By her own account, February 1963 was the worst month of Marina Oswald’s marriage to Lee. They lived in a slum. He was on edge and would vent his anger with violence against her. He was out late most nights doing something mysterious. She didn’t think he wanted to be with her anymore. And, on 16 February, she learned that she was pregnant again.
On Saturday morning, 23 February - 60 years ago today - Lee asked Marina to cook red beans and rice for dinner. Then he went out for the entire day, who knows where.
Lee was finicky in that he liked his beans cooked in a separate pot and then poured over the rice. When he returned that evening, however, he found that Marina had cooked the beans and rice in the same pot.
He exploded. He threw her down and started to choke her. The yelling made their one year old baby girl cry. When Lee went to comfort the baby, Marina slipped into the bathroom with a rope and tried to hang herself.
Lee found her in time and, for good measure, slapped her in the face. “Don’t ever do that again,” he shouted. “Only the most terrible fools do that.”
Wow, what an abuser. What was he out doing at night, hmmm?