November 24, 1963: Dead Men Tell No Tales

After Oswald is murdered in police custody, Johnson moves quickly to control the official narrative

Lee Harvey Oswald is shot to death 48 hours after the shooting of President Kennedy. (Credit: Bob Jackson/Dallas Times-Herald)

At 12:20 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24, Lee Harvey Oswald was shot to death in the basement of the Dallas Police Department as detectives led him to a vehicle that would take him to the county jail. His killer, Jack Ruby, owned a nightclub frequented by police officers, who received free drinks, watched the striptease shows, and enjoyed other courtesies.

Left: Inside The Carousel; Right: The Carousel’s sign advertises its adult theme. (Credit: The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza)

New Orleans crime lord Carlos Marcello is believed to have secretly owned a controlling interest in The Carousel. Ruby’s connections in the DPD were extensive. Many of the officers worked after hours at The Carousel providing security for extra pay.

Although the Dallas police had arrested him many times, Ruby had always either received a light fine or secured quick release.

A police mugshot of Jack Ruby (real name Jacob Rubenstein) on the occasion of the fourth of eight arrests by the Dallas Police Department before his Nov. 24, 1963 arrest for killing Oswald. (Credit: John F. Kennedy, Dallas Police Department Collection)

It remains uncertain exactly how Ruby gained entrance to the basement of the police station, but the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) took seriously the possibility that he was allowed in by prearrangement with members of the Dallas Police Department.

In its Final Report, the HSCA wrote:

the timing was so perfect that it made it difficult to accept mere coincidence, and it is unlikely that Ruby entered the basement without some sort of assistance. This might have been in the form of knowledge of the Oswald transfer plans, direct help in entering the basement, or direct help in both entering and shooting Oswald.

Preordained Conclusion

Within hours of Oswald’s murder, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach began writing a memorandum to Bill Moyers, an aide to the new president, Lyndon Johnson.

The second paragraph of the memo stated an imperative for any investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy:

The public must be satisfied that Oswald was the assassin; that he did not have confederates who are still at large; and that evidence was such that he would have been convicted at trial.