Journalist Dorothy Kilgallen interviewed Jack Ruby before mysterious death

Journalist Dorothy Kilgallen became one of the few reporters to directly question Jack Ruby during his 1964 trial for the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald. Kilgallen, a well known investigative reporter and columnist, privately interviewed Ruby twice while the trial was underway in Dallas.

According to reports, one of the interviews took place at Ruby’s defense table in the courtroom. The conversations were brief, lasting around ten minutes each, but they attracted attention because Ruby rarely spoke directly with journalists during the proceedings.

Kilgallen was openly skeptical of the findings of the Warren Commission, which concluded that Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. She continued to investigate the case and reported that Ruby suggested he could not fully reveal what he knew while he remained in Texas custody.

In August 1964, Kilgallen published details from a secret Warren Commission session in which Ruby reportedly said he wanted to tell the truth about the events surrounding the assassination. The publication drew criticism from the commission, which condemned the release as a premature disclosure of classified testimony.

Kilgallen continued researching the assassination and suggested she was working on information that could challenge the official narrative. Friends and colleagues later said she hinted that she was close to revealing major findings about the case.

On November 8, 1965, Kilgallen was found dead in her New York home. Authorities ruled the cause of death as an overdose involving barbiturates and alcohol. Her death occurred while she was still investigating the Kennedy assassination, which led to speculation and theories about whether she had been silenced.