Turns out I’m not crazy…almost!

Within hours of the assassination, how did Jack Ruby know to correct D.A. Henry Wade on Oswald’s connection to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee? 

I’ve been a victim of ‘assassination fascination’ since 1972, when, through a magnifying glass, I first saw the dent in the chrome on the interior windshield trim of JFK’s death car, the Lincoln Continental, GG 300. So much so that I authored the 2023 novel, Ask Not!, and have appeared on scores of podcasts and many broadcast hits on the subject.  But for years, I have been looking for a specific clip from Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade’s news conference on 11/22/1963 in the basement of the Dallas Police Department. The smoking gun in this clip, as I remembered, was when one of the horde of clamoring newsmen, jammed into the basement, asked Wade, “Was Oswald a member of any extremist groups?” Hoping for a damning right wing, John Birch, type association answer, their hopes were dashed when Wade went the other way. He announced that Oswald was a member of a group that supported communist dictator Fidel Castro. Then Wade bobbled the name of the organization. He stumbled through a few versions of “Fairness for Cuba” or “The Cuban Fairness Committee.” 

Now, here’s the incredible part that has made me doubt my sanity for the last 10 years. Again, as I remembered it, a voice from the gaggle calls out to correct him, “Fair Play for Cuba!” Wade turns towards the voice and says, “Thanks, Jack.” The camera then quickly pans over to Jack Ruby, pen and pad in his hand, amongst the newsmen.  Yes, the same Jack Ruby who would kill Oswald in that building a day and a half later!

In forums and internet searches, I was constantly directed to another video on the internet from the “Midnight Press Conference.” Unfortunately, that was not the Kinescope clip that I had been searching for. However, in that clip, Wade does refer to being corrected earlier. That “Earlier” (press conference) is exactly what I have been searching for.  So, as with so many things about the Gordian knot that is the Kennedy Assassination, I gave up, chiding myself that it must have been a figment of my imagination. 

But as with everything JFK, eventually, some other shoe drops. I just watched, for the third time in 50 years, Mark Lane’s 1966 film, “Rush to Judgment.” And lo and behold, at 1 hour 25 minutes in, the following exchange happens on the kinescope they inserted into that motion picture.

You can view the actual clip here: https://youtu.be/ZjKd7JHhuoA

Okay, so even while this is not the clip I thought I imagined, it is possibly a clue pointing to the one I seek’s existence. 

Why am I so doggedly trying to track down this clip where Jack Ruby is correcting District Attorney Henry Wade on the name of Oswald’s affiliation with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee? 

Because within hours of the assassination, Jack Ruby, who would later kill Oswald in the very same jailhouse, fed the correct “cover story” to Wade. How did Jack Ruby, the Dallas Night Club owner, have knowledge of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, or remember that it had anything to do with Oswald? It was only mentioned on New Orleans local TV news during a single story on Oswald that only aired locally months before.

I tell ya, this assassination fascination keeps coming back at ya!