Mr.Ruby. No, sir.
Mr.Burleson. And have you heard from any members of the family who are maybe more aware of it than you are that many large sums have come in, other than this one for the sale of the news story?
Mr.Ruby. Yes: I heard that one come in from one of Jack’s friends in Chicago.
Mr.Burleson. Is that the $250?
Mr.Ruby. Yes.
Mr.Hubert. Who was the friend, do you know?
Mr.Ruby. Kelman, I think his name is Joe Kelman.
Mr.Hubert. Do you know that man?
Mr.Ruby. Not personally; I met his brother years ago. His brother was a personal friend of Jack’s, Morris Kelman, and they are, I believe, in the auto windshield glass manufacturing business in Chicago.
Mr.Hubert. Then, I believe there was another check of some sum from Walter Winchell?
Mr.Ruby. Yes.
Mr.Hubert. Do you know how much that was?
Mr.Ruby. My sister Eva said it was for $100.
Mr.Burleson. You were reported as saying to some news media that there was several thousand dollars?
Mr.Ruby. I didn’t say that. I said it was very generous—I didn’t give any amount. I didn’t even say whether it was a dollar or what amount it was.
Mr.Burleson. Do you know of any other sums of money that may have come in, of any substantial sum?
Mr.Ruby. No; I don’t.
Mr.Burleson. That’s all I have. I need to go off the record for a moment. I need to talk to Mr. Ruby on a matter that we had not completely discussed.
Mr.Hubert. All right. Would you like to leave the room for your conference?
Mr.Burleson. Yes; please.
(At this point counsel Burleson and the witness, Sam Ruby, left the conference room for approximately 10 minutes, returned thereto, and the proceedings of Mr. Ruby’s deposition continued as follows.)
Mr.Burleson. I would like to go back on the record and ask you, Mr. Ruby, is there anything you would like to bring out—anything that you would like to tell Mr. Hubert here on any version of the case, either something we have already talked about, to amplify, explain that, or either something new—some new area that you feel like that he would be interested in?
Mr.Ruby. Well, I don’t know, except that I talked to some of the people from the Liquor Commission, the Texas State Liquor Commission, and they think that he may have felt sorry for the Tippit family as well as the Kennedy family, and he always took it personally when a police officer was killed. I mean, he made it his business to contribute something financially when an officer was killed.
Mr.Hubert. Who told you that?
Mr.Ruby. Well, they are up at the Liquor Commission in Oak Cliff—I don’t think I know that just now.
Mr.Burleson. That would be the Liquor Control Board—some of the personnel there?
Mr.Ruby. I believe that’s it.
Mr.Burleson. Do you know their names?
Mr.Ruby. I believe one was Johnny Cranks.
Mr.Hubert. When was this told to you?
Mr.Ruby. Well, they called me up there to inquire whether I was a member of the corporation.
Mr.Hubert. And then they volunteered their opinion as to what his motivation was?
Mr.Ruby. Yes; that was what they thought and I talked to Jack a few times at the county jail and he says he felt very sorry for the Kennedy family.
Mr.Burleson. Did Jack ever tell you why he shot Oswald?
Mr.Ruby. No; he never mentioned his name to me. He never mentioned his name.
Mr.Burleson. You were in the service?
Mr.Ruby. Yes, sir.
Mr.Burleson. I know one of Jack’s brothers was in the intelligence?
Mr.Ruby. I was in the Army intelligence.
Mr.Burleson. You were in the Army intelligence—for how long?
Mr.Ruby. Well, we were stationed at Langley Field in 1942 and 1943 and a Captain Southern swore me in as an agent, to keep an eye on Communists and Nazi saboteurs and to see whether anybody was leaving subversive literature around for the boys to read, and if I did see anybody acting suspicious to write a letter into a certain box number in Newport News, Va., which was about 20 miles away from Langley Field, and have a general theme, in fact, he says he checked up on my family history and all of the members of the family, and to write just like I am writing to my family, in fact he mentioned my brother Jack and write a letter like you are writing, “Dear Brother Jack: Last night we went to town and we had a few beers and we went to a movie and had a few dances and Pvt. John Smith has been acting kind of queer lately,” and he said somewhere in the letter mention that and they would take care of it from then on, and I had to sign my name Johnny Newman.
Mr.Hubert. What was the captain’s first name; do you recall?
Mr.Ruby. I don’t recall his first name, but his name was Southern.
Mr.Hubert. How do you spell it?
Mr.Ruby. S-o-u-t-h-e-r-n [spelling].
Mr.Hubert. And he was part of what organization?
Mr.Ruby. The Army Air Force—it was the Third Army Air Force based at Langley Field, Va.
Mr.Hubert. But what was the specific organization in which he was in?
Mr.Ruby. Well, our outfit was called the Tenth Tow Target. They used to tow targets and train pilots at the same time for these anti-aircraft guns, to fire these guns behind the planes.
Mr.Hubert. All right.
Mr.Burleson. Do you have anything else you want to bring out on any subject or matter of any nature that you think either the Commission or Mr. Hubert would be interested in?
Mr.Ruby. Well, all I know is that Jack had a very deep feeling about this anti-Semitism in this country and, of course, with the massacre of the 6 million Jews in Germany, and he had that on his mind quite a bit, and he was the most religious of the boys in the family. The brothers went to say prayers for my dad after he passed away for a full year, which is customary, of course, we went for a few months—the other brothers, but Jack is the one that went for a full year, and he observed going to the synagogue more regularly than the other brothers did.
Mr.Hubert. Did he, in fact, go to the synagogue regularly, do you know?
Mr.Ruby. Well, all I can say is that he went more regularly than the other brothers.
Mr.Hubert. How do you know that?
Mr.Ruby. Well, he used to call from there or when he would be talking, he would say he was going to the synagogue and he was coming from there, and in the conversation he would say he talked to the rabbi and he would call and say he was going there and we would invite him over for dinner or he would go early in the morning and we would invite him over for a late breakfast.
Mr.Burleson. Do you think of anything else you want to develop or bring out?
Mr.Ruby. No.
Mr.Hubert. All right, sir. Now, there has never been, Mr. Ruby, any interview between you and me other than what took place in this room since this deposition began, is that correct?
Mr.Ruby. That’s right, sir.
Mr.Hubert. So that all that has ever passed between you and me has been recorded in this room—right?
Mr.Ruby. Yes.
Mr.Hubert. Thank you very much. I’m glad to see you, Mr. Ruby, and I’m glad you came down.
Mr.Ruby. Thank you.
Mr.Burleson. Thank you, Mr. Ruby, and I will see you outside in just a second.