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Behind the Gemstone Files |
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The
Skeleton Key AUTHORSHIP ALPHA-1775 GEMSTONES A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z
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UPDATED
January 01, 2003 02:17 PM
Between 1949 and November 24, 1963, Ruby was arrested eight times by the Dallas Police Department. The dates, charges, and dispositions of these arrests are as follows: February 4, 1949, Ruby paid a $10 fine for disturbing the peace. July 26, 1953, Ruby was suspected of carrying a concealed weapon; however, no charges were filed and Ruby was released on the same day. May 1, 1954, Ruby was arrested for allegedly carrying a concealed weapon and violating a peace bond; again no charges were filed and Ruby was released on the same day. December 5, 1954, Ruby was arrested for allegedly violating State liquor laws by selling liquor after hours; the complaint was dismissed on February 8, 1955. June 21, 1959, Ruby was arrested for allegedly permitting dancing after hours; the complaint was dismissed on July 8, 1959. August 21, 1960, Ruby was again arrested for allegedly permitting dancing after hours; Ruby posted $25 bond and was released on that date. February 12, 1963, Ruby was arrested on a charge of simple assault; he was found not guilty February 27, 1963. Finally, on March 14, 1963, Ruby was arrested for allegedly ignoring traffic summonses; a $35 bond was posted. When Ruby applied for a beer license in March 1961, he reported that he had been arrested "about four or five times" between 1947 and 1953. Between 1950 and 1963, he received 20 tickets for motor vehicle violations, paying four $10 fines and three of $3. In 1956 and 1959, Ruby was placed on 6 months' probation as a traffic violator. Ruby was also frequently suspended by the Texas Liquor Control Board. In August 1949, when he was operating the Silver Spur, he was suspended for 5 days on a charge of "Agents: Moral Turpitude." In 1953 Ruby received a 5-day suspension because of an obscene show, and, in 1954, a 10-day suspension for allowing a drunkard on his premises. On February 18, 1954, he was suspended for 5 days because of an obscene striptease act at the Silver Spur and for the consumption of alcoholic beverages during prohibited hours. On March 26, 1956. Ruby was suspended by the liquor board for 3 days because several of his checks were dishonored. On October 23, 1961, he received another 3-day suspension because an agent solicited the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on licensed premises. The Warren Commission Report, p. 800 Who was Jack Ruby? To understand him, you have to know his background.
Conspiracy books that portray Ruby as a mobster of some kind all
have one thing in common: they ignore the testimony of people who
actually knew Jack Ruby. Dave Reitzes "In
Defense of Jack Ruby" looks at the man known to his
friends, employees, and acquaintances.
Ruby and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee:
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Ruby's Mental StateThe following is from Elmer Gertz' Moment of Madness, pp. 472-474. This letter was written by Jack Ruby to his brother Earl during the time Ruby was imprisoned, and was very ill with the cancer that would soon kill him.
EARL: |
Ruby,
testifying before the Warren Commission, begged to be given a
polygraph ("lie detector") test, and the Commission —
very much against its better judgment — gave in to his entreaties.
Conspiracists have claimed that the polygraph test shows Ruby lying
about knowing Oswald and being part of a conspiracy. Unfortunately,
as Dave Reitzes shows in this
essay from his web site, "lie detector" tests have
little value, and Ruby's test provides no evidence that he was
lying.
Family Background
Jack Ruby, born Jacob Rubenstein, was the fifth of his parents' eight living children. There is much confusion about his exact birth date. School records report it as June 23, April 25, March 13, and, possibly, March 3, 1911. Other early official records list his date of birth as April 21 and April 26, 1911. During his adult life the date Ruby used most frequently was March 25, 1911. His driver's license, seized following his arrest, and his statements to the FBI on November 24, 1963, listed this date. However, the police arrest report for November 24 gave his birth date as March 19, 1911.
Since the recording of births was not required in Chicago prior to 1915, Ruby's birth may never have been officially recorded. No substantial conflict exists, however, about whether Jack Ruby was born in 1911. Ruby has one older brother and three older sisters. The oldest children, Hyman and Ann, were born shortly after the turn of the century, before their parents arrived in the United States. The other children were born in Chicago. Ruby's sister Marion was born in June 1906 and his sister Eva in March 1909. Ruby also has two younger brothers and a younger sister. Sam was born in December 1912, Earl in April 1915. The youngest child, Eileen, was born in July 1917. At least one and possibly two other children died during infancy.
Jack Ruby's father, Joseph Rubenstein, was born in 1871 in Sokolov, a small town near Warsaw, Poland, then under the rule of Czarist Russia. He entered the Russian artillery in 1893. There he learned the carpentry trade, which had been practiced by his father and at least one brother and he picked up the habit of excessive drinking that was to plague him for the rest of his life. While in the army, he married Jack's mother, Fannie Turek Rutkowski; the marriage was arranged, as was customary, by a professional matchmaker. According to his oldest son, Joseph Rubenstein served in China, Korea, and Siberia, detesting these places and army life. Eventually, in 1898, he simply "walked away" from it and about 4 years later he went to England and Canada, entering the United States in 1903.
Settling in Chicago Joseph Rubenstein joined the carpenters union in 1904 and remained a member until his death in 1958. Although he worked fairly steadily until 1928, be was unemployed during the last 30 years of his life. The only other group which Joseph Rubenstein joined consisted of fellow immigrants from Sokolov. His daughter Eva described this group as purely social and completely nonpolitical.
Jack Ruby's mother, Fannie Rubenstein, was probably born in 1875 near Warsaw, Poland. She followed her husband to the United States in 1904 or 1905, accompanied by her children Hyman and Ann. An illiterate woman, she went to night school in about 1920 to learn how to sign her name. She apparently failed in this endeavor, however, for an alien registration form, filed after about 35 years in the United States, was signed by an "X". Although she apparently learned some English, her speech was predominantly Yiddish, the primary language of the Rubenstein household. Still, Mrs. Rubenstein felt strongly that her children required an education in order to better themselves. She frequently argued about this with her husband, who had received little, if any, formal education and firmly believed that grammar school training was sufficient for his children.
In 1911, when Jack Ruby was born, his family resided near 14th and Newberry Streets in Chicago, the first in a series of Jewish neighborhoods in which the Rubensteins lived during his childhood. In 1916, the Rubensteins lived at 1232 Morgan Street, where they apparently remained until 1921. This was the fourth residence in the first 5 years of Jack Ruby's life. Earl Ruby described one typical neighborhood in which the family lived as a "ghetto" with "pushcarts on the sirens." His sister Eva characterized it as "below the middle class but yet it wasn't the poorest class." The family generally lived near Italian sections, where there were frequent fights along ethnic lines. The Rubenstein home was marked by constant, strife and the parents were reported to have occasionally struck each other. Between 1915 and 1921, Joseph Rubenstein was frequently arrested because of disorderly conduct and assault and battery charges, some filed by his wife. In the spring of 1921, Jack Ruby's parents separated. In 1937 Mrs. Rubenstein reported that she had desired a divorce 15 years earlier, but her husband had been opposed to it. The predominant causes of the separation were apparently Joseph Rubenstein's excessive drinking and Fannie Rubenstein's uncontrollable temper. She resented her numerous pregnancies, believed her husband to be unfaithful, and nagged him because he failed to make enough money.
Young Jack soon showed the effects of parental discord. On June 6, 1922, at the age of 11, he was referred to the Institute for Juvenile Research by the Jewish Social Service Bureau. The reason for the referral was "truancy and incorrigible at home." On July 10, 1922, the institute recommended to the bureau that Jack be placed in a new environment where his characteristics might be understood .and where he might be afforded the supervision and recreation that would end his interest in street gangs. In March 1923, the institute advised the bureau that "placement in a home, where intelligent supervision and discipline can be given" was appropriate.
The institute's psychiatric examination, which served as a basis for these recommendations, took place in 1922, prior to the advent of many techniques and theories of modern psychiatry, but it is the most objective evidence of Jack Ruby's childhood character. According to the psychiatric report, Jack was "quick tempered" and "disobedient." He frequently disagreed openly with his mother, whom he considered an inferior person with whose rules he did not have to comply. Jack told the institute's interviewer that he ran away from home because his mother lied to him and beat him. Although Mrs. Rubenstein was severe with her children, she was described as totally incapable of coping with them "because of their delinquencies, i.e., principally their destructive tendencies and disregard for other people's property." His mother's "extreme temperament" and quarrelsomeness were cited as possible causes of Jack's "bad behavior."
Self-administered questionnaires revealed that Jack felt his classmates were "picking" on him and that he could not get along with his friends. They also indicated that, although Jack described himself as a good ballplayer, he did not belong to any clubs and was not a member of any athletic teams. Jack's psychiatric interviewer reported:
He could give no other good reason for running away from school except that he went to amusement parks. He has some sex knowledge and is greatly interested in sex matters. He stated that the boys in the street tell him about these things. He also claims that he can lick everyone and anybody in anything he wants to do.
The interviewer noted that during "mental tests" he reacted quickly, often carelessly, and his attention was apt to wander so that he had to be reprimanded.
A letter recommending the boy's placement in a more wholesome environment stated:
He is egocentric and expects much attention, but is unable to get it as there are many children at home. His behavior is further colored by his early sex experiences, his great interest [in sex] and the gang situation in the street. From a superficial examination of his mother who was here with him, it is apparent that she has no insight into his problem, and she is thoroughly inadequate in the further training of this boy. Recognizing that the sketchiness of the case record precluded complete diagnosis, Dr. Raymond E. Robertson, currently the superintendent of the institute, reported nonetheless that it seems "firmly established * * * [that] his unstable and disorganized home could not provide Jack with the necessary controls and discipline."
On July 10, 1923, a dependency hearing involving Jack, his younger brothers Sam and Earl, and his sister Eileen, was held in Chicago's juvenile court. The petition alleged that the children were not receiving proper parental care. They had, until then, been in their mother's custody, living on Roosevelt Road, the border between Jewish and Italian districts. The juvenile court made a finding of dependency. It appointed the Jewish Home Finding Society guardian with the right to place the children in foster homes, and it ordered Joseph Rubenstein to pay the court clerk $4 per week for the support of each child. On November 24, 1924, this order was vacated, which apparently signified the termination of the guardianship and the return of the children to their mother. On April 8, 1925, the case was continued "generally," meaning that it was inactive but could be reactivated if the court so desired.
Despite court records, the exact circumstances and length of time that, Jack Ruby lived away from home are not entirely clear. Records indicate that Jack, Sam, Earl, and Eileen Rubenstein were wards of the Jewish Home Finding Society "for a short time in 1922-23." However, Jack and Eileen stated they spent. about 4 or 5 years in foster homes. Earl testified that he and Sam were originally sent to a private foster home and then lived on a farm for a little more than a year, while Jack was on a different farm "some distance away." Subsequently the three brothers lived together in another foster home.
When Jack Ruby returned to his family, the unit was still disordered. His father remained apart from the children at least until 1936 and perhaps until a few years later. Mrs. Rubenstein's inability to manage her home, which had been reported by the Institute for Juvenile Research in 1922, apparently continued. For example, in 1937 Marion Rubenstein observed that her mother "has never been any kind of a housekeeper, was careless with money, and never took much interest in the children's welfare * * * she was selfish, jealous, disagreeable, and never cared to do anything in the home but lie around and sleep." Dr. Hyman I. Rubenstein, the son of Joseph Rubenstein's brother, recalled that Jack Ruby's mother ran "an irregular household" and appeared to be "a rather disturbed person of poor personal appearance with no incentive for cleaning or cooking."
