Jack Ruby

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Biography

Jacob Leon Rubenstein (March 25, 1911The Warren Commission found that various dates were given in the records for Ruby's birth; the one most used by Ruby himself was March 25, 1911 (''The Warren Report: Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy , 1964). His tombstone at Westlawn Cemetery, Chicago has April 25, 1911 as his birthdate – January 3, 1967), who legally changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in 1947, was convicted of the November 24, 1963 murder of Lee Harvey Oswald , the accused John F. Kennedy assassination|assassin of President John F. Kennedy . Ruby, who was originally from Chicago , Illinois , was then a nightclub operator in Dallas, Texas|Dallas , Texas . Convicted of the murder on March 14, 1964, Ruby appeal ed the conviction and Capital punishment|death sentence . As a date for his new trial was being set, he became ill and died of lung cancer on January 3, 1967.

Ruby was involved with major figures in organized crime ; conspiracy theorist s claim that he killed Oswald as part of an overall plot surrounding the assassination of Kennedy. Others have disputed this, arguing that his connection with gangsters was minimal at most and that he was not the sort to be entrusted with such an act within a high-level conspiracy.

Alleged links to organized crime

Ruby was known to have been acquainted with both the police and the Mafia, specifically the Italian American|Italian Mafia . The House Select Committee on Assassinations said that Ruby had known restaurateurs Sam (1920–1970) and Joseph Campisi (1918–1990) since 1947, and had been seen with them on many occasions.HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 9, p. 336, par. 917, . Ancestry.com, Social Security Death Index , Provo, Utah, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Ancestry.com, Texas Death Index, 1903-2000 , Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. After an investigation of Joe Campisi, the HSCA found:
Similarly, a Public Broadcasting Service|PBS Frontline (US TV series)|Frontline investigation into the connections between Ruby and Dallas organized crime figures reported the following:
A day before Kennedy was assassinated, Ruby went to Joe Campisi's restaurant.HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 9, p. 344, par. 919, . At the time of the Kennedy assassination, Ruby was close enough to the Campisis to ask them to come see him after he was arrested for shooting Lee Oswald.HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 9, p. 344, .

In his memoir ''Bound by Honor: A Mafioso's Story , Bill Bonanno , son of New York Mafia boss Joseph Bonanno , explains that several Mafia families had longstanding ties with the anti-Castro Cubans through the Havana casinos operated by the Mafia before the Cuban Revolution. Many Cuban exiles and Mafia bosses disliked Kennedy, blaming him for the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion . Anthony Summers|Summers, Anthony . Not in Your Lifetime , (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 178. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 They also disliked his brother, the young and idealistic Attorney General Robert Kennedy , who had conducted an unprecedented legal assault on organized crime. Anthony Summers|Summers, Anthony . Not in Your Lifetime , (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), pp. 190-195. ISBN 1-56924-739-0

The Mafia were experts in assassination, and Bonanno reported that he recognized the high degree of involvement of other Mafia families when Ruby killed Oswald, since Bonanno was aware that Ruby was an associate of Chicago mobster Sam Giancana .

Howard P. Willens, third highest official in the Department of Justice and assistant counsel to J. Lee Rankin designed the organizational structure of the Warren Commission , outlined its investigative priorities, and terminated the investigation of Ruby's Cuban related activities.. An FBI report states that Willens's father was Tony Accardo 's next door neighbor since 1958.

Four years prior to the assassination of President Kennedy, Ruby went to see a man named Lewis McWillie in Cuba. Ruby considered McWillie, who had previously run illegal gambling establishments in Texas, to be one of his closest friends., Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 5, p. 201. At the time Ruby visited him, in August 1959, McWillie was supervising gambling activities at Havana 's Tropicana Club . Ruby told the Warren Commission that his August trip to Cuba was merely a social visit at the invitation of McWillie. The House Select Committee on Assassinations would later conclude that Ruby "…most likely was serving as a courier for gambling interests.", House Select Committee on Assassinations, p. 152., House Select Committee on Assassinations - Appendix to Hearings, Volume 9, 5, p. 177. The committee also found "circumstantial," but not conclusive, evidence that "…Ruby met with Santo Trafficante, Jr.|Santo Trafficante in Cuba sometime in 1959.", House Select Committee on Assassinations, pp. 152-153.

