FROM VINCE BUGLIOSI'S BOOK, "RECLAIMING HISTORY":
"Are we just left with conjecture to reach a conclusion on the issue of how Ruby entered the police basement? No, there is evidence, common sense, and Ruby's knowledge of events that prove he entered through the Main Street ramp. ....
"The virtual proof that Ruby came down the Main Street ramp is that within a half hour of his arrest, and right after he was taken from the basement to the jail on the fifth floor (which was long BEFORE [DPD officers] Pierce, Putnam, Vaughn, and Maxey had been interviewed and given their statements), Ruby told Dallas police detective Barnard Clardy and other detectives that he had entered through the Main Street ramp and had seen Pierce driving out of the ramp.
"How could Ruby possibly have known this if he hadn't, in fact, been at the entrance to the Main Street ramp? I mean, Pierce himself didn't even receive instructions to drive out of the Main Street ramp until around 11:15 a.m., just six minutes before Ruby shot Oswald." -- Vincent Bugliosi; Pages 108-109 of "Reclaiming History" (Endnotes)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
With respect to the above analysis regarding Jack Ruby's movements on
Sunday, November 24, 1963 (the day he shot and killed JFK's assassin,
Lee Harvey Oswald), once again I have to agree with the logical
thinking of "Reclaiming History" author Vincent T. Bugliosi.
Along these same "HOW DID RUBY GET INTO THE DALLAS POLICE BASEMENT?"
lines, while watching some of the 11/24/63 videotape television coverage
from the KRLD-TV archives, I took note of something quite interesting (as it
relates to the tight "timeline" factor regarding Jack Ruby and his probable
entry into the DPD basement on November 24th).....
As I was watching the above video, which is uncut, unedited, as-it-
was-happening footage being taped by Dallas CBS affiliate KRLD-TV
from the DPD basement, I took note of two important "time" factors---
The first being the point in time when the KRLD camera catches a
glimpse of the police car being driven by Dallas Police Lieutenant Rio
S. Pierce. Pierce can be seen maneuvering the car so he can drive out
the Main Street entrance ramp (because the Commerce Street exit ramp
was being blocked by the armored truck that the police had stationed
on the ramp).
Pierce testified as follows in front of the Warren Commission on March
24, 1964:
LEON HUBERT -- "About what time did you get those orders?"
LT. RIO S. PIERCE -- "I would assume it was about 11:15."
MR. HUBERT -- "What did you do then?"
LT. PIERCE -- "I immediately left. I received these instructions in
the homicide office, which is on the third floor of the city hall.
Immediately left there and rode the elevator down to the basement
where I secured a car and I found that the normal exit, which is the
exit on Commerce Street from the basement of the city hall, was
blocked by an armored car. It was necessary for me to use the Main
Street exit. I mean--actually, the Main Street entrance, because we
don't exit..."
MR. HUBERT -- "But you used it as an exit?"
LT. PIERCE -- "I used it as an exit."
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/pierce.htm
The second important "time" factor that can be obtained by viewing the
KRLD uninterrupted videotape is the number of seconds between the time
Lieutenant Pierce's police car disappears from the view of the KRLD
camera and the time when Lee Harvey Oswald is shot dead by Jack Ruby.
The number of seconds between those two events is 52.
In my opinion, this tight 52-second timeframe between Pierce leaving
the DPD garage (i.e., his car disappearing from camera view on the
KRLD video) and the actual shooting of Oswald by Ruby fits to a tee
with the testimony of both Ruby and Pierce.
I.E., Ruby saw Pierce exiting the basement garage and simply slipped
past the slightly-distracted DPD officer (Roy Vaughn) who was assigned
to guard the Main Street ramp.
To be perfectly fair here, I will add that Vaughn's Warren Commission
testimony doesn't leave much of an opportunity (it would seem) for
Ruby to sneak past Vaughn and into the basement.
Officer Vaughn testified that he never actually walked into the street
to halt traffic to allow Pierce to exit the DPD garage. But Vaughn did
say he "stepped out on the sidewalk somewhere between the sidewalk and
the curb...right around the curb", which could have been just enough
of an opening for Ruby to slip into the basement unseen by Vaughn.
