Ruby the Buff

Chapter 25 Ruby the Buff

 Condensations from Sylvia Meagher’s Accessories After the Fact          

Jack Ruby shot accused JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, a failure in security measures which should have disgraced the Dallas police force. Witnesses testified that Ruby enjoyed complete access to the police premises for two days, and on the third day he shot to death the most important prisoner in the country. Ruby’s known intimacy with the police force generated a miasma of the conspiratorial. Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade knew Ruby but denied it. In fact, you no longer could find a policeman in town who said that knew Ruby.

            However, in spite of the testimony of newsmen, law enforcement and the general public, the Warren Commission claimed there was no evidence that implicated the police or newsmen in Ruby’s actions on that fateful day. Police Chief Jesse Curry estimated Ruby acquaintance with less than 5% of his force but the actual tally would be north of 50%. The Commission found no evidence of any suspicious relationships between Ruby and any police officer, while the evidence found plenty.

            Looking at Ruby and his arrest record with Dallas PD, reveals some idea of his intimacy.  Out of eight documented arrests between 1949 and 1963, Jack essentially walked every time. Concealed weapons, liquor and night club violations, assault and traffic summonses…five dismissed, one not guilty and two fines totaling $60. Yes, they knew him and yes, they liked him.

            Of the 75 policemen who were present when Oswald was killed, at least 40 knew Ruby. Extrapolating this figure, Ruby must have known more than 500 of the policemen. One witness estimated Ruby knew at least 75% of the 1,175-man force. A mob attempt to bribe the Dallas sheriff involved Ruby but was covered up and the testimony of a key witness, Dallas Police Lt. George E. Butler, ignored by the WC.             Curiously, in the testimony of one Thayer Waldo of the FW Star-Telegram, Lt. Butler presents a rather suspicious entity. On the 22nd and 23rd, Waldo consistently used Butler as a source of information as to the disposition of Oswald. The reported described Butler, in those two days as “stolid poise, perhaps phlegmatic poise” which all but deserted him completely, “extremely nervous, lips trembling”, on the fateful morning the 24th.