How did Ruby get into the basement?

[Dan O'meara]

"Although more than a hundred policemen and newsmen were present in the basement of police headquarters during the 10 minutes before the shooting of Oswald, none has been found who definitely observed Jack Ruby's entry into the basement. After considering all the evidence, the Commission has concluded that Ruby entered the basement unaided, probably via the Main Street ramp, and no more than 3 minutes before the shooting of Oswald.

Ruby's account of how he entered the basement by the Main Street ramp merits consideration in determining his means of entry. Three Dallas policemen testified that approximately 80 minutes after his arrest, Ruby told them that he had walked to the top of the Main Street ramp from the nearby Western Union office and that he walked down the ramp at the time the police car driven by Lieutenant Pierce emerged into Main Street. This information did not come to light immediately because the policemen did not report it to their superiors until some days later. Ruby refused to discuss his means of entry in interrogations with other investigators later on the day of his arrest. Thereafter, in a lengthy interview on December 21 and in a sworn deposition taken after his trial, Ruby gave the same explanation he had given to the three policemen.

The Commission has been able to establish with precision the time of certain events leading up to the. shooting. Minutes before Oswald appeared in the basement, Ruby was in the Western Union office located on the same block of Main Street some 350 feet from the top of the Main Street ramp. The time stamp on a money order which he sent and on the receipt found in his pocket establish that the order was accepted for transmission at almost exactly 11:17 a.m. Ruby was then observed to depart the office walking in the direction of the police building. Video tapes taken without interruption before the shooting establish that Lieutenant Pierce's car cleared the crowd at the foot of the ramp 55 seconds before the shooting. They also show Ruby standing at the foot of the ramp on the Main Street side before the shooting. (See Commission Exhibit No. 2635, p. 220.) The shooting occurred very close to 11:21 a.m. This time has been established by observing the time on a clock appearing in motion pictures

[Report Of The President's Commission On The Assassination Of President Kennedy (1964)]

[John Tonkovich]

CE 2635 is a picture of Ruby inside the basement.

[Dan O'meara]

If it's true Ruby was in the Western Union sending a money order four minutes before he shot Oswald how 'organised' could this shooting be. It must have taken him a couple of minutes to get to the basement, he would have arrived seconds before Oswald showed up.

[John Tonkovich]

CE 2635 is a picture of Ruby inside the basement.

So where are the video recordings mentioned in the report?

[Denis Pointing]

If it's true Ruby was in the Western Union sending a money order four minutes before he shot Oswald how 'organised' could this shooting be. It must have taken him a couple of minutes to get to the basement, he would have arrived seconds before Oswald showed up.

It's even tighter than that. If you watch the news clip you'll see there's a car reversing as Ruby darts forward, the car almost hit him, if Ruby had been just a few seconds later that car would have been between him and Oswald...Ruby would never have got the shot off. That always convinced me more than anything that there was no planning, just a spur of the moment madness.

PS Please check it for yourself but going by memory I believe it worked out Ruby only had about 30 seconds before Oswald was brought out, in that time he had to push to the front of the crowd, draw his gun and dart forward.

[Dan O'meara]

It's even tighter than that. If you watch the news clip you'll see there's a car reversing as Ruby darts forward, the car almost hit him, if Ruby had been just a few seconds later that car would have been between him and Oswald...Ruby would never have got the shot off. That always convinced me more than anything that there was no planning, just a spur of the moment madness.

PS Please check it for yourself but going by memory I believe it worked out Ruby only had about 30 seconds before Oswald was brought out, in that time he had to push to the front of the crowd, draw his gun and dart forward.

There's so much weird stuff about Ruby - Vickie Adams is sure he was outside the TSBD pretending to be a reporter on the day of the assassination, he shows up at the Oswald press conference, he's filmed in the halls of the DPD etc. He is so suspect but I have to agree, it isn't a mafia hit or some other conspiracy driven event, it seems to be, as you say, a spur of the moment madness.

[Denis Pointing]

There's so much weird stuff about Ruby - Vickie Adams is sure he was outside the TSBD pretending to be a reporter on the day of the assassination, he shows up at the Oswald press conference, he's filmed in the halls of the DPD etc. He is so suspect but I have to agree, it isn't a mafia hit or some other conspiracy driven event, it seems to be, as you say, a spur of the moment madness.

That's because Ruby himself was weird. He seemed to enjoy mixing with people he considered important, reporters, police, even the 'mob', inserting himself where he didn't belong, there's plenty of examples of him doing that. Would a psychiatrist label that as someone with a serious inferiority complex? He was also known to have a hair-trigger temper...that's why his nickname was 'sparky', he was also known for having abrupt mood swings, sometimes violent ones.  I can quite imagine a man like Ruby having a momentary flash of madness, he even admitted as much himself, when he saw Oswald smirking. He was also surprised at the public reaction...he expected to be treated as a hero. Give an unstable man like that easy access to a gun and....

[Gerry Down]

He was also surprised at the public reaction...he expected to be treated as a hero.

Do you have a source of Ruby saying he thought he would be treated as a hero? I always thought that was just other people assuming that is what Ruby was thinking.