Here's an excerpt from Patrolman Roy Vaughn's April 17, 1964, Warren
Commission session:
LEON HUBERT -- "What did you do when the car came up [the Main St.
ramp]?"
ROY E. VAUGHN -- "The first thing I noticed the car--still standing
inside the ramp--and I heard someone at the bottom of the ramp holler
"watch the car", and when I looked down you could just get a view of
the front end of the car coming up the ramp. It had its red lights on,
which were in the grill. As it come on up the ramp, I stepped to my
right, and it come up the ramp."
MR. HUBERT -- "You stepped towards Pearl Street?"
OFFICER VAUGHN -- "Yes--towards Pearl Street, and I stepped to my
right in order to get out of the car's way, and I stepped out on the
sidewalk somewhere between the sidewalk and the curb, I believe it was
right around the curb, and I glanced--it would be toward the eastbound
traffic, which would be traffic towards Pearl Street to see that
traffic was clear, and then motioned them on and I turned around and
walked back."
MR. HUBERT -- "You did not go into the street at all?"
OFFICER VAUGHN -- "No, sir."
MR. HUBERT -- "You did not pass the curb?"
OFFICER VAUGHN -- "No, sir; not that I recall. I don't believe I did
at all."
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/vaughn.htm
Given the fact that Jack Ruby was still transacting business at the
Western Union office at 11:17 AM and then shot Oswald just four
minutes later at 11:21 AM, I think it's only logical to assume that
Ruby almost certainly had to have slipped into the basement via the
Main St. ramp just as Vaughn stepped away from the ramp for a brief
moment to allow Lt. Pierce's car to exit the basement.
The above scenario, of course, also assumes something else: It assumes
that the Dallas Police Department was NOT full of a bunch of corrupt
cops who would have wanted to aid Jack Ruby in any fashion in his goal
of killing Lee Harvey Oswald.
That type of conspiratorial mindset is an "extraordinary" one in my
view, and requires some very strong evidence to back it up....which is
evidence not possessed by any conspiracy theorist I've ever
encountered.
The bottom line is: No "extraordinary" scenario involving crooked cops
and/or a "Mob rub-out" of "patsy" Oswald is required at all in order
to arrive at a logical and reasonable determination as to how Jack
Ruby managed to get into that basement garage on November 24th.
Ordinary, non-covert circumstances (and impeccable timing--and luck--
on Ruby's part) explain the situation perfectly. Except, perhaps, if
you're entrenched in the "Conspiracy Camp", whose members are prone to
virtually always look beyond the "ordinary" and reach for a more
sinister-sounding solution.
But no matter which side of the "Conspiracy vs. No Conspiracy" fence
you reside on with respect to the events of November 1963, the
following "as-it's-happening" video is still quite fascinating to watch.
This is a longer version of KRLD-TV's raw videotape footage taken
in the basement of Dallas City Hall on 11/24/63:
=========================================
VINCENT BUGLIOSI SAID (IN HIS 2007 BOOK "RECLAIMING HISTORY"):
"The virtual proof that Ruby came down the Main Street ramp is
that within a half hour of his arrest...Ruby told Dallas
police...detectives that he had entered through the Main Street ramp
and had seen Pierce driving out of the ramp.
"How could Ruby possibly have known this if he hadn't, in fact,
been at the entrance to the Main Street ramp? I mean, Pierce himself
didn't even receive instructions to drive out of the Main Street ramp
until around 11:15 a.m., just six minutes before Ruby shot Oswald."
~~~~~~~~~~
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
"Given the fact that Jack Ruby was still transacting business at
the Western Union office at 11:17 AM and then shot Oswald just four
minutes later at 11:21 AM, I think it's only logical to assume that
Ruby almost certainly had to have slipped into the basement via the
Main St. ramp just as Vaughn stepped away from the ramp for a brief
moment to allow Lt. Pierce's car to exit the basement."
==========================================
DATE: 2/1/2008 6:10:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: Gary Mack
TO: David Von Pein
Hi Dave ....
