"EXPECTED TO PLEAD INSANITY"

OSWALD'S KILLER INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) On November 26, 1963, Associated Press reports that Jack Ruby* was indicted today "on charges of murder with malice in the slaying of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating President Kennedy."

The 52 year old night club owner shot Oswald as he was in the process of being transferred from City Jail to County Jail which was normal procedure.

Oswald, 24 years old, died at Parkland Hospital about two hours after sustaining a single pistol shot to the abdomen.

Ruby is expected to plead "insanity" in his trial which is slated to begin on December 9th.

*Jack Leon Ruby (1911-1967) was born in Chicago, Illinois.  As a night club owner in Dallas, Texas he had ties to the mafia.  JLR was arrested immediately after he shot LHO & was later convicted & sentenced to death.  Although he was granted a new trial, JLR died in custody on Jan 3, 1967.

SOURCE

"Murder Charged To Ruby,"  The Key West Citizen, November 26, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov.

Ruby Shoots Oswald

Photo by Robert H. Jackson

Dallas Times Herald

Nov 25 1963

PD

"THE WORLD WILL NEVER KNOW THE TRUE FACTS"

JACK RUBY DIES AWAITING NEW TRIAL IN DALLAS HOSPITAL

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) On January 3, 1967, "the assassin's assassin," Jack Ruby*, died of a pulmonary embolism secondary to cancer at Parkland Hospital here in Dallas.

Ruby had been found guilty of the murder of the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, although a Texas Court of Appeals overturned his death sentence and Ruby was awaiting a new trial at the time of his death.

On Sunday morning, November 24, 1963, Ruby gained access to the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters where Oswald was in the process of being transferred to County Jail.  Ruby shot Oswald in the abdomen at point blank range as the transfer was being broadcast on live television.

Because Jack Ruby had ties to organized crime, many Americans believed his role was to "silence" Oswald.  Although Ruby claimed he acted to save Jacqueline Kennedy the trauma of returning to Dallas for a murder trial, he later stated in a filmed interview...

"The world will never know the true facts--my motives."

 

*Jack Leon Ruby (1911-1967) was born in Chicago, IL.  He served in the US Army Air Force during WWII & moved to Dallas in 1947 where he managed night clubs, strip clubs & dance halls. The term "assassin's assassin" is from Robert Groden's "The Killing Of A President."

JFK+50 NOTE

It is ironic that JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby died at the same hospital, Parkland Memorial in Dallas.  

SOURCE

"The Killing Of A President," by Robert J. Groden, Viking Studio Books, New York, 1993. 

 

 

Jack Ruby

Dallas Police HQ

Nov 24, 1963

NARA Photo

 
 

"A FOUL MOUTHED, MEAN TEMPERED PRUDE"

JACK RUBY FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) On March 14, 1964, Jack Ruby*, the man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death by electrocution.  It took the jury 2 hours and 20 minutes of deliberation to render the verdict.

Just as his shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald in the basement of Dallas City Jail on November 24, 1963 was televised live, so was the announcement of his guilty verdict.

Ruby, a nightclub owner in Dallas and friend of many Dallas police officers, claimed he shot Oswald to prevent Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy from having to return to Dallas for a trial.

Gary Cartwright describes Jack Ruby as "a foul mouthed, mean tempered prude who loved children and hated ethnic jokes."  Ruby usually carried a "big roll of money" and a gun.  He managed to get into the basement of Dallas Police HQ to get into position to use that gun on Lee Harvey Oswald. 

In October 1966, Ruby's death sentence was reversed but while awaiting a new trial, he died at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on January 3, 1967,  of lung cancer.

*Jack Leon Rubenstein, a.k.a. Jack Ruby (1911-1967) was born in Chicago, IL & served in the U.S. Army Air Force in WWII.  In 1946, JLR moved to Dallas, TX where he managed several nightclubs.

SOURCE

"Who was Jack Ruby?", by Gary Cartwright, Texas Monthly, November 1975, www.texasmonthly.com/  

OSWALD CRIES OUT IN AGONY

JFK ASSASSIN SHOT BY DALLAS NIGHTCLUB OWNER

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) On Sunday morning November 24, 1963, President John F. Kennedy's alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald*, was shot while being transferred from City Jail to County Jail by Dallas police.

The shooting, which occurred at 11:21 local time, was captured on live television as the suspect was being led out into the basement of police headquarters accompanied by two plain-chothed detectives.

Oswald cried out in agony.... "Ohhhhhhhhhhh......" and fell to the floor still handcuffed to detective Jim Leavelle**.  Reporter Bob Huffaker shouted into his microphone..."He's been shot!  He's been shot!"

The shooter, identified as Jack Rubenstein, aka Jack Ruby***, was subdued and Oswald was carried back inside the police station. He was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 1:07 p.m.

*Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) was born in New Orleans and served in the Marine Corps from 1956 to 1959.  After his discharge, Oswald traveled to the USSR where he attempted to renounce his US citizenship, married a Russian girl, then returned to the US in 1962.

