Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

Ruby's Deathbed Confession vs. Vaughn's testimony

In Ruby's deathbed confession, there is a written version and an audio, but they don't agree. They are not exactly the same. 

Why is that? It's not that long. What reason would anyone have had to "edit" such a short statement? 

For instance, in the written version, it states that the officer who was leaning over and talking to Lt. Sam Pierce "had his back to me." That was cut out of the audio.

But wait. If that officer had his back to Ruby, then he must have been on the passenger side of the car. 

Let's make this easy by looking at a map:

So, Ruby was on Main. And he walked to our right to get to the ramp. He had to cross Harwood Street, and the ramp was between Harwood and Pearl.   Notice that it says Pearl Expressway, but that appears to be a modern development. At the time, it was just Pearl Street. Now look at Roy Vaughn's testimony:

Mr. HUBERT. What did you do when the car (Pierce's) came up?
Mr. VAUGHN. The first thing I noticed the car--still standing inside the ramp-and I heard someone at the bottom of the ramp holler, "Watch the car," and when I looked down you could just get a view of the front end of the car coming up the ramp. It had its red lights on, which were in the grill. As it come on up the ramp, I stepped to my right, and it come up the ramp
Mr. HUBERT. You stepped towards Pearl Street?
Mr. VAUGHN. Yes--towards Pearl Street, and I stepped to my right in order to get out of the car's way, and I stepped out on the sidewalk somewhere between the sidewalk and the curb.

So, how could Ruby describe an officer with his back to him if that officer was on the Pearl Street side?

Again: they cut "with his back to me" out of the audio version. Why didn't they cut it out of the printed version as well? Perhaps just negligence. 

Then, note that Ruby and Vaughn knew each other. Vaughn had to deal with some issues at one of Ruby's clubs (not the Carousel) concerning a waitress and some "colored musicians".  Then, another time, Vaughn pulled Ruby over for a traffic violation, but seeing it was Ruby, he let him off without issuing him a ticket. Don't you think Ruby would remember him? 

Then, there is this passage which does NOT occur in the audio version: 

 according to the Western Union records -- the time stamped on the Western Union records -- it's 11:17 the time the incident taking place 11:21, it was 11:21.

I attribute that to "them" wanting to correlate the time with the official story. I figure that either Ruby never said any such thing, OR he said it but with a different time. Recall that in his testimony to the Warren Commissioners he cited 10:15 as the time he sent the WU money wire. 

I have to wonder: how did this wind up in the hands of the bad guys? This was a small recording device that Ruby's lawyer, Elmer Gertz, brought to Parkland Hospital and also present was Ruby's brother Earl. So, that means it was private property, right? So, how did the authorities get the opportunity to edit it? 

Now, let's consider the differences between Ruby's account and the official story. 

Ruby said the police car was a squad car. But when Pierce drove up the ramp a minute before the shooting, he was in an unmarked black car. 

Ruby reported seeing no one in the car except Sam Pierce, but by the time this car reached the top of the ramp, another officer had boarded in front, and there was another officer in back. So, three officers were in the car. 

Ruby reported seeing an officer on foot with his back to him, which means on the Harwood side. But, Vaughn said he was on the Pearl Street side. 

By the way, the DPD did its own internal investigation of the shooting, and the result was that Roy Vaughn was the only one who received any kind of reprimand for what happened. And he profusely protested and hired a lawyer. He insisted that Ruby did NOT get in on his watch. And, he was absolutely right that at 11:17 when he stepped towards Pearl to let Pierce exit, Jack Ruby was not there then. 

Roy Vaughn was really a pivotal player in all this. But, that doesn't mean that he was in on it. I'd say that's unlikely. Roy was 29 years old. He had been a police officer for almost 6 years. When asked his rank, he said "patrolman." I'm pretty sure that's the lowest rank. He said he was working downtown that morning when at 9 o'clock he got a call from Lt. Sam Pierce telling him to report to City Hall. He said when he got there to the "511" office, that there was a coffee pot, and officers were standing around drinking coffee, and he joined them. But apparently, Pierce wasn't there. So, Vaughn just waited for him. It's unclear how long he had to wait. When Pierce finally showed up, he told Vaughn to report to Sargeant Patrick Dean to secure the basement. So, he did that, along with two other officers. 

Then, Vaughn said there was a Sargeant Putnam, who was working with Sargeant Dean, and Sargeant Putnam is the one who ordered him to guard the Main Street ramp. The time, he said was approximately 9:30, but he wavered on that. "I couldn't be definite."

9:30? I doubt it. That seems like a lot to transpire in just half an hour. I bet it was closer to 10:00.  

But, let's think about this: are we to believe that until then, no one was guarding the Main Street ramp? Oswald was scheduled to be moved at 10. So, how can you wait until 9:30 or later to guard that entrance?