Vince's answer is just one possibility - but there's another that is even more likely. That back entranceway, as shown in TMWKK [The Men Who Killed Kennedy] (and which is STILL there!), works just as well if not better.
According to the uninterrupted KRLD video tape of the basement
scene, Rio Pierce started driving up the ramp exactly 48 seconds
before Ruby shot Oswald. This means that as long as Ruby was in the
basement and anywhere near the car, he could have seen and identified
Pierce before or as his car started moving. A good defense attorney
would have handed Vince a defeat on that issue.
/s/ Gary Mack
==========================================
DATE: 2/1/2008 7:54:33 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: David Von Pein
TO: Gary Mack
Wasn't that door locked AND GUARDED by a DPD officer?
/s/ DVP
==========================================
DATE: 2/4/2008 2:31:17 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: Gary Mack
TO: David Von Pein
Dave .... No, not then or ever. It was simply a back entrance
near an area where the public arrives to do business. At that time,
City Hall was where you bought licenses, paid fines and water bills.
In fact, once you were inside the main corridor on the ground
floor, the doorway to the basement was marked Basement and was easily
accessible. Anyone could have walked down the stairs into the
basement, for the door could only be locked from the garage side, not
the stairway side (fire code, of course).
So [DPD Sergeant Patrick] Dean testified accurately that the
door was locked from his side, but he didn't think about the other
side. Then, and now, one simply pushes the bar on the door to open it
from inside.
I strongly urged Nigel Turner, for all the above reasons, to
include the scene in TMWKK showing how Ruby could have, and probably
did, enter. Once he arrived in the basement, no one would have noticed
him because their backs were facing that door. By walking straight
from the door to near the railing, Ruby could have seen and recognized
Pierce driving his car up the Main Street ramp.
That also explains why two DPD detectives, as told to NBC's Tom
Pettit, pointed to the railing and the "green car" as the spot where
Ruby came from - that is exactly where Ruby would have wound up IF he
had taken the stairway rather than the ramp.
/s/ Gary
==========================================
DATE: 2/4/2008 4:13:37 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: Gary Mack
TO: David Von Pein
Dave .... I guess that back door possibly should have been
locked, for at that time, it led to an alleyway between two buildings.
It was not the normal entrance the public used. The DPD did have
guards at the public entrances, but they were farther away than either
the Main Street ramp or the side door.
But Ruby did frequent the police station fairly regularly and
could easily have known about that back entrance. Was it by chance
the door was still open? Possibly. If it were locked, he would have
had to walk around....which would have delayed him significantly.
But once he was inside, he only had to walk about 35 feet to
get into the main hallway, and the door to the basement is right
there.
It appears from the existing record that no one even considered
the possibility Ruby took the back entrance.
/s/ Gary Mack
==========================================
DATE: 2/4/2008 9:12:21 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: David Von Pein
TO: Gary Mack
Interesting theory....except for one HUGE problem -- Jack
Ruby's own version of how he entered the DPD basement/garage.
Via the scenario of a LONE-NUT named Ruby entering the basement
in the manner you suggest via the back entrance (and NOT a person
named Ruby who was AIDED by the cops or anyone else in order to get
into the basement), there would have been absolutely NO REASON under
the sun for Ruby to lie to the police afterward and say he entered by
way of the Main Street ramp vs. the way he would have actually
entered--via the back entrance.
Can you think of one good reason why a "LONE-NUT RUBY" would
want to lie about such a thing? I can't.
/s/ DVP
==========================================
JACK RUBY QUOTES (via Ruby's first Warren Commission session on June 7, 1964):
JACK RUBY -- "I walked down the ramp."
JACK RUBY -- "There was no one near me when I walked down that ramp."
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/ruby_j1.htm
~~~~~~~~~~
ADDITIONAL TESTIMONY FROM JACK RUBY (during his WC session on July 18, 1964, when Ruby was given a lie-detector test):
JACK RUBY -- "As I left the Western Union, I walked toward the ramp,
and as I walked down, Lieutenant Pierce's car was parked already on
the curb, partly on the curb and partly some of it was on the ramp,
and some officer was talking to him..."
ARLEN SPECTER -- "Did you walk by his car?"
RUBY -- "Yes."
