Oswald committed a double murder on 11.22.63. The legal punishment for those crimes at that time was execution. He certainly was entitled to a full and complete legal proceeding just as any other American citizen, but the ultimate outcome likely would have been the same. It's unfortunate that Ruby took the law into his own hands if, for no other reason, it has given fodder to many to believe that "something" more was going on here. If Oswald had gone to trial and been convicted, I doubt there was be same industry of conspiracy loons. There would still be some, but no more than in the MLK or RFK context. So Ruby shares a lot of blame for the conspiracy industry in this case. We also could have found out more about Oswald's motivations. There is some possibility that Oswald might have plead guilty and provided details as to the crime for the historical record to save his skin but he eventually would have played to the gullible conspiracy crowd like Sirhan and James Earl Ray to garner attention and sympathy. As a result, the conspiracy angle was always in the cards even if Oswald signed a confession.