**Jim Leavelle, born in 1920 in Red River, Texas, served in the US Navy in WWII.  He was at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941.  Jim retired from the DPD in 1975.

***Jack Ruby (Jacob Leon Rubenstein) was born in 1911 in Chicago.  He served in the US Army Air Force in WWII & in 1947 moved to Dallas where he managed several nightclubs.  At the time he shot Oswald, Ruby was owner of the Carousel Club in Dallas.

Shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald

November 24, 1963

Photo by Jack Beers, Jr.

Dallas Morning News

FBI INFORMANT SAYS JACK RUBY TOLD HIM TO "WATCH THE FIREWORKS"

JACK RUBY DIES AT PARKLAND

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Fifty-one years ago, January 3, 1967, Jack Ruby*, the man who shot to death the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, died at Parkland Memorial Hospital here in Dallas.  The official cause of Mr. Ruby's death was a pulmonary embolism secondary to lung cancer. 

Jack Ruby, a.k.a. Jack Rubenstein ran the Carousel Club, a striptease joint, in the 1300 block of Commerce Street in "Big D".  Today the location is a "gigantic parking lot."

Ruby, described as 5'9" tall & weighing 175 pounds, often carried a "big roll of money" along with a pistol.  He had thick shoulders and arms and often worked out at the local YMCA.  

On Sunday morning, November 24, 1963, Jack Ruby shot Oswald as the prisoner was being transferred from the Dallas County Jail.  The event, occurring in the basement, was shown on live television.  Ruby was later found guilty of murder although he was awarded a second trial after appeal.

Ruby claimed he was on the 2nd floor of the Dallas Morning News, 5 blocks from Dealey Plaza, at the time JFK was assassinated and the Warren Commission found no evidence of collusion between Oswald and Ruby.
Kathryn Watson reports, however, that according to recently revealed JFK ASSASSINATION RECORDS**, Ruby was "at the corner of the Postal Annex Building facing the Texas School Book Depository at the time of the shooting."

Ms. Watson informs us that Ruby was with FBI informant Bob Vanderslice at the time who would get to know Ruby as a fellow prisoner in a Dallas jail cell.
Vanderslice recalls being told by Ruby to "watch the fireworks" before the shooting began.


*Jacob Leon Rubenstein (1911-1967) was born in Chicago to Polish-born parents who were Orthodox Jews.  He was given the nickname "Sparky" & was arrested for truancy at age 11.  JLR moved to Dallas in 1947 where he ran several nightclubs.  In 1959, he visited an associate of Santo Trafficante, Jr. in Cuba.

JLR was arrested 8 times by the Dallas Police Dept between 1949 & Nov 24, 1963.  Charges included disturbing the peace, carrying a concealed weapon, violation of state liquor laws, simple assault & ignoring traffic summons.

**The FBI Record is dated April 6, 1977.

SOURCES

"Jack Ruby:  Monster, Intelligence Agent or Small-time Hustler?", www.mcadams.posc.mu.edu/

"Jack Ruby told FBI informant to 'watch the fireworks': day JFK died: Documents", by Kathryn Watson, CBS NEWS, November 17, 2017, www.cbsnews.com/

Jack Ruby Shoots LHO
November 24, 1963
Photo by Jack Beers Jr.
Dallas Morning News Image

JACK RUBY GETS DEATH SENTENCE

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1888

LEE HARVEY OSWALD'S KILLER GETS ELECTRIC CHAIR

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Fifty-two years ago today, March 14, 1964, Jack Ruby*, the man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald,  the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to death by electrocution.  It took the jury 2 hours and 20 minutes to render the verdict.

Just as his shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald in the basement of Dallas City Jail on November 24, 1963 was televised live, so was the announcement of the guilty verdict.  Ruby, a nightclub owner in Dallas and friend of many Dallas police officers, claimed he shot Oswald to prevent Mrs. John F. Kennedy from having to return to Dallas for a trial.

Key questions in the case of Jack Ruby and the possibility he was a part of a conspiracy include "Was he involved in any mob activities in Cuba?" & "Did he know Oswald before the assassination?"

According to American Heritage Magazine, Jack Ruby made three trips to Havana in 1959.  These visits were to see Lewis McWillie, an associate of mafia boss Santos Trafficante.

Also, a blog entry by Carole Tomlinson says that comedian Wally Weston had seen Oswald in the Carousel Club at least twice before the assassination.

Another source says that 22 year old ventriloquist, Bill Crowe, said that he saw Ruby and Oswald talking together eight to nine days before the assassination.

It is a fact that Ruby and Oswald lived in the same section of Dallas, Oak Cliff, and they both moved into the area about the same time.  They also rented post office boxes at the same post office.

Thomas G. Buchanan, in his 1964 book Who Killed Kennedy?, writes that there were ten witnesses available to either the prosecution or the defense at the Ruby trial who could say that Ruby and Oswald knew each other before the assassination, but they were never called to testify.

Buchanan quotes Dorothy Kilgallen, the columnist who was found dead in her bed after having had a private interview with Jack Ruby...

