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

Ruby’s Emotional Response to the President’s Death

Ruby did not return to bed after Crafard’s call. During the morning, he watched a televised eulogy for President Kennedy delivered by a rabbi, who spoke of Kennedy serving in battles around the world before being shot in his own country; Ruby told the Commission the eulogy created a “tremendous emotional feeling” for him and that he was “carried away” by the remarks, crying during the broadcast. An employee who called Ruby that morning noted his voice was shaking when he spoke of the assassination.

Visit to Dealey Plaza

Between noon and 1:30 p.m., Ruby drove to Dealey Plaza, where a police officer who noted Ruby’s solemnity pointed out the window from which the rifle shots were fired the previous day. Ruby inspected memorial wreaths placed for the President and spoke emotionally with the officer. He introduced himself to a KRLD radio reporter working from a mobile news unit at the plaza, mentioned his prior help connecting KLIF radio with Henry Wade for an interview, and pointed out Capt. J. Will Fritz and Chief Curry in the area, after which the reporter interviewed and photographed the officers. Ruby said he then drove home before returning downtown to Sol’s Turf Bar.

Ruby at the Nichols Parking Garage

Evidence indicated that after leaving Dealey Plaza, Ruby went to the Nichols Parking Garage adjacent to the Carousel Club. Attendant Tom Brown believed he saw Ruby around 1:30 p.m. and heard him mention Chief Curry’s name in a telephone conversation from the garage; before departing, Ruby asked Brown to inform acquaintances that the Carousel would be closed. Garage general manager Garnett C. Hallmark testified Ruby arrived at the garage around 3 p.m., walked to a telephone, asked if a competing burlesque club would be closed that night, and said he was “acting like a reporter.” Hallmark overheard Ruby address the call recipient as “Ken” and discuss the transfer of Oswald, referring to him only as “he” and telling the recipient, “you know I’ll be there.”