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The Motive. Prosecutor Wade saved perhaps the most devastating witness against Ruby until last. Police Sergeant Patrick Dean had spoken to Ruby some minutes after the shooting. Against anguished protests from defense attorneys, Dean reported: "He said something about he had thought about killing Oswald two nights prior, when he had seen Harvey Oswald on the show-up stand." Continued Dean: "He said he believed in due process of law, but he was so torn up about this, he and his sister also —his sister had just gotten out of the hospital and she was very emotional also—and he said because this man had not only killed the President but also Officer Tippit, he knew the outcome of the trial would be inevitable—Oswald would get the death penalty. And Ruby said he didn't see any sense in a long, lengthy trial and the necessity of subjecting Mrs. Kennedy to a trip back to Dallas."
By now, Defense Attorney Melvin Belli was on his feet, red-faced and shouting. He demanded a mistrial, cried that Dean's testimony was "incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial!"
Wade: Go ahead, Sergeant Dean.
Dean: He said he first thought about it when he noticed this sarcastic sneer on Oswald's face.
Wade: What night?
Dean: Two nights prior, Friday night . . . That was when he first decided that he would kill him. And he said he guessed he wanted the world to know that Jews do have guts.
When Dean left the stand, the prosecution rested its case. Next, the defense would try to convince the jurors that Ruby had gone out of his mind for a few moments, was not at the time responsible for his actions, but was now all right and could safely be set free.