Chapter VI: Investigation of Possible Conspiracy (5)

The Commission has also noted the testimony of Evaristo Rodriguez, a bartender in the Habana Bar in New Orleans, to the effect that he saw Oswald in that bar in August of 1963 in the company of a Latin-appearing man.[C6-748] Rodriguez’ description of the man accompanying the person he thought to be Oswald was similar in respects to the description given by Sylvia Odio since both testified that the man may have been of either Cuban or Mexican extraction, and had a slight bald spot on the forepart of his hairline.[C6-749] Rodriguez’ identification of Oswald was uncorroborated except for the testimony of the owner of the bar, Orest Pena; according to Rodriguez, Pena was not in a position to observe the man he thought later to have been Oswald.[C6-750] Although Pena has testified that he did observe the same person as did Rodriguez, and that this person was Oswald,[C6-751] an FBI interview report indicated that a month earlier Pena had stated that he “could not at this time or at any time say whether or not the person was identical with Lee Harvey Oswald.”[C6-752] Though when testifying, Pena identified photographs of Oswald, the FBI report also recorded that Pena “stated the only reason he was able to recognize Oswald was because he had seen Oswald’s picture in the news media so often after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.”[C6-753] When present at Pena’s bar, Oswald was supposed to have been intoxicated to the extent that he became ill,[C6-754] which is inconsistent with other evidence that Oswald did not drink alcoholic beverages to excess.[C6-755]

The Commission has also noted the testimony of Dean Andrews, an attorney in New Orleans. Andrews stated that Oswald came to his office several times in the summer of 1963 to seek advice on a less than honorable discharge from the Armed Forces, the citizenship status of his wife and his own citizenship status. Andrews, who believed that he was contacted on November 23 to represent Oswald, testified that Oswald was always accompanied by a Mexican and was at times accompanied by apparent homosexuals.[C6-756] Andrews was able to locate no records of any of Oswald’s alleged visits, and investigation has failed to locate the person who supposedly called Andrews on November 23, at a time when Andrews was under heavy sedation.[C6-757] While one of Andrews’ employees felt that Oswald might have been at his office, his secretary has no recollection of Oswald being there.[C6-758]

Oswald Was Not an Agent for the U.S. Government

From the time of his release from the Marine Corps until the assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald dealt in various transactions with several agencies of the U.S. Government. Before departing the United States for the Soviet Union in 1959, he obtained an American passport, which he returned to the Embassy in Moscow in October 1959 when he attempted to renounce his U.S. citizenship. Thereafter, while in the Soviet Union, Oswald had numerous contacts with the American Embassy, both in person and through correspondence. Two years later, he applied for the return and renewal of his passport, which was granted him. His application concerning the admittance of his wife to this country was passed upon by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice in addition to the State Department. And before returning to this country, he secured a loan from the State Department to help cover his transportation costs from Moscow to New York. These dealings with the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service have been reviewed earlier in this chapter and are considered in detail in appendix XV. After his return, Oswald was interviewed on three occasions by agents of the FBI, and Mrs. Paine was also questioned by the FBI about Oswald’s activities. Oswald obtained a second passport in June of 1963. And both the FBI and the CIA took note of his Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities in New Orleans and his appearance at the Soviet consulate in Mexico City. For reasons which will be discussed fully in chapter VIII, Oswald’s name was never given to the U.S. Secret Service.

These dealings have given rise to numerous rumors and allegations that Oswald may have been a paid informant or some type of undercover agent for a Federal agency, usually the FBI or the CIA. The Commission has fully explored whether Oswald had any official or unofficial relationship with any Federal agency beyond that already described.

Oswald’s mother, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, testified before the Commission that she believes her son went to Russia and returned as an undercover agent for the U.S. Government.[C6-759] Mrs. Oswald mentioned the belief that her son was an agent to a State Department representative whom she visited in January 1961, when she was trying to locate her son.[C6-760] She had been interviewed earlier by FBI Agent John W. Fain, within some 6 months of Oswald’s departure for Russia, and did not at that time suggest such an explanation for Oswald’s departure.[C6-761] Though provided the opportunity to present any material she considered pertinent, Mrs. Oswald was not able to give the Commission any reasonable basis for her speculation.[C6-762] As discussed later in this chapter, the Commission has investigated Marguerite Oswald’s claim that an FBI agent showed her a picture of Jack Ruby after the assassination but before Lee Harvey Oswald had been killed; this allegation was inaccurate, since the picture was not of Ruby.

After the assassination it was reported that in 1962 Oswald had told Pauline Bates, a public stenographer in Fort Worth, Tex., that he had become a “secret agent” of the U.S. Government and that he was soon going back to Russia “for Washington.”[C6-763] Mrs. Bates in her sworn testimony denied that Oswald ever told her anything to that effect.[C6-764] She testified that she had stated “that when he first said that he went to Russia and had gotten a visa that I thought--it was just a thought--that maybe he was going over under the auspices of the State Department--as a student or something.”[C6-765]

In order to evaluate the nature of Oswald’s dealings with the Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Commission has obtained the complete files of both the Department and the Service pertaining to Lee Harvey Oswald. Officials who were directly involved in dealing with the Oswald case on these matters have testified before the Commission. A critical evaluation of the manner in which they were handled by these organizations is set forth in appendix XV. The record establishes that Oswald received no preferential treatment and that his case involved no impropriety on the part of any Government official.

Director John A. McCone and Deputy Director Richard Helms of the Central Intelligence Agency testified before the Commission that no one connected with the CIA had ever interviewed Oswald or communicated with him in any way.[C6-766] In his supplementing affidavit, Director McCone stated unequivocally that Oswald was not an agent, employee, or informant of the CIA, that the Agency never communicated with him in any manner or furnished him any compensation, and that Oswald was never directly or indirectly associated with the CIA.[C6-767] The Commission has had access to the full CIA file on Oswald which is entirely consistent with Director McCone’s statements.

The Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, Assistant to the Director Alan H. Belmont, FBI Agents John W. Fain and John L. Quigley, who interviewed Oswald, and FBI Agent James P. Hosty, Jr., who was in charge of his case at the time of the assassination, have also testified before the Commission. All declared, in substance, that Oswald was not an informant or agent of the FBI, that he did not act in any other capacity for the FBI, and that no attempt was made to recruit him in any capacity.[C6-768] Director Hoover and each Bureau agent, who according to the FBI would have been responsible for or aware of any attempt to recruit Oswald as an informant, have also provided the Commission with sworn affidavits to this effect.[C6-769] Director Hoover has sworn that he caused a search to be made of the records of the Bureau, and that the search discloses that Oswald “was never an informant of the FBI, and never assigned a symbol number in that capacity, and was never paid any amount of money by the FBI in any regard.”[C6-770] This testimony is corroborated by the Commission’s independent review of the Bureau files dealing with the Oswald investigation.

The Commission also investigated the circumstances which led to the presence in Oswald’s address book of the name of Agent Hosty together with his office address, telephone number, and license number.[C6-771] Hosty and Mrs. Paine testified that on November 1, 1963, Hosty left his name and phone number with Mrs. Paine so that she could advise Hosty when she learned where Oswald was living in Dallas.[C6-772] Mrs. Paine and Marina Oswald have testified that Mrs. Paine handed Oswald the slip of paper on which Hosty had written this information.[C6-773] In accordance with prior instructions from Oswald,[C6-774] Marina Oswald noted Hosty’s license number which she gave to her husband.[C6-775] The address of the Dallas office of the FBI could have been obtained from many public sources.

Thus, close scrutiny of the records of the Federal agencies involved and the testimony of the responsible officials of the U.S. Government establish that there was absolutely no type of informant or undercover relationship between an agency of the U.S. Government and Lee Harvey Oswald at any time.

Oswald’s Finances

In search of activities or payments demonstrating the receipt of unexplained funds, the Commission undertook a detailed study of Oswald’s receipts and expenditures starting with the date of his return from the Soviet Union on June 13, 1962, and continuing to the date of his arrest on November 22, 1963. In appendix XIV there appears a table listing Oswald’s estimated receipts and expenditures on a monthly basis during this period.

The Commission was assisted in this phase of the investigation by able investigators of the Internal Revenue Service of the Department of the Treasury and by agents of the FBI. The investigation extended far beyond interrogation of witnesses who appeared before the Commission. At banks in New Orleans, La.; Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, and Laredo, Tex., inquiries were made for any record of a checking, savings, or loan accounts or a safe deposit box rented in the names of Lee Harvey Oswald, his known aliases, or members of his immediate family. In many cases a photograph of Oswald was exhibited to bank officials who were in a position to see a person in the safe deposit box area of their banks. No bank account or safe deposit boxes were located which could be identified with Oswald during this period of his life, although evidence was developed of a bank account which he had used prior to his trip to the Soviet Union in 1959. Telegraph companies were checked for the possibility of money orders that may have been sent to Oswald. All known locations where Oswald cashed checks which he received were queried as to the possibility of his having cashed other checks there. Further inquiries were made at Oswald’s places of employment, his residences and with local credit associations, hospitals, utility companies, State and local government offices, post offices, periodicals, newspapers, and employment agencies.[C6-776]

Marina Oswald testified that she knew of no sources of income Oswald other than his wages and his unemployment compensation.[C6-777] No evidence of other cash income has been discovered. The Commission has found that the funds known to have been available to Oswald during the period June 13, 1962, through November 22, 1963, were sufficient to cover all of his known expenditures during this period. Including cash on hand of $63 when he arrived from the Soviet Union, the Oswalds received a total of $3,665.89 in cash from wages, unemployment compensation benefits, loans, and gifts from acquaintances. His cash disbursements during this period were estimated at $3,501.79, leaving a balance of $164.10. (See app. XIV.) This estimated balance is within $19 of the $183.87 in cash which was actually in Oswald’s possession at the time of his arrest, consisting of $13.87 on his person and $170 in his wallet left at the Paine house.[C6-778]

In computing Oswald’s expenditures, estimates were made for food, clothing, and incidental expenses. The incidental expenses included telephone calls, the cost of local newspapers, money order and check-cashing fees, postage, local transportation costs, personal care goods and services, and other such small items. All of these expenses, including food and clothing, were estimated at a slightly higher figure than would be normal for a family with the income of the Oswalds, and probably higher than the Oswalds actually spent on such items.[C6-779] This was done in order to be certain that even if some of Oswald’s minor expenditures are not known, he had adequate funds to cover his known expenditures.

During the 17-month period preceding his death, Oswald’s pattern of living was consistent with his limited income. He lived with his family in furnished apartments whose cost, including utilities, ranged from about $60 to $75 per month.[C6-780] Witnesses testified to his wife’s disappointment and complaints and to their own shock and misgivings about several of the apartments in which the Oswalds lived during the period.[C6-781] Moreover, the Oswalds, particularly Marina, frequently lived with relatives and acquaintances at no cost. Oswald and his family lived with his brother Robert and then with Marguerite Oswald from June until sometime in August 1962.[C6-782] As discussed previously, Marina Oswald lived with Elena Hall and spent a few nights at the Taylors’ house during October of 1962;[C6-783] in November of that same year, Marina Oswald lived with two families.[C6-784] When living away from his family Oswald rented rooms for $7 and $8 per week or stayed at the YMCA in Dallas where he paid $2.25 per day.[C6-785] During late April and early May 1963, Oswald lived with relatives in New Orleans, while his wife lived with Ruth Paine in Irving, Tex.[C6-786] From September 24, 1963, until November 22, Marina Oswald stayed with Ruth Paine, while Oswald lived in roominghouses in Dallas.[C6-787] During the period Marina Oswald resided with others, neither she nor her husband made any contribution to her support.[C6-788]

