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

Now, I'll try to piece together the exact time that Ruby was actually snared in the garage, which was prior to the televised spectacle. 

I'll start with the testimony of Dr. Fred Bieberdorf who said that the basement parking area was cleared by police at 9:45, that he and others were asked to leave.

Dr. BIEBERDORF. Okay, on page 3, the last paragraph, second sentence, "He stated he had no knowledge of security measures in effect in the basement on November 24, 1963, other than the fact that he was asked to remove himself from the basement, and he assumed only police officers and press men were allowed to remain." I think that sentence ought to be deleted and changed to something like: "I was asked to remove myself from the basement parking area at--prior to Oswald's being moved, and was told by police officers at that time that only police personnel were being allowed in the area, and I, of course, later saw that press men were able to gain access to the area by presenting their credentials."
And that is, I think, the only correction.
Mr. HUBERT. About what time did you move from the first aid----
Dr. BIEBERDORF. 9:45. It states that earlier in here. States that on the first page.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you remain in the position indicated by you on the chart, which has been identified as Exhibit 5124, all that while? In other words, you were told by the police to leave the----
Dr. BIEBERDORF. To leave the parking area, and I left there, and at the time of the shooting I was at that particular spot.
Mr. HUBERT. That is to say, the spot that----
Dr. BIEBERDORF. That I marked on that you have marked the No. 5124.
Mr. HUBERT. Between the time that you left and the time of the shooting, where were you?
Dr. BIEBERDORF. I was, the majority of the time, down at the subbasement in the locker room. I was no closer to the spot that Oswald was shot--at which Oswald was shot than I was at the time of the shooting, and no time was I--well, with the exception of crossing through about 9:45.

So, the Bieb crossed through at 9:45 to get out because he was ordered to get out. Now, let's go to the testimony of Officer Roy Vaughn.

Mr. HUBERT. Now, about what time did he assign you to the Main Street entrance?
Mr. VAUGHN. I would say, Mr. Hubert, somewhere around 9:30--I couldn't be definite. 

Notice that there are two dispensations there. He didn't say "at 9:30"; he said "around 9:30".  And it certainly wasn't earlier than 9:30 because he said that at 9:00, he was somewhere else in Dallas, and he got a call to report to Lt. Pierce at City Hall. So, he drove from wherever he was, parked, proceeded to the patrol dispatch room; stood around drinking coffee and talking with others until Pierce got there (and you know how long that kind of thing can go on) and then Pierce got there and sent him to the basement where he was ordered by Sergeant Putnam to guard the Main Street ramp.  So, if it wasn't "at" 9:30, it had to be later. And then he added that he couldn't be definite. So, that's two dispensations, two exemptions from being held to that time. 

Time just slips away when you're sitting or standing around with others drinking coffee and chewing the cud. So, that easily could have been 10:00. 

Now let's look at Ruby's own story, as written by him and a Hollywood scriptwriter, the guy who created the tv show Mission Impossible. Look at the title of it. 

They Told Me I Shot Oswald. They Told Me I Shot Oswald. That's the only way Ruby knew. He had no awareness of doing it. He had no memory of doing it. They took him up to the 5th floor, and they told him that he did it. And that's it. That is the totality of his mental process in thinking and accepting that he had done it. 

Here is what he wrote about Sunday morning:

So, he had doubled his dose 4 or 5 days before. Why? And that morning he also took some other tablets. Why? Did someone put him up to it? What were the tablets?

Note that above where he wrote "I was up early" there was a subheading which said "Approximately 9:30". Do you consider rising at 9:30 to be getting up early? Because most people, including me, would call it sleeping in. 

So, who wrote that heading? It wasn't Ruby. It had to be Wakefield, the script writer. 

Then Little Lynn called, but be aware that she had called Ruby the night before, Saturday, lamenting her money woes. So, was it established then that Ruby would go to Western Union the next morning? Obviously, that's not part of the story. 

In his report, Ruby said that he was driving to Western Union when he passed the County Jail and saw all the people gathered. Then, he glanced at a clock and saw that it was a little past 11. But wait. What clock? He's in a car. Was there a clock in the car? This was pre-digital. Today, cars have clocks- digital ones. But, you can't tell me there was a clock built into his car back then. And if he meant his watch, he'd have said so.  Besides, there was no watch in the inventory of Ruby's possessions. So, what the hell was this referring to? Did they have a watch tower like in Back to the Future? It's just script writing. It was just Wakefield trying to insert the official narrative into Ruby's story. 

It said that he went to view the wreaths on Elm Street, but did he? Ruby did that on Saturday morning. He got out; he went and read every card; he talked to a police officer; who pointed out where the shots came from. All that happened Saturday morning. So, would he go back on Sunday? Amy Joyce was the first to suspect that he didn't go to the wreaths on Sunday, and I agree with her. It's just another thing added to the story to kill time so as to put off Ruby getting to the garage until the time of the televised spectacle. 

And keep in mind that Ruby was extremely submissive about anything and everything. If someone corrected him, he accepted it; always. 

Ruby said he got up early. To most people that would mean before 8. But, let's say 8. He perused the newspaper. He had Rabbi Seligman on the tv. He had some breakfast. Karen called. And then he left. I see him having no trouble getting out of there by 9 if he arose early at 8. And then he drove down to Western Union; forget the wreaths. It wasn't that far; a couple miles. He's there by 9:15. He's out of there by 9:30. Did Doyle Lane, the WU rep, say something to him, like, "You ought to go down and see what's happening at the ramp." If Ruby was on scopolamine, that is all it would have taken to get him to do it. He walks down to the ramp. He lingers a little. Then somebody gives him a head gesture, points, and says, "Go on down. Check it out." Again, that's all it would have taken if he was on scopolamine.  So, by 9:45 or soon thereafter, he's down there. He gets. pounced upon and hustled up to the 5th floor. Then, Vaughn gets there and is told to guard the Main Street ramp. It is still before 10 AM.

So why, if that scenario is true, would they wait until 11:20 to stage the shooting? 

First, the press still had to get ready in the garage; assemble there; get their cameras in place; their lights; and that takes time. 

Second, they wanted to give Vaughn a sizable stretch of time to be guarding the ramp. If they did it immediately, others might have wondered if Ruby came before Vaughn. But, by giving Vaughn a good long stint there, it curtailed any such thinking. 

Third, they may have felt that there would be a larger television audience at that time. After all, it was two hours earlier on the west coast.

Plus, Bookhout had to get in position so that he could slip in because he couldn't come down the ramp past Vaughn either. 

The time of Ruby's actual apprehension was probably between 9:45 and 10:00 AM, and Vaughn took over after that. 

So, they had another policeman there on foot. But, Pierce made a point of pulling out so that it would match what he was going to do at 11:18. Pierce was alone, but when he did it the second time, he had two other officers in the car with him. Why? Perhaps to establish witnesses. They both testified. But, Ruby remembered seeing just Pierce in the car and an officer on foot whom he didn't know or recognize. So, we are talking about two separate and different events.   

It all depended on Ruby showing up. The Karen Carlin call got him within a block and a half. So, how could they be certain that he could be coaxed to do the remaining part? That certainty came from a drug, most likely scopolamine, the zombie drug that makes one totally susceptible to suggestion. It was a controlled situation. They didn't just cross their fingers and hope that he showed up. 

Ruby said that he took extra tablets that morning. The tablet form of Scopolamine is called Scopace, and it was available until 2011.