Mrs. Rubenstein's domestic shortcomings were accompanied by symptoms of mental disease. In about 1913, 2 years after Jack was born, Mrs. Rubenstein began to develop a delusion that a sticking sensation in her throat was caused by a lodged fishbone. Each month Hyman, her oldest child, took her to a clinic. And each month the examining doctor, finding no organic cause for discomfort, informed her that there was nothing in her throat and that the sensation was but a figment of her imagination. According to Hyman, this practice continued for a number of years until Mrs. Rubenstein tired of it.
In 1927, Mrs. Rubenstein once again began to visit clinics in connection with her fishbone delusion. Three years later, a thyroidectomy was performed, but she subsequently said it did nothing to relieve her discomfort. According to the Michael Reese Hospital, whose clinic she had visited since 1927, Mrs. Rubenstein was suffering from psychoneurosis with marked anxiety state.
By order of the county court of Cook County, Mrs. Rubenstein was committed to Elgin State Hospital on July 16, 1937. She was paroled on October 17, 1937, 3 months after her commitment. On January 3, 1938, the Chicago State Hospital informed Elgin State that the family desired that she be readmitted to the mental hospital. The family reported that she was uncooperative, caused constant discord, was very noisy, and used obscene language. A State social worker observed that Mrs. Rubenstein refused ever to leave the house, explaining that her children would have thrown her things out had she left. Mrs. Rubenstein rebuffed a suggestion by the social worker that she help with the dishes by stating that she would do nothing as long as her "worthless" husband was in the house. She was readmitted on January 14, 1938.
Mrs. Rubenstein was again paroled on May 27, 1938, and was discharged as "improved" on August 25, 1938. She stayed in an apartment with Marion, and her separation from the rest of the family apparently ended most of the difficulties. Subsequently, Jack Ruby's parents were apparently reconciled, since their alien registration forms, filed in late 1940, indicated that they both resided at Marion's address.
Fannie Rubenstein was admitted to Michael Reese Hospital on April 4, 1944, as a result of a heart ailment. Her condition was complicated by an attack of pneumonia and she died at the hospital on April 11, 1944. Hyman testified that, perhaps because she favored the education of her children and they recognized her difficulties in rearing them during a turbulent marriage, they all remembered Mrs. Rubenstein with warmth and affection. The evidence also indicates that Jack, notwithstanding his earlier attitudes, became especially fond of his mother. Following his wife's death, Joseph Rubenstein stayed with the children in Chicago, where he died at the age of 87, on December 24, 1958.
Records provided by the Chicago Board of Education revealed that Jack Ruby attended Smyth Grammar School from October 24, 1916, through the 1920-21 term, completing kindergarten to grade 4B. He repeated the third grade. During the 1921-22 school year Jack finished the fourth grade at the Clarke School; he attended Schley School for the 1924-25 term, when he completed the sixth grade. Ruby's relationship with the Institute for Juvenile Research and the Jewish Home Finding Society may explain the lack of academic records for the 1922-23 and 1923-24 school years. While there is some uncertainty about Ruby's education subsequent to September 1925, it seems likely that he completed the eighth grade in 1927, when he was 16. Although Jack Ruby and others have stated that he attended at least 1 year of high school, the Chicago Board of Education could not locate any record of Ruby's attending Chicago high schools. Considering the absence of academic records and Jack's apathetic attitude toward school, the Commission deems it unlikely that his education extended into high school.
Records of the Institute for Juvenile Research revealed that, as of June 1922, Ruby had no religious education outside the public school system. However, according to their children, Jack's parents made some effort to inculcate in them a desire to adhere to the tenets of Orthodox Judaism. Jewish dietary and festival laws were observed and several of the children accompanied Joseph Rubenstein to the synagogue. Earl Ruby stated that all the boys received some Hebrew school training until the breakup of the Rubenstein home in 1921. However, Hyman Rubenstein testified that the instability and economic necessities of the household and the children's relationships outside the home frustrated the religious efforts of Ruby's parents.
Born in a home that disintegrated when he was 10 and boasting no substantial educational background, Jack Ruby early found himself on Chicago streets attempting to provide for himself and other members of his family. An avid sports fan, he, together with many of his friends, "scalped" tickets to various sporting events. He also sold numerous novelty items and knickknacks, particularly those connected with professional and collegiate athletics. Even in his youth, Ruby declined to work on a steady basis for someone else.
According to his brother Hyman, Jack Ruby's only legal difficulty as a youth resulted from an altercation with a policeman about ticket scalping. Hyman, then active in local politics, was able to have charges arising out of the incident dropped. Ruby has indicated that during the depression he served a short jail sentence for the unauthorized sale of copyrighted sheet music.
The only other member of the Rubenstein family who appears to have had any difficulty with the law while a youth was Hyman. On May 1, 1916, Chicago's juvenile court declared Hyman incorrigible, a term covering a wide range of misbehavior. Because of the absence of informative court records and the ]apse of time, the misconduct that occasioned this proceeding could not be ascertained, but Hyman is not known to have encountered subsequent difficulty. Some of Ruby's childhood friends eventually became criminals; however, Hyman Rubenstein, his sister Mrs. Eva Grant, and virtually all of Ruby's friends and acquaintances who were questioned reported that he was not involved with Chicago's criminal element.
The evidence indicates that young Jack was not interested in political affairs. Hyman was the only Rubenstein to participate actively in politics. Sponsored by various political officials, he became a sidewalk inspector and warehouse investigator for 8 years. On one occasion, he obtained a permit for Jack to sell novelties from a pushcart located in a business district during the pre-Christmas buying rush. Eventually the complaints of enraged businessmen led licensing authorities to declare that a mistake had been made and to revoke Ruby's permit.
But many other friends and acquaintances recalled that he had a hot temper and was quickly moved to violent acts or words. One friend explained that in the "tough" Chicago neighborhood where they lived, self-defense was vitally important and added that Ruby was fully capable of defending himself. Another friend described Ruby as quick tempered and, though unlikely to pick fights, willing to accept any challenge without regard to the odds against him. Young Jack also interfered in fights, particularly when the person he was aiding appeared to be taking a severe beating or in a disadvantageous position. Others reported that he had the reputation of being a good street brawler. One school friend recalled that when Jack argued vehemently about sports, he occasionally used a stick or other available weapon. He reported, however, that after Ruby's anger subsided, he reverted to his normal, likable character.
From early childhood, Jack Ruby was called "Sparky" by those who knew him. According to his sister Eva Grant, the nickname derived from the way Jack wobbled when he walked. He was thought to resemble the slow-moving horse called "Sparky" or "Sparkplug" depicted in a contemporary comic strip. Mrs. Grant testified that her brother became incensed when called "Sparky" and that from the time he was about 8 years old he would strike anyone calling him by that name. A childhood friend also recalled that Jack hated the nickname and would fight when called by it. Mrs. Grant was unsure whether the nickname "Sparky" did not also result from his quick reaction to the taunts of young friends. Hyman Rubenstein thought that the nickname derived from Jack's speed, aggressiveness, and quick thinking. The many accounts of Ruby's lightning like temper lend credence to the theory, widely held, that his nickname was connected with his volatility.
Source: Warren Commission Report
Eva, who married Hyman Magid in Chicago in 1930, was divorced in early 1934, and in about June of that year joined her brother Jack in San Francisco. She and her son, Ronald, shared an apartment with him. In 1936, Eva married Frank Granovsky, also known as Frank Grant, in San Francisco, and Ruby shared a four-room apartment with them and Ronald for a short while.
When the group moved to San Francisco, Ruby continued to sell "tip" sheets at Bay Meadows racetrack. Subsequently, he became a door-to-door salesman of subscriptions to San Francisco newspapers. Although there is some evidence that he ultimately became chief of his crew and had several people working under him, other reports indicate that this is unlikely. Eva Grant testified that she also sold newspaper subscriptions but was less proficient than her brother and relied upon him for advice and support.
Although virtually all his San Francisco acquaintances knew Jack Ruby as "Sparky," there is no evidence that, he engaged in violent activities in San Francisco or was reputed to possess a vicious temper. One friend, who stated that he resided with Ruby and Eva for about a year, described him as a "well-mannered, likable individual who was soft spoken and meticulous in his dress and appearance." Another friend described him as a "clean-cut, honest kid," and the manager of a crew with which Ruby worked stated that he had a good reputation and appeared to be an "honest, forthright person." The crew manager reported that Ruby associated with a sports crowd, some of whose members were involved with professional boxing, but not with criminals. He added that Ruby had a personal liking for law enforcement and would have wanted to become a police officer had he been larger physically.
One friend reported that although Ruby always associated with Jewish people, he never exhibited great interest in religion. Ruby met Virginia Belasco, granddaughter of the prominent playwright and actor, David Belasco, in about 1936 at a dance at the Jewish community center in San Francisco. Miss Belasco stated that while a teenager she saw Ruby socially on several occasions between 1936 and 1941. The only other evidence concerning Ruby's social activities while in San Francisco is his statement to his long-time girl friend, Alice Nichols of Dallas, that while in San Francisco he met the only other woman, Virginia Fitzgerald or Fitzsimmons, that he ever considered marrying.
Jack Ruby stated that following his return to Chicago, he was unemployed for a considerable period. However, when his mother was admitted to Elgin State Hospital in 1937, she reported that he was employed as a "traveling salesman" apparently living away from home. Although there is conflicting evidence about his ability to earn a comfortable living, he apparently was able to maintain a normal existence and required no financial assistance from his family or friends. He continued to be a so-called "hustler," scalping tickets and buying watches and other small items for resale at discount prices. One of his closest Chicago friends stated that Ruby's sales and promotions were "shady" but "legitimate."
Labor union activities. Ruby reported that in "about 1937" he became active in Local 20467 of the Scrap Iron and Junk Handlers Union. At this time, his friend, attorney Leon Cooke, was the local's financial secretary. Records provided by the Social Security Administration indicate that Ruby was employed by the union from late 1937 until early 1940; he worked as a union organizer and negotiated with employers on its behalf.
On December 8, 1939, the union's president, John Martin, shot Cooke, who died of gunshot wounds on January 5, 1940; Martin was subsequently acquitted on the ground of self-defense. Although a Jack Rubenstein is mentioned in the minutes of a union meeting on February 2, 1940, and Ruby is reported to have said after Cooke's death that he wanted to "take over" the union, the evidence indicates that Ruby was so upset by Cooke's death that he was unable to devote himself further to union activities and left its employ. Ruby reported that after Cooke's death he adopted the middle name "Leon," which he used only infrequently, in memory of his friend.
Since Ruby was the ultimate source of all but one of these accounts, other descriptions of Ruby's separation from the union cannot with certainty be deemed inaccurate. These reports indicated that Ruby might have been forced out of the union by a criminal group, or might have left because he lacked the emotional stability necessary for successful labor negotiations or because he felt he was not earning enough money with the union.
Although the AFL-CIO investigated the ethical practices of local 20467 in 1956, placed the local in trusteeship, and suspended Paul Dorfman, who succeeded Martin and Cooke, there is no evidence that Ruby's union activities were connected with Chicago's criminal element. Several longtime members of the union reported that it had a good reputation when Ruby was affiliated with it and employers who negotiated with it have given no indication that it had criminal connections.
