Nagging Jack Ruby Question Answered

The Dallas County district attorney's office has for 50 years kept the lid on a dozen boxes labeled with Jack Ruby's name, according to CBS News, which reports it got an exclusive look at what's inside. The network flags one group of documents of particular interest, those that CBS believes answer a long-running question: Was police officer Roy Vaughn—who was tasked with guarding the garage ramp Ruby used to gain access to Lee Harvey Oswald as he was escorted out of Dallas Police headquarters—in cahoots with Ruby?

CBS teamed up with Dave Perry, a former insurance investigator who has spent four decades poring over the Kennedy assassination, and Perry unearthed documents that he says clear Vaughn's name once and for all. One is a memo written by the DA at the time, which notes that while interviewing Ruby, Ruby said "the officer (Roy Vaughn) did not see him" as he headed down the ramp. Other documents show Ruby did not know Vaughn's name. Perry says Vaughn would "absolutely be vindicated by this"—something his daughter reacted to with both happiness and regret; Vaughn died in 2010, and was long bothered by doubts about "his integrity," she says. (More Jack Ruby stories.)