About an hour after President Kennedy was shot, White House correspondent Seth Kantor (who was a passenger in the motorcade) arrived at Parkland Hospital where Kennedy was receiving medical care. As Kantor was entering the hospital through a stairway, he felt a tug on his coat. He turned around to see Ruby who called him by his first name and shook his hand., Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 15, pp. 78-82.Seth 1978 p. 41">Kantor, Seth. Who Was Jack Ruby? , (New York: Everest House Publishers, 1978), p. 41. ISBN 0-89696-004-8 (Kantor had become acquainted with Ruby when Kantor was a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald newspaper.), Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 15, p. 72.Kantor, Seth. Who Was Jack Ruby? , (New York: Everest House Publishers, 1978), p. vi. ISBN 0-89696-004-8 Ruby asked Kantor if he thought that it would be a good idea for him to close his nightclubs for the next three nights because of the tragedy and Kantor responded that he thought that doing so would be a good idea.Seth 1978 p. 41"/>, Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 15, p. 80. It has been suggested that Ruby might have been involved in tampering with evidence while at the hospital.Kantor, Seth. Who Was Jack Ruby? , (New York: Everest House Publishers, 1978), p. 192. ISBN 0-89696-004-8 Ruby would later deny he had been at Parkland Hospital and the Warren Commission decided to believe Ruby rather than Kantor., Warren Commission Report, chapter 6, pp. 335-337.Kantor, Seth. Who Was Jack Ruby? , (New York: Everest House Publishers, 1978), pp. 41, 191. ISBN 0-89696-004-8 (In 1979, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations|House Select Committee on Assassinations reversed the Warren Commission's judgement, stating: "While the Warren Commission concluded that Kantor was mistaken , the Committee determined he probably was not."), House Select Committee on Assassinations, p. 158.

Goaded by the Warren Commission's dismissal of his testimony, Seth Kantor researched the Ruby case for years. In a later published book Who Was Jack Ruby? , Kantor wrote:

Witness Wilma Tice also said that she saw Jack Ruby at Parkland Hospital during the time Kennedy was being treated there.Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 15, pp. 391-396, . Called to testify before the Warren Commission, Tice said that she received an anonymous phone call from a man telling her "…that it would pay me to keep my mouth shut."Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 15, p. 395, .

Within hours of Ruby's arrest for shooting Oswald, a telegram was received at the Dallas city jail in support of Ruby, under the names of Hal and Pauline Collins. In one of the Warren Commissions exhibits, Hal Collins is listed as a character reference by Ruby on a Texas liquor license application.Warren Commission Hearings & Exhibits, vol. 22, . Hal Collin's sister was married to Robert Clark, the brother of then-sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Tom C. Clark . Tom C. Clark advised newspaper columnist Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson that financier Henry Crown and the Hilton Hotel chain had financial interests in syndicated racketeering activities in Chicago. Peter Dale Scott|Scott, Peter Dale . Deep Politics and the Death of JFK , (California: University of California Press, 1996), p. 155. Tom C. Clark also recommended that the Warren Commission appoint Henry Crown's attorney, Albert E. Jenner, Jr. , to serve as assistant counsel to the commission.

Criticism

Some writers, including former Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi , dismiss Ruby's connections to organized crime as being minimal at best:

Bill Alexander, who prosecuted Ruby for Oswald's murder, equally rejected any suggestions that Ruby was part-and-parcel of organized crime, claiming that conspiracy theorists based it on the claim that "A knew B, and Ruby knew B back in 1950, so he must have known A, and that must be the link to the conspiracy."

Ruby's brother Earl denied allegations that Jack was involved in racketeering Chicago nightclubs, and author Gerald Posner suggests that Ruby may have been confused with Harry Rubenstein, a convicted Chicago felon. Entertainment reporter Tony Zoppi is also dismissive of mob ties. He knew Ruby and described him as a "born loser."

