PRESIDENTS' DAY WEEKEND - "THE TRIAL OF JACK RUBY: THE MAN WHO KILLED KENNEDY'S KILLER ON LIVE TELEVISION"

0:03 Callarogus Shark Media. Good morning, I'm read Carter. Sunday, February fifteenth, twenty twenty six. President's Day Assassination Trials, Part three. Friday, we covered Lincoln Military Tribunal. Four hanged a woman executed yesterday, Garfield the madman who sang his way to the gallows while doctors actually killed the president today The Big One. November twenty second, nineteen sixty three, Dallas, Texas, twelve thirty pm. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy riding in an open motorcade through De Lee Plaza.

0:44 Governor John Connolly seated in front of him, Jackie Kennedy beside him in her pink channel suit. Three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas school Book Depository. The President's head exploded. On live television. America watched its youngest elected president die in his wife's arms. Lee Harvey Oswald, twenty four years old, former Marine Marxist, defected to the Soviet Union, came back, and apparently decided to murder the leader of the Free World with a twenty one dollar mail order rifle. But Oswald never stood trial because two days later, on November twenty fourth, nineteen sixty three, while being transferred from Dallas police headquarters, A man stepped out of the crowd of reporters in the police basement, pressed a thirty eight caliber Colt Cobra revolver against Oswald's abdomen and fired once. Jack Ruby, fifty two years old, Dallas nightclub owner, shot Lee Harvey Oswald on live national television.

1:43 NBC was broadcasting the transfer. Fifty million Americans watched a man die in real time, first murder ever broadcast to a mass audience. Ruby was tackled, immediately, disarmed, arrested. Oswald died at Parkland Memorial Hospital, the same high hospital where Kennedy had been pronounced dead two days earlier. Oswald's death meant no trial, no testimony, no cross examination, no definitive answers about whether he acted alone. The conspiracy theories that haunt America to this day were born in that police basement. But Jack Ruby did stand trial, and his case overshadowed by everything that came before. It is one of the strangest murder trials in American history. I'm reed, Carter, this is celebrity trials today. The Kennedy assassination, the killing of Oswald, and the trial of Jack Ruby, Part three of Our President's Day Assassination Trials series. Let Me Take You Back.

2:48 November twenty second, nineteen sixty three, Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy was in Texas on a political trip. The nineteen sixty four election was approaching. Texas was crucial. Governor Connolly and Senator Ralph Yarborough were feuding, splitting the state's Democratic Party. Kennedy came to unite them. The motorcade through downtown Dallas was designed from maximum public exposure, open top Lincoln Continental limousine, slow speeds through city streets, no bulletproof bubble top. Despite the Secret Service offering one, Kennedy wanted to be seen, wanted to connect with the crowd. Twelve thirty pm, the motorcade turned from Houston Street onto Elm Street, passing the Texas School Book Depository, a seven story brick warehouse sixth floor, southeast corner window. Three shots six point five seconds from a six point five millimeter Mannlicher Carcinot bolt action rifle.

3:46 First shot missed or hit a nearby curb fragment, striking bystander James tag on the cheek. Second shot, the so called magic bullet hit Kennedy in the upper back, exited his throat, hinued through Governor Connolly's back, chest, wrist, and thigh. Both men wounded with one bullet. The Warren Commission would later call this the single bullet theory. Critics would call it impossible. Ballistic testing would eventually confirm it was plausible. Third shot hit Kennedy in the head, fatal. The right side of his skull exploded. Brain matter sprayed across the trunk of the limousine. Jackie Kennedy climbed onto the back of the car, whether reaching for a piece of her husband's skull or trying to escape nobody's certain. Secret Service agent Clint Hill sprinted from the follow car, jumped onto the back of the limousine, pushed Jackie down, shielded the President's body with his own. The car accelerated toward Parkland Memorial Hospital. One PM, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was pronounced dead.

4:51 He was forty six years old, the youngest elected president, father of two war hero the man who stared down the Soviets during the Cuban missile crisis. Within ninety minutes, Dallas police had their suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, twenty four years old, employee at the Texas School Book Depository, had been seen on the sixth floor that morning. His Manlicher Carcano rifle found hidden between boxes near the window. Three spent cartridges on the floor. Oswald fled the building after the shooting, went to his rooming house, retrieved a point three eight revolver, was stopped by Dallas police officer J. D. Tippett on a residential street. Oswald shot tip at four times, killed him, then ducked into the Texas Theater movie house without paying. Employees called police one fifty pm. Officers swarmed the theater.

5:45 Oswald pulled his revolver, tried to fire. The hammer came down on the webbing between an officer's thumb and the firing pin didn't discharge. Officers subdued him. Oswald reportedly said, well, it's all over now, except it wasn't. It was just beginning. Dallas police interrogated Oswald for approximately twelve hours over two days, no audio recordings, no video, no attorney present for most of it. Oswald denied everything. I didn't shoot anybody. I'm just a patsy. The evidence against him was substantial. His rifle, his fingerprints on the boxes near the window, a palm print on the rifle barrel, fibers matching his shirt on the rifle butt. Eyewitness Howard Brennan saw a man matching Oswald's description firing from the sixth floor window. Ballistic evidence connected the rifle to the bullets. His movements after the shooting, fleeing, retrieving a gun, killing officer Tippett showed consciousness of guilt, but Oswald was never tried because Jack Ruby made sure of that.

