including the signature “A. J. Hideel,” as the writing of Lee Harvey Oswald.[A10-222] Cadigan identified all of the writing as Oswald’s except for the “A. J. Hideel” signature, which in his opinion was too distorted to either identify or nonidentify as Oswald’s handwriting.[A10-223] The stamped material on the certificate was compared with a rubber stamping kit which belonged to Oswald.[A10-224] In this kit was a rubber stamp with three lines of print assembled: “L. H. OSWALD/4907 MAGAZINE ST/NEW ORLEANS, LA.”[A10-225] Cole found a perfect agreement in measurement and design between the letters stamped on the certificate and the letters he examined from Oswald’s rubber stamping kit. However, he was unable to determine whether the characteristics of Oswald’s rubber stamping kit were distinctive, and therefore, while he concluded that Oswald’s rubber stamping kit could have made the rubber stamp impressions on the certificate, he was unable to say that it was the only kit which could have made the impressions.[A10-226] On the basis of the comparison between the words “NEW ORLEANS, LA.” set up in the rubber stamp in Oswald’s kit, and the words “NEW ORLEANS, LA.” on the certificate, Cadigan concluded that these words had been stamped on the certificate with Oswald’s rubber stamp. However, he could draw no conclusion as to the remaining stamped material, which was not directly comparable to the remaining lines set up on Oswald’s rubber stamp.[A10-227]
On close examination, the circular impression resembling a seal consisted of the words “BRUSH IN CAN,” printed in reverse.[A10-228] Apparently, the impression was made with the top of a container of solvent or cleaning fluid which bore these words in raised lettering. In the center of the impression was a mottled pattern which was similar to the blank areas on a date stamp found in Oswald’s rubber stamping kit.[A10-229]