The Odio Incident

Silvia Odio.

One of the stories that greatly concerned the Warren Commission was that of Silvia Odio of Dallas, who said that in late September she had been visited by three men, one of whom was introduced as "Leon" Oswald. The three had been looking for her help regarding a letter soliticing funds for JURE, a Cuban exile organization (Mrs. Odio's father was a prominent political prisoner in Cuba, and thus her name was worth something). The visitors represented themselves as "working in the underground," and Oswald's companions used the "war names" Leopoldo and Angelo (or Angel).

The day following the visit Leopoldo phoned Mrs. Odio and discussed Oswald, saying that he was an excellent shot and that Oswald had said that President Kennedy should have been assassinated after the Bay of Pigs. When Kennedy was murdered in Dallas two months later, Silvia fainted upon hearing the news and recognizing Oswald. Her account of what had happened soon reached the FBI and later the Warren Commission. The story was corroborated by her sister Annie, who had briefly seen the visitors.

The Warren Commission, in part because its chronology put Oswald on his way to Mexico City on the dates in question, ultimately dismissed Silvia Odio's story. Just a few days before the publication of the Warren Report, the FBI responded to a Commission request by saying that they had located the three men who had paid the visit - Loran Hall, Lawrence Howard, and William Seymour. But Howard and Seymour disputed the claim, and within days Hall had retracted the story.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations reviewed the entire affair and conducted several witness interviews of its own. In its Final Report, the HSCA criticized the Warren Commission's reasons for dismissing the story, and concluded that "The Committee was inclined to believe Silvia Odio."

Some researchers, most prominently the La Fontaines in their book Oswald Talked, have focused on the account of Lucille Connell, who told authorities that Silvia had told her that "he [Oswald] had made some talks to small groups of Cuban refugees in Dallas," and that Odio personally considered Oswald "brilliant and clever." This strange idea harkens back to Deputy Sheriff Buddy Walthers' claim that Alpha-66 members held meetings at 3128 (or 3126) Harlendale Street in Dallas.