Subsequent employment. In 1941, Ruby and Harry Epstein organized the Spartan Novelty Co., a small firm that sold in various northeastern States small cedar chests containing candy and gambling devices known as punchboards. Earl Ruby and two of Jack Ruby's friends, Martin Gimpel and Martin Shargol, were also associated in this venture. The group had no fixed addresses, living in hotels. Late in 1941, Jack Ruby returned to Chicago, where he continued his punch board business through the mails. Following the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, he and several friends decided to design and sell plaques commemorating the Day of Infamy. However, the venture was impeded by Ruby's perfectionist approach to details of design which resulted in numerous production delays. By the time Ruby's copyrighted plaque was finally ready for sale, the market was flooded with similar items. At about this time, Ruby also sold busts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In late 1942 and 1943, Ruby was employed by the Globe Auto Glass Co. and Universal Sales Co.
Although one of Ruby's acquaintances at this time described him as a cuckoo nut on the subject of patriotism, the evidence does not indicate that Ruby's promotion of "Remember Pearl Harbor" plaques and Roosevelt busts was motivated by patriotic or political considerations. Rather, the sale of these items was, to Ruby, just another commercial venture, but he might also have considered these sales "a good thing." Numerous friends reported that, Ruby had no interest in political affairs during this period, although he greatly admired President Roosevelt.
Other activities. The evidence indicates that Ruby led a normal social life during these years. Virginia Belasco stated that while Ruby was selling punch boards in New York during November 1941, he entertained her each weekend. Other reports indicate that Ruby fancied himself a "ladies' man," enjoyed dancing, almost always had female accompaniment and was "very gentlemanly" with women. Ruby, with several friends, frequently attempted to disrupt rallies of the German-American Bund. One acquaintance reported that Ruby was responsible for "cracking a few heads" of Bund members. Apparently he joined in this activity for ethnic rather than political reasons. The young men in the group were not organized adherents of any particular political creed, but were pool hall and tavern companions from Ruby's Jewish neighborhood who gathered on the spur of the moment to present opposition when they learned that the pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic Bund movement was planning a meeting. Hyman Rubenstein testified that Ruby would fight with any person making derogatory comments about, his ethnic origins, and others have stated that Ruby would fight with anyone he suspected of pro-Nazi or anti-Semitic tendencies.
During this period Ruby, though temperamental, apparently engaged in no unusual acts of violence. However, he did interfere on several occasions when he thought someone was treated unfairly. A friend who described Ruby as "somewhat overbearing regarding the rights and feelings of others," reported that Ruby fought two college students who insulted a Negro piano player. Another friend reported that Ruby had a "bitter" fight with a man who was abusing an older woman.
Maintaining his friendship with Barney Ross, and still an ardent sports fan, Ruby associated with various figures in the boxing world and regularly attended the fights at Marigold Gardens. He frequented the Lawndale Poolroom and Restaurant, a rallying point for the anti-Bundists and chief "hangout" of many of Ruby's friends. In addition, Ruby, described as a "health nut" who earnestly contended that he could hit harder than Joe Louis, exercised at several athletic clubs.
Despite Ruby's participation in "shady" financial enterprises, his association with a labor union subsequently disciplined by the AFL-CIO his participation in violent anti-Bund activities, and his connection with a poolroom, the evidence falls short of demonstrating that Ruby was significantly affiliated with organized crime in Chicago. Virtually all of Ruby's Chicago friends stated he had no close connection with organized crime. In addition, unreliable as their reports may be, several known Chicago criminals have denied any such liaison. The Commission finds it difficult to attach credence to a newspaper reporter's contrary statement that his undisclosed "syndicate sources" revealed Ruby was connected with organized crime and confidence games. Ruby was unquestionably familiar, if not friendly, with some Chicago criminals, but there is no evidence that he ever participated in organized criminal activity.
In September 1941, Jack Ruby was apparently classified 1-A and declared eligible for the draft. Subsequently he appeared before a local board and was reclassified 1-H or 3-A. Between August 31, 1941, and November 19, 1942, when it was abolished, the 1-H classification applied to registrants who had reached their 28th birthday and were, therefore, no longer liable for service. The 3-A deferment applies to persons whose entry into military service presents financial hardship to dependents. Because of the length of time involved and the destruction of local draft board records, Ruby's precise status or the reason for his deferment could not be ascertained. According to one somewhat unreliable report, Ruby, immediately prior to his physical examination, feigned a hearing disability and occasionally wore a hearing aid. Hyman Rubenstein, who testified that Jack was deferred because of economic hardship since he "the only one home," specifically denied the truthfulness of this allegation. Early in 1943, Ruby was again classified l-A, and, following an unsuccessful appearance before his appeal board, he was inducted into the US. Army Air Forces on May 21, 1943. Jack was the last of the Rubenstein brothers to enter the service. Previously, Earl had enlisted in the Navy, Sam was in Army Air Force Intelligence and Hyman was in the field artillery.
Except for 5 weeks in Farmingdale, N.Y., Ruby spent his military days at various airbases in the South. He received the basic training given all recruits and advanced training as an aircraft mechanic. On August 2, 1943, he passed marksmanship tests with the .30 caliber carbine and the .45 caliber submachine gun, but failed with the .30 caliber rifle. On February 10, 1944, he earned a sharpshooter's rating for his firing of an M1 .30 caliber carbine. His character and efficiency ratings, when determined, were excellent. After attaining the rank of private first class and receiving the good conduct medal, Ruby was honorably discharged on February 21, 1946.
Two persons who recalled Ruby while he was in the Army Air Forces asserted that he was extremely sensitive to insulting remarks about Jews. When, during an argument, a sergeant called Ruby a "Jew bastard," Ruby reportedly attacked him and beat him with his fists.
There is conflicting evidence about the zeal with which Ruby performed his military duties. One associate indicated that Ruby, who at 34 was the oldest in his group, always worked harder than the others to prove that he could keep up with them. Another recalled by contrast, that Ruby had "no liking for work" and carefully avoided situations requiring him to dirty his hands. However, there is no basis in the record for the inference that Ruby was in any way anti-American.
Ruby frequently expressed to some fellow soldiers his high regard for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Two independent sources reported that he cried openly when informed of Roosevelt's death in April 1945. This did not indicate any sudden political interest, however, since none of his known military associates reported such an interest, and Ruby's admiration for President Roosevelt interceded his military days. While in service, Ruby is reported to have continued his promotional ventures. One person recalled that in 1944, Jack received punch boards and chocolates from someone in Chicago and peddled these items through the base to make extra money. This person also indicated that Ruby enjoyed card and dice games in or near the barracks.
Following his discharge from the Army Air Forces in February 1946, Jack Ruby returned to Chicago. He joined his three brothers, who had previously been discharged from the service, in the Earl Products Co. Earl Ruby testified that he was the sole investor in the enterprise, but each brother received an equal ownership interest on his return from the service. The company manufactured and sold small cedar chests and distributed punch boards. In addition, it made aluminum salt and pepper shakers, key chains, bottle openers, screwdrivers, and small hammers. Sam supervised the manufacturing end of the business, while Earl managed the office and advertising. Jack was in charge of sales, but the company was small and he had no subordinates.
Because insufficient profits led to frequent arguments, Hyman soon left Earl Products. Jack, who stayed with the company through most of 1947, had many disputes with his brothers because he insisted on selling the products of other companies, such as costume jewelry, and he did not like traveling outside the Chicago area. Earl and Sam finally purchased Jack's interest, paying him more than $14, 000 in cash.
Although there is some evidence to the contrary, it is unlikely that Ruby was in the nightclub business in Chicago during the postwar period. Many who have reported this may have mistaken him for Harry Rubenstein, who was convicted of manslaughter and operated several such establishments. None of Jack Ruby's close friends or relatives indicated that he was in the nightclub business.
Following his return from the Army, Ruby was described as ready to fight with any person who insulted Jews or the military. Earl Ruby testified that on one occasion in 1946, Jack returned from downtown Chicago with his suit covered with blood. He explained at that time that he had fought with a person who had called him a "dirty Jew or something like that."
Other evidence indicates that Ruby's personality was not substantially changed by his military experience. One person who met him in 1947, reported that Ruby was a "fashionable" dresser. He continued to be described as soft spoken, although he was also known as hot-tempered. Ruby worked out regularly at an athletic club, and one friend regarded him as a "Romeo," who was quite successful in attracting young women.
Source: Warren Commission Report
During World War II, Ruby's sister, Eva Grant, visited Dallas. Having operated a restaurant on the west coast, and considering it a lucrative business, she arranged, near the end of 1945, to lease a building under construction in Dallas, which she ran as a night-club. Part of the financing for this establishment, the Singapore Supper Club, was provided by her brothers. Jack Ruby, who apparently obtained the money from Earl Products, sent $1,100 as a down-payment on the lease, Earl contributed about $1,500, and Hyman paid for more than $2,000 worth of equipment.
Before she opened the Singapore in 1947, Eva Grant engaged in the sale of metal products. In that year she met Paul Roland Jones, who allegedly was seeking customers for iron pipe and whom she referred to Hyman Rubenstein. Jones had, at about that time, been convicted of attempting to bribe the newly elected sheriff of Dallas. On October 24, 1947, he was arrested for violating Federal narcotics statutes. Jack Ruby had visited Dallas early in 1947 to help Eva Grant manage the Singapore, and 5 days after Jones' arrest, Jack and Hyman Rubenstein were interrogated in Chicago by agents of the Bureau of Narcotics. The brothers admitted knowing Jones but denied awareness of his connection with narcotics. During the 2 years in which Jones was appealing his conviction he and other criminals frequented the Singapore Club, then operated by Jack Ruby.
Intensive investigation to determine whether Jack Ruby was criminally or otherwise connected with Jones' narcotics violation leads the Commission to conclude Ruby probably was not involved. A search of the files of the Bureau of Narcotics disclosed no record that either Hyman or Jack had been prosecuted by Federal authorities in 1947. Jack, Hyman, and Eva denied participating in any narcotics activities. Jones and his coconspirators also denied that Jack was a participant. One of Jones' confederates reported after the shooting of Oswald that although Jones "propositioned" the two brothers concerning narcotics, they refused to participate. Moreover, when one of the conspirators was arrested with 48 pounds of raw opium in his possession, he implicated Jones and another person, both of whom were convicted, but he did not implicate Jack Ruby or his brother.
Late in 1947, Ruby established permanent residence in Dallas. Shortly after shooting Oswald, Ruby stated that he returned to Dallas at Eva Grant's request, to help her operate the Singapore Supper Club. However, on December 21, 1963, he reported that although association with his sister had been the purport of his initial visit to Dallas, he returned there because of the failure of his "merchandising deals" in Chicago. These factors, in conjunction with his separation from Earl Products, probably motivated Ruby's move to Dallas.
A different reason has been given by Steve Guthrie, former sheriff of Dallas. Guthrie reported that shortly after his election as sheriff in July 1946, Paul Roland Jones, representing other Chicago criminals, offered him a substantial amount of money to permit them to move in and manage illegal activities in Dallas. Although he never met Ruby, Guthrie asserted that these criminals frequently mentioned that Ruby would operate a "fabulous" restaurant as a front for gambling activities.
Despite its source, the Commission finds it difficult to accept this report. A member of the Dallas Police Department, Lt. George E. Butler, who was present during virtually all the conversations between Guthrie and Jones and who performed considerable investigative work on the case, stated that Ruby was not involved in the bribery attempt and that he had not heard of Ruby until the investigation and trial of Jones had been completed. He explained that Ruby's connection with the case stemmed from the fact that, as mentioned previously, Jones and other criminals frequented the Singapore Supper Club. And 22 recordings of the conversations between Guthrie, Butler, and Jones not only fail to mention Ruby, but indicate that Jones was to bring from outside the Dallas area only one confederate, who was not to be Jewish.