SPECTER -- "At the same time it was parked there?"
RUBY -- "Yes."
SPECTER -- "So that the officer did not see you..."
RUBY -- "That's correct."
SPECTER -- "...Because the car was parked there?"
RUBY -- "Yes; and his back was turned to me."
[Later....]
BELL P. HERNDON (FBI Polygraph Examiner) -- "Did you walk past the
guard at the time Lieutenant Pierce's car was parked on the ramp
exit?"
RUBY -- "Yes." ....
HERNDON -- "Did you talk with any Dallas police officers on Sunday,
November 24, prior to the shooting of Oswald?"
RUBY -- "No." ....
HERNDON -- "Did you enter the police department through a door at the
rear on the east side of the jail?"
RUBY -- "No."
HERNDON -- "After talking to Little Lynn, did you hear any
announcement that Oswald was about to be moved?"
RUBY -- "No." ....
HERNDON -- "Did any foreign influence cause you to shoot Oswald?"
RUBY -- "No."
HERNDON -- "Did you shoot Oswald because of any influence of the
underworld?"
RUBY -- "No."
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/ruby_j2.htm
==========================================
DVP ASKED:
"Can you think of one good reason why a "LONE-NUT RUBY" would
want to lie about such a thing [with respect to how Ruby got into the
DPD basement]? I can't."
==========================================
DATE: 2/7/2008 12:42:25 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: Gary Mack
TO: David Von Pein
Well, there is one good reason. There were a couple reserve
officers guarding the basement with some regular cops; any of them
could have noticed Ruby and IF they were acquainted, he might have
been allowed to stay. Then, to protect that person, Ruby made up the
ramp story.
I'm impressed by two people, Officer Vaughn and the off-duty
cop across the street, both of whom insist that Ruby--who at least one
of them knew--never entered the ramp.
There are other factors. IF Ruby went down the ramp, there was
no reason or need to jump the railing and stand in the parking area;
yet that is exactly what Ruby had to do for a detective to say he saw
Ruby climb over the railing and join the crowd.
Also, there is no evidence whatsoever that Ruby could NOT have
entered by that back stairway. None.
/s/ Gary
==========================================
DATE: 2/7/2008 9:03:36 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: David Von Pein
TO: Gary Mack
Except for the little problem that the back door in question
(if I'm interpreting the configuration of the DPD's basement-area
doors correctly, which I might not be) was almost certainly locked, as
were all other doors leading into the basement/garage area, per the
testimony of Patrick Dean of the Dallas Police Department (12 WC 421). ....
BURT GRIFFIN -- "Did you have any reason to think that it would be
possible to get through from the subbasement?"
PATRICK T. DEAN -- "Well, I knew that there were doors going into the
subbasement from--however, I checked them and they were locked, but
still there was a possibility, since you did have doors there, or
ingress from the street."
GRIFFIN -- "Do you know where the ingress from the street to the
subbasement is?"
DEAN -- "Yes, sir; as you enter on Commerce Street, going down into
the basement, there is a door on the southern side...just before you
go into the main part of the basement, that leads down. It's the
porters' quarters, that leads down to the porters' quarters."
GRIFFIN -- "Is there any other entrance into that subbasement?"
DEAN -- "The elevators in the new city hall is [sic] the only ones
that you can get in, is the only place, other than the ramp--we had
all places covered. In fact, I assigned--"
GRIFFIN -- "No. I am talking about the subbasement now."
DEAN -- "The garage portion?"
GRIFFIN -- "That's right."
DEAN -- "No, sir; there is no other place."
~~~~~~~~~~
As for Ruby possibly wanting to "protect" a policeman that he
knew -- yes, I'll admit that such a scenario is possible. But I'd
still say it's quite unlikely as well.
Why? Because after he killed Oswald, Ruby was trying
desperately to CLEAR HIS NAME of any alleged conspiratorial
implications....which would mean that it's very unlikely (in my
opinion) that he would want to jeopardize any such name-clearing on
his part by making up a false story about how he actually gained
access into the DPD basement.
