Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

trying to be somebody. That’s
why he was arm-around-neck
buddies with the police. It
made him a bigger person if
he had police friends, in my
opinion.”
On Nov. 24 Ruby found his
way into the police department’s
garage and shot Oswald.
“I can see how Ruby’s character
allowed that to happen,”
Robbins said. “Jack wanted
to be acknowledged and
validated. He had the desire
to be known for something.
I 100 percent believe that he
shot Oswald because it would
make him important.”
As for the notion that the
shooting was simply retaliation
for Oswald shooting Kennedy,
Robbins said he believes
the shooting was spur-of-themoment
and more about Ruby
wanting to be somebody.
“Records prove that Ruby
was down the street at the
Western Union office, sending
a small sum of money to
a stripper so she could catch
a bus and come up here and
work at his strip joint,” Robbins
said. “This was less than
20 minutes before Ruby shot
Oswald. He had to know he
would be arrested and go
to jail. A sane man wouldn’t
do that. A man with a plan
wouldn’t do that.”
GUARDING OSWALD’S BODY
News reporters and photographers
lined the hallway of
the morgue at Parkland Hospital,
where Oswald’s body was
being tended to, Robbins said.
Robbins and officer Sam
Sorsby were directed to stand
at the door to the morgue,
armed with shotguns, to prevent
anyone from getting in.
One photographer got a picture
of both officers guarding
the door. Robbins still has the
photo, which appeared in the
Dallas Times Herald. Robbins
found the same photo in a
book about the assassination
at the Sixth Floor Museum
years later.
The day of the autopsy, a
Fort Worth funeral home delivered
a casket to Dallas for
Oswald’s body, and Robbins
was part of a police escort to
take the casket back to Fort
Worth.
Robbins said that officially
ended his involvement in the
series of events.
Recently, Robbins has spoken
publicly about the events
of that week, though he said
it’s not something he has
spent a lot of time thinking
about during the last 50 years.
“This is something you
would never forget,” Robbins
said. “However, it did not
weigh heavily on my mind. I
was not much into politics
or world affairs. I was just
looking out for my family and
personal interest. Like everyone
else, I wished it had never
happened here or anywhere,
for that matter.”
118 The Blues - 40th - February Anniversary ‘24
Issue