The Oswalds owned no major household appliances, had no automobile, and resorted to dental and hospital clinics for medical care.[C6-789] Acquaintances purchased baby furniture for them, and paid dental bills in one instance.[C6-790] After his return to the United States, Oswald did not smoke or drink, and he discouraged his wife from doing so.[C6-791] Oswald spent much of his time reading books which he obtained from the public library, and periodicals to which he subscribed.[C6-792] He resided near his place of employment and used buses to travel to and from work.[C6-793] When he visited his wife and the children on weekends in October and November 1963, he rode in a neighbor’s car, making no contribution for gasoline or other expenses.[C6-794] Oswald’s personal wardrobe was also very modest. He customarily wore T-shirts, cheap slacks, well-worn sweaters, and well-used zipper jackets. Oswald owned one suit, of Russian make and purchase, poor fitting and of heavy fabric which, despite its unsuitability to the climates of Texas and Louisiana and his obvious discomfort, he wore on the few occasions that required dress.[C6-795]

Food for his family was extremely meager. Paul Gregory testified that during the 6 weeks that Marina Oswald tutored him he took the Oswalds shopping for food and groceries on a number of occasions and that he was “amazed at how little they bought.”[C6-796] Their friends in the Dallas-Fort Worth area frequently brought them food and groceries.[C6-797] Marina testified that her husband ate “very little.” He “never had breakfast. He just drank coffee and that is all. Not because he was trying to economize. Simply he never liked to eat.” She estimated that when he was living by himself in a roominghouse, he would spend “about a dollar, $1.30” for dinner and have a sandwich and soft drink for lunch.[C6-798]

The thrift which Oswald exercised in meeting his living expenses allowed him to accumulate sufficient funds to meet other expenses which he incurred after his return from the Soviet Union. From his return until January of 1963, Oswald repaid the $435.71 he had borrowed from the State Department for travel expenses from Moscow, and the $200 loan he had obtained from his brother Robert to fly from New York to Dallas upon his return to this country. He completed the retirement of the debt to his brother in October 1962.[C6-799] His cash receipts from all sources from the day of his arrival in Fort Worth through October 1962 aggregated $719.94; it is estimated that he could have made the repayments to Robert and met his other known expenses and still have been left with savings of $122.06 at the end of the month. After making initial $10 monthly payments to the State Department, Oswald paid the Government $190 in December and $206 in January, thus liquidating that debt.[C6-800] From his net earning of $805.96 from November through January plus his prior savings, Oswald could have made these payments to the State Department, met his other known expenses, and still have had a balance of $8.59 at the end of January 1963. In discussing the repayment of these debts, Marina Oswald testified: “Of course we did not live in luxury. We did not buy anything that was not absolutely needed, because Lee had to pay his debt to Robert and to the Government. But it was not particularly difficult.”[C6-801]

Included in the total figure for Oswald’s disbursements were $21.45 for the rifle used in the assassination and $31.22 for the revolver with which Oswald shot Officer Tippit. The major portion of the purchase price for these weapons was paid in March 1963, when Oswald had finished paying his debts, and the purchases were compatible with the total funds then available to him.[C6-802] During May, June, and July of 1963, Oswald spent approximately $23 for circulars, application blanks, and membership cards for his one-man New Orleans chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.[C6-803] In August he paid $2 to one and possibly two young men to assist in passing out circulars and then paid a $10 court fine after pleading guilty to a charge of disturbing the peace.[C6-804] Although some of these expenses were incurred after Oswald lost his job on July 19, 1963, his wages during June and July, and his unemployment compensation thereafter, provided sufficient funds to enable him to finance these activities out of his own resources.[C6-805]

Although Oswald paid his own busfare to New Orleans on April 24, 1963, his wife and the baby were taken there, at no cost to Oswald, by Ruth Paine.[C6-806] Similarly, Ruth Paine drove to New Orleans in September and brought Marina Oswald and the baby back to Irving, Tex.[C6-807] Oswald’s uncle, Charles Murret, also paid for the short trip taken by Oswald and his family from New Orleans to Mobile, Ala., on July 27, 1963.[C6-808] It is estimated that when Oswald left for Mexico City in September 1963, he had accumulated slightly over $200. Marina Oswald testified that when he left for Mexico City he had “a little over $100,” though she may not have taken into account the $33 unemployment compensation check which Oswald collected after her departure from New Orleans.[C6-809] In any event, expenses in Mexico have been estimated as approximately $85, based on transportation costs of $50 and a hotel expense of about $1.28 per day. Oswald ate inexpensively and, allowing $15 for entertainment and miscellaneous items, it would appear that he had the funds available to finance the trip.[C6-810]

The Commission has considered the testimony of Leonard E. Hutchison, proprietor of Hutch’s Market in Irving, in connection with Oswald’s finances. Hutchison has testified that on a Friday during the first week in November, a man he believes to have been Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to cash a “two-party,” or personal check for $189, but that he refused to cash the check since his policy is to cash personal checks for no more than $25.[C6-811] Oswald is not known to have received a check for this amount from any source.

On Friday, November 1, Oswald did cash a Texas Unemployment Commission check for $33 at another supermarket in Irving,[C6-812] so that a possible explanation of Hutchison’s testimony is that he refused to cash this $33 check for Oswald and is simply in error as to the amount of the instrument. However, since the check cashed at the supermarket was issued by the State comptroller of Texas, it is not likely that Hutchison could have confused it with a personal check.

