Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. KennedyUnited States. Warren Commission
History
Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
The Main Street ramp provided the most direct route to the basement
from the Western Union office. At normal stride, it requires
approximately 1 minute to walk from that office to the top of the Main
Street ramp and about 20-25 seconds to descend the ramp.[C5-146] It is
certain, therefore, that Ruby entered the basement no more than 2-3
minutes before the shooting. This timetable indicates that a little
more than 2 of the 4 minutes between Ruby’s departure from the Western
Union office and the time of the shooting are unaccounted for. Ruby
could have consumed this time in loitering along the way, at the top of
the ramp, or inside the basement. However, if Ruby is correct that he
passed Pierce’s car at the top of the ramp, he could have been in the
basement no more than 30 seconds before the shooting.[C5-147]
The testimony of two witnesses partially corroborates Ruby’s claim
that he entered by the Main Street ramp. James Turner, an employee
of WBAP-TV Fort Worth, testified that while he was standing near
the railing on the east side of the Main Street ramp, perhaps 30
seconds before the shooting, he observed a man he is confident was
Jack Ruby moving slowly down the Main Street ramp about 10 feet from
the bottom.[C5-148] Two other witnesses testified that they thought
they had seen Ruby on the Main Street side of the ramp before the
shooting.[C5-149]
One other witness has testified regarding the purported movements
of a man on the Main Street ramp, but his testimony merits little
credence. A former police officer, N. J. Daniels, who was standing at
the top of the ramp with the single patrolman guarding this entrance,
R. E. Vaughn, testified that “3 or 4 minutes, I guess”[C5-150] before
the shooting, a man walked down the Main Street ramp in full view of
Vaughn but was not stopped or questioned by the officer. Daniels did
not identify the man as Ruby. Moreover, he gave a description which
differed in important respects from Ruby’s appearance on November 24,
and he has testified that he doesn’t think the man was Ruby.[C5-151]
On November 24, Vaughn telephoned Daniels to ask him if he had seen
anybody walk past him on the morning of the 24th and was told that he
had not; it was not until November 29 that Daniels came forward with
the statement that he had seen a man enter.[C5-152]
Although the sum of this evidence tends to support Ruby’s claim that
he entered by the Main Street ramp, there is other evidence not fully
consistent with Ruby’s story. Patrolman Vaughn stated that he checked
the credentials of all unknown persons seeking to enter the basement,
and his testimony was supported by several persons.[C5-153] Vaughn
denied that the emergence of Lieutenant Pierce’s car from the building
distracted him long enough to allow Ruby to enter the ramp unnoticed,
and neither he nor any of the three officers in Lieutenant Pierce’s car
saw Ruby enter.[C5-154]
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