RUBY'S
TELEPHONE RECORDS FROM 1963*
ANALYSIS BY THE WARREN
(794) During the
Warren Commission's investigation, counsels Burr W. Griffin
and Leon D. Hubert had recommended in a memorandum that
steps be taken to obtain
and preserve a large number of telephone records involving
Jack Ruby and
numerous associates.(820) Specifically, they asked that the
FBI be instructed to
secure the records and that Commission Chairman Earl Warren
address a letter to
the various telephone companies to assure that the records
not be destroyed.
(821) While the Warren Commission and the FBI did obtain
some of the records, an
extensive effort to collect them was not carried out. Griffin
Commission general counsel J. Lee Rankin vetoed their full
request because the
effort would have been too burdensome and was too
far-reaching.
(795) The Commission
and the FBI failed to analyze systematically and to
develop the data in those records which were obtained.(822)
*Prepared by Howard Shapiro, research attorney, and Michael
Ewing, staff
researcher.
189
In a subsequent memorandum, Griffin
further assistance in evaluating the records, saying that
they would need the
services of additional personnel to undertake a competent
analysis. (823) It was
suggested by Rankin at one point that Chief Justice Warren's
security guard
might be able to devote some time to the project. (824) In
the end, the actual
analysis contemplated by Griffin
limited time and resources.
REVIEW BY THE COMMITTEE
(796) The committee
obtained the records
acquired by the Warren
Commission, as well as others from various sources,
including the FBI, former
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, and the
telephone company (A. T. &
T.). These records encompassed a broad range of persons both
known and unknown
to Jack Ruby (but speculatively associated with him), as
well as individuals
associated with Lee Harvey Oswald, and others. Among the
records acquired and
reviewed by the committee were those of:
Ruby and his
brothers and sisters; Associates of Ruby, such as Lawrence Meyers, Alexander
Gruber, and Lewis J. McWillie; Individuals called by Ruby in 1963, such as
Barney Baker and Frank Goldstein; The companies which in 1963 employed Baker
(Chicago Loop Auto Refinishing Co.) and Myers (Ero Manufacturing Co.); J.D.
Tippit, the Dallas policeman slain by Lee Harvey Oswald after the President's
assassination; Bruce and Karen Carlin
(Mrs. Carlin worked for Jack Ruby under the stage name of Little Lynn); Carlos
Marcello, an important organized crime figure; David Ferrie, an individual
linked with both Marcello and Lee Harvey Oswald; Robert Maheu, Sam Giancana and
John Roselli, individuals involved in CIA plots
to assassinate Fidel Castro in the early 1960's; and "Dutz" Murret,
the uncle of Lee Harvey Oswald.
(797) This list is
only partial, and in many instances the records obtained
included phone calls for only a portion of the 1963 period.
In some instances,
the committee's requests for telephone records could not be
accommodated. The
committee also had access to and used fragmented telephone
numbers and numbers
whose subscribers were unknown.
Methodology
(798) With the aid of the Legislative and Committee Systems Division of the
House Information Systems,
the committee developed a
computer project that
facilitated the organization of the telephone records and
contacts so as to
allow detailed analysis and comparison. An Amdahl 470 V-5
computer, with backup
provided by two IBM
370-158 central processing units operating under the OS/MVS
system, were used. After an appropriate format was chosen
for the output,
various programs were run. The most important
190
provided master alphabetical and master chronological
listings of all calls in
the data base. Extracts from these programs which focused on
smaller groups of
individuals were also requested and provided. Committee
staff members then
reviewed these outputs in an attempt to find patterns and
frequencies of calls
and matching telephone numbers.
(799) While
investigative breakthroughs did not occur, certain telephone
contacts caused the committee to conduct further field and
file investigations.
The major area of interest in the project was the 1963
telephone calls of Jack
Ruby and his alleged contacts and associations with
organized crime figures.
(800) A chronological
consolidation of the telephone calls made by Ruby from
the five separate business and home telephones he used
uncovered a significant
increase in the number of calls made in October and November
1963. The average
number lept from around 25 to 35 in the months of May
through September to
approximately 75 in October and approximately 96 during the
first 3 1/2 weeks of
November. (825) In an effort to determine possible reasons
for this significant
increase in calls during the months immediately preceding
the assassination, the
committee closely evaluated Ruby's activities during that
period. It looked at
whom Ruby was calling and who was calling him, why he was in
contact with those
people, whether he had had previous contact with them, and
what the significance
of such contacts was.