Any such false story told by Ruby would have been an untrue
tale that Ruby really couldn't have had any way of knowing with
certainty WOULDN'T be exposed as a lie by someone in the future,
thereby making anything else that came out of Mr. Ruby's mouth the
subject of additional scrutiny and suspicion if his false story was
proven to be a lie.
Plus: There's the often-overlooked fact that Jack Ruby WANTED
to take a polygraph examination. He actually insisted (practically
BEGGED) Earl Warren to let him take a lie-detector test (and, by all
indications, he passed the polygraph test that he ended up taking, in
every substantive area of questioning).
And, quite obviously, Ruby had to know that one of the questions he
would be asked during such a lie-detector examination (an exam that
he VOLUNTEERED to take) would be something akin to: "What route
did you take to get into the police basement?"
Was Ruby THAT confident in his ability to "beat" the polygraph
machine, do you think? Or--was Jack Ruby telling the whole truth and
nothin' but when he said he walked down that Main Street ramp on
Sunday morning, November 24, 1963?
~~~~~~~~~~
VIA JACK RUBY'S 06/07/64 WARREN COMMISSION TESTIMONY:
JACK RUBY -- "I have been used for a purpose, and there will be a
certain tragic occurrence happening if you don't take my testimony and
somehow vindicate me so my people don't suffer because of what I have
done."
EARL WARREN -- "But we have taken your testimony. We have it
here. .... It will be recorded for all to see. That is the purpose of
our coming here today. We feel that you are entitled to have your
story told."
RUBY -- "You have lost me though. You have lost me, Chief Justice
Warren."
WARREN -- "Lost you in what sense?"
RUBY -- "I won't be around for you to come and question me again."
WARREN -- "Well, it is very hard for me to believe that. I am sure
that everybody would want to protect you to the very limit."
RUBY -- "ALL I WANT IS A LIE DETECTOR TEST, AND YOU REFUSE TO GIVE IT
TO ME. .... Because I want to tell the truth. And then I want to leave
this world. But I don't want my people to be blamed for something that
is untrue, that they claim has happened."
[Emphasis added by DVP.]
http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0096a.htm
~~~~~~~~~~
VIA THE 07/28/64 WARREN COMMISSION TESTIMONY OF FBI POLYGRAPH EXAMINER BELL P. HERNDON (WITH RESPECT TO THE LIE-DETECTOR TEST HE GAVE TO JACK RUBY ON 07/18/64):
ARLEN SPECTER -- "Now, Mr. Herndon, based on the hypothesis or
assumption that Mr. Ruby was in touch with reality, and understood the
nature of the questions, and the quality of his answers, what opinion
did you formulate, if any, as to patterns of deceptiveness on the
relevant questions during the polygraph examination?"
BELL P. HERNDON -- "Based on the hypothesis that you just gave, Mr.
Specter, a review of the polygraph charts would indicate to me, if in
fact Ruby was mentally competent and sane, that there was no
indication of deception with regard to the specific relevant pertinent
questions of this investigation."
[Later....]
SPECTER -- "I will ask you to start with the relevant questions again,
and give us the answers and any significant physiological deviation."
HERNDON -- "...Mr. Ruby was asked four relevant questions. ....
Question number 4: "Did you enter the police department through a door
at the rear on the east side of the jail?" He responded "No". Question
number 6: "After talking to Little Lynn did you hear any announcement
that Oswald was about to be moved?" He responded "No". .... The one
particular thing of interest with regard to overall interpretation of
this chart is how RUBY SHOWED CONSIDERABLE MORE RELAXATION AND
APPEARED TO BE COMPLETELY AT EASE AFTER THE RECESS. THERE WAS NO
PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIATION OF ANY SIGNIFICANCE NOTED with regard to his
replies to the relevant questions."
[Emphasis added by DVP.]
http://jfk-assassination.net/russ/testimony/herndon.htm
Thanks for your recent e-mails, Gary. I always enjoy chatting
with you.
Best Regards,
David V.P.
==========================================
DATE: 2/8/2008 1:00:53 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: Gary Mack
TO: David Von Pein
Dave, the door was locked from the INSIDE, meaning the basement
side. It could not, and still cannot, be locked from the stairwell
side because that would violate fire codes. You want people to go down
a stairwell and find they can't get out? I've been there, and I've
read the testimony, especially this part:
Mr. GRIFFIN - Who checked the stairway door in the garage that leads
up into the municipal building?
