Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Dallas (1947-63)

Ruby established permanent residence in Dallas in late 1947, having initially visited to help his sister Eva Grant manage the Singapore Supper Club. He reported returning to Dallas at Eva’s request, though he later stated his Chicago “merchandising deals” had failed. His sister had visited Dallas during World War II and arranged financing from her brothers for the nightclub. The move was likely motivated by the failure of his Chicago business and his separation from Earl Products. Ruby became the operator of the Singapore Supper Club, which during Paul Roland Jones’ appeal was frequented by Jones and other criminals.

The Move to Dallas

Before opening the Singapore, Eva Grant sold metal products and met Paul Roland Jones, who had been convicted of attempting to bribe the Dallas sheriff. After Jones’ narcotics arrest in October 1947, Jack and Hyman Rubenstein were interrogated by the Bureau of Narcotics; they admitted knowing Jones but denied awareness of his narcotics activities. Intensive investigation concluded Ruby was probably not involved in narcotics violations, as Bureau files showed no prosecution of the brothers, and Jones’ coconspirators did not implicate them. Former sheriff Steve Guthrie alleged that Chicago criminals mentioned Ruby would operate a “fabulous” restaurant as a gambling front, but the Commission found this difficult to accept: Lieutenant George Butler, who witnessed the Jones-Guthrie conversations, said Ruby was not involved, and 22 recordings of the conversations never mentioned Ruby, indicating Jones’ only planned confederate was not to be Jewish.