Nature of the calls
(801) The majority of
Jack Ruby's 1963 calls can be categorized and described
as follows:
(802) A large number
were made to Ralph P.aul, Ruby's closest friend (826) and
a part owner of Ruby's nightclub, the Carousel. (827) These
were placed either
to Paul's home or to his place of business, the Bull-Pen
Restaurant in Fort
Worth, Tex.
assassination to the point where five or more calls between
Ruby and Paul on a
particular day were not unusual. The majority of the calls
were of short
duration. According to Paul:
Well, every day
he would find something else he would like to do--he
would think of doing, or the union didn't do right by him,
the AGVA, or the
girls didn't do right--that's why he called me almost every
day.(828)
Social calls to other friends by Ruby appeared to be few.
(803) Calls were also
made on a regular basis to members of Ruby's family.
particularly Earl Ruby, a brother living in Detroit
Eileen Kaminsky (sister).
(804) Numerous calls
were made to inquire about and secure acts and performers
for Ruby's nightclub. These were to theatrical agencies and
other nightclubs and
lounges around the country, as well as to specific
individuals, including Harold
Tannenbaum, a New Orleans
services of Janet Conforto, a stripper who used the stage
name of Jada. Ruby
called other strippers and performers directly, including
Juanita
191
Phillips (Candy Barr), Karen Bennett Carlin (Little Lynn
Merrifield (Smokey Turner),(829) Bill Demar, and Buddy
Heard. The number of
calls in this category increased as the year progressed, due
in part to the end
of Jada's engagement at the Carousel, which left a void and
necessitated the
hiring of new acts. (805)
An increasing number of calls were made in an attempt
to resolve Ruby's dispute with the American Guild of Variety
Artists
(AGVA).(830) The monthly upsurge in these union-related
calls corresponds to a
significant degree with the upsurge in all of Ruby's 1963
calls. (831) Ruby's
calls may be diagramed as follows:
Jack Ruby - Toll Calls - 1963
192
Summary of Telephone Calls
(806) Calls to
Richard Walker concerning abortion information. (832)
(807) Several calls
to Plastelite Engineering, in Fort Worth
marketing scheme involving exercise twistboards, and to Mar-Din,
a company based
in Chicago
Analysis of the calls
(808) It was not
possible to explain adequately all of Ruby's telephone
contacts. Although explanations have been given, questions
and speculation about
his associates and contacts remain. For example, there was a
3-minute call to
Clarence Rector of Sulphur Springs ,
Tex. April 10, 1963 . Rector told the FBI
he had known Ruby since 1950, and that in 1960 Ruby had
mentioned that he had
been to Cuba
associates.(834) Rector had also made a visit to Cuba
did not question Rector about the April telephone call, and
the committee was
unable to locate him.
(809) Another
unexplained call was to Elizabeth Anne Matthews of Shreveport
193
Matthews was the former wife of Russell D. Matthews, an
acquaintance of Jack
Ruby(836) and an individual known to be connected with gambling
and other
criminal enterprises in Dallas
Matthews said he had no knowledge of this call (838) or of
any connection
between Ruby and Matthews' ex-wife. Elizabeth Anne Matthews
was not located by
the committee, but she had told the FBI on December 1, 1962 , that she had no
recollection of any calls from Dallas October 3, 1965 .
(839) (810)
Other ostensibly explained but still suspicious calls
included number of
possibilities. A brief account of these calls and
individuals, in chronological
order, follows.
(811) LEWIS J.
McWillie.--Between June and August 1963, Ruby placed seven long
distance calls to McWillie, one of his closest friends. He
spoke at length of
this friendship during his Warren Commission testimony,
stating at one point
that he idolized McWillie.(840) In 1959, Ruby had visited
him in Havana
records established that McWillie at least knew Santos
Trafficante, (842) the
powerful Florida Mafia leader who played a role in the
assassination
conspiracies against Fidel Castro.(843) McWillie denied
anything more than
passing acquaintance with him. (844).
