A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination (107 page)

Oswald’s falsified ID (in name of alias Alex Hidell).

Oswald and friends in Russia, including Ella German, who refused to marry him, seen top right.

Oswald with coworkers in Minsk.

Oswald hands out “Hands off Cuba” leaflets in New Orleans in 1963.

Jack Ruby, “host” of the Carousel Club burlesque house, was known in Dallas for his aggressive effort to court the police and reporters. Ruby poses with three of the club’s performers.

Ruby’s business card.

A mug shot taken after his arrest for Oswald’s murder.

The ramp that Ruby was believed to have used to reach the basement of Dallas police headquarters to kill Oswald.

On Sunday, November 24, Ruby murdered Oswald on live national television, pushing through a crowd of reporters and cameramen to fire his pistol at point-blank range.

The cold-blooded murder of Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit, shown in uniform, was seen by commission lawyer David Belin as the “Rosetta Stone” in understanding that Oswald was obviously guilty of the president’s assassination, too.

Tippit’s murder was witnessed by restaurant waitress Helen Markham, seen next to an unidentified policeman; she identified Oswald in a police lineup later that day.

Shortly after Tippit’s killing, Oswald was arrested as he tried to hide in the darkened auditorium at the nearby Texas Theatre. In his pocket was a bus transfer (shown with key), which Belin suspected that Oswald intended to use to reach another bus that would allow him to escape to Mexico.

Texas Governor John Connally is comforted by his wife, Nellie, at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, as he recovered from the bullet wounds suffered as he rode in the president’s limousine in Dealey Plaza.