Jack Ruby always maintained he killed Oswald to spare Jackie Kennedy the grief and heartache of a long and drawn out trial. He also surmised that the trial would have taken place in Dallas, and that Jackie Kennedy would have had to return to Dallas to testify in court.

Much has been made of Jack Ruby's supposed organized crime links, but the Warren Commission and House Select Committee on Assassinations found tenuous links at best, in that he knew people connected with the Mafia, but was not connected himself.

Others have claimed that Jack Ruby was no more than an attention seeker, and that this was possibly his attempt to make sure his name went down in history as the man who shot the man who shot the president.