(812) Ruby's phone
calls to McWillie occurred on June 27, September 2 (two
calls), September 4, September 19, September 20, and
September 22. The first two
were placed to McWillie's home number, the remainder to
McWillie's place of
business, the Thunderbird Casino in Las
Vegas
of these calls was Ruby's desire for assistance in solving
his labor dispute
with AGVA. (845) (813)
Irwin S. Weiner.--On October
26, 1963 , Jack Ruby place
long distance call to Weiner in Chicago
Though the Warren Commission had been aware of this
telephone call, it had never
sought to have Weiner questioned, nor did it explore his
background and
associations.
(814) Weiner was a
prominent underworld bondsman(846) who was closely
associated with such men as James R. Hoffa, (847) Sam
Giancana(848) and Paul and
Allen Dorfman.(849) According to Federal and State law
enforcement files, Weiner
had served as a key functionary in the relationship between
the Chicago Mafia
and various corrupt union officials,(850) particularly while
Hoffa was president
of the Teamsters Union . As recently
as April 1978, Weiner had been described in
a Jack Anderson column as "the underworld's major
financial figure in the
(815) In the days
following the assassination of President Kennedy, the FBI
sought to question Weiner about the call he had received
Ruby. A November 28,
1963, teletype states that Weiner refused to respond to
questioning by FBI
agents in Chicago
(816) In executive
session testimony before the committee, Weiner stated that.
Ruby's call to him involved possible assistance in his labor
dispute.(852)
Weiner further testified that he had lied to a reporter when
he stated in a
taped interview earlier in 1978 that Ruby's call had had
nothing to do with
Ruby's labor problems. (853) Weiner also testified that he
had refused to submit
to FBI questioning about Ruby in the weeks following the
assassination because
he believed Bureau agents had harassed his daughter by
implying that he might
have had some connection with the assassination. (854)
194
(817) Nofio Pecora.--Telephone records indicated that at 9:13 p.m. on October
30, 1963, Jack Ruby placed all-minute call to the Tropical
Court Tourist Park
trailer park in New Orleans ,
La.
as the business office of the Tropical
Court
various long distance telephone numbers called by Ruby which
had been
transmitted to the Warren Commission by the FBI in early
1964, a notation
indicated that the Ruby call to the Tropical
Court
The Commission, however, did not interview or investigate
Pecora and made no
reference to him in its report.
(818) Nofio J.
Pecora, alias Joseph O. Pecoraro, was the owner of the Tropical
premises. (856) It had been this office that Ruby called on
October 30. Pecora,
a former heroin smuggler,(857) was an associate of Carlos
Marcello,(858) the New
Orleans Mafia leader. The FBI, Justice Department, and
Metropolitan Crime
Commission of New Orleans
associates,(859) with various members of the Pecora family being
in contact with
Marcello's family.(860) The committee's computer telephone
project noted, for
example, that Marcello placed a call to Nofio Pecora on June 24, 1963 , at the
same trailer office number that Ruby had called 4 months
later.
(819) Earlier in
1978, when the committee investigators questioned Pecora about
the October 30,
1963 , telephone can, he declined to respond. In September 1978,
however, he finally agreed to answer questions by the
committee. He stated that
he did not recall receiving any telephone call from Jack
Ruby and did not in
fact know Ruby or have any knowledge of him.(861) Pecora
believed that he was
probably the only person who had access to his Tropical
Court
but that he might well have taken a telephone message for someone else who lived
at the trailer park.(862) He suggested his interview that Ruby might have
called his office
on October 30 in an attempt to locate some other party,(863)
but stated he did not believe he
ever took a message from Ruby.
(820) The evidence
indicates that Ruby did in fact have an associate who lived
at the Tropical Court
Tourist Park New Orleans
nightclub manager. He had run several Bourbon
Street
Marcclio interests. In his committee interview, Pecora
admitted that he was
acquainted with Tannenbaum and that they were neighbors in
the trailer court.
(864) He was not aware that Tannenbaum was a friend of
Ruby.(865) (821) Harold
Tannenbaum had met Ruby in the summer of 1963 and had
discussed going into
business with him. The computer telephone project
established that Ruby and
Tannenbaum were in regular contact by telephone from June
until October 1963.
The committee also found that 1 hour after the l-minute call
from Ruby's office
to Pecora's office, Tannenbaum himself placed a call to
Ruby. This sequence
could thus be interpreted as consistent with what Pecora
suggested- that Ruby
called his trailer court office simply to relay a message to
another party.
