- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJacob Leon Rubenstein
- Nickname
- Sparky
- Jack Ruby was born on March 25, 1911 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He died on January 3, 1967 in Dallas, Texas, USA.
- Is mentioned by name in Irish singer Paul Brady's song, "Nobody Knows" (1992) ("...nobody knows what Ruby had to hide...").
- On the morning of November 24, 1963, while being transferred from a jail cell to an interrogation office, Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, allegedly acting out of rage and anguish over the death of the president. Ruby was tried and found guilty of murder (March 14, 1964) and was sentenced to death. In October 1966 a Texas appeals court reversed the conviction, but, before a new trial could be held, Ruby died of a blood clot, complicated by cancer (Jan. 3, 1967).
- Earned the nickname "Sparky" due to his famous violent temper.
- At his trial he claimed that he killed Lee Harvey Oswald to spare Jacqueline Kennedy the anguish of having to testify at her husband's murder trial. Later he recanted the statement, saying that his lawyer had put him up to it. On March 14, 1964, he was convicted of Oswald's murder and sentenced to death. That conviction was later overturned but he died of lung cancer in 1967 before he could get a new trial.
- He opened The Carousel Club in 1954 and kept ownership until he went to jail in 1963. He built up a friendly relationship with the Dallas police chiefly because he was running an establishment that they could easily close down, one of the reasons being Ruby's alleged ties to organized crime figures. This relationship allowed him access to come and go at police headquarters and is how he was able to have access to the garage on the day he murdered Lee Harvey Oswald.
- Maybe something can be saved, something can be done.
- I am as innocent regarding any conspiracy as any of you gentlemen in the room.
- It may not be too late, whatever happens, if our President, Lyndon Johnson, knew the truth from me. But if I am eliminated, there won't be any way of knowing.
- 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.
- [on shooting Oswald]: All I wanted to be was a hero, and it looks like I just messed things up.
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