Sometime in 1947, Jack Ruby's brothers Earl and Sam, pursuant to a joint understanding, legally changed their names from Rubenstein to Ruby. Earl testified that he changed his name because everyone called him Ruby and because a former employer advised him that it was preferable not to use a "Jewish name" on mail orders for Earl Products.
On December 30, 1947, Jack changed his name to Jack L. Ruby by securing a decree from the 68th Judicial District Court of Dallas. His petition alleged that he sought the change because the name Rubenstein was misunderstood and too long and because he was "well known" as Jack L. Ruby. The Bureau of Narcotics report of his relationship with Paul Roland Jones indicates that as of October 29, 1947, Jack was known as Ruby; however, several persons in Dallas knew him as Rubenstein.
Source: Warren Commission Report
Except for a brief period in about 1953, when Ruby managed the Ervay Theater, a motion picture house, the operation of nightclubs and dance halls was his primary source of income, and his basic interest in life during the 16 years he spent in Dallas prior to shooting Lee Oswald. When Ruby first arrived in Dallas in 1947, he and Eva Grant jointly managed The Singapore Supper Club. Shortly thereafter, she returned to the west coast. Except for sporadic trips to Dallas, she remained there until 1959, leaving Ruby a power of attorney. Ruby, who had received $14,000 from the sale of his interest in Earl Products, invested a substantial amount in the club, which Mrs. Grant described as "too nice a club for that part of town." Ruby changed the Singapore's name to the Silver Spur Club. It was operated primarily as a dancehall, serving beer to its patrons. In about 1952, Ruby borrowed $3,700 from a friend, Ralph Paul, to purchase the Bob Wills Ranch House with Martin Gimpel, a former associate in the Spartan Novelty Co. The Ranch House was run as a western-type nightclub.
With two establishments to run, Ruby experienced substantial financial reversals in 1952. He abandoned his interest in the Ranch House and, on July 1, 1952, transferred The Silver Spur to Gimpel and Willie Epstein, who assumed some of its debts. Disappointed by these setbacks, Ruby stated that he had a "mental breakdown," and "hibernated" in the Cotton Bowl Hotel in Dallas for 3 or 4 months, declining to see his friends. Still depressed, he then returned to Chicago, apparently intending to remain there permanently. However, he stayed only 6 weeks. Gimpel and Epstein were anxious to be rid of the Silver Spur and Ruby once again became its owner.
In 1953, Ruby obtained an interest in the Vegas Club, which he operated with Joe Bonds until September 1953. At that time he informed Irving Alkana, who had retained a prior ownership interest, that he was unable to meet his obligations with respect to the club. Alkana then assumed management of the Vegas until June 19, 1954, when, following numerous disagreements with him, he sold Ruby his interest.
Ruby still owned the Vegas Club at the time of his arrest on November 24, 1963. However, when Eva Grant returned from San Francisco in 1959, she assumed management of the club, receiving a salary but no ownership interest. The Vegas, which occasionally featured striptease acts, employed a dance band and served beer, wine, soft drinks, and some prepared foods.
In 1954, Ruby's Vegas associate, Joe Bonds, was convicted of sodomy and sent to a Texas penitentiary to serve an 8-year sentence. In 1955, Ruby sold the Silver Spur to Roscoe "Rocky" Robinson; however, Robinson could not obtain a license to operate the club and it was subsequently closed. For a few months during this period, Ruby also operated Hernando's Hideaway, but this venture proved unsuccessful.
Sam Ruby testified that shortly after he sold his interest in Earl Products in mid-1955 and moved to Dallas, he loaned Jack $5,500 to enable him to pay Federal excise taxes on the Vegas. As security for the loan, Sam required Jack to execute a bill of sale of the Vegas. Upon Jack's default in payment, Sam instituted suit, claiming that he owned the Vegas and that Jack had breached his promise to repurchase it. The case was ultimately settled, with Jack retaining his ownership interest in the club.
In late 1959, Jack Ruby became a partner of Joe Slatin in establishing the Sovereign Club, a private club that was apparently permitted by Texas law to sell liquor to members. Since Slatin was troubled about Dallas news stories describing police raids on a private club that permitted gambling, he felt he needed more capital. Ruby invested about $6,000 which he borrowed from his brother Earl and perhaps some of his own money.
The Sovereign was described as a "plush" and exclusive club, and Ruby was apparently very anxious to attract a wealthy "carriage" trade. The venture was not successful, however. The two men could not work together, and Slatin withdrew in early 1960. Ruby turned for new capital to Ralph Paul, who had operated a Dallas club with Joe Bonds. Ruby still owed Paul $1,200 of the $3,700 loan made in connection with the Bob Wills Ranch House, but Paul advanced him another $2,200, which allowed him to pay the Sovereign's rent for 4 months. Subsequently, Ruby spontaneously gave Paul a stock certificate representing 50 percent of the equity of the corporation owning the club. Ruby told Paul that if the venture failed, the Sovereign's fixtures and other physical property would belong to Paul.
Experiencing difficulty in recruiting sufficient members, Ruby soon found himself again unable to pay the Sovereign's monthly rent of $550. Again he turned to Paul, who loaned him $1,650 on the condition that he change the club's method of operation. Paul insisted that Ruby discontinue club memberships, even though this would prevent the sale of liquor, and offer striptease shows as a substitute attraction. Ruby agreed, and the Sovereign's name was changed to the Carousel Club. It became one of three downtown Dallas burlesque clubs and served champagne, beer, "setups" and pizza, its only food. The Carousel generally employed four strippers, a master of ceremonies, an assistant manager, a band, three or four waitresses, and a porter or handyman. Net receipts averaged about $5, 000 per month most of which was allocated to the club's payroll. Late in 1963, Ruby began to distribute "permanent passes" to the Carousel; however, the cards were apparently designed solely for publicity and did not affect the club's legal status.
Ruby's employees displayed a wide range of personal reactions to him. Those associated with Ruby long enough to grow accustomed to his violent temper and constant threats of discharge generally portray him sympathetically. They reported he was genuinely interested in their welfare and happiness. In addition, many former employees stated that he was a pleasant or unobjectionable employer.
There is also considerable evidence that Ruby tended to dominate his employees, frequently resorted to violence in dealing with them, publicly embarrassed them, sometimes attempted to cheat them of their pay, and delayed paying their salaries. Other employees reported Ruby continually harassed his help, and used obscene language in their presence. However he frequently apologized, sought to atone for his many temper tantrums, and completely forgot others.
One of the many violent incidents that were reported took place in 1950, when Ruby struck an employee over the head with a blackjack. In 1951, after his guitarist, Willis Dickerson, told Ruby to "go to hell," Ruby knocked Dickerson to the ground, then pinned him to a wall and kicked him in the groin. During the scuffle, Dickerson bit Ruby's finger so badly that the top half of Ruby's left index finger was amputated. In approximately 1955, Ruby beat one of his musicians with brass knuckles; the musician's mouth required numerous stitches.
During 1960, Ruby and two entertainers, Breck Wall and Joe Peterson, entered into an agreement that the performers would produce and star in a revue at the Sovereign in exchange for a 50-percent interest in the club. After performing for 2 months, the entertainers complained that they had received neither a share of the profits nor evidence of their proprietary interest. Ruby responded by hitting Peterson in the mouth, knocking out a tooth. The two men left the Sovereign's employ, but they subsequently accepted Ruby's apology and resumed their friendship with him.
In September 1969 Frank Ferraro, the Carousel's handyman, became involved in a dispute at a nearby bar. Ruby told him not to get into a fight, and Ferraro told Ruby to mind his own business. Ruby then followed Ferraro to another club and beat him severely. Ferraro required emergency hospital treatment for his eye, but he decided not to press charges since Ruby paid for his hospital care. In March 1963, during an argument about wages, Ruby threatened to throw a cigarette girl down the stairs of the Carousel.
Ruby's relationship with his employees commanded much of his attention during the months preceding the assassination. The Carousel's comparatively high turnover rate and Ruby's intense desire to succeed required him to meet numerous prospective employees, patrons, and other persons who might help improve his business.
Ruby frequently encountered difficulties with The American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), the union which represented Carousel entertainers. For several years, starting in about 1961, he unsuccessfully sought modification of AGVA's policy permitting "amateur" strippers, inexperienced girls paid less than union-scale wages, to perform at union houses. Ruby apparently believed his two competitors, the Weinstein brothers, were scheduling amateur shows in a manner calculated to destroy his business. Ruby's discontent with AGVA grew particularly acute during the late summer and early fall of 1963 when, in addition to meeting with AGVA officials, he called upon several acquaintances, including known criminals, who, he thought, could influence AGVA on his behalf. Other problems with AGVA arose because of his policy of continuous shows, which did not give masters of ceremonies enough time off, and his alleged use of AGVA members to mingle with patrons to promote the consumption of liquor.
In June 1963, Ruby visited New Orleans, where he obtained the services of a stripper known as "Jada," who became his featured performer. Jada and Ruby had numerous contract disputes and he was concerned about her high salary, recurrent absenteeism, and diminishing drawing power. Moreover, he thought that Jada had deliberately exceeded even the Carousel's liberal standards of decency in order to cause him to lose his license or to obtain publicity for herself. On several occasions Ruby excitedly turned off the spotlights during her act, and at the end of October 1963, he fired her. However, after Jada sued out a peace bond, she apparently recovered a week's salary from Ruby.
In addition to problems with its star stripper, the Carousel was required to employ three masters of ceremonies in rapid succession following the departure in about September 1963, of Wally Weston, who worked there about 15 months. And in early November, the band that had played at the Vegas Club for about 8 years left the Vegas to accept the offer of another Dallas club.
Source: Warren Commission Report
Although the precise nature of his relationship to members of the Dallas Police Department is not susceptible of conclusive evaluation, the evidence indicates that Ruby was keenly interested in policemen and their work. Jesse Curry, chief of the Dallas Police Department, testified that no more than 25 to 50 of Dallas' almost 1,200 policemen were acquainted with Ruby. However, the reports of present and past members of the Dallas Police Department as well as Ruby's employees and acquaintances indicate that Ruby's police friendships were far more widespread than those of the average citizen.
There is no credible evidence that Ruby sought special favors from police officers or attempted to bribe them. Although there is considerable evidence that Ruby gave policemen reduced rates, declined to exact any cover charge from them, and gave them free coffee and soft drinks, this hospitality was not unusual for a Dallas night-club operator. Ruby's personal attachment to police officers is demonstrated by reports that he attended the funeral of at least one policeman killed in action and staged a benefit performance for the widow of another. Ruby regarded several officers as personal friends, and others had worked for him. Finally, at least one policeman regularly dated, and eventually married, one of the Carousel's strippers.
From the time that Ruby arrived in Dallas in 1947, he was friendly with numerous underworld figures. One of his earliest Dallas acquaintances was Paul Roland Jones, who was convicted of attempting to bribe the sheriff of Dallas and engaging in the sale of narcotics. Joe Bonds, one of Ruby's partners in the Vegas Club, had a criminal record.
