TESTIMONY OF GARY E. TAYLOR (continued 2)

Mr. Jenner. Is he unconventional?

Mr. Taylor. Yes; I would say that they lead a somewhat Bohemian life. The furnishings in their home somewhat show this.

Mr. Jenner. Is he unconventional in dress?

Mr. Taylor. Yes; oftentimes wearing merely bathing trunks, and things like this, that—for a man of his age, which is about 50 to 52—is a little unusual.

Mr. Jenner. You mean out on the street?

Mr. Taylor. On the street, as a constant apparel.

He does not often work. In fact, during the times that I was married to his daughter, I have not known of him to hold any kind of a position for which he received monetary remuneration. So, as a result, why, he could spend his time at his favorite sport, which is tennis. And this could be in 32° weather in the bathing shorts I mentioned—only.

Mr. Jenner. On any time during the week?

Mr. Taylor. Any time during the week. They have always owned convertibles and they would ride in them in all kinds of weather with the top down. They are very active, outdoor sort of people.

Mr. Jenner. When you say "they," you mean he and his present wife?

Mr. Taylor. Yes; uh-huh.

Mr. Jenner. Is she unconventional at times in her attire in the respects you have indicated in regards to him?

Mr. Taylor. Yes; very similar.

Mr. Jenner. She, likewise, wears a bathing suit out on the street, does she?

Mr. Taylor. Yes; quite a bit. And usually a Bikini.

Mr. Jenner. What about his political philosophy?

Mr. Taylor. Uh—well, that's—uh—I have heard them say everything—from saying that he was a Republican and she expressed democratic ideals, and they expressed desires to return to Russia and live—so, it's all colors of the spectrum. Anything that—again, so much of what they do is what fits the moment. Whatever fits their designs or desires at the moment is the way they do it.

Mr. Jenner. Uh-huh. When did you marry your present wife?

Mr. Taylor. In—let's see—on November 21, 1959.

Mr. Jenner. Your present wife?

Mr. Taylor. Oh, I'm sorry. That was Mr. De Mohrenschildt's daughter that I married on that date. We married on September 28, 1963.

Mr. Jenner. Have you had any correspondence from either of the De Mohrenschildts in which there have been any allusions to the assassination of President Kennedy or to either of the Oswalds?

Mr. Taylor. I have not personally received any correspondence at all from them. My parents have received correspondence from them—none of which mentioned—I take that back—in one case, the assassination was mentioned in passing; and the Oswalds were not mentioned in specifics.

Mr. Jenner. I take it, your parents are acquainted with the De Mohrenschildts?

Mr. Taylor. Yes.

Mr. Jenner. And does that acquaintance go back prior to your acquaintance with the De Mohrenschildts?

Mr. Taylor. No; that acquaintance was after Alex and I got married.

Mr. Jenner. I see. All right. Now, we have had some discussions off the record. I will ask you first—is there anything you would like to add that occurs to you that you think might be helpful—as an occurrence having taken place or even general thoughts on your part—to the Commission in this important investigation it has undertaken?

Mr. Taylor. Well, the only thing that occurred to me was that—uh—and I guess it was from the beginning—that if there was any assistance or plotters in the assassination that it was, in my opinion, most probably the De Mohrenschildts.

Mr. Jenner. On what do you base that?

Mr. Taylor. I base that on—uh—their desire, first of all, to—uh—return to Russia at one time and live there; uh—they have traveled together behind the Iron Curtain; uh—they took a trip to Mexico, through Mexico, on the avowed purpose of walking from Laredo, Tex., to the tip of South America——

Mr. Jenner. Panama?

Mr. Taylor. And——

Mr. Jenner. On beyond that?

Mr. Taylor. Beyond—to the tip of South America—the southern tip of South America.

Mr. Jenner. All right.

Mr. Taylor. Uh—and this they claim to have done, yet further information indicated to me that their trip extended only to the portion of South America where the Cuban refugees were being trained to invade Cuba and that this trip coincided and that they were in the area while all this training was going on. And, so, from that—from these observations——

Mr. Jenner. Do you conclude that they were attempting to spy on that invasion preparation?

Mr. Taylor. Yes; because where—they went to Guatemala where the invasion troops were being trained, or they were in Guatemala when they were supposed to be on a walking trip, and had taken up residence in the unoccupied home of some acquaintances there and—unbeknowing to anyone—and when these acquaintances returned——

Mr. Jenner. This was the trip during the time you were married to their daughter?

Mr. Taylor. Yes.

Mr. Jenner. You are basing this information on communications from them, conversations with your wife, conversations that occurred after they returned?

Mr. Taylor. Yes; and to clarify it on the last point here, about them being in Guatemala, in conversations with Nancy Tilton.

Mr. Jenner. Yes; I asked you about her. Who is Nancy Tilton?