Examination of Hutchison’s testimony indicates that a more likely explanation is that Oswald was not in his store at all. Hutchison testified that the man who attempted to cash the check was a customer in his store on previous occasions; in particular, Hutchison recalled that the man, accompanied by a woman he believes was Marina Oswald and an elderly woman, were shopping in his store in October or November of 1963 on a night he feels certain was a Wednesday evening.[C6-813] Oswald, however, is not known to have been in Irving on any Wednesday evening during this period.[C6-814] Neither of the two checkers at the market recall such a visit by a person matching the description provided by Hutchison, and both Marina Oswald and Marguerite Oswald deny that they were ever in Hutchison’s store.[C6-815] Hutchison further stated that the man made irregular calls at his grocery between 7:20 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. on weekday mornings, and always purchased cinnamon rolls and a full gallon of milk.[C6-816] However, the evidence indicates that except for rare occasions Oswald was in Irving only on weekends; moreover, Buell Wesley Frazier, who drove Oswald to and from Irving on these occasions, testified that on Monday mornings he picked Oswald up at a point which is many blocks from Hutchison’s store and ordinarily by 7:20 a.m.[C6-817] Hutchison also testified that Ruth Paine was an occasional customer in his store;[C6-818] however, Mrs. Paine indicated that she was not in the store as often as Hutchison testified;[C6-819] and her appearance is dissimilar to the description of the woman Hutchison stated was Mrs. Paine.[C6-820] In light of the strong reasons for doubting the correctness of Hutchison’s testimony and the absence of any other sign that Oswald ever possessed a personal check for $189, the Commission was unable to conclude that he ever received such a check.

The Commission has also examined a report that, not long before the assassination, Oswald may have received unaccounted funds through money orders sent to him in Dallas. Five days after the assassination, C.A. Hamblen, early night manager for the Western Union Telegraph Co. in Dallas, told his superior that about 2 weeks earlier he remembered Oswald sending a telegram from the office to Washington, D.C., possibly to the Secretary of the Navy, and that the application was completed in an unusual form of hand printing.[C6-821] The next day Hamblen told a magazine correspondent who was in the Western Union office on other business that he remembered seeing Oswald in the office on prior occasions collecting money orders for small amounts of money.[C6-822] Soon thereafter Hamblen signed a statement relating to both the telegram and the money orders, and specifying two instances in which he had seen the person he believed to be Oswald in the office; in each instance the man had behaved disagreeably and one other Western Union employee had become involved in assisting him.[C6-823]

During his testimony, Hamblen did not recall with clarity the statements he had previously made, and was unable to state whether the person he reportedly had seen in the Western Union office was or was not Lee Harvey Oswald.[C6-824] Investigation has disclosed that a second employee does recall one of the occurrences described by Hamblen, and believes that the money order in question was delivered “to someone at the YMCA”; however, he is unable to state whether or not the man involved was Oswald.[C6-825] The employee referred to by Hamblen in connection with the second incident feels certain that the unusual episode described by Hamblen did not occur, and that she at no time observed Oswald in the Western Union office.[C6-826]

At the request of Federal investigators, officers of Western Union conducted a complete search of their records in Dallas and in other cities, for the period from June through November 1963, for money orders payable to Lee Harvey Oswald or his known aliases and for telegrams sent by Oswald or his known aliases. In addition, all money orders addressed to persons at the YMCA in Dallas during October and November 1963 were inspected, and all telegrams handled from November 1 through November 22 by the employee who Hamblen assertedly saw service Oswald were examined, as were all telegrams sent from Dallas to Washington during November. No indication of any such money order or telegram was found in any of these records.[C6-827] Hamblen himself participated in this search, and was “unable * * * to pin down any of these telegrams or money orders that would indicate it was Oswald.”[C6-828] Hamblen’s superiors have concluded “that this whole thing was a figment of Mr. Hamblen’s imagination,”[C6-829] and the Commission accepts this assessment.

POSSIBLE CONSPIRACY INVOLVING JACK RUBY

Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald at 11:21 a.m., on Sunday, November 24, 1963, shortly after Ruby entered the basement of the Dallas Police Department. Almost immediately, speculation arose that Ruby had acted on behalf of members of a conspiracy who had planned the killing of President Kennedy and wanted to silence Oswald. This section of chapter VI sets forth the Commission’s investigation into the possibility that Ruby, together with Oswald or with others, conspired to kill the President, or that Ruby, though not part of any such conspiracy, had accomplices in the slaying of Oswald. Presented first are the results of the Commission’s detailed inquiry into Ruby’s actions from November 21 to November 24. In addition, this section analyzes the numerous rumors and suspicions that Ruby and Oswald were acquainted and examines Ruby’s background and associations for evidence of any conspiratorial relationship or motive. A detailed life of Ruby is given in appendix XVI which provides supplemental information about Ruby and his associations.

Ruby’s Activities From November 21 to November 24, 1963

The Commission has attempted to reconstruct as precisely as possible the movements of Jack Ruby during the period November 21-November 24, 1963. It has done so on the premise that, if Jack Ruby were involved in a conspiracy, his activities and associations during this period would, in some way, have reflected the conspiratorial relationship. The Commission has not attempted to determine the time at which Ruby first decided to make his attack on Lee Harvey Oswald, nor does it purport to evaluate the psychiatric and related legal questions which have arisen from the assault upon Oswald. Ruby’s activities during this 3-day period have been scrutinized, however, for the insight they provide into whether the shooting of Oswald was grounded in any form of conspiracy.