Mr. DEAN - The stairway door?
Mr. GRIFFIN - Yes.
Mr. DEAN - I don't know of any door that leads up into the----the
stairway?
Mr. GRIFFIN - There is a stairway----
Mr. DEAN - That goes down into the subbasement?
Mr. GRIFFIN - Well now, over where the elevators are...
Mr. DEAN - Oh. Oh, yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN - You know what I am talking about?
Mr. DEAN - Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN - Who checked that door?
Mr. DEAN - Sergeant Putnam checked it once and I checked it once and
it was locked.
Mr. GRIFFIN - Did you know at the time you checked it that even though
the door was locked from the outside, it could be opened from the
inside?
Mr. DEAN - [No response.]
Mr. GRIFFIN - Let me state this again. Even though the door would be
locked from the garage side, that from the stairway side it would be
unlocked; were you aware of that?
Mr. DEAN - I believe we asked the maintenance man about this, and I
believe he locked it so as it couldn't be unlocked from either side
unless they had a key. I believe Sergeant Putnam called this to the
maintenance man's attention, and I recall being there at the time they
were discussing it, and I think at that time the maintenance man
locked the door so it couldn't be unlocked from either side other than
with a key.
http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh12/html/WC_Vol12_0217a.htm
That door is on the east side of the building, which was just
west of the Western Union building. Dean simply did not realize that
the door could not be locked from the stairwell side.
As for the rest of the story, Ruby's ramp excuse had nothing to
do with any conspiracy. His only reason for making it up, IMO, was to
protect the officer who allowed him to enter rather than kick him out
as he should have.
Please refer to the jail diagram:
The bottom of the ramp is even with the word Route and the
entire distance from the heavy line past the two columns represents
the metal railing (which is still in place). Directly right of Route,
and about 30 feet away, is the stairwell door. The moment he stepped
out that door, Ruby could have seen Pierce's car and he wouldn't need
to get much closer to recognize the driver.
Now watch TMWKK scene in which a DPD detective points for Tom
Pettit to where Ruby came from. He pointed to below the column between
the words Ruby's and Route and specifically stated that the man he had
just seen shoot Oswald came from that green car. There were cars
parked all along, and facing, that railing. That detective, by the
way, was never questioned by the WC and he still refuses to talk
about it.
If Ruby came down the ramp, he would have had no need to climb
over the railing for he would have known that he wouldn't be able to
see anything due to the number of people in the way. I can only
conclude, from all the evidence, that Ruby did not use the ramp. I
think he made up the story because he did not know that a cop was
guarding it and an off duty cop across the street was watching. Both
men knew Ruby, especially the off duty cop, Don Flusche.
As for Ruby's polygraph, hasn't there been considerable
discussion about it mostly resulting in everyone realizing that his
tests were simply unreliable? Or am I remembering wrong?
/s/ Gary
==========================================
DATE: 2/8/2008 10:18:42 PM Eastern Standard Time
FROM: David Von Pein
TO: Gary Mack
Hello again Gary,
Thank you very much for taking the time to write out the
details that are contained in your last e-mail. It's been very
informative and eye-opening indeed.
I must admit (as I hinted previously) that I was somewhat
confused as to the "door-locking" abilities of the DPD door in
question (and it would certainly seem that Police Officer Patrick Dean
was also a bit perplexed by that same issue during his Warren
Commission testimony, which you provided in your last e-mail).
But I think I have a better grasp on things now, and you have
indeed provided a very good alternate scenario for how Jack Ruby could
have gained access into the Dallas Police Department basement without
having to go down the Main Street ramp.
And this "alternate" scenario is also, as you mentioned, a NON-
CONSPIRATORIAL (i.e., NON-MOB-RELATED) one, which has Ruby (on his
own) merely entering the police basement via a different route,
instead of the route he claimed he took to get into the garage.
I'm still a little hesitant to fully embrace the idea that Ruby
got into the basement via the stairwell door on the east side of the
DPD building, due to the fact that Ruby, himself, INSISTED on being
given a polygraph exam.