Mr. Taylor. Nancy Tilton is the cousin who brought up my former wife, Alex, after she was born. Her mother never took her from the hospital. This Mrs. Tilton did. And on a visit to Mrs. Tilton's home, the people——

Mr. Jenner. Mrs. Tilton reared her?

Mr. Taylor. Yes; to age 14. On a visit to Mrs. Tilton's home——

Mr. Jenner. Where is that?

Mr. Taylor. In Tubac, Ariz. Uh—Mrs. Tilton remarked that some friends of hers, the people in question in Guatemala, had found them living in their home——

Mr. Jenner. Had found the De Mohrenschildts there?

Mr. Taylor. Yes, living in their home in Guatemala and had forcefully evicted them from it.

Mr. Jenner. That the Tiltons had forcefully evicted the De Mohrenschildts from the Tilton home in Guatemala?

Mr. Taylor. No; it isn't the Tiltons' home in Guatemala. It was a friend of the Tiltons. I don't remember their names.

Mr. Jenner. Well, who was evicted? The De Mohrenschildts or the people who owned the house?

Mr. Taylor. The De Mohrenschildts were evicted when the people who owned it returned.

Mr. Jenner. In other words, you gather from that that they had not had advance permission to occupy that home?

Mr. Taylor. That's right. They had not had advance permission and had occupied it for a period of about 3 weeks—as best the people who evicted them could determine from what was eaten and——

Mr. Jenner. In other words, they were trespassing?

Mr. Taylor. That's right.

(Off the record discussion follows.)

Mr. Jenner. You are basing your comment with respect to the De Mohrenschildts' possible involvement, if there was any involvement by anyone else with Oswald which you have already stated and you are stating the reasons why. And you have related the walking trip down through Mexico to the tip of South America. This was at the time of the training of Cuban refugees for a possible invasion of Cuba. And it was during the period of time in which you were married to the De Mohrenschildts' daughter?

Mr. Taylor. That's correct.

Mr. Jenner. And now you have made a remark that we didn't quite get. What was that?

Mr. Taylor. Are you speaking of what I said off the record?

Mr. Jenner. Yes.

Mr. Taylor. I summed it up by saying that—uh—there was an indication here that they had been in an area where some spying or information-gathering might be valuable to Communist interests. They had expressed a desire to live in a Communist country; and that they had traveled extensively through Communist countries.

Mr. Jenner. What countries?

Mr. Taylor. Poland and Hungary—no; I'm sorry. Poland and Czechoslovakia. And Mr. De Mohrenschildt told me one time that he had met Marshal Tito.

Mr. Jenner. In Yugoslavia?

Mr. Taylor. Yes.

Mr. Jenner. And did they make any trips to Europe during the period that you were married to their daughter?

Mr. Taylor. No; they did not. These trips were prior to our marriage. However, I had seen photographs and had some pointed out to me in the family album—photographs of them in various Communist countries.

Mr. Jenner. I see. Where does your former wife, Alexandra, now live—if you know?

Mr. Taylor. In Wingdale, N.Y.

Mr. Jenner. Is she married?

Mr. Taylor. Yes.

Mr. Jenner. What's her husband's name?

Mr. Taylor. Gibson. I only know him as Don Gibson.

Mr. Jenner. What business is he in?

Mr. Taylor. I do not know.

Mr. Jenner. Where does Christiana reside—if you know?

Mr. Taylor. To my knowledge, they have not had a fixed residence since they married. My last communication from the De Mohrenschildts said that they were on their way to Europe and I don't know anything other than that.

Mr. Jenner. All right. Is there anything in addition to what you have already said that you would like to add to the record that you think might be helpful to the Commission—that would open avenues for further investigation or give us directly information that might be helpful?

Mr. Taylor. No.

Mr. Jenner. We have been off the record once or twice, Mr. Taylor. Is there anything that you now can recall that you related to me off the record that is pertinent here or, at least, that you might think is pertinent, that I have failed to bring out?

Mr. Taylor. No; there is nothing.

Mr. Jenner. Is there anything that was stated in your off the record statements that you regard as inconsistent with any statement you said on the record?

Mr. Taylor. No.

Mr. Jenner. All right. Now, you have the right to read this deposition if you wish. It will be ready sometime next week. You may communicate with me or Mr. Barefoot Sanders, the U.S. attorney, and come in and read it and make any corrections, if you think any are warranted, make any additions if you think any are warranted, and sign it if you desire and prefer to sign it. You have all of those rights. You also have the right to waive that if you see fit.

Mr. Taylor. For the sake of accuracy, I would like to read it.

Mr. Jenner. All right. You call, I would suggest—this is a rather long deposition—about Wednesday of next week.

Mr. Taylor. All right. Barefoot's an old friend. I'll call him.

Mr. Jenner. All right. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. It's much longer that I had anticipated—but you were very helpful and thanks for coming here despite the inconvenience.

Mr. Taylor. That's quite all right. I hope I was of some help.