Who was Jack Ruby? Texas nightclub owner fatally shot John F Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
DALLAS, TEXAS: Nearly 60 years after the assassination of former President John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, the US National Archives declassified more than 12,000 files on the shooting Thursday, December 14. Jack Ruby's name has surfaced again, and Americans are interested in learning more about him. Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of former President John F Kennedy, was shot by Jack Ruby, the owner of a nightclub in Dallas, Texas.
Kennedy was shot multiple times while riding in a presidential motorcade on an official visit to the state of Texas on November 22, 1963. He was 46 years old and in his first term as president at the time.
READ MORE
Robert Grossman: Doctor who examined John F Kennedy after assassination dead at 88
Who was Jack Ruby?
Jack Leon Ruby was a Texas nightclub owner who was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 25, 1911. According to Texas Monthly, he was the owner and operator of the Carousel Club in the 1960s, which he once referred to as a "f***ing classy joint." Ruby was a club owner in addition to allegedly being a member of the Chicago Outfit, an Italian-American organized crime group that belonged to the Mafia. Ruby has been the subject of numerous rumors over the years. However, only one claim—that he was an FBI informant—ever seemed to be proven accurate, per reported by The US Sun.
Because Ruby frequently kept his personal life quiet, little much is known about him outside of his professional life. Like he was not married or the father of any children at the time of his death. According to Texas Monthly, Alice Nichols was the only woman Ruby was connected to; she was a "shy" widow and an employee of an insurance provider. Despite having an 11-year relationship that was intermittent, Ruby and Nichols were never wed.
“In 1959 the FBI tried eight times to recruit Jack Ruby," said Hugh Aynesworth, a Times Herald reporter who reportedly knew Ruby well. he continued, "They wanted him as an informer on drugs, gambling, and organized crime, but every time they contacted him, Ruby tried to get his competitors in trouble." He added, "‘Ol’ Abe over at the Colony Club is cheating on his income tax. . . . Ol’ Barney at the Theatre Lounge is selling booze after hours.’ After a while the FBI gave up on the idea.”
What happened to Jack Ruby?
On November 22, 1963, as he was traveling through Dealey Plaza in a motorcade, Democratic President John Fitzgerald Kennedy who is often referred to simply by his initials, JFK, was shot and killed. Kennedy had already defeated Richard Nixon in the 1960 election and was about to finish his third year in government at the time. The FBI interviewed almost 20,000 people shortly after Kennedy's murder and came to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former US Marine, was responsible for the president's death.
30 minutes after the attack, Oswald was taken into custody. He was charged with killing Kennedy and Police JD Tippit the next day, the latter of whom he is said to have shot after being interrogated by the officer on the street, according to History.com. Oswald was supposed to be moved to a more secure jail on November 24, but he never arrived and was eventually shot dead by Ruby with a .38 revolver. A short while later, Ruby was taken into custody and accused of killing Oswald. He was later found guilty of murder with malice by a Dallas jury on March 14, 1964, and given the death penalty. On appeal, he was eventually given a new trial, but on January 3, 1967, he passed away from cancer before the second trial could start.