"(It is my impression) that Ruby's lawyers & the (prosecutions) actions suggest that Washington knows or suspects something about Lee Harvey Oswald that it doesn't want....the world to know or suspect."

One of the jury members at the Ruby trial later said...

"There was never any doubt that (Ruby) was sane.  There was no doubt that (his shooting of Oswald was premeditated), that he planned to do this, but there was some doubt as to intent on what he was doing."

*Jack Rubenstein (1911-1967) was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 25, 1911.  He was raised by an alcoholic father & mentally unstable mother.   In the 1920s, Rubenstein was involved with organized crime & was a known "runner" for Al Capone.  He was drafted into the US Army in 1943 & served stateside during WWII as an aircraft mechanic.  After the war, he moved to Dallas, Texas changing his name to Ruby.

In Dallas, Ruby operated 2 strip joints, managing one of them "The Carousel Club".  In the course of his activities, he developed a special bond with Dallas police officers who often were seen at his clubs.  In October 1966, Ruby's death sentence was reversed and while awaiting a new trial, he died at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on January 3, 1967,  of lung cancer.

SOURCES

"Jack Ruby: Guilty," by Alexander Burns, AmericanHeritage.com, March 14, 2007.

"Who Killed Kennedy?," by Thomas G. Buchanan, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1964.

Jack Ruby Mug Shots

November 24, 1963

JFK/Dallas Police Dept Records

Dallas Municipal Archives

JFK'S DEATH AVENGED IN DALLAS

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1776

LEE HARVEY OSWALD SHOT BY DALLAS NIGHTCLUB OWNER

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Fifty-two years ago this morning, November 24, 1963, President John F. Kennedy's alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald*, was shot at point blank range while being transferred from Dallas City Jail to Dallas County Jail by Dallas police.

The shooting, which occurred at 11:21 local time, was captured on live television as the suspect was being led out into the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters accompanied by two plain-chothed detectives.

Lee Oswald cried out in agony: "Ohhhhhhhhhhh......" and fell to the floor still handcuffed to detective Jim Leavelle**.

Dallas reporter Bob Huffaker shouted into his microphone...
"He's been shot!  He's been shot!  Lee Harold Oswald has been shot!"***

The shooter, identified as Jack Rubenstein, aka Jack Ruby****, was subdued and Oswald was carried back inside the police station. He was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 1:07 p.m.

*Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) was born in New Orleans and served in the Marine Corps from 1956 to 1959.  After his discharge, Oswald traveled to the USSR where he attempted to renounce his US citizenship, married a Russian girl, then returned to the US in 1962.

In New Orleans, Oswald was chairman of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. He moved to Dallas in Oct 1963 where he was employed at the Texas School Book Depository.

**Jim Leavelle, born in 1920 in Red River, Texas, served in the US Navy in WWII.  He was at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941.  Jim retired from the DPD in 1975.

***Huffaker had checked with one of the police authorities earlier who had told him the name of the accused assassin was Lee Harold Oswald.  Bob asked where he got that information, the man said from the arrest record.  So Bob used that incorrect middle name.

****Jack Ruby, aka Jacob Leon Rubenstein, was born in 1911 in Chicago.  He served in the US Army Air Force in WWII & in 1947 moved to Dallas where he managed several nightclubs.  At the time he shot Oswald, Ruby was owner of the Carousel Club in Dallas.

The Shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald

November 24, 1963

Photo by Jack Beers, Jr.

Dallas Morning News

LEE OSWALD HAS BEEN SHOT!

OSWALD DEAD AFTER BEING SHOT BY DALLAS NIGHTCLUB OWNER

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Fifty-one years ago, November 24, 1963, alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald*, was shot in the abdomen at point blank range while being transferred from the City Jail to the County Jail by Dallas police.

The shooting, which occurred at 11:21 a.m. Dallas time, was captured on live television as Oswald was being led out into the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters accompanied by two detectives.

Lee Oswald cried out in agony: "Ohhhhhhhhhhh......" and fell to the floor still handcuffed to detective Jim Leavelle**.

Dallas reporter Bob Huffaker shouted into his microphone...
"He's been shot!  He's been shot!  Lee Harold Oswald has been shot!"***

The shooter, identified as Jack Rubenstein, aka Jack Ruby, was subdued and Oswald was carried back inside the police station. He was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 1:07 p.m.

*Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) was born in New Orleans and served in the Marine Corps from 1956 to 1959.  After his discharge, Oswald traveled to the USSR where he attempted to renounce his US citizenship, married a Russian girl, then returned to the US in 1962.

In New Orleans, Oswald was chairman of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. He moved to Dallas in Oct 1963 where he was employed at the Texas School Book Depository.

**Jim Leavelle, born in 1920 in Red River, Texas, served in the US Navy in WWII.  He was at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941.  Jim retired from the DPD in 1975.

***Huffaker had checked with one of the police authorities earlier who had told him the name of the accused assassin was Lee Harold Oswald.  Bob asked where he got that information, the man said from the arrest record.  So Bob used that incorrect middle name.

The Shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald

November 24, 1963

Photo by Jack Beers, Jr.

Dallas Morning News