Ruby, who enjoyed card playing and horse racing, was friendly with several professional gamblers. In 1959, he visited Cuba at the invitation and expense of Lewis McWillie, a professional gambler. Alice Nichols reported that Ruby's refusal to give up gambling was one reason why she never seriously considered marrying him. When Sidney Seidband, a Dallas gambler, was arrested in Oklahoma City, his list of gambling acquaintances included Jack Ruby. And other friends of Ruby have been identified as gamblers. Finally, two persons of questionable reliability have reported that Ruby's consent was necessary before gambling or narcotics operations could be launched in Dallas.
Based on its evaluation of the record, however, the Commission believes that the evidence does not establish a significant link between Ruby and organized crime. Both State and Federal officials have indicated that Ruby was not affiliated with organized criminal activity. And numerous persons have reported that Ruby was not connected with such activity.
Despite reports that Ruby visited Havana, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Honolulu, and Mexican border towns, most of his time subsequent to 1947 was spent in Dallas. Some of his travels, including, his efforts in behalf of "Little Daddy" Nelson and his visit to New Orleans in June 1963 have been discussed. Ruby stated that he went to Chicago in 1952, in 1958 when his father died, and in August 1963 when he met members of his family at O'Hare International Airport while en route from New York to Dallas. His August trip to New York motivated by his difficulties with the American Guild of Variety Artists and his desire to obtain talent, has been completely established by hotel records. Early in 1963 Ruby also traveled to Wichita, Kans., because of his interest in stripper Gall Raven, and on May 25, 1968, he apparently registered in an Oklahoma motel.
Although Ruby denies being in Las Vegas after 1937, there are unsupported rumors that he was in that city in late 1962, and the early part of November 1963. Reports that he was in Las Vegas during the weekend prior to the assassination appear similarly unfounded.
There is some uncertainty about Ruby's trip to Havana, Cuba, in 1959. The evidence indicates that he accepted an invitation from gambler Lewis J. McWillie, who subsequently became a violent anti-Castroite, to visit Havana at McWillie's expense. Ruby apparently met McWillie in about 1950, when McWillie operated a Dallas night-club. McWillie, whom Ruby said he idolized, supervised gambling activities at Havana's Tropicana Hotel in 1959 and later was employed in a managerial capacity in a Las Vegas gambling establishment. Ruby testified that he went to Havana for 8 days in August 1959 and left because he was not interested in its gambling activities. McWillie corroborated this story except that he stated only that Ruby visited Havana "sometime in 1959." Three Chicagoans reported seeing Ruby in Havana during the Labor Day weekend in 1959. Meyer Panitz, an acquaintance of McWillie, reported that when he met Ruby in Miami during the "summer of 1959" Ruby stated that he was returning from a pleasure trip to Cuba. The theory that the trip to Havana had conspiratorial implications is discussed in chapter VI. There is no reliable evidence that Ruby went to Havana subsequent to September 1959.
Although Ruby denied ever being in Hawaii, there is some evidence that during the summer of 1961 he was in Honolulu seeking dancing talent. While it is unlikely that Ruby would forget a trip to Honolulu in 1961, there is no other indication that such a trip, if it occurred, had any sinister motives.
As mentioned previously, Eva Grant was the only member of the family living in Dallas when Ruby returned to that city in late 1947. In 1948, she returned to the west coast, visiting Dallas sporadically until 1959, when she assumed management of the Vegas. Despite their recurring arguments, during which they sometimes came to blows, Ruby was closer to Eva than any of his brothers or sisters. In the summer of 1963, Eva complained bitterly to Ruby because he gave a friend about $800 instead of paying Vegas Club bills. Eva, citing her poor healthy stated that she should be hospitalized. Ruby rejoined that he had provided her money to enter a hospital. He then shoved her, causing her to fall back about 8 feet and hurt her arm and shoulder. At this point Ruby insisted he wanted her to leave the Vegas Club.
Ruby frequently told Eva to submit to an operation and in early November 1963 she consented. She was hospitalized for a week, leaving about November 13. While she was in the hospital, Jack called Earl and Sam, requesting them to convey their concern to Eva. According to Eva, Jack visited her at the hospital two or three times a day. He kept in constant touch with her throughout the weekend of November 22. Sam Ruby moved to Dallas from Chicago in July 1955, after selling his interest in the Earl Products Co. His son's asthma and Eva's suggestion that he work as a builder in Dallas prompted the move. Apparently as a result of difficulties in collecting the $5,500 Sam loaned Jack in 1955 to pay Federal excise taxes, Jack and Sam were never particularly close to each other. However, Sam entered into a partnership in an unsuccessful ice cream business with Jack's close friend, Ralph Paul. Jack visited Sam and his family occasionally, especially on Jewish holidays, and from time to time they spoke to each other by telephone.
Jack had sporadic contacts with his brother Earl, who remained in Chicago until about 1960, when he moved to Detroit. The most successful of the brothers, Earl often gave Jack business advice and capital. He estimated, perhaps conservatively, that, when arrested, Jack owed him $15,000. The evidence also indicates that Jack borrowed at least $1,000, and probably more, from his sister Marion in Chicago.
There have been statements that Ruby was a homosexual. The available evidence does not support the allegation. There is no evidence of homosexuality on his part; Ruby did not frequent known gathering places for homosexuals, many of the reports were inherently suspect or based upon questionable or inaccurate premises, and Ruby and most of his associates and employees denied the charge. All the allegations were based on hearsay or derive from Ruby's lisp or a "feeling" that Ruby was a "sissy," seemed "weird," acted effeminately, and sometimes spoke in a high-pitched voice when angry. Some proceeded upon the erroneous theory that Ruby did not date women.
For the better part of 11 years, Ruby dated Mrs. Alice Reaves Nichols, a blonde divorcee, 4 years younger than he. Mrs. Nichols, secretary to a Dallas life insurance company executive, testified that she saw Ruby twice a week between 1948 and 1956, and once a week from then until about 1959. Ruby discussed marriage with Mrs. Nichols, but Mrs. Nichols stated that while dating Ruby she was seeing other men and he was taking out other women. Although there are sharply conflicting reports about whether Ruby dated women who worked for him, the record indicates that Ruby sought and enjoyed feminine company.
Ruby was extremely fond of dogs. Numerous persons stated that he was constantly accompanied by several of the dogs he owned. Testimony at Ruby's trial in March 1964 indicated that he referred to his dogs as his "children." He also became extremely incensed when he witnessed the maltreatment of any of his dogs.
Reared in the Jewish faith, Jack Ruby was not especially devout. Rabbi Hillel Silverman, whose conservative temple Ruby favored, reported that when Ruby's father died in 1958, Ruby came to services twice daily for the prescribed period of 11 months to recite the traditional memorial prayer. Ruby normally attended services only on the Jewish high truly days and he was quite unfamiliar with the Hebrew language.
Ruby was apparently somewhat sensitive to his identity as a Jew. He forbade his comedians to tell stories directed at Jews or Jewish practices and, on several occasions after 1947, he fought with persons making derogatory remarks about his ethnic origins. The evidence also indicates that he was deeply upset that an advertisement insulting President Kennedy appeared above a Jewish-sounding name.
While in Dallas, Ruby continued attempts to keep in excellent physical condition. He frequently exercised at the YMCA, the Carousel, and his apartment, where he maintained a set of weights. Ruby was extremely concerned about his weight and health, including his baldness, and about his appearance in general.
Ruby's concern for his physical well-being was partially motivated by practical considerations, for he was his own unofficial club bouncer. On about 15 occasions since 1950, he beat with his fists, pistol whipped, or blackjacked patrons who became unruly. At other times, he ejected troublesome customers without a beating, in many instances, justifiably. However, many people stated that he employed more force than necessary, particularly because he often ended a fracas by throwing his victim down the stairs of the Carousel.
Besides acting as a bouncer, Ruby on numerous other occasions severely beat people who were not club patrons, usually employing only his fists. Several of these episodes have been discussed in connection with Ruby's relationship with his employees. In 1951, Ruby attacked a man who had called him a "kike Jew" and knocked out a tooth. At about that time Ruby is also reported to have knocked a man down from behind and then to have kicked him in the face. In about 1958, Ruby disarmed a man who had drawn a gun on him at the Vegas, beat him almost to death, put the gun back in the man's pocket, and threw him down the stairs. In 1958, Ruby reportedly knocked down a man at the Vegas who was 6'3" tall and weighed 230 pounds. Ruby was approximately 5'9" tall and weighed about 175 pounds. Ruby then made the man, who had slapped his date, crawl out of the club. In a fight at the Vegas, reportedly witnessed by policemen, Ruby severely beat a heavyweight boxer who had threatened him.
During 1962, several violent episodes occurred. Ruby beat a man who refusal to pay admission or leave and then shoved him down the stairs. He "jostled" a woman down the stairs of the Carousel and struck her escort, who was "much smaller" than he. On one occasion, Ruby picked up a man who was arguing with his date, knocked him to the floor, cursed him, and then removed him from the Vegas. When a cabdriver entered the Carousel and inquired about a patron who had neglected to pay his fare, Ruby struck the cabdriver.
In February 1963, Ruby badly beat Don Tabon, who had made some remarks about Ruby's lady companion, injuring Tabon's eye. Ruby was acquitted of a charge of assault and Tabon sought no monetary relief because he believed Ruby financially incapable of satisfying any resulting judgment. A doctor who went to the Carousel several times between August and November 1963, stated that on each occasion Ruby ejected someone from the club.
Buddy Turman, a prizefighter and Ruby's friend, stated that Ruby "picked his shots." According to Turman, a bouncer at the Vegas for about a year, Ruby's victim was frequently drunk, female, or otherwise incapable of successfully resisting Ruby's attack. The evidence indicates that, unlike his youthful escapades, Ruby was often malicious. He frequently felt contrite, however, when his anger had passed or when his victim was an old acquaintance, and he would seek to make amends for his violent temper.
With two exceptions, there is no evidence that Ruby settled disputes with firearms. Shortly before Joe Bonds' conviction in 1954, Ruby is reported to have chased Bonds with a pistol. And, Larry Crafard reported that about a week before the assassination, Ruby told him to get Ruby's gun so that an AGVA official and former employee, Earl Norman, could be ejected. Although Ruby did not often use his gun, it was frequently accessible when he was carrying large amounts of money.
While Ruby often flared up and acted aggressively, he seemed to calm down or forget his anger quickly, and there is also a great deal of evidence that he was extremely generous to his friends. He loaned money to them and apparently cared little whether the loans would be repaid. He was quick to offer employment to persons desperately in need of a job and he lent considerable aid to persons seeking work elsewhere. Moreover, when friends or new acquaintances had no roof over their heads, Ruby's apartment was frequently theirs to share.
Ruby's unusual generosity may be explained in part by his extremely emotional reaction to persons in distress, which may have resulted from his firsthand familiarity with poverty, and by his unusual craving to be recognized and relied upon. Many of Ruby's acquaintances described him as a "publicity hound," "glad hander," and "name dropper," one always seeking to be the center of attention. Apparently the "egocentrism" of his youth never left Ruby. Yet, frequently he sought reassurance from persons he admired.
Source: Warren Commission Report
Jack Ruby's pockets and the trunk of his car served as his bank. With a few exceptions, Ruby and his clubs rarely employed bank accounts. Instead, Ruby carried his cash with him, paying the bulk of his expenses and debts directly out of club receipts.
