When Jack Ruby (the man in the tan fedora, gun in hand) pulled a gun from his coat and shot Lee Harvey Oswald (the man in the middle), Americans were not sure how to respond. Many felt his actions were justified; just two days ago Oswald had shot President John F Kennedy. Other Americans were frightened and confused. Countless conspiracies had risen in the two days since the assassination, and now the only person who knew the whole truth was dead. Who was Jack Ruby and why did he do it?
Jacob Rubenstein was “a Chicago native with a shadowy past” according to history.com. He was born in 1911, although the exact date of his birth conflicts on a number of official records. Jacob spent time in and out of foster care along with his 7 other siblings. During WWII he served in the Air Force. When WWII concluded Jacob moved to Dallas where he began working at night clubs. During this time he earned a number of arrests for minor offenses. At some point Jacob adopted the nickname Jack Ruby, explaining later that people already called him Jack and that Rubenstein was too long.
In court, Jacks attorney argued that Jack had a psychomotor seizure which caused him to kill Lee Harvey Oswald. Psychomotor seizures come as a result of psychomotor epilepsy. Link.springer.com states that “A psychomotor seizure is a form of epilepsy that is typically limited to the temporal lobe of the brain and results in impairment of responsiveness and awareness to ones surroundings. Patients may act out in a variety of ways while experiencing the seizure but have not recall of it.” After only two hours the court found Jack Ruby guilty of murder with malace.
But medcraveonline.com says there may be a number of different reasons he killed Oswald. Ruby took prescription dietary amphetamines, and he had increased the amount he was taking leading up to the murder. These are mood altering drugs typically prescribed to ADHD children or used illegally as a stimulant. In the year leading up to Kennedys assassination Ruby had grown paranoid, and he “[believed] that there was an anti-Jewish conspiracy behind the killing of the President,” which could have been a part of why he killed Lee Harvey Oswald. Some theorize there was a silent tumor growing in his head, a mass of cancer that is difficult to detect, which if against the brain can affect ones thinking and decision-making abilities.
After Ruby was declared guilty of murder with malace he was sent to prison. His case was reopened later, but before his court date arrived Ruby died of cancer.
There are many conspiracy theories on JFKs death, most of which involving Lee Harvey Oswald and the potential that he was hired. There’s a theory out there that says not only was Oswald hired, but that Ruby was hired to kill him. What are your thoughts on this conspiracy? Could it be legitimate?
In my mind there is a chance Lee Harvey Oswald was hired to kill JFK, but I do not think that Jack Ruby was hired to kill Oswald. Ruby had too many things that could have influenced the choice to kill Oswald -potential psychomotor epilepsy, abusing his amphetamines, paranoia- that point towards an independent choice to kill Oswald.
JFK is a widely admired president and many people thought that Ruby was right in killing Oswald. There were many factors that made Ruby kill Oswald, but these things aside, do you think Ruby was justified in killing him?
I understand that people were saddened to see the president dead, but I don’t think that people should ever “play God.” I don’t think one person should decide for another person if they deserve to die for crimes they’ve committed.
Replies
Great topic choice and well done Emma!
I do believe that multiple people were involved in the assassination of JFK and that Lee Harvey Oswald didn't act alone. The idea that it was Ruby, however, I do not think is legitimate. Obviously, no one deserves to die, including murderers. It was wrong of Ruby to kill him due to the fact that Oswald could've given more information on why he killed the president.
I do think that Jack Ruby meant to kill Oswald, but some other factors may have subtly influenced the decision, like his increase in his dosage of amphetamines. I think that in the moment, Ruby was most likely still overcome with emotion about the recent shooting of JFK, and I belive that was the main reason for killing Oswald.
I agree with everything that you said here, Cole. I don't know if Ruby showed up with the intentions of killing Oswald -although the fact that he carried a gun suggests it- but he made the decision to. Regardless of other things that may have encouraged his homicidal tendencies, Ruby made a choice and deserved to face consequences for it. I hope you didn't interpret my article as letting Ruby off the hook, because that's not what I was trying to do at all. He killed a man and did deserve life in prison.
Killing JFK was a horrible thing to do, no doubt. However, it doesnt make it right to kill Oswald. Im not really religious in any way but i agree that it shouldnt be up to officials or any other person to decide if one should die, It just isnt right. I would have definitely chosen to give him a life sentence at most. About Ruby, I think that he knew what he was doing. Sure there is a bunch of theories about his seizures and a tumor on/in his brain but i dont believe any of them can be used to justify killing a man.
You did a good job summarizing my view on the topic: although there were all these things Ruby was experiencing -abuse of his medicines, paranoia, potential psychomotor epilepsy- there is no justification for taking the life of another person. Had I been the judge on the case I would have given Jack Ruby life in prison. There's a bit of irony to this actually. Jack Ruby was given the death penalty, but died of cancer before his death date arrived.. So technically speaking he did serve the rest of his life in prison, although that wasn't his sentence.
Honestly, while I think that Oswald should have been given the death penalty, or at least a life sentence, if only to protect others from him. On the other hand, Oswald had a right to a lawful trial and a decision by court. It just doesn't matter if he deserved to die, it was not Rubies place to make that decision. As a christian, I believe it's not really people's job to make judgements like this.
Your response confuses me. You said you think he deserves the death penalty, but also that you don't think it's peoples job to make this decision. Do you mean think courts deciding to kill someone is more right than one person taking matters into their own hands? Ultumately both lead to death. I'm a Christian as well -Baptist to be specific- and I don't believe that anyone should make the decision of who lives or dies, not an individual or a court.
The video footage of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald can be found here.