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What Were The Moments Before Oswald Shooting Like?

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Nov 18, 2008 8:00 pm US/Central

What Were The Moments Before Oswald Shooting Like?

CBS 11 is looking back at the JFK tragedy in Dallas 45 years ago. This week, we will spotlight people who were there or played a role in the subsequent days.

Detective Who Escorted To Lee Harvey Oswald Recalls JFK Assassination, Days Following

Reporting
Jay Gormley
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ― "It's hard to believe that anybody is still interested in it at 45 years," Jim Leavelle, a detective in the JFK assassination investigation, said with amazement recently.

"Had you asked me six months after the incident happened, I would have told you, 'Give it another two or three months and nobody will ever mention it again.' "

Leavelle's 15 minutes of fame will live on forever -- all because of one prisoner he escorted through the basement of the old Dallas police building on Nov. 24, 1963.

Two days prior, Leavelle was one of the homicide detectives who responded to the assassination of JFK.

The president's killer was still on the loose as Leavelle gathered witness statements in Dealey Plaza.

In the middle of that task, Leavelle said, a call came in that fellow Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit had been shot.

"I said, 'Who do you have covering that officer shooting?' He said 'I don't have anybody.' I said 'I'll take it.' "

The detective soon made it to the scene where Tippit had been murdered in Oak Cliff.

The man who many believe fired the shots the killed both Kennedy and Tippit was detained just blocks away at the Texas Theater.

On Nov. 24, Leavelle found himself handcuffed to the accused, Lee Harvey Oswald. Before making that fateful walk through the basement, there was a moment of levity between the two.

"When we started down, I said 'Lee, if anybody shoots at you, I hope they are as good a shot as you.' Meaning, of course, that they would hit him and not me. He kind of laughed," Leavelle recalled in early November as he sat down to discuss the 45th anniversary of the president's assassination.

"It was the only time that he smiled during the time he was in custody. He said, 'Well, nobody is going to shoot at me.' "

Levity, however, would soon become reality when Jack Ruby lunged at Oswald.

"He took two short steps and double-actioned the .38 into Oswald's side," Leavelle said. "It hit him about four inches left of the navel."

As fate would have it, Leavelle once again found himself escorting a famous prisoner. This time, it was Jack Ruby and the conversation was far more serious.

"When I asked him 'Why' he said, 'I just wanted to be a hero.' He then said. 'It looks like I screwed things up good.' I said 'You can say that again.' "

The Dallas nightclub owner was convicted on March 14, 1964 for Oswald's murder. He successfully appealed his conviction and death sentence. Ruby became ill and died as he awaited a date for his new trial.

The key figure who held all the answers – Oswald -- died along side the man in the white suit and the white hat.

Despite several investigations, conspiracy theories and the Warren Commission, there are facts may never be uncovered.

The suit that made Leavelle stand out in the sea of dark colored suits is on display at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dealey Plaza.

For the record, the suit it's tan, not white.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

45 Years Later: A Look Back At JFK Assassination

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© MMIX, CBS Stations Group of Texas L.P. All Rights Reserved.