Indicting Oswald & Ruby

With RFK, Jr. facing the Senate approval process, my father shares his recollections of serving on the Dallas County Grand Jury in in the autumn of 1963

A few days ago my father, Sam S. Leake, sat down to pen his recollections of serving as Secretary of the Dallas County Grand Jury in the autumn of 1963, during which time they indicted Lee Harvey Oswald for murdering President Kennedy, and Jack Ruby for murdering Oswald. At age 22, my father was by far the youngest member to serve—a comedy of errors resulting from Dallas County mistaking him for his father.

Receiving dad’s reflections was a coincidence, as I have lately been ruminating about RFK, Jr.’s safety as he approaches the Senate approval process for his appointment as HHS Secretary. Kennedy faces a formidable array of opposition from the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex and its friends in the DoD and CIA. I would not be surprised if a purportedly “mentally ill loner” were to take a shot at him.

The most obvious beneficiary of JFK’s assassination was Lyndon Johnson. Less than two years later, the fabricated “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” resulted in President Johnson’s escalation of the Vietnam War. Johnson’s cronies at the Brown & Root construction firm—which had provided a blank check for his Senate campaign—were some of the biggest beneficiaries of the war. My grandfather once told me that, in his estimation, LBJ was the most patently corrupt president in history.

Incidentally, Brown & Root was later acquired by Halliburton, and history repeated itself when Dick Cheney, who was CEO right before he became Vice President, became the driving force behind the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Halliburton made a killing during the occupation, as its spiking stock price during this time clearly showed.

When President Eisenhower warned about the undue influence of the Military-industrial Complex in his 1961 Farewell Address, he was talking about a clear and present danger that manifested two years later with the assassination of John F. Kennedy (one year after Kennedy forced Allen Dulles to resign from his post as Director of the CIA).

The following are my dad’s recollections of November 22, 1963.

That day, I boarded a TransTexas Airlines DC-3 at Love Field for a short flight to Longview, Texas. I was meeting my girlfriend, Cindy Roberts, who was to be a bridesmaid at a friend’s wedding. The captain started the engines with the usual DC-3 backfiring and smoke and abruptly shut them down. He announced that the field had been locked down, and no flights were to take off or land. After a brief wait, the engines restarted, and we flew to Longview. 

I never learned the exact rationale for the brief Love Field lockdown. I didn’t learn until we arrived in Longview that President Kennedy had been shot and had died.

The wedding and subdued festivities were held the next day. Cindy attended a bridesmaid brunch Sunday morning. I watched the news in my hotel room. 

Lee Harvey was to be transferred to the County jail from the City Hall jail on Sunday morning. At 10:47, I watched Jack Ruby step from the crowd in the basement garage of the Dallas City Hall. He shot Lee Harvey once in the stomach with a Colt Cobra .38. Oswald died of the wound.

I was back in Dallas on Tuesday and attended a session of the Dallas County Grand Jury. I was the Jury Secretary. The Jury indicted Lee Harvey Oswald posthumously for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Jack Ruby for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. I learned details from the police officer's testimony that were never made public. Officer Leavell, the tall man in white Stetson, was handcuffed on Ruby’s right side. Officer Leavell testified that Ruby attempted to shoot Oswald in the head when he fell; this was only prevented by the officer jamming the web of his right hand under the falling hammer of the revolver. Ruby’s attempt always seemed a practiced hit attempt. 

I wonder if another Grand Juror ever witnessed a murder on tv for which  he or she indicted the perpetrator? Little question of guilt!

Grand Jury Secretary, Sam S. Leake, stands on the far left of the top row.

It’s some consolation to me that Robert Kennedy, Jr. is protected by the best private security outfit in the world—namely, Gavin de Becker & Associates. In September 2023, Mr. de Becker stated that he would gladly pay for Kennedy’s protection, but is barred by law from doing so because it would be considered a political campaign contribution, and he had already donated the maximum amount allowed.

With the Senate approval process pending, Kennedy faces an array of opposition goons who are doing everything in their power to derail it. Now more than ever he needs security. However, it’s been brought to my attention that his campaign war chest has been depleted, which has obliged him to assume debt for his ongoing expenses.

Please consider making a donation (by clicking on the image below) to the Kennedy Victory Fund 2024 to assist him in carrying out his mission for the American people.