7:00 What happens when the man who was supposed to become a memory keeps living a nation still demanding miracles, the moon, peace, certainty from a man who can no longer pretend he's untouched. Behind closed doors, the whispers begin. Some wonder what would have been easier, the myth or the man. In this new podcast from Calaoga Shark Media, John F. Kennedy is the man who lived Coming President's Day, the man who lived Wherever you get your podcasts.

7:44 Jacob Leon Rubinstein born March twenty fifth, nineteen eleven in Chicago, changed his name to Jack Ruby. Grew up in poverty, street kid, small time hustler, served in the army, Air Forces during World War II. Moved to Dallas in nineteen forty seven to help his sister manage a nightclub. By November nineteen sixty three, Ruby owned two clubs in Dallas, The Carousel Club, a burlesque joint, and the Vegas Club. He was a known figure around the city, friendly with cops, gave them free drinks, hung around police headquarters, new officers by first name, attended press conferences. Was a fixture in the Dallas ecosystem where police press and night life overlapped.

8:26 Ruby was emotional, volatile, could be generous one moment and violent the next, beat up patrons who got rowdy, carried a gun everywhere, had a history of minor scrapes with the law, but nothing serious. Loved his dogs, two docsuns he treated like children. When Kennedy was shot, Ruby was devastated, genuinely distraught. Closed his clubs out of respect, something he'd never done. Attended a press conference at Dallas Police headquarters Friday night. Was seen in the crowd of reporters. Nobody questioned why a nightclub owner was at a police press conference. That was just Jack Ruby. Saturday, November twenty third, Ruby spent the day in a fog visited. Friends talked about how awful the assassination was. Expressed rage toward Oswald, but also concerned for Jackie. Kennedy told people he was heartbroken that Jackie had to see her husband murdered. Sunday morning, November twenty fourth, Ruby drove downtown, stopped at a Western Union office to wire twenty five dollars to one of his nightclub employees. The receipt was time stamped. Eleven seventeen am, the transfer of Oswald from city jail to county jail was scheduled for ten am, but had been delayed. Reporters were gathered in the basement parking garage waiting. Ruby walked from the Western Union office to the police headquarters basement, entered through the main street ramp. How he got in

9:57 without being stopped has been debated for decades. He may have slipped in while a police car was exiting and the officer guarding the ramp was momentarily distracted. Eleven twenty one, A M detectives Jim Level and L. C. Graves led Oswald out of the jail office into the basement. Lavell was handcuffed to Oswald's right wrist, wearing a tan suit and white cowboy hat. He'd told Oswald earlier, Lee, if anybody shoots at you, I hope they're as good a shot as you are. Oswald smiled, nobody is going to shoot at me. The basement was packed with reporters, television cameras broadcasting live on NBC, millions watching. Oswald emerged. Reporters shouted questions, flashbulbs popped. Then Jack Ruby lunged from the crowd, pressed his point three eight Colt cobra against Oswald's left abdomen. Fired.

10:48 Once Oswald's face contorted, he groaned, collapsed. Detective Graves grabbed Ruby's gun hand. Officers swarmed. Ruby was taken down. Jack you son of a bitch, Lavelle shouted. Ruby reportedly said, I hope I killed the son of a bitch, later told officers, I did it so Jackie Kennedy wouldn't have to come back to Dallas for a trial. Oswald was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, the same trauma room where Kennedy had been treated two days earlier, same doctors, Lee Harvey Oswald was pronounced dead at one seven pm. He was twenty four years old. The conspiracy theories ignited immediately.

11:29 Was Ruby connected to the mob? Was he sent to silence Oswald? Was this a cover up orchestrated by the CIA, the Mafia, Fidel castro, Lyndon Johnson, or some combination. The fact that Oswald was killed before trial meant the truth, whatever it was, might never come out. But first Jack Ruby had to stand trial for murder. We'll be right back with the trial of Jack Ruby. His lawyers said he blacked out from psychomotor epilepsy. Prosecutors said he walked past a police god guard, timed his arrival perfectly, and murdered a man in cold blood. The jury took two hours.

12:12 March fourth, nineteen sixty four, the trial of Jack Ruby began in Dallas, Judge Joe B. Brown presiding. The courtroom was a circus, hundreds of reporters, television cameras in the hallway the world watching. Ruby was charged with murder with malice premeditated killing. If convicted, he faced the death penalty. Texas had the electric chair. His defense team was led by Melvin Belly, a flamboyant San Francisco trial attorney known as the King of Torts. Belly was famous had won massive personal injury verdicts, wore expensive suits, loved the spotlight. He'd taken Ruby's case partly for the publicity. Belly's strategy was bold and unusual diminished capacity through psychomotor epilepsy. He argued, Ruby suffered from a rare form of v epilepsy that caused seizures affecting the temporal lobe, leading to blackouts, emotional volatility, and loss of control. Ruby didn't plan to kill Oswald.