We assume there was no one guarding it before Vaughn, right? 

Mr. HUBERT. Did you in fact turn away some people?
Mr. VAUGHN. I had one particular--yes, I turned away several people that were not press--they would try to enter the ramp.

So, does that mean that until Vaughn got there, people were entering freely?

Then, when Vaughn stepped aside to let Pierce out:

Mr. HUBERT. Was your back then toward the ramp entrance?
Mr. VAUGHN. No, sir; my back was not toward the ramp, I was standing to the right of the ramp where I still had a view of the ramp itself, the entrance to the ramp. My back would have been toward Pearl Street--it would be towards the east.

But again: Ruby said the officer had his back towards him, which obviously places the officer on the other side of the ramp, the same side that Ruby was on. Is there any reason to doubt Ruby about this? I can't think of any. 

Mr. HUBERT. Now, after the Pierce car passed by, what did you do?
Mr. VAUGHN. I walked back inside the ramp to my original post, which was 2 or 3 feet inside.
Mr. HUBERT. And you stayed there until after the shot was fired?
Mr. VAUGHN. Yes. 

Now read this: Wow.

Mr. HUBERT. Do you think it would have been possible for anyone to enter the basement who was approaching the Main Street ramp from Pearl Street or the Western Union direction, while the Pierce car was exiting?
Mr. VAUGHN. No; I don't believe it was possible.
Mr. HUBERT. And why do you say that?
Mr. VAUGHN. Because--due to the fact--the time, the period of time like I said, I had a view of the ramp from the period of time the car actually come out, and I waved it on and walked back to the ramp.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, you know, of course, that Ruby says that that's the way he got in?
Mr. VAUGHN. Yes, I realize that.
Mr. HUBERT. What is your opinion about that statement?
Mr. VAUGHN. I don't believe he did.
Mr. HUBERT. You think he got in some other way?
Mr. VAUGHN. He didn't come in at the ramp. How he got in--that, I don't know, but I know--I don't believe that he came in the ramp.
Mr. HUBERT. Is it your opinion beyond any reasonable doubt, and I think you are familiar with that phrase as an officer, aren't you?
Mr. VAUGHN. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. That Ruby did not enter the basement through the ramp while you were there?
Mr. VAUGHN. Yes, sir. 

Again: Wow. 

I find it interesting that even though, supposedly, Ruby gained entrance at the time that Pierce was pulling out, that only Vaughn was held accountable. But, Pierce had eyes, didn't he? And he was an officer too wasn't he?  If he saw Vaughn step to the right, the Pearl side, to get out of his way, wouldn't Pierce automatically glance over at the Harwood side to help cover it? Plus, there were two other officers in the car with him. So, not one of them glanced over at the Harwood side? And they wanted to blame Vaughn? I don't get it that all the blame was heaped on Vaughn. 

So, what is the most likely thing that happened here? 

First, I urge everyone to listen to Ruby's audio rendering. See if you think he sounds like he is being truthful. This is something that juries do all the time, right? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VjbE0Y2YMg


As I listen to it, I think he is being truthful. I rate the chance that he is deliberately lying at zero. 

And I have no reason to think that Vaughn was lying. I certainly don't think that anyone tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, you know we're killing Oswald today. And we are going to make it look like Jack Ruby did it. So, when he shows up at the ramp, act like you don't see him and let him slip in. Make it look good."

No, I think Vaughn was set up to be the fall guy. He was issued some kind of demerit, but it was just a slap on the wrist. But, it is just ridiculous because why not point the finger at Pierce as well? Didn't Ruby slip by Pierce just as much as he did Vaughn, according to their story? 

The official story has it that Ruby definitely gained entrance while both Pierce and Vaughn were at the head of the ramp. So, how do you blame Vaughn and not Pierce?  

So, what actually happened? 

What follows is speculation on my part, and it is a new train of thought for me. I am not making any definitive statements here. I am just thinking out loud. 

If I assume that Ruby was being truthful (and I do) and if I assume that Vaughn was being truthful (and I do), then I have to assume that the officer that Ruby saw on the Harwood side with his back to him was not Vaughn. He must have been someone else. And that means that it occurred before Vaughn started his watch. Perhaps while Vaughn was drinking coffee with the other officers, the snaring of Jack Ruby was underway. And maybe it was over and done with by the time Pierce showed up. 

The problem with this is that it sets everything back to where Ruby was at the WU office much earlier than reported. Until now, I considered that it might have been as much as an hour earlier, but could it have been earlier than that?  An hour and a half earlier? What time would Ruby have had to leave his apartment to do that? 

So, I am going to have to study this further, and I will try to get Amy and the Wizard to brainstorm it.