Jack Ruby was born Jacob Rubenstein in Chicago in 1911. His parents were born in Poland but had emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. After leaving school in 1927 Jack did various odd jobs and is rumored to have worked for Al Capone. He also spent time in Los Angeles and San Francisco but eventually returned to Chicago where a friend, Leon Cooke, arranged for him to work for the Scrap Iron and Junk Handlers Union. In December 1939, Cooke was shot dead by John Martin, the president of the union. As a result of this killing Jack Ruby left this job and found employment as a salesman. In May, 1943, Jack Ruby, was called up into the armed services. He served in the United States Army Air Forces at various airbases in America. His behavior was fairly good but on a couple of occasions he got into fights after comments were made about him being Jewish. Jack Ruby attained the rank of private first class and was honorably discharged on February 21, 1946. He returned to Chicago and found work selling small cedar chests for a company owned by his brother, Earl Ruby. In 1947 Ruby moved to Dallas where he managed the Singapore night-club for his sister, Eva Grant. In October, 1947, he was arrested by the Bureau of Narcotics. Steve Guthrie, the sheriff of Dallas, later claimed that Ruby had been sent by criminals in Chicago to manage illegal gambling activities in the city. However, he was eventually released without charge. Ruby remained in Dallas and, after borrowing money from a friend, he purchased the Silver Spur Club. He also acquired the Bob Wills Ranch House, a western-style nightclub. These clubs were not successful and in 1954 he became a part-owner of the Vegas Club. His attempts to establish another nightclub, the Sovereign Club, also ended in failure. Ruby now opened the Carousel Club. In August 1959, Jack Ruby was invited to visit Cuba by Dallas nightclub owner Lewis McWillie. At that time McWillie was supervising gambling activities at Havana's Tropicana Hotel. Later, McWillie was involved in the campaign to have Fidel Castro overthrown after he had taken power from Fulgencio Batista. On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
Soon afterward Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Oswald worked at the Texas Book Depository. They also discovered his palm print on the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle that was found earlier that day. Other evidence emerged that suggested that Oswald had been involved in the killing of John F. Kennedy. Oswald's hand prints were found on the book cartons and the brown paper bag. Charles Givens, a fellow worker, testified that he saw Oswald on the sixth floor at 11.55 a.m. Another witness, Howard Brennan, claimed he saw Oswald holding a rifle at the sixth floor window. While being interrogated by the Dallas Police, Oswald denied he had been involved in the killing of Kennedy, claiming that he was set up to take the punishment for the crime hedid not commit. On November 24 the Dallas Police decided to transfer to Oswald to the county jail. As Oswald was being led through the basement of police headquarters Jack Ruby rushed forward and shot him in the stomach. Ruby was quickly arrested by police officers. Oswald died several hours later. During his trial Ruby claimed he had killed Lee Harvey Oswald because he "couldn't bear the idea of the President's widow being subjected to testifying at the trial of Oswald". Later he changed his mind claiming that his lawyer, Tom Howard, had put him up to saying it. He now pleaded guilty by reason of insanity. On March 14, 1964, the jury convicted Jack Ruby of killing Oswald and sentenced him to death. Jack Ruby's conviction was later overturned, but he died from cancer on January 3, 1967, while waiting for a new trial.
No comments:
Post a Comment