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

 I’d like to share Jack Ruby’s narrative about the shooting. Since a professional writer was involved, we can be sure the writing got “edited.” Still, it is very enlightening and well worth reading. The time heading was definitely added by the professional writer, William Reed Woodfield.

Approximately 11:17 AM

I walked out of WU and started back toward my car. I saw the crowd still at City Hall and got curious. It’s a block and a half from WU to City Hall. I passed the ramp to the basement of City Hall and saw the crowd there.

RC: He must have meant that he reached the ramp because when he got to it, he went down it. He didn’t keep going to City Hall.

An officer was directing cars. I walked down the ramp just as a car driven by Sam Pierce- an officer I have known for years- came up the ramp at full speed. I just took my normal stride and walked down the ramp.

RC: Shouldn’t Pierce have seen him?

Why did I go down there? I thought I’d see what was happening. I thought they had already transferred Oswald. I never expected him to be there. I thought something interesting might be going on and that I might pass out some guest cards for the Carousel Club.

I reached the bottom of the ramp. I didn’t see anyone I knew. Suddenly there was a great commotion. Out walked Oswald. He was about 10 feet from me. He had a smirky, defiant, cursing, vicious expression on his face.

RC: Does that correlate with the Oswald in the films? I don't think so.

There was no one standing by me.

RC: That contradicts the films.

Suddenly, Oswald popped out. I must have pulled out my gun and taken a couple of steps. They, the police, could have blown my head off as I shot him once.

RC: Then, there is a parenthetical remark by Woodfield: (This was 11:20, 3 minutes after the time stamped on the wire.)

I had no thought of doing any violence to anyone when I went down there. I didn’t even think about it.

I remember being down on the floor, and I said: “You don’t have to beat my brains out. I’m Jack Ruby. What am I doing here? What are you guys all jumping on me for? I’m not someone who’s wanted.”

They dragged me to the elevator. They took my upstairs. They told me I had shot Oswald. That was the first time I realized what I had done. I said, “My God, My God!”

RC: First, is there a chance that Jack Ruby was lying? I say no. I don’t think there is any basis to claim it. He pleaded to have a lie detector test. He offered to swallow truth serum. And he accepted responsibility for shooting Oswald. Therefore, why would he lie about anything else? And don't tell me he was protecting the Mafia who ordered him to shoot Oswald because that is bull shit, and I don't want to hear it.

The issue in this case comes down to the medical side of it. Because: it sounds like overall, he was conscious and cognizant and aware. He recognized Sam Pierce. He recognized that there was no one else down there that he knew. He recognized Oswald. And as soon as he was pushed to the ground, he remembered everything that happened, including what he said.

So, what is the medical basis for thinking that he lost awareness and went into a daze, a sleep-like state, for a few seconds, in which he did something without having any awareness or memory? There is no medical basis. Marvin Belli called it “psychomotor epilepsy,” but that was nonsense.

But now, read it again, but this time, do so with the mindset that this was an hour before, and that he just went down there and got jumped, that the reason he couldn’t remember what happened in-between is because nothing happened in-between; that the forgotten interval never occurred.

And remember that we are only talking about a few seconds. He remembered seeing Oswald- in great detail. Then, he remembered being jumped by police, and he remembered exactly what he told them- word for word. So, it was just a few seconds that were missing, probably no more than 3. So, he had a complete, total consciousness/memory lapse for 3 seconds, and then snapped out of it? Bull shit!

There was no memory lapse. There was no missing 3 seconds. It went from the last thing he remembered before the shooting, which was seeing Oswald, to him being jumped upon by the police. There was nothing in-between. But, Jack Ruby was batty enough to believe that he shot Oswald JUST BECAUSE THE POLICE TOLD HIM. You or I wouldn't do that. If we went somewhere and suddenly police jumped us, dragged us somewhere, and told us that we shot someone, we woul say: “You’re all nuts! I didn’t shoot anybody. It’s impossible. So, fuck you all! I didn’t do it! And I don’t care how many of you say I did!"

And if Ruby had been a smarter person, like you or me, he would have realized that his gun hadn’t been fired. Notice that he said nothing about hearing a shot. And we have no basis to assume that Jack Ruby’s gun was ever fired. So, that means the bullets were intact; the cylinder was clean. He could have said:

“I want to open up my gun and inspect it. Let’s see if a shot was fired. Let’s see if a cartridge was expended. I know damn well my gun wasn’t fired.”

And even if he was inclined to believe the police no matter what, why wouldn’t he confirm it by examining the pistol? How could he not be smart enough to do that?

And if he demanded it, and they refused, then he would have known INSTANTLY that they were fleeing the interview. (That is a reference to the movie Fargo. Being a filmmaker, I am a connoisseur of great films, and Fargo is one.)

But, Jack Ruby was not smart. He was a mental basket case. And that’s why he got picked for this. What, do you think they would have expected a mentally competent person to accept that he shot Oswald without the slightest cognition of it, without the slightest intention or inclination, and without any memory of doing it?

Poor Jack Ruby. Was he ever a slaughtered lamb.