OSWALD SEEN IN MONTREAL: A VERY OFFICIAL LETTER

More than a vague rumour, the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald was seen in Montreal in the Summer of 1963 was the subject of a very official formal letter sent by a Montreal branch of the US Treasury Department to the Secret Service in Washington.

This letter merits some thoughtful consideration. Before rejecting reports placing Oswald in Montreal as unfounded rumours, we should appreciate the fact that at least one report to this effect was considered credible enough to be the subject of an official letter signed by both the Senior Customs Representative based in Montreal and by a regional Supervising Customs Agent.

The letter reads as follow:
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TREASURY DEPARTEMENT
BUREAU OF CUSTOMS
MONTREAL, CANADA

November 29, 1963

Secret Service
U. S. Treasury Department
S. W. Corner Pennsylvania Ave. and 15th St. N. W.
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sirs:

Several persons have contacted this office recently and advised that Lee Oswald, suspected of assassinating the late President Kennedy, was seen distributing pamphlets entitled “Fair Play for Cuba”, on St. Jacques and McGill Streets, Montreal during the summer of 1963.

Mr Jean Paul Tremblay, Investigator, Customs and Excise, Montreal stated on November 27, 1963 that he received one of the above mentioned pamphlets from a man on St. Jacques Street, Montreal, believe to be in August 1963, and he is positive that this person was Oswald. Mr Tremblay also stated that Oswald was accompanied at the time by a short, homely, heavy woman who took unusually long steps when walking and two men about Oswald’s age and weight. One of these two men is described as a little taller than Oswald and has a freckled face. Mr Tremblay also stated that he believes he could identify the three persons that accompanied Oswald and that the reason for paying special attention to these persons was because he was working on cases involving Cuba at the time.

The above is submitted in hopes that it will assist you in your investigation.

Sincerely yours,
Aurelien Chassé
Senior Customs Representative

c.c. SCA, New York, New York
Consul General, Montreal, P.Q.

APPROVED:
Lawrence Fleishman
Supervising Customs Agent, Region I
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Would officials from the Bureau of Customs have signed such an official letter on a such important matter, if they didn’t believe in the seriousness of its content? Surely not! So, maybe we should not dismiss the possibility that Lee Harvey Oswald was indeed in Montreal at some time during the Summer of 1963. The FBI and the RCMP didn’t dismiss it entirely. Like we will see in the next post, they made some effort to resolve this matter. They were even able to identified one of Oswald’s companions from a series of photographs taken during the Quebec-Washington-Guantanamo Walk for Peace.

Photos 3, 4, 5 and 6 from RCMP photos album of the
Quebec-Washington-Guantanamo Walk for Peace.