And if he wanted to remain faithful to the version of events he
told to the police the day he killed Lee Harvey Oswald, Ruby certainly
knew that he would HAVE to lie when asked "How did you enter the
basement?", which seems odd on Ruby's behalf, since he was so adamant
about wanting to be given a lie-detector test.
But your personal knowledge of the door-locking mechanisms of
those DPD doors and your personal knowledge of the layout of the
Dallas Police garage (plus the rather hesitant "door-locking"-related
testimony given by Patrick Dean that you provided in your last e-mail)
are things that have made me seriously re-think the issue of how Jack
Ruby got into the DPD basement on 11/24/63.
As of this date, based on the informative correspondence I've
had with Mr. Gary Mack in recent days, you can officially mark me down
as being squarely "on the fence" regarding this issue.
I still think it's quite possible that Ruby did enter the
basement just as he said he did -- via the Main St. ramp (and he told
detectives that he took that route within 30 minutes of the shooting
of Lee Oswald). Allow me to re-quote Vincent Bugliosi once again on
this issue:
"The virtual proof that Ruby came down the Main Street ramp is
that within a half hour of his arrest, and right after he was taken
from the basement to the jail on the fifth floor (which was long
BEFORE [DPD officers] Pierce, Putnam, Vaughn, and Maxey had been
interviewed and given their statements), Ruby told Dallas police
detective Barnard Clardy and other detectives that he had entered
through the Main Street ramp and had seen Pierce driving out of the
ramp." -- V. Bugliosi; Via "Reclaiming History" (c.2007)
So it would seem that Ruby was pretty quick on his feet at
making up a lie about coming down the ramp (if, in fact, it was a lie
being told by Ruby to protect an officer, or for some other reason
known only to Jack Ruby).
And if it was a lie, he knew he'd have to repeat it for the lie-detector
examiner, which he did, and the test showed that Ruby was probably
telling the truth regarding this "ramp" issue. (At least the polygraph
machine didn't go wild to indicate that Ruby was almost certainly
telling a lie, at any rate.)
But, the polygraph exam notwithstanding, I am now willing to
also accept the idea that it's quite conceivable that Ruby used
another route (as described by Mr. Mack) to gain entry into the
basement.
Gary, you also wrote this in your last message to me --- "As
for Ruby's polygraph, hasn't there been considerable discussion about
it mostly resulting in everyone realizing that his tests were simply
unreliable? Or am I remembering wrong?"
I think my best response to that question (given our previous
discussions focusing specifically on Ruby and his basement-entering
route) would be to say: What difference does it make?
What I mean by that is -- It really doesn't matter from RUBY'S
POINT-OF-VIEW if the polygraph test turned out to be "reliable" or
"unreliable". Because the main point I was making previously is that
Ruby, HIMSELF, desperately wanted to be given a lie-detector test. He
wanted it--badly.
And via such a state-of-mind on Ruby's part, wouldn't it be a
bit odd to INSIST upon taking a lie-detector exam if the person who
was insisting upon taking it KNEW HE WAS GOING TO HAVE TO LIE with
regard to the route he took to get inside the police basement to kill
Oswald?
From JACK RUBY'S personal pre-polygraph point-of-view, that
just does not seem to add up, in my opinion. But, having said that, I
suppose it would be wise to also mention here that Mr. Ruby's mental
state was almost certainly in a deteriorating condition by the time he
talked with the Warren Commission in June and July of 1964.
Some of the rambling, semi-incoherent things Ruby said to the
Commission during those two sessions would tend to bear out that
determination regarding Jack's mind. So it's difficult to say with any
certainty just exactly what kind of "rational" vs. "irrational"
thoughts were swirling through the brain of Jack Ruby after his murder
trial in 1964.
In closing this message, let me thank you once again, Gary, for
the time you've taken to write to me regarding this issue about Ruby
and the DPD basement. And thank you for your informative thoughts and
congenial and friendly manner toward me during these e-mail sessions.
You've provided me with some excellent "Food For Ruby Thought".
Best Regards,
David R. Von Pein
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