Murder of Oswald

Ruby (also known as "Sparky," from his boxing nickname "Sparkling Ruby") was seen in the halls of the Dallas Municipal Building|Dallas Police Headquarters on several occasions after the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963; and newsreel footage from WFAA -TV (Dallas) and NBC News|NBC shows Ruby impersonating a newspaper reporter during a press conference at Dallas Police Headquarters on the night of the assassination. Anthony Summers|Summers, Anthony . Not in Your Lifetime , (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 349. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 District Attorney Henry Wade briefed reporters at the press conference telling them that Lee Oswald was a member of the anti-Castro Crusade to Free Cuba Committee|Free Cuba Committee . Ruby was one of many people there who spoke up to correct Wade, saying: "Henry, that's the Fair Play for Cuba Committee ," a pro-Castro organization. aarclibrary.org Some speculate that Ruby may have hoped to kill Oswald that night at the police station press conference. Anthony Summers|Summers, Anthony . Not in Your Lifetime , (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), p. 350. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 Ruby told the FBI, a month after his arrest for killing Oswald, that he had his loaded snub-nosed Colt Cobra|Colt Cobra .38 revolver in his right-hand pocket during the press conference., 21 December 1963, Warren Commission Document 1252, p. 9., volume 5, p. 179.

Two days later on Sunday, November 24, after driving into town and sending a money order to one of his employees, Ruby walked to the nearby police headquarters and made his way to the basement. At 11:21 am CST — while authorities were preparing to transfer Oswald by armored car from the police basement to the nearby county jail — Ruby stepped out from a crowd of reporters and fired his .38 revolver into Oswald's abdomen, fatally wounding him. The shooting was broadcast live nationally, and millions of television viewers witnessed it. There is some evidence that Ruby's actions were on a whim, as he left his favorite dog, Sheba, in the car before shooting Oswald.

However, the House Select Committee on Assassinations in its 1979 Final Report opined:

When Ruby was arrested immediately after the shooting, he told several witnesses that he helped the city of Dallas "redeem" itself in the eyes of the public, and that Oswald's death would spare "…Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial.", Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 5, pp. 198–200. At the time of the shooting Ruby said he was taking phenmetrazine , a central nervous system|central nervous system (CNS) stimulant .

Ruby's explanation for killing Oswald would be "exposed … as a fabricated legal ploy", according to the House Select Committee on Assassinations . In a private note to one of his attorneys, Joseph Tonahill, Ruby wrote: "Joe, you should know this. Tom Howard told me to say that I shot Oswald so that Caroline and Mrs. Kennedy wouldn't have to come to Dallas to testify. OK? ""A Note from Jack Ruby", Newsweek , March 27, 1967. Ruby's ploy was confirmed by attorney Melvin Belli . In his book, Dallas Justice , Belli wrote that Ruby told him: "We know I did it for Jackie and the kids… Maybe I ought to forget this silly story that I'm telling, and get on the stand and tell the truth." Melvin Belli|Belli, Melvin . Dallas Justice: The Real Story of Jack Ruby and His Trial , (New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1964), p. 39.

Another motive was put forth by Frank Sheeran , allegedly a hitman for the Mafia, in a conversation he had with the then-former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa . During the conversation, Hoffa claimed that Ruby was assigned the task of coordinating police officers who were loyal to Ruby to murder Oswald while he was in their custody. As Ruby evidently mismanaged the operation, he was given a choice to either finish the job himself or forfeit his life.Brandt, Charles. I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa , (New Hampshire: Steerforth Press, 2004), p. 242.