During the latter half of 1963, the Carousel, the Vegas, and Ruby each maintained checking accounts at the Merchants State Bank in Dallas. Balances of the latter two accounts never exceeded $275. In July 1963, the Carousel's account had more than $500; after August 8, its maximum balance was less than $800. Between May 31 and November 24, 1963, 53 checks were drawn on the three accounts; with the exception of one check for $129.47, all were for less than $100. He generally purchased cashier's checks at the Merchants State Bank to pay his monthly rental of $550 for the Carousel and $500 for the Vegas. He also purchased cashier's checks during the 3 months prior to the assassination to pay about $1,500 to the Texas State treasurer, $110 to Temple Shearith Israel, apparently for Jewish high holy day tickets, and $60 to the American Society of Authors and Publishers.
Records of the more than 50 banking institutions checked during the investigation of Ruby's financial affairs revealed that he had three other dormant accounts, all with small balances. Two safety deposit boxes belonging to Ruby, opened by Texas officials pursuant to search warrants, were empty and unused for more than a year prior to the assassination. Although Ruby negotiated several loans at the Merchants State Bank, there is no evidence that he was the maker or co-maker of other loans, and, after investigation, the Dallas Police Department found no record that Ruby cosigned the note of any policeman at any time.
Ruby's financial records were chaotic. One accountant abandoned efforts to prepare income tax returns and other financial statements because of the hopeless disarray of Ruby's data. The record indicates that Ruby was frequently weeks, if not months, late in filing Federal tax forms and that he held numerous conferences with Internal Revenue agents who attempted to obtain the delinquent statements. Ruby encountered serious difficulties with respect to State franchise and Federal excise and income taxes. The Texas charter of the corporation controlling the Sovereign and Carousel clubs was canceled in 1961, because Ruby failed to pay Texas franchise taxes. And, only after numerous conferences, did Ruby and representatives of the Internal Revenue Service reach agreements on installment payments of various Federal tax liabilities, to which Ruby more or less adhered.
Ruby's primary difficulty concerned Federal excise taxes. Advised by an attorney that the Vegas Club, a dance hall providing food, was not subject to Federal excise taxes because it was not a "cabaret," Ruby charged Vegas patrons on the assumption that no excise taxes were due. However, his attorney reported, when Federal courts ruled that dance halls providing "incidental" food were subject to excise taxes as "cabarets," Ruby became liable to the Federal Government for more than 6 years of taxes, amounting, with interest, to almost exactly $40,000.
Ruby also fell behind on his personal income tax payments. At the time of his arrest he owed more than $4,400 for 1959 and 1960. Remittances accompanied his 1961 and 1962 tax forms, the latter received by the office of the Dallas District Director on September 18, 1963. The following table summarizes amounts which Ruby reported as gross and net income from the Vegas Club from 1956 to 1962; and the taxes due:
| Year | Gross Income | Net Income | Tax |
| 1962 | $41,462.77 | $5,619.65 | $1,217.75 |
| 1961 | 40,411.00 | 6,255.29 | 1,200.00 |
| 1960 | 44,482.41 | 9,703.90 | 2,221.39 |
| 1959 | 50,981.95 | 14,060.86 | 3,778.17 |
| 1958 | 37,755.65 | 3,274.64 | 586.52 |
| 1957 | 33,671.60 | 2,619.52 | 438.41 |
| 1956 | 30,695.27 | 7,437.01 | 1,527.10 |
On his income tax forms, Ruby did not itemize personal deductions and claimed only his own exemption. For 1962, Ruby reported salary income of $650 from the corporation controlling the Carousel, and $900 for 1961.
Ruby and officers of the Internal Revenue Service frequently discussed methods of satisfying his large excise and income tax liability. In 1960, the Government filed tax liens for more than $20,000. In November 1962, the Government rejected Ruby's offer to pay $8,000 to compromise the assessed taxes of more than $20,000 because he had not filed returns for other Federal taxes and had not paid these taxes as they became due. These other taxes, for the period September 1959 through June 1962, amounted to an additional $20,000. In June 1963, Ruby submitted an offer of $3,000 to compromise all past assessments; the offer was not acted upon prior to November 24, 1963.
In addition to nightclub management and ownership, Ruby participated in numerous other commercial ventures. He was able to do so primarily because work at the clubs consumed few of his daytime hours. Many of Ruby's ventures related to show business, others were somewhat speculative promotions; almost all ended unsuccessfully. While operating the Silver Spur Club, Ruby sold costume jewelry at discount rates, and, in about 1951, he sold sewing machine attachments at the Texas State Fair. Approximately a year later, he managed a talented young Negro boy, "Little Daddy" Nelson. The boy appeared at the Silver Spur, the Vegas Club, and the Bob Wills Ranch House. In about 1953 or 1954, Ruby took "Little Daddy" and his parents to Chicago to obtain a television appearance for him. However, shortly after their arrival, Ruby was confronted by a second woman claiming to be "Little Daddy's" mother. Upon advice of counsel, Ruby decided to abandon the venture.
In 1954, Ruby became interested in the sale of pizza crusts to Dallas restaurants. He is also reported to have sold an arthritic preparation and to have manufactured and sold "Miniron," a liquid vitamin formula. In about 1958 or 1959, Ruby attempted to build and sell log cabins at a Texas lake resort. In early 1959, he investigated the possibility of selling jeeps to Cuba. He is also reported to have furnished entertainment for a Dallas hotel, to have promoted records for musicians and to have sold English stainless steel razor blades.
In October 1963 Ruby assisted the producers of a carnival show, "How Hollywood Makes Movies," appearing at the Texas State Fair. At about this time Ruby also sought to open a new club in Dallas. He conferred with numerous persons and placed advertisements in Dallas newspapers in an attempt to obtain financial backing. Assuming that he would be occupied by the new club, Ruby offered his oldest brother, Hyman, a managerial post at the Carousel. However, Hyman, who had recently lost his sales territory, declined the offer because he felt he was too old for the nightclub business.
Ruby unsuccessfully attempted to sell "twist boards," an exercising device consisting of two square fiberboard's separated by ball bearings. Despite the contrary advice of his brother Earl, Jack ordered several dozen twist boards and had 2,000 promotional flyers published. He had one of his strippers demonstrate the twist boards at the Texas Products Show during the first week of November 1963.
Between 1949 and November 24, 1963, Ruby was arrested eight times by the Dallas Police Department. The dates, charges, and dispositions of these arrests are as follows: February 4, 1949, Ruby paid a $10 fine for disturbing the peace. July 26, 1953, Ruby was suspected of carrying a concealed weapon; however, no charges were filed and Ruby was released on the same day. May 1, 1954, Ruby was arrested for allegedly carrying a concealed weapon and violating a peace bond; again no charges were filed and Ruby was released on the same day. December 5, 1954, Ruby was arrested for allegedly violating State liquor laws by selling liquor after hours; the complaint was dismissed on February 8, 1955. June 21, 1959, Ruby was arrested for allegedly permitting dancing after hours; the complaint was dismissed on July 8, 1959. August 21, 1960, Ruby was again arrested for allegedly permitting dancing after hours; Ruby posted $25 bond and was released on that date. February 12, 1963, Ruby was arrested on a charge of simple assault; he was found not guilty February 27, 1963. Finally, on March 14, 1963, Ruby was arrested for allegedly ignoring traffic summonses; a $35 bond was posted.
When Ruby applied for a beer license in March 1961, he reported that he had been arrested "about four or five times" between 1947 and 1953. Between 1950 and 1963, he received 20 tickets for motor vehicle violations, paying four $10 fines and three of $3. In 1956 and 1959, Ruby was placed on 6 months' probation as a traffic violator.
Ruby was also frequently suspended by the Texas Liquor Control Board. In August 1949, when he was operating the Silver Spur, he was suspended for 5 days on a charge of "Agents Moral Turpitude." In 1953 Ruby received a 5-day suspension because of an obscene show, and, in 1954, a 10-day suspension for allowing a drunkard on his premises. On February 18, 1954, he was suspended for 5 days because of an obscene striptease act at the Silver Spur and for the consumption of alcoholic beverages during prohibited hours. On March 26, 1956. Ruby was suspended by the liquor board for 3 days because several of his checks were dishonored. On October 23, 1961, he received another 3-day suspension because an agent solicited the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on licensed premises.
Source: Warren Commission Report
Was Lee Harvey Oswald's killer part of a conspiracy?
Copyright © 2000 by David Reitzes
Many take it for granted that if there was an assassination conspiracy, Jack Ruby must have been involved. In fact, many people believe there was a conspiracy precisely because of Ruby's murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, which had the effect -- intentional or not -- of silencing the accused assassin.But whether there was a conspiracy or not, there is no reason to assume that Ruby must have been involved. In fact, logic tells us that no conspiracy could profit by silencing Oswald in a public fashion: What's the point of eliminating one suspect while simultaneously handing the police another? Also, were it Oswald's intention to "talk," he'd already had nearly 48 hours in which to do so. Every minute he waited only diminished the chance that others involved could be apprehended. By that time, any conspirators would have to assume he'd already spilled his guts.
Another factor to be considered is whether Ruby was the type of person to be entrusted with any responsibility, when a single word from him could have resulted in the arrest of others involved. Dallas reporter Tony Zoppi knew Ruby well and says one "would have to be crazy" to entrust Ruby with anything important, that 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."(1) "Jack Ruby would be the last one that I could ever trust to do anything," says Ruby's rabbi, Hillel Silverman.(2)
According to stripper Janet "Jada" Conforto, Ruby was "totally unpredictable. . . . Completely emotional. One minute he is nice, and the next minute he goes berserk. . . . I don't think he is sane."(3) American Guild of Variety Artists official Johnnie Hayden called Ruby a "kook" because of his unpredictable and erratic outbursts.(4) Edward Pullman, whose wife worked for Ruby, called him "insane. He was a psycho. . . . He was not right."(5) William Serur knew Ruby for over ten years and said, "In the last few years I thought he might have been suffering from some form of . . . mental disturbance, by the way he acted."(6)
Rabbi Silverman says, "He was a very volatile, a very emotional, unbalanced person. He thought he was doing the right thing [when he shot Oswald]. He loved Kennedy."(7) "I hope I killed the son of a bitch," Ruby said immediately afterwards to the Dallas police who arrested him. "It will save you guys a lot of trouble."(8) He told Assistant DA Bill Alexander, "Well, you guys couldn't do it. Someone had to do it. That son of a bitch killed my President."(9)
"Jack actually thought he might come out of this as a hero of sorts," says Alexander. "He thought he had erased any stigma the city had by knocking off Oswald."(10) Attorney Jim Martin spoke to Ruby soon after his arrest and says, "He never expected to spend a night in jail."(11)
In fact, when the crowd outside Dallas Police Department headquarters heard that Oswald had been shot, they burst into applause.(12)
In the 36 years since the nightclub owner emerged from the shadows to gun down Oswald, Ruby's life has become one of the most intensely scrutinized biographies in American history; yet not a shred of evidence has ever surfaced to link him to an assassination conspiracy. Is it really possible that Ruby covered his tracks so thoroughly?
The only thing people can do to indicate a role for Ruby in a conspiracy is to take Ruby's own words out of context, something countless researchers have been all too willing to do. Oliver Stone's JFK depicts Ruby before the Warren Commission, begging to be taken back to Washington so that he can give "further testimony," presumably of a conspiratorial nature.
But Stone omits what is arguably the most lucid, significant remark of Ruby's testimony, when he told Chief Justice Earl Warren, Gerald Ford and others, "I am as innocent regarding any conspiracy as any of you gentlemen in the room . . ."(13) Ruby was actually begging the commission to take him back to Washington so that he could take a polygraph examination and prove that he was telling the truth when he denied any role in a conspiracy.