_The eve of the President’s visit._--On Thursday, November 21, Jack Ruby was attending to his usual duties as the proprietor of two Dallas night spots--the Carousel Club, a downtown nightclub featuring striptease dancers, and the Vegas Club, a rock-and-roll establishment in the Oaklawn section of Dallas. Both clubs opened for business each day in the early evening and continued 7 days a week until after midnight.[C6-830] Ruby arrived at the Carousel Club at about 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, as was his custom,[C6-831] and remained long enough to chat with a friend and receive messages from Larry Crafard, a handyman and helper who lived at the Carousel.[C6-832] Earlier in the day Ruby had visited with a young lady who was job hunting in Dallas,[C6-833] paid his rent for the Carousel premises,[C6-834] conferred about a peace bond he had been obliged to post as a result of a fight with one of his striptease dancers,[C6-835] consulted with an attorney about problems he was having with Federal tax authorities,[C6-836] distributed membership cards for the Carousel Club,[C6-837] talked with Dallas County Assistant District Attorney William F. Alexander about insufficient fund checks which a friend had passed,[C6-838] and submitted advertising copy for his nightclubs to the Dallas Morning News.[C6-839]

Ruby’s evening activities on Thursday, November 21, were a combination of business and pleasure. At approximately 7:30 p.m., he drove Larry Crafard to the Vegas Club which Crafard was overseeing because Ruby’s sister, Eva Grant, who normally managed the club, was convalescing from a recent illness.[C6-840] Thereafter, Ruby returned to the Carousel Club and conversed for about an hour with Lawrence Meyers, a Chicago businessman.[C6-841] Between 9:45 and 10:45 p.m., Ruby had dinner with Ralph Paul, his close friend and financial backer. While dining Ruby spoke briefly with a Dallas Morning News employee, Don Campbell, who suggested that they go to the Castaway Club, but Ruby declined.[C6-842] Thereafter, Ruby returned to the Carousel Club where he acted as master of ceremonies for his show and peacefully ejected an unruly patron.[C6-843] At about midnight Ruby rejoined Meyers at the Bon Vivant Room of the Dallas Cabana where they met Meyers’ brother and sister-in-law.[C6-844] Neither Ralph Paul nor Lawrence Meyers recalled that Ruby mentioned the President’s trip to Dallas.[C6-845] Leaving Meyers at the Cabana after a brief visit, Ruby returned to close the Carousel Club and obtain the night’s receipts.[C6-846] He then went to the Vegas Club which he helped Larry Crafard close for the night;[C6-847] and, as late as 2:30 a.m., Ruby was seen eating at a restaurant near the Vegas Club.[C6-848]

_Friday morning at the Dallas Morning News._--Jack Ruby learned of the shooting of President Kennedy while in the second-floor advertising offices of the Dallas Morning News, five blocks from the Texas School Book Depository, where he had come Friday morning to place regular weekend advertisements for his two nightclubs.[C6-849] On arriving at the newspaper building at about 11 or 11:30 a.m., he talked briefly with two newspaper employees concerning some diet pills he had recommended to them.[C6-850] Ruby then went to the office of Morning News columnist, Tony Zoppi, where he states he obtained a brochure on his new master of ceremonies that he wanted to use in preparing copy for his advertisements.[C6-851] Proceeding to the advertising department, he spoke with advertising employee Don Campbell from about noon until 12:25 p.m. when Campbell left the office.[C6-852] In addition to the business at hand, much of the conversation concerned Ruby’s unhappiness over the financial condition of his clubs and his professed ability to handle the physical fights which arose in connection with the clubs.[C6-853] According to Campbell, Ruby did not mention the Presidential motorcade nor did he display any unusual behavior.[C6-854]

About 10 minutes after the President had been shot but before word had spread to the second floor, John Newnam, an advertising department employee, observed Ruby sitting at the same spot where Campbell had left him. At that time Ruby had completed the advertisement, which he had apparently begun to compose when Campbell departed, and was reading a newspaper.[C6-855] To Newnam, Ruby voiced criticism of the black-bordered advertisement entitled “Welcome, Mr. Kennedy” appearing in the morning paper and bearing the name of Bernard Weissman as the chairman of the committee sponsoring the advertisement.[C6-856] (See Commission Exhibit No. 1031, p. 294.) According to Eva Grant, Ruby’s sister, he had telephoned her earlier in the morning to call her attention to the ad.[C6-857] At about 12:45 p.m., an employee entered the office and announced that shots had been fired at the President. Newnam remembered that Ruby responded with a look of “stunned disbelief.”[C6-858]

Shortly afterward, according to Newnam, “confusion reigned” in the office as advertisers telephoned to cancel advertising they had placed for the weekend.[C6-859] Ruby appears to have believed that some of those cancellations were motivated by the Weissman advertisement.[C6-860] After Newnam accepted a few telephone calls, he and Ruby walked toward a room where other persons were watching television.[C6-861] One of the newspaper employees recalled that Ruby then appeared “obviously shaken, and an ashen color--just very pale * * *”[C6-862] showed little disposition to converse,[C6-863] and sat for a while with a dazed expression in his eyes.[C6-864]

After a few minutes, Ruby placed telephone calls to Andrew Armstrong, his assistant at the Carousel Club, and to his sister, Mrs. Grant. He told Armstrong, “If anything happens we are going to close the club” and said he would see him in about 30 minutes.[C6-865] During the call to his sister, Ruby again referred to the Weissman advertisement; at one point he put the telephone to Newnam’s ear, and Newnam heard Mrs. Grant exclaim, “My God, what do they want?” It was Newnam’s recollection that Ruby tried to calm her.[C6-866]

Ruby testified that after calling his sister he said, “John, I will have to leave Dallas.”[C6-867] Ruby explained to the Commission:

I don’t know why I said that, but it is a funny reaction that
you feel; the city is terribly let down by the tragedy that
happened. And I said, “John, I am not opening up tonight.”

And I don’t know what else transpired. I know people were just
heartbroken * * *.

