On 1/28/64, just 2 days before J. Edgar Hoover ordered the Dallas SAC to get to the bottom of the Minox matter, FBI Agent James Hosty interviewed Detective McCabe of the Irving Police Department. McCabe assisted DPD Detectives Rose and Stovall in their search of the Paine residence in Irving just in case any jurisdictional problems arose during the search.

Here's the report:

Notice anything towards the bottom??? "McCabe advised that he recalled finding one gray metal square shaped camera which was the property of LEE and MARINA OSWALD in the garage at the Paine residence."

Beyond any doubt, two cameras were confiscated by DPD: Michael Paine's Stereo Realist and Oswald's Russian Cuera 2 35mm camera. Both are visible in the First Day Evidence photo, and both are well-documented. Neither camera fit McCabe's description.

Besides the alleged Minox, Oswald owned one other camera - the Imperial Reflex which perfectly matches McCabe's description:

But even though McCabe's description sounds like the Imperial Reflex, the official version is that the Imperial Reflex was not found in the initial search, but that Robert Oswald discovered it in Ruth Paine's house in December 1963. He then turned it over to the FBI in February 1964, just days after the McCabe interview. If it was the Imperial Reflex, then it might have disappeared along with the Minox camera case and name tags only to reappear later.

The other possibility is that McCabe was talking about the Minox camera, although I would describe it as being silver or aluminum colored, not gray. But what's interesting is where McCabe says he found the camera - in the Paine garage. According to Detective Rose, the Minox camera was found in garage, as were the backyard photos which were also mentioned by McCabe.

Jerry McLeer / March 9, 2000

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