Handwritten manuscript in pencil by Jack Ruby, unsigned, 24 pages on 22 sheets, 4 x 6, written after he was convicted of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald and sentenced to death. The important manuscript details his movements on the evening of Friday, November 22, 1963, and the early hours of Saturday morning on November 23rd. Earl Ruby, the brother of Jack Ruby, notes that this manuscript was to be used by Jack's lawyers if a new trial was granted to show that Jack's motives in the murder were not premeditated.
The manuscript reads, in part: "When I left the synagogue I drove by the Bali Hi and they were open, and I drove by the Gay Life and they were closed and then I…stopped at Phil's delicatessen and had gone in and spoke to Phil, and gave instructions…to make sandwiches and instructed him to make real healthy ones, because they were going to people working on the case and I wanted to be sure they were exceptional, and then I called the police station and asked for homicide to talk to Sims…and asked him if he wanted sandwiches and he said they were winding up everything and he sure did appreciate it and was going to tell all the boys how nice I've been…I looked through my book trying to find Russ Knight home phone number and I just could not find it…I was making quite a few calls and the cashier even remarked that I could use their business phone but I was more comfortable using the pay phone. As a rule I would never call Gordon McClendon at home at this late hour but under these circumstances I felt that whoever answered the phone wouldn't be too hostile, and since listening to the radio I've heard Gordon McClendon's voice frequently and if he was still working I'm sure his family wouldn't mind, especially since I wanted to bring sandwiches over…I phoned and a little girl answered the phone…I think I told her who I was and if her mother was at home and she said they were all gone…I told her it was very important she find the number for me because I wanted to bring some sandwiches to the station…she found some number for me and I called but it was an incorrect number. Had I received the correct number at that time, I would never have gone to the police station.
Now my problem was to get into K.L.I.F. I remarked to the fellow behind the counter again if he really made them some good sandwiches, and he said he really took care of me and I asked him how many sandwiches he had made and he said eight and I said I thought I told you ten, and he said he could make the other two, and I said never mind because I wanted to get going, but I kept ordering other items such as soda drinks and the kind I wanted were warm, and he gave me a plastic bag of ice. I also ordered other kinds of bakery goods so if they didn't like the rye bread they could change to another kind of bread. He helped me to the car with all the packages and I thanked him…
Now I had to figure out to get into K.L.I.F. I did recall that I would hear on the radio a disk-jockey a name of Joe DeLong constantly that he was down at the station getting first hand report on all of the data, so I drove down solely to locate Joe DeLong to get the phone number of K.L.I.F., and I park the car on the lot and crossed the street to go up to the station and had taken the elevator and I spoke to a police officer and asked how I could find Joe DeLong with K.L.I.F. and he said he didn't know, he let me walk by, and I kept asking a number newspaper people if they knew Joe DeLong and all of them were from out of the city, and these newspeople carried on I would never have believed it. All they were concerned about was to get news.
I had a police officer who recognized me and asked me what he could do for me, and he had gone around trying to page him, but it was no use. Really, all I wanted was to find this fellow and get out of there, but somehow I got caught into the swirl of things, and was standing in the long hallway when a door opened and they brought this fellow out, and I was very close to him, and all of the reporters kept shouting and asking questions, and then someone said do you have a larger room and one of the officials mentioned the room lower in the basement and now, I wasn't too anxious to leave, because this was making history and I was part of it.
I walked down the steps or rode an elevator I don't remember, and before I knew it I was in the large room, and they brought this fellow out and made an attempt to ask him some questions but it was useless, and they had taken him back. Then Mr. Wade was asked quite a bit of questions. Then they all left I was in the hallway and two fellows walked by and I recognized one because he used to work in a service station across from the Vegas Club but I asked the other fellow if he was Joe DeLong, and he said no, what do you want him for, and I told him I had some sandwiches for K.L.I.F. and I wanted to get in there, and he said were from K.B.O.X. what about us don't we get any, and he gave me a direct number to call, and I talked to the tall fellow, think his name is Sam, for about a half of minute.
After getting the number, I walked around…to use the phone and was to contact a fellow by the name of Ken, and told him about the sandwiches, and then suddenly asked him if I should try to get Wade over to the phone. He was on the phone talking to someone and I motioned and said someone would like to talk to you and I didn't answer, and he went over and conversed with him on the phone, and after he finished I got on the phone and the disk-jockey didn't know how to thank me enough, and he asked me how long before I would be over so he would leave the door open for me. I answered 5 min.
Then when I left the basement and got to the head of stairs there was Russ Knight standing in the hallway talking to someone, and I spoke to him and told him how I got an interview for his station with Wade, and he said that's what he came for and he had a tape recorder and I said follow me, and we went down the steps to the basement, and Wade was still sitting in the enclosure, and I said Henry this is Russ Knight and he replied OK…I left them together and I wanted to make to K.L.I.F. because I knew he was only going to leave the door open for a few minutes, but when I arrived there the door was closed, and I pounded on the door but to no avail they just couldn't hear me. Finally Russ arrived and he let me in. We went upstairs and stayed in the control room for some time, and we all shared the sandwiches and they raved about them and the drinks. We all talked for sometime.
I mentioned one time complimenting Gordon McClendon for his editorial about the instances when Adlai Stevenson visited here. Russ said he is going to let Gordon know how I helpful in getting a scoop for them. Russ and I left together and we started talking about certain things and he walked over to my bar, and I found some literature I wanted to have…It was mentioned that H. L. Hunt puts out and from what I read from the papers that he was kicked out from the New York World’s Fair, I think for that reason. Russ was very much interested in getting the literature. Then I left Russ and went over to the Times Herald and placed my ad, and talked to some people there, and spoke to them about the big ad. The news had taken breaking the president, and I told them that people were calling from all over cancelling all kinds of ads and subscriptions.
A. Asked the boys at the station what food Mrs. McClendon brought to them…B. I asked the boys in the station, what time Gordon had left, and also remarked it was rather strange that I couldn’t find Joe DeLong at the Police Station…C. Also emphasized that they would never believe what trouble I went through getting their sandwiches to them. D. Mentioned to Russ about getting the wrong number Christine gave me and he said I'll bet that she gave you the number that has been discontinued. E. I intended to send flowers where the president was shot, but I came to my sister’s apartment and mentioned it to her she said don’t send them from the same florist because the flowers are stale.” In fine condition. Accompanied by an affidavit signed by Earl Ruby describing the circumstances in which this manuscript was written.
This remarkable manuscript, which comprehensively traces his steps in the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination but prior to the murder of Oswald, corresponds with the testimony that Ruby gave before the Warren Commission on June 7, 1964. The "fellow" he refers to in these passages is Lee Harvey Oswald, and a month after his arrest Ruby told the FBI that his loaded snub-nosed Colt Cobra .38 revolver was in his right pocket during the press conference described here. This was the gun he used to shoot Oswald on the morning of Sunday, November 24th. Ruby maintained that it was never in his mind to kill Oswald until that morning, when he learned that Mrs. Kennedy might need to return to Dallas for a trial and relive her grief. An incredible window into Ruby's actions preceding the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.
