Mr. Jenner. When did you first hear the name Lee Harvey Oswald?
Mr. Weissman. We were sitting in a bar, right after President Kennedy's assassination.
Mr. Jenner. This was the 22d of November 1963?
Mr. Weissman. Yes; it was Bill Burley, myself, and Larrie. We had made—we were to meet Larrie and Joe Grinnan at the Ducharme Club.
Mr. Jenner. For what meal?
Mr. Weissman. For luncheon. We were supposed to meet him at 12:30 or 1 o'clock, I forget which—about 1 o'clock. And I had a 12:30 on the button, as a matter of fact—I had an appointment to sell a carpet out in the Garland section of Texas—it was a 2:30 appointment. And I was in a hurry to get to meet Larrie and finish the lunch, and whatever business they wanted to talk about I didn't know. So I looked at my watch. I remember specifically it was 12:30, because at that time Bill had been driving my car. He had quit the carpet company and was looking for another job. He had looked at a franchise arrangement for insecticides. He picked me up. He was waiting for me from 10 after 12 to 12:30. We got into the car. I am a great news bug. So I turned the radio on, looking for a news station. And they had—at that time, as I turned the radio on, the announcer said, "There has been a rumor that President Kennedy has been shot." So we didn't believe it. It was just a little too far out to believe.
And after several minutes, it began to take on some substance about the President's sedan speeding away, somebody hearing shots and people laying on the ground. In other words, the way the reporters were covering it. I don't recall exactly what they said. And, at this time—we were going to go to the Ducharme Club through downtown Dallas. We were heading for the area about two blocks adjacent to the Houston Street viaduct. And then we heard about the police pulling all sorts of people—somebody said they saw somebody and gave a description. And the police were pulling people off the street and so forth. So Bill and I didn't want to get involved in this. So we took a roundabout route. We got lost for a while. Anyway, we finally wound up at the other side of Dallas, and we were at the Ducharme Club.
Mr. Jenner. When you arrived there, was Mr. Schmidt there?
Mr. Weissman. He was waiting for me. But Joe Grinnan wasn't there. He had heard this thing and took off. I guess he wanted to hide or something.
Mr. Jenner. Why?