Jack Ruby’s Polygraph
2:56
Gregory Whitehead
Questions for an alleged assassin.
Broadcast: Nov 24 2003 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Justice, Politics, Historical, Drama
Profile: Excerpt from "The Loneliest Road"
November 24, 2003 from Day to Day
ALEX CHADWICK, host: Forty years ago today, the strange sad days following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy suddenly turned even stranger. During a live television broadcast, an obscure Dallas bar owner, Jack Ruby, shot and killed the accused presidential assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Here is an excerpt from a radio play, "The Loneliest Road," by Gregory Whitehead. It includes this dramatization of Jack Ruby's polygraph exam shortly after he was arrested.
(Soundbite of "The Loneliest Road")
Unidentified Man #1: Have you ever knowingly attended any meetings of the Communist Party or any other group that advocates violent overthrow of the government?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Jack Ruby) No.
Unidentified Man #1: Is any member of your immediate family or any close friend a member of the Communist Party?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Ruby) No.
Unidentified Man #1: Is any member of your immediate family or any close friend a member of any group that advocates the violent overthrow of the government?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Ruby) No.
Unidentified Man #1: Did any close friend or any member of your immediate family ever attend a meeting of the Communist Party?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Ruby) No.
Unidentified Man #1: Did any close friend or any member of your immediate family ever attend a meeting of any group that advocates the violent overthrow of the government?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Ruby) No.
Unidentified Man #1: Did any foreign influence cause you to shoot Oswald?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Ruby) No.
Unidentified Man #1: Did you shoot Oswald because of any influence of the underworld?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Ruby) No.
Unidentified Man #1: Did you shoot Oswald because of a labor union influence?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Ruby) No.
Unidentified Man #1: Did you shoot Oswald in order to save Mrs. Kennedy the ordeal of a trial?
Unidentified Man #2: (As Ruby) Yes.
CHADWICK: An excerpt from the radio play "The Loneliest Road" by Gregory Whitehead. It comes to DAY TO DAY courtesy of the Hearing Voices radio project.