I left the building and I went down and I got in my car and I
couldn’t stop crying. * * * [C6-868]

Newnam estimated that Ruby departed from the Morning News at about 1:30 p.m., but other testimony indicated that Ruby may have left earlier.[C6-869]

_Ruby’s alleged visit to Parkland Hospital._--The Commission has investigated claims that Jack Ruby was at Parkland Hospital at about 1:30 p.m., when a Presidential press secretary, Malcolm Kilduff, announced that President Kennedy was dead. Seth Kantor, a newspaperman who had previously met Ruby in Dallas, reported and later testified that Jack Ruby stopped him momentarily inside the main entrance to Parkland Hospital some time between 1:30 and 2 p.m., Friday, November 22, 1963.[C6-870] The only other person besides Kantor who recalled seeing Ruby at the hospital did not make known her observation until April 1964, had never seen Ruby before, allegedly saw him only briefly then, had an obstructed view, and was uncertain of the time.[C6-871] Ruby has firmly denied going to Parkland and has stated that he went to the Carousel Club upon leaving the Morning News.[C6-872] Video tapes of the scene at Parkland do not show Ruby there, although Kantor can be seen.[C6-873]

Investigation has limited the period during which Kantor could have met Ruby at Parkland Hospital on Friday to a few minutes before and after 1:30 p.m. Telephone company records and the testimony of Andrew Armstrong established that Ruby arrived at the Carousel Club no later than 1:45 p.m. and probably a few minutes earlier.[C6-874] Kantor was engaged in a long-distance telephone call to his Washington office from 1:02 p.m. until 1:27 p.m.[C6-875] Kantor testified that, after completing that call, he immediately left the building from which he had been telephoning, traveled perhaps 100 yards, and entered the main entrance of the hospital. It was there, as he walked through a small doorway, that he believed he saw Jack Ruby, who, Kantor said, tugged at his coattails and asked, “Should I close my places for the next three nights, do you think?” Kantor recalled that he turned briefly to Ruby and proceeded to the press conference at which the President’s death was announced. Kantor was certain he encountered Ruby at Parkland but had doubts about the exact time and place.[C6-876]

Kantor probably did not see Ruby at Parkland Hospital in the few minutes before or after 1:30 p.m., the only time it would have been possible for Kantor to have done so. If Ruby immediately returned to the Carousel Club after Kantor saw him, it would have been necessary for him to have covered the distance from Parkland in approximately 10 or 15 minutes in order to have arrived at the club before 1:45 p.m., when a telephone call was placed at Ruby’s request to his entertainer, Karen Bennett Carlin.[C6-877] At a normal driving speed under normal conditions the trip can be made in 9 or 10 minutes.[C6-878] However, it is likely that congested traffic conditions on November 22 would have extended the driving time.[C6-879] Even if Ruby had been able to drive from Parkland to the Carousel in 15 minutes, his presence at the Dallas Morning News until after 1 p.m., and at the Carousel prior to 1:45 p.m., would have made his visit at Parkland exceedingly brief. Since Ruby was observed at the Dallas Police Department during a 2 hour period after 11 p.m. on Friday,[C6-880] when Kantor was also present, and since Kantor did not remember seeing Ruby there,[C6-881] Kantor may have been mistaken about both the time and the place that he saw Ruby. When seeing Ruby, Kantor was preoccupied with the important event that a press conference represented. Both Ruby and Kantor were present at another important event, a press conference held about midnight, November 22, in the assembly room of the Dallas Police Department. It is conceivable that Kantor’s encounter with Ruby occurred at that time, perhaps near the small doorway there.[C6-882]

_Ruby’s decision to close his clubs._--Upon arriving at the Carousel Club shortly before 1:45 p.m., Ruby instructed Andrew Armstrong, the Carousel’s bartender, to notify employees that the club would be closed that night.[C6-883] During much of the next hour Ruby talked by telephone to several persons who were or had been especially close to him, and the remainder of the time he watched television and spoke with Armstrong and Larry Crafard about the assassination.[C6-884] At 1:51 p.m., Ruby telephoned Ralph Paul in Arlington, Tex., to say that he was going to close his clubs. He urged Paul to do likewise with his drive-in restaurant.[C6-885] Unable to reach Alice Nichols, a former girl friend, who was at lunch, Ruby telephoned his sister, Eileen Kaminsky, in Chicago.[C6-886] Mrs. Kaminsky described her brother as completely unnerved and crying about President Kennedy’s death.[C6-887] To Mrs. Nichols, whose return call caused Ruby to cut short his conversation with Mrs. Kaminsky, Ruby expressed shock over the assassination.[C6-888] Although Mrs. Nichols had dated Ruby for nearly 11 years, she was surprised to hear from him on November 22 since they had not seen one another socially for some time.[C6-889] Thereafter, Ruby telephoned at 2:37 p.m. to Alex Gruber, a boyhood friend from Chicago who was living in Los Angeles.[C6-890] Gruber recalled that in their 3-minute conversation Ruby talked about a dog he had promised to send Gruber, a carwash business Gruber had considered starting, and the assassination.[C6-891] Ruby apparently lost his self-control during the conversation and terminated it.[C6-892] However, 2 minutes after that call ended, Ruby telephoned again to Ralph Paul.[C6-893]

Upon leaving the Carousel Club at about 3:15 p.m., Ruby drove to Eva Grant’s home but left soon after he arrived, to obtain some weekend food for his sister and himself.[C6-894] He first returned to the Carousel Club and directed Larry Crafard to prepare a sign indicating that the club would be closed; however, Ruby instructed Crafard not to post the sign until later in the evening to avoid informing his competitors that he would be closed.[C6-895] (See Commission Exhibit 2427, p. 339.) Before leaving the club, Ruby telephoned Mrs. Grant who reminded him to purchase food.[C6-896] As a result he went to the Ritz Delicatessen, about two blocks from the Carousel Club, and bought a great quantity of cold cuts.[C6-897]

Ruby probably arrived a second time at his sister’s home close to 5:30 p.m. and remained for about 2 hours. He continued his rapid rate of telephone calls, ate sparingly, became ill, and attempted to get some rest.[C6-898] While at the apartment, Ruby decided to close his clubs for 3 days. He testified that after talking to Don Saffran, a columnist for the Dallas Times-Herald:

I put the receiver down and talked to my sister, and I said,
“Eva, what shall we do?”

And she said, “Jack, let’s close for the 3 days.” She said, “We
don’t have anything anyway, but we owe it to--” (chokes up.)