Mr. RUBY. Without a lie detector test on my testimony, my verbal statements to you, how do you know if I am telling the truth? . . . I would like to be able to get a lie detector test or truth serum of what motivated me to do what I did at that particular time . . .(14)
It was precisely this concern that was voiced when Ruby asked:
Mr. RUBY. Is there any way to get me to Washington?Chief Justice WARREN. I beg your pardon?
Mr. RUBY. Is there any way of you getting me to Washington?
Chief Justice WARREN. I don't know of any. I will be glad to talk to your counsel about what the situation is, Mr. Ruby, when we get an opportunity to talk.
Mr. RUBY. . . . I would like to request that I go to Washington and take all the tests that I have to take. It is very important. . . . Because I have been over this for the longest time to get the lie detector test.(15)
Ruby made a number of statements that are all too easily taken out of context. For example:
Mr. RUBY. Gentlemen, my life is in danger here. . . . I may not live tomorrow to give any further testimony. The reason why I add this to this, since you assure me that I have been speaking sense by then, I might be speaking sense by following what I have said, and the only thing I want to get out to the public, and I can't say it here, is with authenticity, with sincerity of the truth of everything and why my act was committed, but it can't be said here.It can be said, it's got to be said amongst people of the highest authority that would give me the benefit of doubt. And following that, immediately give me the lie detector test after I do make the statement.(16)
It is not any alleged conspirators that threaten Ruby, however. Rather, he fears that if he is believed to be part of an assassination conspiracy, someone might do to him -- and members of his family -- precisely what he had done to Oswald:
Mr. RUBY. [S]ome persons are accusing me falsely of being part of the plot . . . a plot to silence Oswald. . . . [T]he people that have the power here . . . already have me as the accused assassin of our beloved President.(17) I tell you, gentlemen, my whole family is in jeopardy . . . as to their lives. . . . Naturally, I am a foregone conclusion. My sisters Eva, Eileen, and Mary, I lost my sisters. My brothers Sam, Earl, Hyman, and myself naturally -- my in-laws, Harold Kaminsky, Marge Ruby, the wife of Earl, and Phyllis, the wife of Sam Ruby, they are in jeopardy of loss of their lives . . . just because they are blood related to myself . . . Consequently, right at this moment I am being victimized [falsely portrayed] as a part of a plot in the world's worst tragedy and crime at this moment. . . . At this moment, Lee Harvey Oswald isn't [seen as being] guilty of committing the crime of assassinating President Kennedy. Jack Ruby is. How can I fight that, Chief Justice Warren?(18)
Ruby was also very specific about precisely who was most actively pushing the theory of his involvement in a conspiracy:
[T]here is a certain organization in this area that has been indoctrinated that I am the one that was in the plot to assassinate our President. . . . The John Birch Society.(19)
Ruby was correct; the John Birch Society was indeed spreading propaganda implicating Ruby as part of a Jewish conspiracy. In fact, Ruby correctly named resigned US Army Major General Edwin Walker as one of the society's leaders in Dallas,(20) and it is quite telling that when Walker appeared before the Warren Commission, he insisted upon referring to Ruby by his birth name, Rubenstein.(21)
Ruby continued:
If certain people have the means and want to gain something by propagandizing something to their own use, they will make ways to present certain things that I do look guilty."(22) . . . If you don't take me back to Washington tonight to give me a chance to prove to the President that I am not guilty, then you will see the most tragic thing that will ever happen. And . . . I won't be around to be able to prove my innocence or guilt.(23). . . I am used as a scapegoat, and there is no greater weapon that you can use to create some falsehood about some of the Jewish faith, especially at the terrible heinous crime such as the killing of President Kennedy. . . . Now maybe something can be saved. It may not be too late, whatever happens, if our President, Lyndon Johnson, knew the truth from me. But if I am eliminated, there won't be any way of knowing. Right now, when I leave your presence now, I am the only one that can bring out the truth to our President, who believes in righteousness and justice. But he has been told, I am certain, that I was part of a plot to assassinate the President. . . .(24)
Ruby's attorney Joe Tonahill asked, "Who do you think is going to eliminate you, Jack?" Ruby replied, in another statement that has been quoted out of context by even reputable journalists such as Seth Kantor, "I have been used for a purpose [for propaganda by anti-Semitic organizations like the Birch Society], and there will be a certain tragic occurrence happening if you don't take my testimony and somehow vindicate me so my people don't suffer because of what I have done. . . . You have lost me though. You have lost me, Chief Justice Warren. . . . I won't be around for you to come and question me again. . . . All I want is a lie detector test, and you refuse to give it to me."(25)
For those more intent upon pinning the blame on Ruby than discerning the true nature of the facts, the only thing left to do is insist he was lying. One researcher, in fact, has even made repeated claims that the polygraph test Ruby eventually took indicated that Ruby was, in fact, lying. This researcher has claimed that "a panel of 9 polygraph experts determined that there were blatant signs of deception during Ruby's polygraph test, when he was asked about knowing Oswald and about involvement with Oswald in the assassination."(26)
This researcher asserts this in spite of the fact that the panel in question, that of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, actually concluded: "It is emphasized by the panel, however, that no opinion could be rendered on the validity of this examination or the reliability of the results for the numerous reasons discussed in this report."(27)
Click here to read the House committee's full report on Ruby's polygraph examination.
What about the question of motive? Did Ruby really shoot Oswald because he wanted to spare Mrs. Kennedy the ordeal of Oswald's trial? Or did he have a more obvious motive? "Everybody has fantasies about wanting to be a hero," says James R. Leavelle, the homicide detective in the white hat who was handcuffed to Oswald when Ruby emerged from the shadows. "Ruby told me an interesting thing when I was a patrolman," Leavelle recalls, "which didn't make any sense to me at the time, but it did after [Ruby shot Oswald]. He told me, 'I'd like to see two police officers sometime in a death struggle about to lose their lives, and I could jump in there and save them and be a hero.'"(28)
Leavelle accompanied Ruby when he was transferred from the city jail. He says, "When I transferred him, I told him when we were going down on the elevator, 'Jack, in all the years I've known you, you've never done anything to hurt a police officer, but you didn't do us any favors this time.'" Ruby replied, "Well, all I wanted to do was be a hero, and it looks like I just fouled things up." ("Except he used another word for it," notes Leavelle.)(29)
Sgt. Gerald Hill had known Ruby for over a decade at the time of the assassination. Hill says, "I think his calculating mind was going all the time on the assumption that 'I'll shoot Oswald. Public sentiment will get me off, and then I'll make a million bucks because everybody'll come to see the man that killed the man that killed the President!'"(30)
Police Captain W. R. Westbrook had also known Ruby for years. Westbrook says, "Ruby probably thought he was going to be a hero, maybe like John Wilkes Booth."(31)
Captain L. D. Montgomery, who also knew Ruby, concurs: "I think that he thought that if he killed the man that killed the President, then it would make him a hero and possibly some money."(32)
How long is the statute of limitations on suspicion? When does the research community admit that it has no evidence against Jack Ruby, and direct its efforts in more productive directions? Through "certain falsehoods that have been said about me," Ruby once lamented, "I am as good as guilty as the accused assassin of President Kennedy." He asked, "How can you remedy that, Mr. Warren? Do any of you men have any ways of remedying that?"(33)
Nearly four decades on, no answer is in sight.
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NOTES
1. Gerald Posner, Case Closed, pp. 361, 399, citing his interview with Tony Zoppi of November 19, 1992.
2. Posner, 399. Rabbi Silverman was one of Ruby's closest confidantes following his arrest, first meeting with him on November 25, then roughly once or twice a week thereafter until Silverman moved to Los Angeles in July 1964. Silverman happened also to be friendly with Warren Commission junior counsel David W. Belin; the two had met during the summer of 1963. during a study mission to Israel. On one of Belin's first trips to Dallas on behalf of the commission, he asked Silverman his opinion as to whether Ruby was a part of a conspiracy. "Jack Ruby is absolutely innocent of any conspiracy," Silverman unhesitatingly replied. (David W. Belin, Final Disclosure [New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988], pp. 35-37.)
3. El Paso Herald Post, January 1, 1964; Posner, p. 359.
4. Warren Commission Exhibit No. 1449; Posner, p. 359.
5. Warren Commission Hearings Vol. XV, p. 228; Posner, p. 359.
6. Warren Commission Exhibit No. 2411; Posner, p. 359.
7. Posner, p. 399.
8. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, 245; XIII, p. 308; Posner, p. 398.
9. Posner, p. 399, citing his personal interview with Bill Alexander, March 12, 1992.
10. Ibid.
11. Posner, p. 399.
12. Posner, p. 399 fn.
13. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 204. For more on this issue, see author Jean Davison's evaluation of the treatment Ruby's testimony undergoes in Mark Lane's Rush to Judgment.
14. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 181.
15. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 190.
16. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 194.
17. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 209.
18. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 197.
19. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 198.
20. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 197.
21. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. XI, pp. 421, 423.
22. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 209.
23. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 210.
24. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 211.
25. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 211.
26. Robert Harris, Newsgroup post of July 14, 1999. Harris has posted an article on this subject, which argues that the HSCA panel concluded that Ruby lied when he answered "no," to the question, "Did you assist Oswald in the assassination?" The panel noted "a constant suppression of breathing and a rise in blood pressure at the time of this crucial relevant question. From this test, it appeared to the panel that Ruby was possibly lying when answering 'no' to the question."
There are at least a half dozen problems with Harris' conclusion. First, the HSCA panel noted no such reaction when Ruby answered "no" to the previous question, "Did you know Oswald before November 22, 1963?" A literal interpretation of these two questions would be that Ruby did not know Oswald, but was somehow involved in the assassination. This is possible, of course, but another equally valid interpretation would be that mention of the assassination upset Ruby for some other reason. It seems not inconceivable that this could be the case.
Second, Ruby's reaction to the question Harris cites is comparable to the reaction the HSCA panel observed when he answered "no" to the questions, "Are you now a member of the Communist Party?" and "Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" In fact, this latter question "also evoked by far the most dramatic breathing reaction" of the entire examination. Therefore, by Harris's reasoning, Jack Ruby was a Communist.
Third, the panel noted that prior to Ruby being asked if he assisted Oswald in the assassination, the so-called neutral control question asked him by his examiner was anything but a "neutral" question: "Have you ever been arrested?" The panel noted twice in its report that they "believed this to be an extremely poor control question."
Fourth, the panel noted numerous procedural errors in the administration of Ruby's polygraph examination, any one of which they noted could have invalidated any conclusions drawn from it.
Fifth, the HSCA panel's specific conclusion regarding the question about Ruby's assisting Oswald in the assassination was that "it appeared to the panel that Ruby was possibly lying." This is followed by the statement, "It is emphasized by the panel, however, that no opinion could be rendered on the validity of this examination or the reliability of the results for the numerous reasons discussed in this report."
Sixth, polygraphs are a notoriously unreliable indication of dishonesty in the first place, and most courts will not accept polygraph examinations into evidence for precisely that reason. The following is a selection of online articles that might be of interest regarding this topic:
Skeptic's Dictionary: Polygraph: The "Lie Detector" Machine Polygraph Test Considered Invalid by Two Groups of Scientists,
Lies, damned lies and polygraphs
Pinocchio Science: The Truth About the Polygraph
ACLU Briefing Paper: Lie Detector Testing
Polygraphs -- Danger to Innocent People?