Prosecution and conviction

After Ruby's arrest, he asked Dallas attorney Thomas Howard|Tom Howard to represent him. Howard accepted and asked Ruby if he could think of anything that might damage his defense. Ruby responded that there would be a problem if a man by the name of "Davis" should come up. Ruby told his attorney that he "…had been involved with Davis, who was a gunrunner entangled in anti-Castro efforts."Kantor, Seth. Who Was Jack Ruby? , (New York: Everest House Publishers, 1978), p. 44. ISBN 0-89696-004-8, House Select Committee on Assassinations - Appendix to Hearings, Volume 9, 5, p. 183. Davis was identified only years later, after research by journalist Seth Kantor, as being Thomas Eli Davis III, a CIA-connected "soldier of fortune." Anthony Summers|Summers, Anthony . Not in Your Lifetime , (New York: Marlowe & Company, 1998), pp. 359-361, 226. ISBN 1-56924-739-0 James W. Douglass|Douglass, James . JFK and the Unspeakable , (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008), pp. 357-358. ISBN 978-1-4391-9388-4

Later, Ruby replaced attorney Tom Howard with prominent San Francisco defense attorney Melvin Belli who agreed to represent Ruby pro bono . Some observers thought that the case could have been disposed of as a "murder without malice" charge (roughly equivalent to manslaughter ), with a maximum prison sentence of five years. Belli attempted to prove, however, that Ruby was legally insane and had a history of mental illness in his family (the latter being true, as his mother had been committed to a mental hospital years before). On March 14, 1964, Ruby was convicted of murder with malice, for which he received a death sentence.

During the six months following the John F. Kennedy assassination|Kennedy assassination , Ruby repeatedly asked, orally and in writing, to speak to the members of the Warren Commission . The commission initially showed no interest. Only after Ruby's sister Eileen wrote letters to the commission (and her letters became public) did the Warren Commission agree to talk to Ruby. In June 1964, Chief Justice Earl Warren , then-Representative Gerald R. Ford of Michigan , and other commission members went to Dallas to see Ruby. Ruby asked Warren several times to take him to Washington D.C. , saying "my life is in danger here" and that he wanted an opportunity to make additional statements., Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 5, pp. 194-196. He added: "I want to tell the truth, and I can't tell it here.", Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 5, p. 194. Warren told Ruby that he would be unable to comply, because many legal barriers would need to be broken and public interest in the situation would be too heavy. Warren also told Ruby that the commission would have no way of protecting him, since it had no police powers. Ruby said he wanted to convince President Lyndon Johnson that he was not part of any conspiracy to kill Kennedy., Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 5, p. 209-212.

Alleged conspiracies

Following Ruby's March 1964 conviction for murder with malice, Ruby's lawyers, led by Sam Houston Clinton , appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals , the highest criminal court in Texas. Ruby's lawyers argued that he could not have received a right to a fair trial|fair trial in the city of Dallas because of the excessive publicity surrounding the case. A year after his conviction, in March 1965, Ruby conducted a brief televised news conference in which he stated: "Everything pertaining to what's happening has never come to the surface. The world will never know the true facts of what occurred, my motives. The people who had so much to gain, and had such an ulterior motive for putting me in the position I'm in, will never let the true facts come above board to the world." When asked by a reporter, "Are these people in very high positions Jack? ", he responded "Yes."

Dallas Deputy Sheriff Al Maddox claimed: "Ruby told me, he said, 'Well, they injected me for a cold.' He said it was cancer cells. That's what he told me, Ruby did. I said you don't believe that bullshit. He said, 'I damn sure do!' one day when I started to leave, Ruby shook hands with me and I could feel a piece of paper in his palm… he said it was a conspiracy and he said … if you will keep your eyes open and your mouth shut, you're gonna learn a lot. And that was the last letter I ever got from him."

Not long before Ruby died, according to an article in the London Sunday Times , he told psychiatrist Werner Teuter that the assassination was "an act of overthrowing the government" and that he knew "who had President Kennedy killed." He added: "I am doomed. I do not want to die. But I am not insane. I was framed to kill Oswald."

Eventually, the appellate court agreed with Ruby's lawyers for a new trial, and on October 5, 1966, ruled that his motion for a change of venue before the original trial court should have been granted. Ruby's conviction and death sentence were overturned. Arrangements were underway for a new trial to be held in February 1967 in Wichita Falls, Texas , when on December 9, 1966, Ruby was admitted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, suffering from pneumonia . A day later, doctors realized he had cancer in his Hepatocellular carcinoma|liver , lung cancer|lungs , and brain tumor|brain . Three weeks later, he died.