So I called Don Saffran back immediately and I said, “Don, we
decided to close for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

And he said, “Okay.”[C6-899]

Ruby then telephoned the Dallas Morning News to cancel his advertisement and, when unable to do so, he changed his ad to read that his clubs would be closed for the weekend.[C6-900] Ruby also telephoned Cecil Hamlin, a friend of many years. Sounding very “broken up,” he told Hamlin that he had closed the clubs since he thought most people would not be in the mood to visit them and that he felt concern for President Kennedy’s “kids.”[C6-901] Thereafter he made two calls to ascertain when services at Temple Shearith Israel would be held.[C6-902] He placed a second call to Alice Nichols to tell her of his intention to attend those services[C6-903] and phoned Larry Crafard at the Carousel to ask whether he had received any messages.[C6-904] Eva Grant testified:

When he was leaving, he looked pretty bad. This I remember. I
can’t explain it to you. He looked too broken, a broken man
already. He did make the remark, he said, “I never felt so bad
in my life, even when Ma or Pa died.”

So I said, “Well, Pa was an old man. He was almost 89 years. *
* *”[C6-905]

_Friday evening._--Ruby is uncertain whether he went directly from his sister’s home to his apartment or possibly first to his club.[C6-906] At least 5 witnesses recall seeing a man they believe was Ruby on the third floor of police headquarters at times they have estimated between 6 and 9 p.m.;[C6-907] however, it is not clear that Ruby was present at the Police and Courts Building before 11 p.m. With respect to three of the witnesses, it is doubtful that the man observed was Ruby. Two of those persons had not known Ruby previously and described wearing apparel which differed both from Ruby’s known dress that night and from his known wardrobe.[C6-908] The third, who viewed from the rear the person he believed was Ruby, said the man unsuccessfully attempted to enter the homicide office.[C6-909] Of the police officers on duty near homicide at the time of the alleged event, only one remembered the episode, and he said the man in question definitely was not Ruby.[C6-910] The remaining witnesses knew or talked with Ruby, and their testimony leaves little doubt that they did see him on the third floor at some point on Friday night; however the possibility remains that they observed Ruby later in the evening, when his presence is conclusively established.[C6-911] Ruby has denied being at the police department Friday night before approximately 11:15 p.m.[C6-912]

In any event, Ruby eventually returned to his own apartment before 9 p.m. There he telephoned Ralph Paul but was unable to persuade Paul to join him at synagogue services.[C6-913] Shortly after 9 p.m., Ruby called the Chicago home of his oldest brother, Hyman Rubenstein, and two of his sisters, Marion Carroll and Ann Volpert.[C6-914] Hyman Rubenstein testified that, during the call, his brother was so disturbed about the situation in Dallas that he mentioned selling his business and returning to Chicago.[C6-915] From his apartment, Ruby drove to Temple Shearith Israel, arriving near the end of a 2-hour service which had begun at 8 p.m.[C6-916] Rabbi Hillel Silverman, who greeted him among the crowd leaving the services[C6-917] was surprised that Ruby, who appeared depressed, mentioned only his sister’s recent illness and said nothing about the assassination.[C6-918]

“CLOSED” SIGN POSTED IN THE WINDOW OF THE CAROUSEL CLUB AND RUBY’S NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT ANNOUNCING THAT THE VEGAS AND CAROUSEL CLUBS WILL BE CLOSED

DALLAS TIMES HERALD SATURDAY, NOV. 23, 1963 PAGE A-13]

Ruby related that, after joining in the postservice refreshments,[C6-919] he drove by some night clubs, noticing whether or not they had been closed as his were.[C6-920] He testified that, as he drove toward town, a radio announcement that the Dallas police were working overtime prompted the thought that he might bring those at police headquarters something to eat.[C6-921] At about 10:30 p.m., he stopped at a delicatessen near the Vegas Club and purchased 8 kosher sandwiches and 10 soft drinks.[C6-922] From the delicatessen, he called the police department but was told that the officers had already eaten.[C6-923] He said he then tried to offer the food to employees at radio station KLIF but failed in several attempts to obtain the private night line number to the station.[C6-924] On three occasions between phone calls, Ruby spoke with a group of students whom he did not know, lamenting the President’s death, teasing one of the young men about being too young for his clubs, borrowing their copy of the Dallas Times Herald to see how his advertisements had been run, and stating that his clubs were the only ones that had closed because of the assassination. He also expressed the opinion, as he had earlier in the day, that the assassination would be harmful to the convention business in Dallas.[C6-925] Upon leaving the delicatessen with his purchases, Ruby gave the counterman as a tip a card granting free admission to his clubs.[C6-926] He drove downtown to the police station where he has said he hoped to find an employee from KLIF who could give him the “hot line” phone number for the radio station.[C6-927]

_The third floor of police headquarters._--Ruby is known to have made his way, by about 11:30 p.m., to the third floor of the Dallas Police Department where reporters were congregated near the homicide bureau.[C6-928] Newsman John Rutledge, one of those who may well have been mistaken as to time, gave the following description of his first encounter with Ruby at the police station:

I saw Jack and two out-of-state reporters, whom I did not know,
leave the elevator door and proceed toward those television
cameras, to go around the corner where Captain Fritz’s office
was. Jack walked between them. These two out-of-state reporters
had big press cards pinned on their coats, great big red ones,
I think they said “President Kennedy’s Visit to Dallas--Press”,
or something like that. And Jack didn’t have one, but the man
on either side of him did. And they walked pretty rapidly from
the elevator area past the policeman, and Jack was bent over
like this--writing on a piece of paper, and talking to one
of the reporters, and pointing to something on the piece of
paper, he was kind of hunched over.[C6-929]

Jack Ruby at press conference in basement assembly room about midnight November 22, 1963. (Jack Ruby is the individual in the dark suit, back row, right-hand side, wearing horn-rimmed glasses.)] Detective Augustus M. Eberhardt, who also recalled that he first saw Ruby earlier in the evening, said Ruby carried a note pad and professed to be a translator for the Israeli press. He remembered Ruby’s remarking how unfortunate the assassination was for the city of Dallas and that it was “hard to realize that a complete nothing, a zero like that, could kill a man like President Kennedy * * *.”[C6-930]