Nevertheless, Pecora did not recall relaying any
long-distance telephone message
from Ruby to Tannenbaum or anyone else in the trailer park.
(866)
(822) Barney
Baker.--On November 7, 1963 ,
Jack Ruby received a collect call
from Robert G. (Barney) Baker of Chicago which lasted 17
minutes. Baker was an
associate of James R. Hoffa. (867) A former
195
boxer and ex-convict, (868) he was one of Hoffa's best known
assistants during
the McClellan committee investigation in the late 1950's.
(869) This
investigation, coordinated by chief counsel Robert F.
Kennedy, had detailed
Baker's role as Hoffa's personal liaison to various Mafia
figures, as well as to
a number of well-known syndicate executioners.(870) In 1960,
Robert Kennedy
wrote that "sometimes the mere threat of his [Baker's]
presence in a room was
enough to silence the men who would otherwise have opposed
Hoffa's reign."(871)
(823) Baker was
questioned by the FBI in Chicago January 3, 1964 . He stated
that Ruby was a complete stranger to him until the very day
he spoke with him,
absence, Baker's wife had taken a message instructing him to
call Ruby's
nightclub in Dallas
gathered by the committee.)
Baker told the FBI that Ruby had not used his real
name, but had instead instructed him to call back and ask
for "Lou," which he
did.(874) This was the reason Baker gave for placing a
collect call to Ruby''s
number. Baker told the FBI that the purpose of Ruby's call
was to seek
assistance in the labor dispute Ruby was having with his
nightclub competitors
in Dallas
(824) Dusty
Miller.--On November 8, 1963 ,
the day after Ruby had received a
call from Baker, he placed a call to Murray
Hotel in Miami , Fla.
assistant of Hoffa and head of the southern conference of
the union. As such, he
was regarded as a possible successor to Hoffa.(876) Miller
was also said to be
associated with numerous underworld figures. (877)
(825) In a 1978
interview with the committee, Miller stated that he had had no
contact with Jack Ruby before the November 8, 1963 , telephone call, during which
Ruby had asked for assistance in his labor problems.(878)
Ruby had stated
something to the effect that "Barney Baker gave me your
number and told me that
maybe you could help me out." Miller, upon hearing the
reference to Baker,
quickly ended the conversation, as Miller viewed Barney
Baker as a man with
questionable associations, and he did not wish to be
involved in any dealing
that Baker himself might be involved in. (879) (826) Miller told the committee
that he had assumed from the substance of his conversation
with Ruby that Ruby
and Baker were friends.(880) He was surprised that Baker had
given his telephone
number to Ruby, though he never discussed the incident with
Baker. (881) Miller
stated that he had no further knowledge of Jack Ruby, nor
had he ever been
contacted again by Ruby. (882)
(827) Barney
Baker.--Telephone records indicate that on November 8, 1963 , at
occurred 31 minutes after the Ruby-Miller call and lasted
for 14 minutes.
(828) Baker said that
he terminated the November 7 call by "firmly declining to
offer any assistance" in Ruby's labor
difficulties.(883) In his 1964 FBI
interview and 1978 committee deposition, Baker made no
mention of the fact that
Ruby had called him back on November 8 and indicated that he
had had no further
contact with Ruby. (884)
(829) Lenny Patrick.--In her Warren Commission testimony,
Eva Grant, Jack
Ruby's sister, stated that Ruby had called Lenny Patrick in Chicago
during the summer of 1963. (885) Grant said that
196
Ruby had had some difficulty in locating Patrick's number,
but, finally
found it and called him. (886)
(830) The committee
was not able to locate a call to Patrick in the
telephone records that it possessed, although the
possibility of Ruby's
using a telephone not included in these records cannot be
discounted.
Furmet, Patrick stated during a 1978 deposition that he did
not believe
that Ruby had called him in 1963, although he did admit he
was acquainted with
Ruby when they were both much younger and living in Chicago
was one of the Chicago Mafia's leading assassins and was
responsible, according
to Federal and State law enforcement files, for the murders
of over a dozen
victims of the mob.
(888) In later years, Patrick was to become a lieutenant of Chicago
Giancana. (889)
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