13:10 He had an epileptic episode triggered by the intense emotional stress of Kennedy's assassination. He blacked out, didn't know what he was doing when he came to Oswald was shot and Ruby was on the ground. The defense brought in neurologists. Doctor Roy Schaeffer of Yale administered psychological tests. Doctor Martin Towler of the University of Texas performed an electro encephalogram brainwave test on Ruby found abnormal brain activity consistent with psychomotor epilepsy. The defense team believed they had the medical evidence to prove Ruby was not in control of his actions. Prosecution, led by District Attorney Henry Wade, yes the same Henry Wade from roe Versus. Wade argued premeditation. Ruby brought a gun to the police basement, timed his arrise, positioned himself in the crowd, waited for the perfect moment, fired at point blank range, then made statements showing he knew exactly what he'd done and why. Wade presented evidence that Ruby had been stalking the police headquarters all weekend. Was at the Friday night press conference called the Jail Saturday, asking about Oswald's transfer schedule. Arrived at the basement Sunday morning at exactly the right time. The Western Union receipt showed Ruby wired money at eleven seventeen am, just four minutes before the shooting. Defense said this proved it wasn't premeditated.

14:36 If Ruby planned to kill Oswald, why would he stop to wire twenty five dollars to an employee He just happened to be in the area when the transfer happened. Prosecution countered Ruby knew the transfer was scheduled, the delay pushed it back to when Ruby arrived. He may have wired the money specifically to create an alibi to make it look spontaneous. The trial lasted two weeks. Testimony was contradictory Ruby himself, was erratic, alternated between calm cooperation and emotional outbursts, told his attorneys different stories at different times. On March fourteenth, nineteen sixty four, the jury got the case, eight men and four women. They deliberated two hours and nineteen minutes, guilty murder with malice, sentence death. Ruby showed no reaction. Belly was stunned. Furious, held a press conference outside the court house, calling Dallas a city of shame.

15:33 Said the verdict was predetermined. Said Dallas wanted to execute Ruby to cleanse itself of the shame of Kennedy's assassination. This is a victory for bigotry and injustice, Belly declared. Ruby fired Belly after the verdict, hired new attorneys. Filed an appeal, arguing multiple grounds the trial should have been moved out of Dallas due to pre trial publicity, Judge Brown was biased, the jury selection was tainted, the evidence didn't support murder with malice. October fifth, nineteen sixty six, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed, reversed the conviction, ordered a new trial, found that key testimony about Ruby's statements had been improperly admitted, and that the trial should have been moved to a different venue. Ruby was going to get another chance, but he never got it. December ninth, nineteen sixty six, Ruby was diagnosed with lung cancer. Aggressive terminal had spread throughout his body. January third, nineteen sixty seven, Jack Ruby died at Parkland Memorial Hospital, the same hospital where Kennedy died, the same hospital where Oswald died. He was fifty five years old. Died of a pulmonary embolism related to his cancer. His last words to his brother Earl, there is nothing. There was no one else. Ruby maintained until his death that he acted alone, spontaneously out of grief and rage over Kenny's murder. That there was no conspiracy, no mob connection, no government plot, just a distraught, impulsive

17:07 man with a gun who wanted to spare Jackie Kennedy from a trial. Whether you believe that depends on which conspiracy theory you subscribe to, and there are dozens. The Warrent Commission concluded Oswald acted alone and Ruby acted alone. The House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in nineteen seventy nine that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy, but couldn't identify who was involved beyond Oswald. The truth. Oswald's dead, Ruby's dead, the answers, if there are any died in that basement parking garage on November twenty fourth, nineteen sixty three. What we know for certain, Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald on live television, was convicted, won an appeal, then died before justice could be served either way. No finality, no closure, just questions that have haunted America for over sixty years. That's Part three of Our President's Day Assassination Trial series. John Fitzgerald Kennedy forty six years old, thirty fifth President, shot dead in Dallas, his wife covered in his blood. Lee Harvey Oswald, twenty four years old, never tried, never convicted, never got to tell his story, whatever that story was. Jack Ruby, fifty five years old, killed Oswald in front of fifty million witnesses, convicted, sentenced to death, won a new trial, died of cancer before it happened. Justice denied to everyone, the prosecution, the defense,

18:40 and the American public. Three men connected by two bullets in two days and sixty two years later, we still don't have all the answers, probably never will. By the way. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Kennedy had survived that Fateful Day? Check out our new sister podcast, The Man Who Live It All starts President's Day. Just search for The Man Who Lived when you finish this show and hit follow tomorrow President's Day. The final episode March thirtieth, nineteen eighty one, John Hinckley Junior shot President Reagan to impress Jody Foster. Found not guilty by reason of insanity, changed American law forever, and today he's a freeman posting music on YouTube. I'm read Carter, this is Celebrity Trials.