Video tapes confirm Ruby’s statement that he was present on the third floor when Chief Jesse E. Curry and District Attorney Henry M. Wade announced that Oswald would be shown to the newsmen at a press conference in the basement.[C6-931] Though he has said his original purpose was only to locate a KLIF employee, Ruby has stated that while at the police station he was “carried away with the excitement of history.”[C6-932] He accompanied the newsmen to the basement to observe Oswald. His presence at the midnight news conference is established by television tapes and by at least 12 witnesses.[C6-933] When Oswald arrived, Ruby, together with a number of newsmen, was standing atop a table on one side of the room.[C6-934] (See Commission Exhibit No. 2424, p. 341.) Oswald was taken from the room after a brief appearance, and Ruby remained to hear reporters question District Attorney Wade. During the press conference, Wade stated that Oswald would probably be moved to the county jail at the beginning of the next week.[C6-935] In answer to one question, Wade said that Oswald belonged to the “Free Cuba Committee.” A few reporters spoke up correcting Wade and among the voices was that of Jack Ruby.[C6-936]

Ruby later followed the district attorney out of the press conference, walked up to him and, according to Wade, said “Hi Henry * * * Don’t you know me? * * * I am Jack Ruby, I run the Vegas Club. * * *”[C6-937] Ruby also introduced himself to Justice of the Peace David L. Johnston, shook his hand, gave Johnston a business card to the Carousel Club, and, upon learning Johnston’s official position, shook Johnston’s hand again.[C6-938] After talking with Johnston, he gave another card to Icarus M. Pappas, a reporter for New York radio station WNEW.[C6-939] From a representative of radio station KBOX in Dallas, Ruby obtained the “hot line” telephone number to KLIF.[C6-940] He then called the station and told one of the employees that he would like to come up to distribute the sandwiches and cold drinks he had purchased.[C6-941] Observing Pappas holding a telephone line open and attempting to get the attention of District Attorney Wade, Ruby directed Wade to Pappas, who proceeded to interview the district attorney.[C6-942] Ruby then called KLIF a second time and offered to secure an interview with Wade; he next summoned Wade to his phone, whereupon KLIF recorded a telephone interview with the district attorney.[C6-943] A few minutes later. Ruby encountered Russ Knight, a reporter from KLIF who had left the station for the police department at the beginning of Ruby’s second telephone call. Ruby directed Knight to Wade and waited a short distance away while the reporter conducted another interview with the district attorney.[C6-944]

_At radio station KLIF._--When Ruby left police headquarters, he drove to radio station KLIF, arriving at approximately 1:45 a.m. and remaining for about 45 minutes.[C6-945] After first distributing his sandwiches and soft drinks, Ruby settled in the newsroom for the 2 a.m. newscast in which he was credited with suggesting that Russ Knight ask District Attorney Wade whether or not Oswald was sane.[C6-946] After the newscast, Ruby gave a Carousel card to one KLIF employee, although another did not recall that Ruby was promoting his club as he normally did.[C6-947] When speaking with KLIF’s Danny Patrick McCurdy, Ruby mentioned that he was going to close his clubs for the weekend and that he would rather lose $1,200 or $1,500 than remain open at that time in the Nation’s history. McCurdy remembered that Ruby “looked rather pale to me as he was talking to me and he kept looking at the floor.”[C6-948] To announcer Glen Duncan, Ruby expressed satisfaction that the evidence was mounting against Oswald. Duncan said that Ruby did not appear to be grieving but, instead, seemed pleased about the personal contact he had had with the investigation earlier in the evening.[C6-949]

Ruby left the radio station accompanied by Russ Knight. Engaging Knight in a short conversation, Ruby handed him a radio script entitled “Heroism” from a conservative radio program called “Life Line.” It was apparently one of the scripts that had come into Ruby’s hands a few weeks before at the Texas Products Show when Hunt Foods were including such scripts with samples of their products.[C6-950] The script extolled the virtues of those who embark upon risky business ventures and stand firmly for causes they believe to be correct.[C6-951] Ruby asked Knight’s views on the script and suggested that there was a group of “radicals” in Dallas which hated President Kennedy and that the owner of the radio station should editorialize against this group. Knight could not clearly determine whether Ruby had reference to persons who sponsored programs like “Life Line” or to those who held leftwing views.[C6-952] Knight gained the impression that Ruby believed such persons, whoever they might be, were partially responsible for the assassination.[C6-953]

_Early morning of November 23._--At about 2:30 a.m., Ruby entered his automobile and departed for the Dallas Times-Herald Building. En route, he stopped for about an hour to speak with Kay Helen Coleman, one of his dancers, and Harry Olsen, a member of the Dallas Police Department, who had hailed him from a parking garage at the corner of Jackson and Field Streets. The couple were crying and extremely upset over the assassination. At one point, according to Ruby, the police officer remarked that “they should cut this guy [Oswald] inch by inch into ribbons,” and the dancer said that “in England they would drag him through the streets and would have hung him.”[C6-954] Although Ruby failed to mention this episode during his first two FBI interviews,[C6-955] he later explained that his reason for failing to do so was that he did not “want to involve them in anything, because it was supposed to be a secret that he [the police officer] was going with this young lady.”[C6-956] About 6 weeks after the assassination, Olsen left the Dallas Police Department and married Miss Coleman. Both Olsen and his wife testified that they were greatly upset during their lengthy conversation with Ruby early Saturday morning; but Mrs. Olsen denied and Olsen did not recall the remarks ascribed to them.[C6-957] The Olsens claimed instead that Ruby had cursed Oswald.[C6-958] Mrs. Olsen also mentioned that Ruby expressed sympathy for Mrs. Kennedy and her children.[C6-959]