Unsigned autograph letter in pencil, five pages both sides, 6 x 4, no date but circa 1965. Letter to Thomas E. Miller, a fellow inmate in Dallas County Jail. In part: "I hope you remember these names you have. There is one person you must warn, because Johnson hates his guts…his name is Bruce Alger, he was a former congressman, and no one knows how he was beaten in the last election but I’m sure Johnson had something to do with his losing. He was a republican. I believe he is presently working around Colorado Springs managing some kind of building project for H. L. Hunt. You probably can find out from my ex girl friend Alice…Be careful how and what you stay [sic] on the phone to him or anyone, because they may have a lot of phones tapped. Tell him that his life is in danger, and the most horrible death imaginable. Tell him he better find a way out of the country…Remember—you can't be seen with Alger, he is too well known. Maybe you can [locate him] through Lamar Hunt…
Oh the way I fucked up this world who would ever dream that the mother fucker was a Nazi, and found me as the perfect setup for a frame. It was perfect for them. Remember they had the president killed, and now with me in the picture, they'll make it look as though Castro or the Russians had it done. Anyone in their right mind would know that the Russians or Castro would never do something like that…it would only create worse hostilities. After it was done they would only put another man in office to take Kennedy’s place. Remember the only one who had all to gain was Johnson himself. Figure that out. Remember all points. Also about Oswald who has been a drifter all of his life, suddenly decided to go to work in the book-binding building weeks before Kennedy himself knew he was coming to Dallas…where did Oswald get the information that far in advance…It had to be someone pretty high in Washington who had made up Kennedy's mind about the trip. All that was planned by Johnson, no one would question the president about a conspiracy…Johnson could commit any crime he cared to because he knew he was going to be the president and have all the power he needed.
The shooting at the ex-general's [Edwin Walker] home was to make believe…what a crackpot he [Oswald] is. That to fool the people into thinking that there wasn't any motive in killing the president, and it was done by a crazy person…I still don't believe that a man would deliberately go out and kill the president, it doesn’t sound right to me. Some one had put him [Oswald] up to it, and they no doubt promised him some pretty prize, that is why he made such a desperate effort to get away, to go so far as killing the policeman [J .D. Tippett]. I have [at] the most one or two days left to live…If you hear a lot of horn-blowing it will be for me, they will want my blood!…take my advice and leave the US." In fine condition, with a central vertical fold to each page and a couple tiny stains to one page. Accompanied by a letter of provenance from the original recipient, as well as two letters related to the piece from Charles Hamilton, who initially sold it in 1966.
Smuggled out of a Dallas Jail cell in 1965, this famous letter from Oswald’s killer—pointing to President Johnson as the brains behind the assassination, implying that he set the scene and put Oswald into position on that fateful day in November—immediately sparked interest when it went up for auction by New York dealer Charles Hamilton in 1966. Bought by Penn Jones, editor of a small newspaper in East Texas, it was excerpted and published in the May 1966 book, Forgive My Grief, a compilation of his editorials on the assassination. Coinciding with an erosion of public confidence in the Warren Report and concern over the drastic changes in US policy (especially in regard to Vietnam) under the new president, Ruby’s rambling conspiracy claims held a ring of truth for some: “Also about Oswald who…suddenly decided to go to work in the book-binding building…where did Oswald get the information that far in advance…It had to be someone pretty high in Washington who had made up Kennedy's mind about the trip. All that was planned by Johnson, no one would question the president about a conspiracy.” A remarkable piece, capturing the fears and beliefs of the alleged assassin’s assassin. RR Auction COA.