According to an unnamed Associated Press source, Ruby made a final statement from his hospital bed on December 19 that he alone had been responsible for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. "There is nothing to hide… There was no one else," Ruby said.

Criticisms

In Gerald Posner 's book Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK , Ruby's friends, relatives and associates stress how upset he was upon hearing of Kennedy's murder, even crying on occasion, and how he went so far as to close his loss-making clubs for three days as a mark of respect.

Dallas reporter Tony Zoppi, who knew Ruby well, claims that one "would have to be crazy" to entrust Ruby with anything as important as a high-level plot to kill Kennedy since he "couldn't keep a secret for five minutes… Jack was one of the most talkative guys you would ever meet. He'd be the worst fellow in the world to be part of a conspiracy, because he just plain talked too much." He and others describe Ruby as the sort who enjoyed being at "the center of attention", trying to make friends with people and being more of a nuisance.

Death

Ruby died of a pulmonary embolism , secondary to bronchogenic carcinoma (lung cancer), on January 3, 1967 at Parkland Hospital , where Oswald had died and where President Kennedy had been pronounced dead after his assassination. He was buried beside his parents in the Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge, Illinois . Considering the relatively short time period between the time of the assassination and his death, there was suspicion that Ruby knew of his terminal cancer at the time of the assassination, which may have contributed to his motives. When asked by the House Select Committee on Assassinations if Ruby could have known about his cancer, Dallas County medical examiner Dr. Earl Rose, who performed the autopsy on Ruby, replied, "No".

Popular culture

Ruby's shooting of Oswald, and his behavior both before and after the Kennedy assassination, have been the topic of numerous films, TV programs, books, and songs.

Film

In Oliver Stone 's 1991 film JFK (film)|JFK , Ruby was portrayed by veteran actor Brian Doyle-Murray . Stone's perspective on events draws heavily from conspiracy theory researchers such as Jim Marrs and L. Fletcher Prouty . At least three scenes further detailing Ruby were removed from the film and are only available on DVD. One scene expanded the Oswald shooting by showing corrupt police letting Ruby enter through a restricted entrance.

The 1992 feature film Ruby (film)|Ruby speculated on Ruby's more complex motivations. Among the impulses explored by the film that might have propelled Ruby into shooting Oswald were Ruby's reputation among family and friends as an assiduous, emotionally volatile publicity-seeker, and the influence of his long-time organized crime and Dallas police connections. Ruby was played by Danny Aiello .

Literature

Ruby is one of the main characters of James Ellroy 's novel, The Cold Six Thousand . The plot revolves around the aftermath of the assassination of John Kennedy, and the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. It speculates about the links of many historical characters with Mafia and anti- Castroist groups with the assassinations.

In his 1989 novel Libra , Don DeLillo portrays Ruby as being part of a larger conspiracy surrounding the president's assassination, imagining that an FBI agent persuades Ruby to kill Oswald.

Music

"Bicentennial" is a song from the 1976 album, T Shirt (album)|T Shirt , by Loudon Wainwright III . The verse referring to Ruby is: "You know we have our heroes. I mean George Washington|Washington and Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln , including Audie Murphy , including old Jack Ruby. Wasn't Jack wonderful? Oh, you know he certainly was. "

"Jack Ruby" is a song from the 1989 album, Key Lime Pie (album)|Key Lime Pie by Camper Van Beethoven . In the song, Ruby is described as, "…the kind of man who beats his horses or the dancers who work at a bar."

"Jack Ruby" is a song by British rock group Deep Purple from their 1998 album Abandon (album)|Abandon .

Television

The 1978 made-for-television movie, Ruby and Oswald generally followed the official record, as presented by the Warren Commission . Ruby's actions and dialogue (as well as those of the people he comes in contact with) are nearly verbatim re-enactments of testimony given to the Warren Commission by those involved, as per the opening narration. Ruby was played by Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner .

In the television show Mad Men , the footage of Ruby shooting Oswald was shown in the third-season episode, "The Grown-Ups," that dealt with Kennedy's assassination.

Copyright Citations

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