Committee on Judiciary, February 10, 1999, Arizona House of Representatives
Further reading:
Lykken, David Thoreson, A Tremor in the Blood : Uses and Abuses of the Lie Detector (Plenum Press, 1998).
Jussim, Daniel, "'Ouija Board Justice' in Florida: The Polygraph Comes to School," Civil Liberties, No. 358. (summer-fall 1986)
Shneour, Elie, "Lying about polygraph tests," Skeptical Inquirer, Spring 1990, Vol.14, No.3.
"Polygraph Tests Are Degrading, Don't Work -- and Should Be Banned," Civil Liberties, No. 355, Fall 1985).
27. House Select Committee on Assassinations, Hearings Vol. VIII, p. 219.
28. Larry A. Sneed, No More Silence, p. 402.
29. Larry A. Sneed, No More Silence, p. 402.
30. Larry A. Sneed, No More Silence, p. 301.
31. Larry A. Sneed, No More Silence, p. 323.
32. Larry A. Sneed, No More Silence, p. 422.
33. Warren Commission Hearings Vols. V, p. 211.
Conspiracy books will make a big deal about the fact that Jack Ruby urged the Warren Commission to allow him to come to Washington, D.C. The implication usually drawn is that Ruby was a member of The Conspiracy, and wanted to go to Washington so that he could "spill the beans" and tell the whole truth about what happened. Read his testimony carefully, and see whether he is saying that he participated in any conspiracy. He certainly *did* believe there was a conspiracy. The question is: what kind? Read the testimony and decide for yourself. The following is from the Warren Commission volumes, 5H208-211: ------------------------------------------------------- Chief Justice WARREN. Now you said there were some other things. Would you mind telling us anything you have on your mind? Mr. RUBY. No; because as I said earlier, you seem to have gotten the juicy part of the story up to now in the various spasmodic way of my telling it. How valuable am I to you to give you all this information? Chief Justice WARREN. Well, how valuable is rather an indefinite term, but I think it is very helpful to our Commission report. I think the report would have been deficient if it had not been for this interview we have had with you. So we are interested in anything that you would like to tell us, in your own language. Mr. RUBY. The only thing is this. If I cannot get these tests you give, it is pretty haphazard to tell you the things I should tell you. Mr. Moore, you seem to have known more about my interrogation than anybody else, right? Mr. MOORE. I think you have told us about everything you told me. Mr. RANKIN. It isn't entirely clear how you feel that your family and you yourself are threatened by your telling what you have to the Commission. How do you come to the conclusion that they might be killed? Will you tell us a little bit more about that, if you can? Mr. RUBY. Well, assuming that, as I stated before, some persons are accusing me falsely of being part of the plot--naturally, in all the time from over 6 months ago, my family has been so interested in helping me. Mr. RANKIN. By that, you mean a party to the plot of Oswald? Mr. RUBY. That I was party to a plot to silence Oswald. All right now, when your family believes you and knows your mannerisms and your thoughts, and knows your sincerity, they have lived with you all your life and know your emotional feelings and your patriotism--on the surface, they see me only as the guilty assailant of Oswald, and by helping me like they have, going all out. My brother who has a successful business, I know he is going to be killed. And I haven't seen him in years. And suddenly he feels that he wants to help me, because he believes that I couldn't be any further involved than the actual ---- When I told him I did it because of Mrs. Kennedy, that is all he had to hear, because I would never involve my family or involve him in a conspiracy. Everyone haven't let me down. Because they read the newspapers away from Dallas that stated certain facts about me, but they are untrue, because they wouldn't come out and put those things in the newspapers that they should be putting in; and people outside of Dallas read the Dallas newspapers and are all in sympathy with me, as far as the country itself. That they felt, well, Jack did it. They probably felt they would do the same thing. That sympathy isn't going to help me, because the people that have the power here, they have a different verdict. They already have me as the accused assassin of our beloved President. Now if I sound screwy telling you this, then I must be screwy. Chief Justice WARREN. Mr. Ruby, I think you are entitled to a statement to this effect, because you have been frank with us and have told us your story. I think I can say to you that there has been no witness before this Commission out of the hundreds we have questioned who has claimed to have any personal knowledge that you were a party to any conspiracy to kill our President. Mr. RUBY. Yes; but you don't know this area here. Chief Justice WARREN. No; I don't vouch for anything except that I think I am correct in that, am I not? Mr. RANKIN. That is correct. Chief Justice WARREN. I just wanted to tell you before our own Commission, and I might say to you also that we have explored the situation. Mr. RUBY. I know, but I want to say this to you. If certain people have the means and want to gain something by propagandizing something to their own use, they will make ways to present certain things that I do look guilty. Chief Justice WARREN. Well, I will make this additional statement to you, that if any witness should testify before the Commission that you were, to their knowledge, a party to any conspiracy to assassinate the President, I assure you that we will give you the opportunity to deny it and to take any tests that you may desire to so disprove it. I don't anticipate that there will be any such testimony, but should there be, we will give you that opportunity. Does that seem fair? Mr. RUBY. No; that isn't going to save my family. Chief Justice WARREN. Well, we can't do everything at once. Mr. RUBY. I am in a tough spot, and I don't know what the solution can be to save me. And I know our wonderful President, Lyndon Johnson, as soon as he was the President of his country, he appointed you as head of this group. But through certain falsehoods that have been said about me to other people, the John Birch Society, I am as good as guilty as the accused assassin of President Kennedy. How can you remedy that, Mr. Warren? Do any of you men have any ways of remedying that? Mr. Bill Decker said be a man and speak up. I am making a statement now that I may not live the next hour when I walk out of this room. Now it is the most fantastic story you have ever heard in a lifetime. I did something out of the goodness of my heart. Unfortunately, Chief Earl Warren, had you been around 5 or 6 months ago, and I know your hands were tied, you couldn't do it, and immediately - the President would have gotten ahold of my true story, or whatever would have been said about me, a certain organization wouldn't have so completely formed now, so powerfully, to use me because I am of the Jewish extraction, Jewish faith, to commit the most dastardly crime that has ever been committed. Can you understand now in visualizing what happened, what powers, what momentum has been carried on to create this feeling of mass feeling against my people, against certain people that were against them prior to their power? That goes over your head, doesn't it? Chief Justice WARREN. Well, I don't quite get the full significance of it, Mr. Ruby. I know what you feel about the John Birch Society. Mr. RUBY. Very powerful. Chief Justice WARREN. I think it is powerful, yes I do. Of course, I don't have all the information that you feel you have on that subject. Mr. RUBY. Unfortunately, you don't have, because it is too late. And I wish that our beloved President, Lyndon Johnson, would have delved deeper into the situation, hear me, not to accept just circumstantial facts about my guilt or innocence, and would have questioned to find out the truth about me before he relinquished certain powers to these certain people. Chief Justice WARREN. Well, I am afraid I don't know what power you believe he relinquished to them. I think that it is difficult to understand what you have to say. Mr. RUBY. I want to say this to you. The Jewish people are being exterminated at this moment. Consequently, a whole new form of government is going to take over our country, and I know I won't live to see you another time. Do I sound sort of screwy in telling you these things? Chief Justice WARREN. No; I think that is what you believe, or you wouldn't tell it under your oath. Mr. RUBY. But it is a very serious situation. I guess it is too late to stop it, isn't it? All right, I want to ask you this. All you men have been chosen by the President for this committee, is that correct? Chief Justice WARREN. Representative Ford and I are the only members of the Commission that are here. Mr. Rankin of the Commission is employed as our chief counsel. Mr. Rankin employed Mr. Specter and Mr. Ball as members of the staff. You know who the other gentlemen here are. You know that Mr. Moore is a member of the Secret Service, and he has been a liaison officer with our staff since the Commission was formed. Representative FORD. Are there any questions that ought to be asked to help clarify the situation that you described? Mr. RUBY. There is only one thing. If you don't take me back to Washington tonight to give me a chance to prove to the President that I am not guilty, then you will see the most tragic thing that will ever happen. And if you don't have the power to take me back, I won't be around to be able to prove my innocence or guilt. Now up to this moment, I have been talking with you for how long? Chief Justice WARREN. I would say for the better part of 3 hours. Mr. RUBY. All right, wouldn't it be ridiculous for me to speak sensibly all this time and give you this climactic talk that I have? Maybe something can be saved, something can be done. What have you got to answer to that, Chief Justice Warren? Chief Justice WARREN. Well, I don't know what can be done, Mr. Ruby, because I don't know what you anticipate we will encounter. Representative FORD. Is there anything more you can tell us if you went back to Washington? Mr. RUBY. Yes; are you sincere in wanting to take me back? Representative FORD. We are most interested in all the information you have. Mr. RUBY. All I know is maybe something can be saved. Because right now, I want to tell you this, I am used as a scapegoat, and there is no greater weapon that you can use to create some falsehood about some of the Jewish faith, especially at the terrible heinous crime such as the killing of President Kennedy. Now maybe something can be saved. It may not be too late, whatever happens, if our President, Lyndon Johnson, knew the truth from me. But if I am eliminated, there won't be any way of knowing. Right now, when I leave your presence now, I am the only one that can bring out the truth to our President, who believes in righteousness and justice. But he has been told, I am certain, that I was part of a plot to assassinate the President. I know your hands are tied; you are helpless. Chief Justice WARREN. Mr. Ruby, I think I can say this to you, that if he has been told any such thing, there is no indication of any kind that he believes it. Mr. RUBY. I am sorry, Chief Justice Warren, I thought I would be very effective in telling you what I have said here. But in all fairness to everyone, maybe all I want to do is beg that if they found out I was telling the truth, maybe they can succeed in what their motives are, but maybe my people won't be tortured and mutilated. Chief Justice WARREN. Well, you may be sure that the President and his whole Commission will do anything that is necessary to see that your people are not tortured. Mr. RUBY. No. Chief Justice WARREN. You may be sure of that. Mr. RUBY. No; the only way you can do it is if he knows the truth, that I am telling the truth, and why I was down in that basement Sunday morning, and maybe some sense of decency will come out and they can still fulfill their plan, as I stated before, without my people going through torture and mutilation. Chief Justice WARREN. The President will know everything that you have said, everything that you have said. Mr. RUBY. But I won't be around, Chief Justice. I won't be around to verify these things you are going to tell the President. Mr. TONAHILL. Who do you think is going to eliminate you, Jack? Mr. RUBY. I have been used for a purpose, and there will be a certain tragic occurrence happening if you don't take my testimony and somehow vindicate me so my people don't suffer because of what I have done. Chief Justice WARREN. But we have taken your testimony. We have it here. It will be in permanent form for the President of the United States and for the Congress of the United States, and for the courts of the United States, and for the people of the entire world. It is there. It will be recorded for all to see. That is the purpose of our coming here today. We feel that you are entitled to have your story told. Mr. RUBY. You have lost me though. You have lost me, Chief Justice Warren. Chief Justice WARREN. Lost you in what sense? Mr. RUBY. I won't be around for you to come and question me again. Chief Justice WARREN. Well, it is very hard for me to believe that. I am sure that everybody would want to protect you to the very limit. Mr. RUBY. All I want is a lie detector test, and you refuse to give it to me. Because as it stands now--and the truth serum, and any other--Pentothal--how do you pronounce it, whatever it is. And they will not give it to me, because I want to tell the truth. And then I want to leave this world. But I don't want my people to be blamed for something that is untrue, that they claim has happened. Chief Justice WARREN. Mr. Ruby, I promise you that you will be able to take such a test. </font>
