Photograph of courtroom sketch of witness T. D. McMillon at Jack Ruby trial

Howard Brodie (1915-2010) was a sports artist for the San Francisco Chronicle when he enlisted in the U.S. Army with America's entry into World War II. He ultimately became one of the best-known sketch artists of the war, frequently published in the weekly U.S. military magazine, Yank, which ran from June 1942 to December 1945. After the war, Brodie spent the next thirty-five years as a courtroom artist, attending several notable trials including the Chicago Seven, Charles Manson and, of course, the Jack Ruby trial in 1964. For the Ruby trial, Brodie worked as a CBS-TV artist correspondent. Mr. Brodie recorded an oral history with the Museum in 2006. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator

A Dallas police auto theft detective, Thomas McMillon offered some particularly damaging testimony against Jack Ruby. He said that Ruby yelled out, "You rat son of a bitch, you shot the president," just before firing his gun into Oswald's stomach. Furthermore, according to McMillon, Ruby later admitted that he had meant to shoot Oswald three times but said that police officers had moved too fast and stopped him from firing more than one shot. These statements damaged Melvin Belli's defense claim that Ruby was in a fugue state and unaware of his actions at the moment of the Oswald shooting. It also suggested premeditation. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator