TESTIMONY OF LAWRENCE V. MEYERS

The testimony of Lawrence V. Meyers was taken at 1:45 p.m., on August 24, 1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE. Washington, D.C., by Mr. Burt W. Griffin, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I want to introduce myself to you. My name is Burt Griffin and I am a member of the general counsel's staff of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy,
It is our practice before asking the witness to be sworn and taking his testimony to give a brief explanation of what the basis for our questioning will be and what generally we intend to go into. As you probably know, the Commission on the assassination was set up pursuant to an Executive order of President Johnson and a joint resolution of Congress. Now, under those two official acts the Commission has been directed to investigate into all the facts surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy and the death of Lee Harvey Oswald, and then to evaluate those facts and report back to President Johnson on the facts that we find.
We have asked you to come here today in particular, Mr. Meyers, because you have known Jack Ruby for some time and you had occasion to talk to him both shortly before the assassination and shortly afterwards, and before he--that is, Ruby, shot Oswald. Under the rules of the Commission, I have been specifically designated to take your deposition. Also under these rules you are entitled to receive 3 days' written notice before being required to testify. I believe that in this case we telephoned you late last week and although a letter was sent to your home which was probably received today
Mr. MEYERS. Saturday.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Saturday. You have not--we have not actually complied with the 3-day notice requirement, and I will ask you at this point if you are willing to waive that requirement and go forward with the testimony ?
Mr. MEYERS. Of course.

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Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you have any questions that you want to ask me before we proceed?
Mr. MEYERS. No. I am assuming everything you say--obviously everything you say is a fact and you will want me to give you whatever information I have to give you, and I will be very pleased to do it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Fine. Let me ask you, then to raise your right hand and I will administer the oath to you. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. MEYERS. I do.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Would you state for the record your full name.
Mr. MEYERS. Lawrence V. Meyers.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, where do you presently live, Mr. Meyers ?
Mr. MEYERS. 8950 North Lakeshore Dave, Chicago, Ill.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Where were you living at the time the President was assassinated?
Mr. MEYERS. Same address.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Are you employed?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Who is your employer ?
Mr. MEYERS. The name of my present employers is Farber Bros., Inc.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What kind of business is that?
Mr. MEYERS. Oh, it is sort of a diversified business. They are basically manufacturers of automobile seat covers, hassocks, decorated pillows, and I am putting them in the sporting goods business.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Where are their offices located?
Mr. MEYERS. Memphis, Tenn.
Mr. GRIFFIN. At the time of the assassination of the President, by whom were you employed?
Mr. MEYERS. Ero Manufacturing Co.
Mr. GRIFFIN. And where were they located?
Mr. MEYERS. Chicago.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What kind of business were they in ?
Mr. MEYERS. Same. They are, literally, directly competitors of each other.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Would you tell us now what your general line of work is for Farber Bros.?
Mr. MEYERS. I am the sales manager.
Mr. GRIFFIN. And at the time of the assassination, what sort of work were you doing for Ero Manufacturing?
Mr. MEYERS. Same thing. Sales manager of Ero.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Let me ask you, when were you born?
Mr. MEYERS. When was I born?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes
Mr. MEYERS. December 16, 1910.
Mr. GRIFFIN. And where was that?
Mr. MEYERS. New York.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long have you lived in the Chicago area?
Mr. MEYERS. Since 1952.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Have you been in the same line of work, generally, since that time?
Mr. MEYERS. More or less. I have been in selling all of my life, various items, different products, but it has always been selling.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Are you married?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. And do you have a family ?
Mr. MEYERS. We have three children.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Can you give us the ages of your children ?
Mr. MEYERS. Certainly. We have a son named Ralph, who is 27, a daughter named Vicki, who is 26, and a son named David, who is 15.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you know Jack Ruby?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Would you tell us how you. happened to first meet him?

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Mr. MEYERS. Well, I met Jack Ruby originally, I would venture to say--now, I am guessing, it could vary a little bit--possibly 6 years ago, 6 or 7 years ago in that area, in the Carousel, in the club that he owned in Dallas.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Were you introduced to him by a common acquaintance?
Mr. MEYERS. No, no. What actually happened is--how much detail do you want me to go into ?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Give it to us generally and if that is not enough----
Mr. MEYERS. Yes. Of course if I go into greater detail--I was there on a business trip and footloose and fancy free and I wandered into his club this particular night. He greeted me at the door. I knew from his conversation, his diction, that he was not a Dallasite, a Texan. We talked, one thing led to another. He told me he was originally from Chicago and I, at that time, of course, lived in Chicago. So we had a happy meeting ground. We were both Chicagoans and we visited with each other the first time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You mentioned this was 6 or 7 years ago?
Mr. MEYERS. In that area. I am not exactly certain.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I believe that Mr. Ruby actually opened the Carousel Club in 1960.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, then, that is when it was.
Mr. GRIFFIN. So it is clear in your mind that you met him at the Carousel?
Mr. MEYERS. At the Carousel. There is no question about this. You must understand one thing, Mr. Griffin. I guess I sound stupid in telling this. But I travel incessantly, as you know from trying to find me at various times, and sometimes I do lose track of time. Things get not necessarily vague, but they get mixed up in context.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I understand that and, of course, I asked you that second question to clarify what was the most significant fact that fixes the time.
Mr. MEYERS. The most significant fact is that my original meeting with Jack was at the Carousel. It could have been 4 years ago.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Since the time you first met him at the Carousel Club and up until the time President Kennedy was assassinated, give us your best estimate of how many times you saw him ?
Mr. MEYER. Here again it would be a sheer guess, but I would say 20, 25 times.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you have any business dealings with him ?
Mr. MEYERS. Actual business dealings?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you ever talk business with him?
Mr. MEYERS. His business primarily, not my business.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What was the nature of these conversations?
Mr. MEYERS. Oh, his problems in trying to become successful, his problems with his competitors.
Why don't I say it this way, Mr. Griffin. I think to a degree he used me as a sounding board as to what action and what means to take to increase his business.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Can you give us some specific examples of particular things that he talked with you about and advice that he might have asked you for?
Mr. MEYERS. You mean businesswise?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, for example, there were two competitors, there are and were, I should say, two competitors in Dallas named Weinstein. These were two brothers. There were two brothers in Dallas named Abe and Barney Weinstein who also ran the same type of operation, should we call them striptease places or strippers or whatever you want to call them, nightclubs if you want to glamorize them, and Jack--well, I am going to get into specifics now with what I think of Jack. Is that all right with you?
Mr. GRIFFIN. We would like to hear that; yes, sir.
Mr. MEYERS. Jack, to me, always gave me the impression of being--that he always thought he was being taken advantage of. He never felt that he had as much of a share of prosperity as anybody else, as many other people. His complaint primarily to me against these Weinsteins was an operation that they

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would call audition nights in Dallas, in these clubs. The audition night evidently was a special night where, oh, three or four or five different girls would come in. Some of them were experienced strippers who worked for that fee for that night. Others were actually amateurs, I guess, who had the dreams of being artists. Well, we will use that word.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How many different times would you estimate that Jack talked to you about the amateur nights that the Weinsteins were running?
Mr. MEYER. Oh, golly, this is quite a few times. Quite a few times. As a matter of fact, as I told you, I had seen Jack, I don't know, I say 20, 25--it could be 30, 35 times. I really don't know. And in the last year or so he was very vehement about this thing, about the proceedings that he had taken, the things that he had tried to do. I will get into that if you want me to.
Also he would mention this to me many times in one night. This was one of his--of course, this all goes back to prior to the tragedy in Dallas now. It seems that he resented the fact that the union, I don't know what the name of it was, AGVA or Actors Equity or something, had forbidden these amateur nights and he, in compliance with the union rules, had discontinued them.
However, his competitors had not discontinued them. And he was trying to use--I suppose you would call it--legal methods, through the union officials, to try to get them to discontinue these things, because he felt they were hurting his business for these particular nights.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he ever ask you to give him any assistance in those problems?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes; he did. He asked me if I knew these various union officials. I don't even remember their names. Obviously, I didn't know them. I had no contact with them.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long before the assassination was the most recent time that he asked you to give him any assistance?
Mr. MEYERS. The day before. Now, when you say the assassination, you are speaking of the assassination of the President?
Mr. GRIFFIN. That is right.
Mr. MEYERS. Thursday, the 21st. Is that correct? Was the 22d Friday?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes. Did he ever talk to you about a man in Chicago named Barney Baker?
Mr. MEYERS. I don't remember. The name doesn't ring any bells. There was a Leo somebody or other that he talked to me about who either lived in California or New York. I don't even remember. Maybe if you mention other names that might ring a bell. I don't know. Baker doesn't.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What else did he talk to you about besides his problems with AGVA, with the amateur stripper nights, and the Weinsteins.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, what else did we talk about? Women. He is quite a physical culture faddist, or at least he was. I don't know whether he still is. And one of the items that my company manufactured were barbells, and I got him a set of barbells. We had a plant, Ero had, still has for that matter, a plant in McKinney, Tex., which is some 30 miles north of Dallas. So I got him a set of barbells for exercise. He used to spend a lot of time I guess at the YMCA or something of this type.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he ever talk to you about any of his business promotions?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, yes; to this extent. He remodeled the club. He built runways out into the audience. Of course, he was very proud of this, I assume like any businessman would, what he considered progress. He wanted to know what my opinion was. What are you going to say? Great, fine. Doing business? Wonderful !
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he ever talk to you about any promotions other than his nightclubs ?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes; he had a gimmick, I don't know what the heck to call it, some sort of a twistboard, I guess, for the want of a better word. It is a thing that you stand on and you maneuver back and forth to--I guess it was a body developer of some kind. He wanted to know first whether I would be interested in merchandising it because my company was in this field. Second, the last time I saw him face to face he wanted to know whether my brother would be interested in handling this as a premium item.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When was that?

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Mr. MEYERS. That was Thursday, the 21st.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you ever meet his friend, Ralph Paul?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you ever meet his roommate, George Senator?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When did you meet George Senator?
Mr. MEYERS. Oh, golly, here again it would go back to shortly after I met Jack, and I met him and talked to him, oh, I don't know, half a dozen times since that occasion.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did Jack ever discuss with you any political views that he had?
Mr. MEYERS. No; never got involved in any of that kind of thing.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he ever talk about President Kennedy?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When did he talk about President Kennedy to you?
Mr. MEYERS. Here again I am guessing. I guess shortly after Kennedy was elected. Shortly after--when was Kennedy elected, in 1960?
Mr. GRIFFIN Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. I don't know. Somewhere in 1961, 1962. We discussed it a number of times, as a matter of fact. I guess the best way to say it is he worshipped Kennedy and his family. He sort of made maybe it was a father complex, father image or the family that he wished he had himself.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember anything specific that he said about President Kennedy?
Mr. MEYERS. No; just generalities. Other than the fact that he thought that John F. Kennedy was possibly the greatest man that ever lived.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How did this topic happen to be brought up?
Mr. MEYERS. Oh, golly, I don't know, Mr. Griffin. I don't know. We could have been talking about something that Kennedy had done at that time I don't know. I would have no way of knowing.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, the many times that you were at the Carousel Club, did you ever see a man there who resembled Lee Oswald?
Mr. MEYERS. Never.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I want to pick up now your contacts with Jack Ruby after the 26th of September. Do you recall the first time that you would have seen him after that time?
Mr. MEYERS. I couldn't. It would be so difficult I would have to go back through my traveling records to seen when I was in Dallas. Now, I could have seen him, and I repeat, I don't remember. I could have seen him once or twice between the 26th of September--I don't know why you chose that date, I assume you have your reasons--and the 21st of November, but I frankly have no recollection of it. It just wasn't that important enough to me to make any--you know, to have any memory of it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you happen to attend the Texas State Fair at any time?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. And did you see Jack Ruby at that time?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was this in the fall of 1963?
Mr. MEYERS. Oh, golly, I suppose so. What were the dates of the fair?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember being at the Texas State Fair?
Mr. MEYERS. Oh, yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. In the fall of 1963?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, now, you have me at a disadvantage. I remember distinctly being at the Texas State Fair.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How many times have you been at the fair?
Mr. MEYERS. Once.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Tell us about that occasion.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, this was an unusual occasion. I was at Jack's club. Here, I don't remember the night. I have no recollection of the date, and he introduced me to one of his employees, one of his dancers.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember who that was?
Mr. MEYERS. Joy, Joyce, something like that. The name was either Joy or Joyce. I have no recollection of the last name.

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Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember the name Joyce McDonald ?
Mr. MEYERS. The last name would mean absolutely nothing to me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember the name Joy Dale?
Mr. MEYERS. That is the girl. The Dale name brought back the name. That was it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Tell us about that.
Mr. MEYERS. A tall blonde. Well, what happened, he introduced me to her in his club that evening and we talked about various things and among the things we talked about--gee, this all comes back to me now--she was working during the day at the Texas State Fair for a concession who were demonstrating the methods they used to make a movie or make a motion picture, and according to--I am sorry.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was this a show by the name of "How Hollywood Makes Movies?"
Mr. MEYER. It could have been. I don't know. It had to do with breakaway Chairs and--I never saw the show. Let me tell you this right now. And you will appreciate why, when I get to the rest.
She told me that these fellows had a very good thing going. It was going to make a lot of money, blah, blah, and so on and so forth. But they were going to be closed up the next day or the day after due to the fact that they were unable to pay either the rent for the tent that they were in or some of their help who was going to quit on them the next day. I don't remember. Something of this type. And the question arose whether I could help them get over this period and I asked them what would be involved and she said, I think she said, $200. I am not sure. Well, it so happened that that next day I had to go back to Chicago, I believe. So I said, well, Joy, I will tell you what I will do. If this thing is as good as you say it is, I have thrown $200 down the drain a number of times, and maybe I can do some good with this $200. So I said what time will you be out there the next day, and she said she would be there--now here again I am guessing, I don't remember the hours but it was afternoon, somewhere about 2 o'clock or something, and I said, well, I will tell you, I am going to--I think I have reservations on the 4 o'clock flight or something like that to go back to Chicago. I said, I will run out there and I will look at this thing and if it looks anywhere near what it should be, I will stake you to this money. And I did.
I went out there and--as a matter of fact, I got there before she did. She was late. And she introduced me to two men whose names I absolutely cannot remember who were running this concession and we talked a little while. We had some coffee at a little coffee stand right near there. And it seemed that they needed $200 to get over this thing. So I said to Joy, I will tell you what I will do. I will give you a check for $200, and if I remember, I think I made the check out to Jack Ruby. I don't remember. I said, I will give you this check for $200 and you go ahead and get them over the hump and in time, you will see me sometime around the country, or they will, blah, blah, and all kinds of thank you's were said and I gave them the check. She said where should she cash the check. I said give the check to Jack. He knows me well enough. I am sure he will know where to cash it. I am sure she did. That is how I got the check back. I hear since he never got the $200, that Jack had loaned them $100 and he took $100 of this $200 for himself to pay himself back, and I think she took the other hundred because as I have the story, one of her children had perhaps some--had to have some medical treatments and minor surgery, or something. So again I had thrown $200 down the drain. That is it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you recall the next time that you saw Jack Ruby after that episode ?
Mr. MEYERS. If you will tell me the day that this happened evidently you have this information. If you will tell me when this happened it might bring it back a little.
Mr. GRIFFIN. This probably would have been in the first two weeks of October.
Mr. MEYERS. First 2 weeks of October?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Of 1963.
Mr. MEYERS. I don't know. I am guessing again. I suppose the next time was the middle of November, the latter part of November, unless I had occasion to go to Dallas sooner than that, I really don't remember.

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Mr. GRIFFIN. You mentioned seeing Jack Ruby on Thursday night, November 21.
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How did you happen to make contact with him?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, here again I am trying to get--I am trying to remember this, and I don't know whether I am right or wrong, but I guess this is the way it happened. My brother lives in Brooklyn and my brother is a Pepsi Cola distributor, and that particular week they were having a bottlers convention in Dallas and my brother and his wife attended this convention. They were staying at the Adolphus Hotel. I was staying at the Cabana Motel. I think what happened is that I had called my brother earlier during the day at the Adolphus and was told that he was out at a dinner or something, so gathering that the convention had, and that he would--well, let me remember this. No; I talked to him. That was it. I talked to Eddie and I asked he and Thelma to have dinner with me that night and Eddie said he couldn't have dinner with me that night. He had to go--he and Thelma had to go to this party that was set up by some convention thing. But that he thought he would be through with that about 11 o'clock or so that evening. So I said, fine. Why don't you meet me at the Cabana Motel at 11 o'clock that evening, or, you know, when you get through, and I will be in--the club at the Cabana is called the Bon Vivant. Meet me in the Bon Vivant Room and we will say hello. I hadn't seen him for some time.
Meanwhile, I had stopped in to Jack's place that evening. I don't know what time. I would venture to say in the neighborhood of 9 o'clock that night. This was Thursday night, the 21st. I think that is pretty accurate because it comes back to me now.
I visited with Jack for about, oh, an hour, I don't know, just sat around there and yakked with him. Nothing of any consequence. He might have even brought up this amateur night thing again. Of course, you realize that was before any of this tragedy had struck. So then I told Jack that my brother and his wife were going to meet me for a drink at the Bon Vivant Room about 11 o'clock and if he had the time, why didn't he come over and meet us. So he said he would if he could. Well, I don't remember now--I guess possibly around 11:15 or so my brother and his wife came by and within the next half hour or less, Jack came by. So we sat there, and if I remember right, he had coffee. I have never seen him take a drink.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was anybody else with Jack at that time?
Mr. MEYERS. No; Jack was alone.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When you saw him at the club, was anybody with him, at the Carousel Club?
Mr. MEYERS. Nobody that I would have well, see, it is a hard question for me to answer. He was the host and he was with people.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was George Senator there that you recall?
Mr. MEYERS. I don't remember him being there. Now, he might have been. There were a number of people in the club I don't remember. I know I didn't talk to him there. If he was there, I didn't see him. Shall I go on ?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Go ahead. Well, let me interrupt you.
Mr. MEYERS. Go ahead.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How much time do you think you spent with him at the Carousel
Mr. MEYERS. Thursday night?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. In the neighborhood of an hour.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, during that period at the Carousel Club, what do you recall that Jack talked about?
Mr. MEYERS. I just have no recollection. It was nothing of any consequence--beefs about trying to get hold of this union official, that one, to do this or do that.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you notice anything unusual about his behavior?
Mr. MEYERS. He was just as nutty as he always was.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What do you mean by that?
Mr. MEYERS. And I use the word advisedly.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What do you mean by that?

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Mr. MEYERS. Well, you see, you have me in a very awkward position. All this has happened, all these things have happened since and obviously I have read everything about it naturally. Indirectly I am involved, let's put it this way. So I suppose I possibly have paid more attention to it than the average layman would have.
Maybe not. I don't know. And I have tried in my own mind to associate Jack's behavior as I knew him to this terrible thing that he did. In other words, I am trying to--I don't know how to word it. I like him. And I am trying to understand what could have motivated him to do a thing like this, get into that.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Before we get to that point, let's see if we can't try to establish the facts about what you saw him do during this period.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, all he did that night that I can remember, Mr. Griffin, is his perpetual running around. He was running to the cash register to take it--I think it is a $2 admission that he had into his club, or running over to the lights to switch them on and off and up and down as the various girls would go through their various gyrations, and running over and talking to this waitress or talking to that one and talking to people in the club, to men primarily, none of whom I knew or paid any attention to because they didn't concern me.
Now, you say did I see Oswald in that club that night? This is a ridiculous thing for me to say. I didn't see him. He might have been there. I would have been the most surprised guy in the world if he was, but do you follow what I am trying to say ?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Sure.
Mr. MEYERS. I just paid no attention to it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. While you were at the club on Thursday night, did Jack mention anything to you about the President's expected arrival in Dallas the following day?
Mr. MEYERS. I don't even remember this. This is absolute fact. I have no recollection.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you have any recollection of his having mentioned it later when you met him at the Bon Vivant Room?
Mr. MEYERS. It did come up. I remember this very distinctly. It came up but it came up in an aroundabout way and I will tell you how that happened if you want me to do that now.
Mr. GRIFFIN. First of all let me ask one further question. Is there anything else you remember about what happened at the Carouse1 Club on Thursday night?
Mr. MEYERS. He was supremely upset. I remember this. He was very angry at one of the girls who had worked for him who he--now, this is his story. You know this again comes back to me. His story is that this girl--she was his star performer, I suppose, and had a sensational act and evidently there was some local objection to some of her act from the standpoint of decency thing. So he had asked her would she please tone down her act so that he would have no problem with the authorities, as far as performance was concerned, and that she had defied him and did the act as she had always done it, and possibly even a little more so. So he fired her. He let her go. Now this is his story to me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did this conversation occur Thursday night or was it one you had earlier
Mr. MEYERS. I am almost sure it was Thursday night, but it might have been earlier. You see, it is confusing.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was the name of this girl Jada?
Mr. MEYERS. Jada.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Let me ask you a few questions, then, to try to establish when this conversation might have taken place. Do you recall being at the Carousel Club during the fall of 1963 when Jack Ruby had a photographer, commercial photographer, there taking pictures?
Mr. MEYERS. I have no recollection of this.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Have you ever met a commercial photographer from California whose name is Eddy Rocco?
Mr. MEYERS. No; not at all.

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Mr. GRIFFIN. Were you in Dallas at the time of any of the SMU games in the fall of 1963?
Mr. MEYERS. That is a hard thing to answer.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you attend any?
Mr. MEYERS. No, no; I have never gone to a football game in Dallas in my life.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you have any recollection of being in Dallas between the time you gave Joy Dale the $200 check and the time that you saw Ruby on Thursday night?
Mr. MEYERS. Here I have to answer you this way. I do not remember whether I was there or not in that--what would that be--about a 4-week period or something like that.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Four to six weeks.
Mr. MEYERS. I don't remember. I can find out very easily, you know, my travel records, because I keep these things--tax structure--but I don't remember having been there. It is possible I was.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Other than this conversation about Jada that may have occurred on Thursday night and the other things you have mentioned that occurred at the Carousel Club on Thursday night, is there anything else that took place at the Carousel Club Thursday night that you can recall.
Mr. MEYERS. Not that I can remember.
Mr. GRIFFIN. All right. Now, when you left the Carousel Club, did you go directly to the Dallas Cabana?
Mr. MEYERS. I suppose so.
Mr. GRIFFIN. About how long after you left the Carousel Club did Ruby arrive at the Cabana?
Mr. MEYERS. I would say between 2 and 2 1/2 hours. Wait a minute. I got there--I must have left Jack about 9:30. About 2 hours to 2 1/2 hours--give or take a few minutes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When you were at the Carousel Club, do you recall if Jack had eaten dinner at that point?
Mr. MEYERS. I don't remember.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you recall his mentioning to you about his sister's illness, or about the management of the Vegas Club, Thursday night?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, you mentioned the Vegas Club and you brought up another thing in my mind. Now, whether this happened that night or not--you must understand--I just don't remember.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I realize that.
Mr. MEYERS. He was a little upset--it was either that night or possibly the time previous that I had seen him--of the fact that some hillbilly band that had been working at the Vegas Club who were evidently very successful, and a very good draw, were leaving. Some competitor, or somebody else, had offered them more money. I don't know what it was, but they were they had either left or they were leaving, and he was rather upset about this. He didn't say a word to me about his sister. As a matter of fact, I have never even met his sister.
Mr. GRIFFIN. To be specific, do you have any recollection that Jack told you that he was going to take one of his employees over to the Vegas Club to run the Vegas Club that evening, or that he had already done so?
Mr. MEYERS. No; I have no recollection of this.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You indicated that you thought you were supposed to meet your brother at the Cabana about 11?
Mr. MEYERS. Roughly.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Could it have been as late as midnight?
Mr. MEYERS. Very possibly.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Is it possible at the time that the lapse of time between your seeing Ruby at the Carousel and the time of your seeing him at the Cabana could have been as little as an hour?
Mr. MEYERS. No; I would almost swear that it would have to have been longer than that because I couldn't possibly have left--well, here again maybe I am nutty. I did. But I would--I would go on record that I didn't. I think I left there

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about 10, and I drove right back to the Cabana, and that could not have taken me over 15 minutes, and my brother and his wife then joined me, and this again I say is somewhere, 11-11:30, I don't know.
I just don't pay that much attention to time. Jack came in shortly after they did.
Mr. GRIFFIN. To try to fix the time that you were at the Carousel Club, try to think where you had diner, if you can, on that Thursday night, and how long it was from the time you had dinner until you went to the Carousel Club.
Mr. MEYERS. You know something, I haven't got the vaguest recollection of where I had dinner that night. I could have sat down in some real fine restaurant and had an excellent dinner. I could have stopped in some coffee-shop and had a sandwich and a cup of coffee. I haven't got the vaguest recollection. Did I tell the people from the FBI. If I did, then I possibly--possibly I remembered it a little better then.
Mr. GRIFFIN. No; you didn't.
Mr. MEYERS. I have no recollection of where I had dinner that night.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When Jack arrived at the Cabana, were your brother and his wife already there?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did anyone accompany Jack to the Cabana ?
Mr. MEYERS. No; well nobody accompanied Jack when he sat at the table with me. Now, I wouldn't know who he came out there with.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, try to tell us as best you can what happened from the time Ruby arrived at the Cabana until he left?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, really so very little. I introduced my brother and sister to him. We yakked about--I don't know anything that--I really couldn't tell you what we talked about. It was nothing that was consequential in any shape, manner, or form other than the fact he was interested--when I told him my brother was a Pepsi Cola distributor--would there be any way that Eddie could handle this twistboard of his as a premium with the Pepsi Cola operation which I, of course, said forget it--it just doesn't fit. It is just not that. It is not that kind of a thing.
What else did we talk about? I don't know. We could have talked about anything.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, earlier you were about to talk, before I cut you off, about the conversation that had to do with the President's arrival in Dallas.
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Where did that take place and what happened?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, at the table that evening, my brother and sister-in-law had never seen our plant in McKinney. McKinney is 30 miles north of Dallas. The airport, I assume and I could be a little wrong on mileage is about 10 or 12 miles in, more or less, the same direction from Dallas. I wanted my brother and his wife to see our plant. So they had reservations to leave Dallas on an 11 something flight that morning. I couldn't tell you exactly what the time was. I do know it was shortly before the President was due to arrive, because this, of course, was all published in the Dallas papers. So I said to Eddie, I said, "Eddie, why don't I pick you up tomorrow morning, you and Thelma, at the Adolphus, we will have breakfast. I will pick you up early, about 8 o'clock. We will have breakfast I will run you over to the plant. It won't take me more than an hour to get there. We will spend a half hour or so, and you can look it over, and I will bring you back to the airport on my way back to Dallas."
So then the question came up, "Won't we get hungry up at the airport?" "No," I said, "we will get there before the President's plane is due to arrive, and I am not going to stay and watch the airplane come in, and I will drop you off and take off, and I should be out of the crowd before the crush or whatever is going to happen--you know--the mob of people going out to see him. this was arranged, and this was the only conversation about the President coming in.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was Jack Ruby present during that conversation?
Mr. MEYERS. I think so.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you recall his saying anything during that conversation?

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Mr. MEYERS. If he said anything, I have no recollection of it because obviously this whole thing was as far from my mind as if you told me you were going to jump off the top of that building over there.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long did Jack remain at the Cabana ?
Mr. MEYERS. Not very long. He left before my brother and sister-in-law did.
I would say he stayed maybe 20 or 30 minutes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you see him again that night?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you see him the next day, Friday?
Mr. MEYERS. No. The next day was a very tragic day.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Before he left on Friday night or on Thursday night, had you made any arrangements with Jack Ruby to see him again.
Mr. MEYERS. No; just we will be in touch or have dinner one night, you know, generalities. I might have even told him I would be in the club the next night. I don't remember.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Tell us what you did on Friday morning.
Mr. MEYERS. Friday morning. Well, I took my brother and sister--as I told you, I met my brother, took them--had breakfast at the Adolphus about 8 o'clock, drove up to McKinney, got to McKinney I would say in the neighborhood of about 9:30, quarter of 10, and spent roughly 20 minutes to a half hour going through the plant with our plant manager, and then I piled them in the car and took them back to the Dallas airport and we got to Love Field, I would say, within 10 minutes of the arrival of the President and his plane. I said goodby and left them. I got in my car and continued on out. Are you familiar with Dallas? I continued out Lover's Lane to pick up Stemmons Expressway Stemmons Freeway, turned down into Dallas and picked up the Fort Worth Turnpike to go to Fort Worth because I had an appointment with Leonard's which is a department store in Fort Worth that morning. I guess, of course, I had the car radio turned on and I heard all the business about the President's arrival, and so on and so forth. Along about 12 or a little before 12, I stopped at, I guess it is a Howard Johnson's on the Fort Worth Turnpike for some lunch. I had either just eaten a sandwich and some coffee or I was waiting to go in when some man came up to me and says, "Have you heard that the President has been shot," and I said, "Hell, no," or some exclamation like that. I said, "Are you kidding?" He said "No, I heard it on my car radio a little while ago that the President has been shot and there was a lot of Secret Servicemen that had been shot, police had been shot, there were all sorts of rumors flying around."
Well, I suppose I was just as shocked as most people. I got back in the car and I drove into Leonard's--drove in to Fort Worth, went down into Leonard's and the office of the man who buys the sporting goods is right off the automotive department of Leonard's, a Mr. Kelley, and in the automotive department they had a television set set up and at this time, by the time I had gotten there, of course, the President and Governor had been taken to the Parkland Hospital, and, well, the rest of it, you know, they were going through all this television business. Of course, everybody came to a standstill. I could no more have talked business to the man than if some terrible tragedy happened now and I would have to stop talking to you. I guess everybody was shook up. So I got back in the car and went back to the hotel.
Mr. GRIFFIN. About what time did you arrive back at the hotel ?
Mr. MEYERS. There again I am guessing. I got to Fort Worth I would say in the vicinity of 12:30, or quarter of 1. I stayed there watching television until the actual official word was given on television that the President was dead and then I drove right back to the hotel. Now, when was the official word given? If you tell me that I will tell you when I got back.
Mr. GRIFFIN. It would have been----
Mr. MEYERS. I would say approximately 3 o'clock is when I got back to the hotel, give or take a few minutes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long did you stay there at the hotel ?
Mr. MEYERS. I stayed there all night.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you see or talk to Jack Ruby at all that day ?
Mr. MEYERS. Not Friday.

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Mr. GRIFFIN. There was the Dallas Cabana that you were staying at ?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you see any of Ruby's friends that day ?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Or talk to them?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, do you recall what you did on Saturday?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, gosh, I don't know. I know I watched television with all the business until my eyes bugged out of my head both Friday night and all day or most of the day Saturday. I couldn't have done anything of any consequence. There was no place to go.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you at any time drive down to Dealey Plaza or the site of the shooting?
Mr. MEYERS That is possible, very possible. Highly possible.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did there come a time on Saturday when you did talk to Jack Ruby?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Where were you at the time?
Mr. MEYERS. In bed.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What is your best recollection of what time this was ?
Mr. MEYERS. 9 or 10 o'clock Saturday night.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How do you happen to fix that time?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, because I was undressed and going to bed and I wouldn't have gone to bed--I certainly wouldn't have gone to bed much later than that because there wouldn't have been anything for me to do or any place to go. It would have been a case of sitting in the room or driving around in the car which I didn't want to do or sitting in the lobby reading a book which I didn't want to do. I was in the room in bed and I am again saying it was somewhere, 9, 10 o'clock that night, a few minutes either way, and it was highly possible. And the phone rang and it was Jack on the telephone.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When you talked with the FBI on December 3, you indicated at that time that the telephone call that you received came in at approximately 10:30 p.m. or at least this is what the FBI has reported you said.
Mr. MEYERS. It is possible, highly possible. I say 9, 10, give or take a little while. You see, you must understand one thing, Mr. Griffin, Friday after the assassination--I don't know how to word this so you won't think I am an idiot--was a reasonably exciting day, may I put it that way, because so much was happening, so much going on, so much tragedy and also in my opinion so much stupidity. However, this is my opinion. And Saturday was pretty much repetition of all this plus what was going on in Washington when they had brought the body back and I think there was, oh, I don't know, preparations for the funeral or various people on television but it was greatly repetition. And once the first shock of this tragedy had worn off, all of this watching of television with the various commentators and the various different people inevitably saying the say thing, I suppose became rather boring. I was sick enough about it any way.
Mr. GRIFFIN. About how long did your telephone conversation with Ruby last Saturday night?
Mr. MEYERS. I would say in the neighborhood of 15 or 20 minutes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, 15 or 20 minutes is a reasonably long telephone call.
Mr. MEYERS. It was a reasonably long conversation. I would say possibly 15 minutes.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Tell us what you remember of that conversation, how it started and how it progressed.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, he called me and the first thing he said to me is what did I think of this terrible, terrible thing? So I said the usual banalities, what did I think about it, it was a horrible thing. So it was so sad that I thought in this country, if you didn't like a man's politics you voted him out of office instead of killing him, and that in a nutty place I hope neither of you are from Dallas
Mr. GRIFFIN. Let me, if you know--are these things that you actually said to him or thoughts that you had later on?
Mr. MEYERS. I said to him, in a nutty place like Dallas any thing can happen.

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I don't mean I was not surprised that this happened but that only in a place like Dallas, I guess was the words I used, would a thing like this happen, which was a ridiculous thing to say. It could have happened anywhere. And then he kept repeating himself. He was so absolutely repetitious about those poor people. Now, I want to make this point clear. He had been--oh, yes. It comes back now. He was squawking or beefing to me about the fact that his competitors had opened their place of business Saturday night and that he had stayed closed. He had closed his. And how terrible he thought it was and how unfair he thought it was. And then he went into this conversation of these poor people, these poor people, I feel so sorry for them.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he mention what poor people he was talking about?
Mr. MEYERS. This is what I am getting at now. My original concept was that these poor people he was talking about were his competitors whom he felt had no heart and no--well, no feelings, you know; they were money hungry and this bit." And then it dawned on me as he went on and kept mentioning the poor woman and the children and then I realized he was talking not about his competitors but about Mrs. Kennedy and her children, and I don't know exactly what I said to him. How could I remember exactly other than, well, Jack, I am sure that she will make--you know, life goes on. She will make a life for herself, and so on and so forth. Then he was obviously very upset. He was--let me say it this way--in all of my conversations with him through the years that I have known him, he had occasions to get to a degree overwhelmed, in other words, he would almost get incoherent because he was so anxious to get his point over. I am sure you have talked to people who will do this. This night he seemed far more incoherent than I have ever listened to him. The guy sounded absolutely like he had flipped his lid, I guess. Of course, you all have to understand I have read so much, everybody swinging this way.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Try to focus on what your view was at that time?
Mr. MEYERS. I am trying very hard because I am sure you realize I want to tell you everything that I know. And I also have a reason for this. He became so incoherent, so vehement about these poor people, these poor people, the children, I said, Jack, where are you, and I don't remember where he said he was, I really don't. I said, look--he said come have a drink with me or a cup of coffee with me. That is right. He asked me to come and have something with him, some food or drink. I said, Jack, that is silly. I am undressed. have bathed. I am in bed. I want to go to sleep but, I said, if you want a cup of coffee you come on over here and come on up to my room and I will have some coffee or food sent up to my room and we can sit here and talk. He said, no, no, he had things to do. He couldn't come over. I don't know whether he said at the time or not but he couldn't come over. This went on for a little while and the last thing I said, Jack, why don't you ahead and get a good night's sleep and forget this thing. And you call me about 6 o'clock tomorrow night because I have no plans for tomorrow night. Call me at 6 tomorrow night and we will have dinner together and he said okay. I said, fine, Jack, I will look forward to your calling about 6 o'clock Sunday night. He didn't call me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you recall--you say he mentioned to you where he was.
Mr. MEYERS. No; he didn't tell me where he was. You mean he called me Saturday night?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, I am saying if he told me where he was, I have no recollection of it. I don't know where he was when he called me.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he mention anything to you to the effect that his sister had suggested that he call a friend or that he call you?
Mr. MEYERS. Not that I remember. You must understand one thing. You see, I have never met his sister. To this day I have never met his sister and whether his sister knew me or knew about me, I don't know.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he mention anything to you about having taken any pictures of a billboard in Dallas?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember his mentioning a sign which urged that Earl Warren be impeached?

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Mr. MEYERS. I know the sign you are talking about. I have no recollection of him ever mentioning this.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you have any recollection of his mentioning to you an advertisement that appeared in the Dallas Morning News on November 22 which addressed to a series of questions to President Kennedy with a black-bordered advertisement and bore the name of Bernard Weissman?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you have any recollection of that?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he mention to you any theories that he had about the assassination?
(Mr. Meyers shook his head in the negative.)
Mr. MEYERS. We didn't
Mr. GRIFFIN. You will have to answer no. You have to give an audible response.
Mr. MEYERS. I am sorry. I keep forgetting this. No; he never discussed any of these things with me. As a matter of fact, we never discussed the assassination other than his misery when he called me Saturday night. Now, obviously it would be said, what a terrible thing, you know, this type of thing.
Mr. GRIFFIN. When he mentioned to you that his competitors were open, did he indicate how he knew they were open ?
Mr. MEYERS. No. I would assume he went by and saw them open.
Mr. GRIFFIN. But do you recall, have any specific recollection of his saying that?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you have any recollection of his having said that he visited any nightclubs at all that night?
Mr. MEYERS. Didn't mention it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he mention to you that he had seen Lee Oswald the night before?
Mr. MEYERS. No. Didn't even mention Lee Oswald.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, when you talked with the FBI on December 3, the FBI has quoted you as saying that one of the things that Ruby told you in the conversation was "I have got to do something about this." Do you remember that----
Mr. MEYERS. Definitely.
Mr. GRIFFIN. That statement?
Mr. MEYERS. Definitely.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Tell us how that--in what context this came up.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, this again is--you see, this, of course, is my interpretation of this. When he was talking to me on the telephone and he said these poor people-- you mentioned this and it all comes back to me--I have got to do something about this. I thought he was talking about his competitors being open on Saturday night because this was the basis of his conversation with me all along and that he was going to do something about them staying open on Saturday night in defiance or--I shouldn't say in defiance out of nonrespect for the assassination, or for the memory of the President, or anything like this.
Also, I suppose, unfortunately, religion has to come into this thing, although, good lord, I wish it didn't. Also the fact that Jack obviously is Jewish, so am I, and so were his two competitors, and Jack is--I don't know how to word this--militantly Jewish. In other words, he is going to make an issue of this. He thought it was terrible that Jewish people should show such disrespect.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he specifically mention this Jewish aspect?
Mr. MEYERS. He didn't specifically mention it but, Mr. Griffin, it is a difficult thing to say, but in my understanding of Jack, this is what I assumed he was talking about.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What was it that he said that led you to think he had some reference to the fact----
Mr. MEYERS. Well, "these poor people, And wasn't it"--you see, you are putting words in my mouth now.

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Mr. GRIFFIN. I don't want to do that.
Mr. MEYERS. I am putting words in my own mouth actually. He had many times intimated to me or indicated to me that it was a damn shame, to use his words, that his competitors were such money hungry Jews, and, of course, we could get into quite a discussion about technicalities in this and feelings in this matter, and I of course--you see, my background and Jack's is so completely different. It is so difficult for me to sometimes see his way of thinking. Do you follow what I am trying to say ?
Some things that Jack said I would have sympathized with him. Other things that he said I might have sympathized with him but certainly not like the way he said it. Do I make myself clear? There were just, in other words, just as many money hungry Christians as there are Jews.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Is this opinion that you are giving us, that Jack was upset about the Weinsteins being open, in part because they were Jewish, is this an opinion which you had at the time that you talked with Jack that night or is that one that you formed later on after reading----

Mr. MEYERS. No, no; that is an opinion I had that night when I first thought that he was talking about the Weinsteins.
And the fact that he led me to believe--I will put it this way--that he was talking about them in the category of money hungry Jews is because he was so militantly against anybody bum-rapping Jews, that is a way of saying it. I don't know how to word it. I know exactly what I want to say but I don't know how to use the words. He thought it was a reflection on the Jews that these people would do such a thing. Let me put it that way.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he say anything specifically that would lead you to believe that just on the basis of that conversation, or was this something that you were concluding on the basis of having known him.
Mr. MEYERS. It was a conclusion from having known him because he did not mention the Weinsteins by name Saturday night when he talked to me. All he said, and he repeated this a number of times, were, "those poor people, those poor people, I have got to do something" or, "I should do something about this." I don't know exactly which words he used.
This he said a few times. Now, my assumption through my conversations with him and through knowing him is that he was talking about these Weinsteins.
I have since begun to believe that he was not talking about the Weinsteins. He was talking about the Kennedy family. At least this is my conclusion; and I am not a psychiatrist or an attorney.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, again, is that conclusion based on anything he said that night or is it based simply on the fact that later he shot Lee Oswald.
Mr. MEYERS. You mean my conclusion?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. I would assume it is based on the fact that Sunday morning he shot Lee Oswald.
Now, he did a number of times mention, "those poor people, those poor people. I have got to do something about it, or I should do something about it." And you see, you must understand, Mr. Griffin, that the assassination, of course, had occurred. The murder of Oswald, particularly by Jack Ruby, was--well I can only say the furthest thing from my mind. I just had no belief or concept---anymore than Miss Taylor might pick that thing up and decide to hit me on the head with it right now. I would be just as shocked. As a matter of fact, when I found out he had done it, it was the most shocking thing.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, you indicated that before closing the conversation, Ruby said to you that he had to go downtown, or that he had some business downtown.
Mr. MEYERS. You mean Saturday night?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. He did not say that?
Mr. MEYERS. No. The last thing he said--I will repeat myself now, and this I know is a fact. He was more incoherent than he had ever been when I talked to him that night, and he asked me to meet him for some coffee or a drink, I

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don't remember exactly what he said, and I told him that I was undressed and in bed and I had no desire to get up and get dressed, that if he wanted to have a cup of coffee with me, come on down to the hotel or come up to my room. I would have some coffee sent up and we could visit. He said, no, he couldn't do that. He couldn't do that. I don't think he said why. I don't remember why. He said, I couldn't do. I said, all right, Jack, I have no plans for tomorrow evening. I said why don't you call me here about 6 o'clock and I said, we will have dinner together tomorrow night and he said fine and that is it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I thought you mentioned earlier when he said no, he couldn't do that, he mentioned something about his having some business, some other things to do.
Mr. MEYERS. If he said it, I have no recollection.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he mention anything to you about having had a telephone call from one of his dancers who wanted to borrow some money?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, now, you see, here I am confused because I know that he sent this kid some money in Fort Worth. I read all about this. Now, whether he mentioned it to me or not, Mr. Griffin, I don't remember. He might have. He might not have. I don't know. But, you see, you must appreciate my position because it is difficult for me to disassociate what I have read from what actually happened. Now, I do know that he sent this kid, this pregnant kid, some money. I don't remember his mentioning it to me Saturday night. He might have. I don't remember.
Mr. GRIFFIN. In thinking back on his conversation, to what extent did his conversation focus on his competitors as opposed to the extent that it focused on "those poor people, those poor people"?
Mr. MEYERS. This is Saturday night you are talking about?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. Well, you see, I don't think I have made myself very clear. When he talked to me Saturday night, he did mention the fact that these competitors were open Saturday night and he did mention the fact of how terrible it was because of a sign of disrespect to the President and the fact that this money hungry Jew did it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he use the phrase "money hungry Jew"?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes. He used that phrase to me many times. Whether he used it that night, you see, I can't be specific.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I don't want you to be if you can't be.
Mr. MEYERS. I can't be specific.
Mr. GRIFFIN. So you are not clear?
Mr. MEYERS. I am not specific. Let's say I am not factual on that. I am not exact.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. MEYERS. Now, somewhere in this conversation he swung from his competitors to these poor people. Now, this could have been early in the conversation that I had with him that night or later in the conversation, in the same conversation, that is, and when he went from speaking directly about his competitors to these poor people, I still assumed he was speaking about his competitors. My belief since, of course, is that he was no longer speaking about his competitors. He was speaking about the Kennedy family.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was this conversation a conversation in which Jack would pause frequently and you would say something or was it something which----
Mr. MEYERS. It was pretty much his conversation to me and me saying Jack, calm down, unwind, you know, get it off your mind, or something of this type.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Try to think about your side of the conversation and tell us what things you were saying to him ?
Mr. MEYERS. Well, actually, Mr. Griffin, I said very little to him other than to--I used the words, pacify him. He was obviously very upset, and again I thought he was upset because of his competition and he was upset obviously because of the assassination. My conversation to him--my words to him were nothing specific more than typical pacifying comment every now and then when he would let loose another tirade.

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Mr. GRIFFIN. Is there any possibility in your mind that this conversation could have taken place after midnight?
Mr. MEYERS. No. I would be extremely surprised if that took place after midnight. I couldn't have lost that much time. It would have to have taken place somewhere around--10 that night. It might have even been closer to 11 but it couldn't possibly have been midnight because I was not yet asleep.
As a matter of fact, I was in bed reading, either reading or watching television, I don't know.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You mentioned Jack's concern about the Weinsteins being what he apparently called money hungry Jews. In your experiences with Jack, would you say that Jack was any less interested in making money than the Weinsteins ?
Mr. MEYERS. No, no; Jack was just as interested in making money, I am sure. You know, a good psychiatrist could give you the answer to this very simply. The fact remains that the Weinsteins have evidently lots of money and Jack doesn't or didn't, and I suppose he resents this to a degree.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What was your experience with Jack as to whether or not he was an aggressive or passive business entrepreneur?
Mr. MEYERS. Whether he was aggressive or passive as an individual?
Mr. GRIFFIN. As a businessman. Was he----
Mr. MEYERS. Oh, extremely aggressive. Extremely aggressive. I think Jack's entire nature is aggressive. I think his character is extremely aggressive.
Mr. GRIFFIN. In connection with his attitude toward the Jews, had you ever talked to him about any books that he was reading about the Jews?
Mr. MEYERS. No. Let me make his attitude about Jews a little clearer to you. I may have given you a wrong impression. Jack in my opinion is extremely proud of being Jewish--and we'll put it on a personal basis--just as I am. And due to Jack's childhood, which I have read so much about--I knew nothing about it until I read about this--and his home life, the way he matured, it is very obvious to me that Jack did have an inferiority complex, we'll use the old cliche, and that he had become or tried to become an extrovert in order to fit in with what he thought were important people to fit in with due to his lack of formal education. He would attach himself to people from whom he thought he could learn, from whom he thought he could better himself, which, more power to him.
I think also he resented maybe to a degree of envy what some of these--what these Weinsteins were doing, first because he envied them their success, and second, because on this particular night, this Saturday night, they had done something that he felt was derogatory to his people and he would resent it, just as I would resent--and here I must put it on a personal basis, it is a stupid thing, believe me just as I would resent the living caricature of what a Hitler would portray as a Jew or just as you would resent a living caricature that somebody might portray as the worst element in your faith, and we all have this in our faith.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you remember, Mr. Meyers, any specific episode or conversations you had with Jack about his feelings towards his Jewish background or his sensitivity toward being a Jew ?
Mr. MEYERS. I have a feeling he was very proud of being a Jew.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you recall any specific conversations?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he actually mention his feelings about being a Jew from time to time in conversations that you had with him ?
Mr. MEYERS. No, we just didn't discuss it. There was just nothing to discuss between he and I on this.
You know, something else comes to my mind now. I also--it is so hard for me to separate what actually happened from what I have read. Can I word it this way?
I am reasonably sure that when he talked to me Saturday night he also said something about going to his rabbi or to the synagogue and that he was surprised that there were no special services that day for the memory of the President.

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Now, again, I want to emphasize the fact that I am reasonably sure he said this to me because it seems to come into my mind when he was talking about synagogue and services and rabbis and there would have been no occasion for it other than this, at that time of the night.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Could this have been something that you perhaps learned as a result of talking with one of his brothers or sisters?
Mr. MEYERS. I don't know his brothers or sisters. I have never met them.
Mr. GRIFFIN. In the various times that you had seen Jack Ruby, had you ever seen him get in any fight or become violent with people?
Mr. MEYERS. No; I have never seen Jack become physically violent. I have seen him verbally bawl out people, but I have never seen him become physically violent.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Has Jack ever talked to you about his associations with under- world characters--hoodlums?
Mr. MEYERS. Many times.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What has he told you about it?
Mr. MEYERS. Generalities. Typical--nothing specific, just typical of a man who wants to be with the ingroup, if you want to call this the ingroup, just dropping names of so-called important people that he met or had known, or so on and so forth.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did he ever say anything to you which indicated that he had ever been a part of any criminal organization ?
Mr. MEYERS. No; not--of course, you get a finer point of what is criminal and what is not. Jack did tell me, in his youth he was, well, the words he used, a hustler around Chicago, trying to make a stray buck on selling scalping tickets for various fights or hockey games or something like this. I don't know if he was a criminal. I mean, you know what interpretation you want to put----
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, did you ever get any indications from him that he had ever sold narcotics?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Or that he had ever, himself, been a part of any gambling organization.
Mr. MEYERS. Mr. Griffin, if I ever thought that Jack was involved in anything--in a narcotic or this kind of thing--I would immediately have bought back my introduction to him. I personally, now, this is--should I say this is off the record, because this is not going to be published anywhere, is it?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, let me tell you that it will be.
Mr. MEYERS. Published?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Everything that is going to be said here will be published, but we appreciate your frankness.
Mr. MEYERS. There is one thing that--what were we talking about? It slipped my mind.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You were going to comment about if you ever had any idea or known that he was connected with narcotics or anything like that.
Mr. MEYERS. You can put this down if you want to, but I prefer you to stop for a minute.
Mr. GRIFFIN. We have a policy of not----
Mr. MEYERS. Well, I don't want to embarrass myself. This is all that this has to do with.
Mr. GRIFFIN. All right. We will go off the record here.
(Discussion off the record. )
Mr. GRIFFIN. Let me state for the record that we have perhaps talked for 2 or 3 minutes off the record here, and Mr. Meyers told us about Jack Ruby's attitude toward people who would come to him and ask him to fix them up with one of his female employees, and Mr. Meyers stated to me that one of the things that Jack Ruby liked about Mr. Meyers was that Mr. Meyers was not one of those kinds of people who had done that.
Let me ask you this question pertaining to Jack Ruby now.
Did Jack do or say anything to you, or do you have any knowledge that Jack was making any money by offering extra curricular services for his girls?

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Mr. MEYERS. I can only answer that by telling you, Mr. Griffin, that if this is so, I would be the most surprised man. I personally have absolutely no knowledge or indication of this in any shape, manner, or form, and my reason for being so positive is that I don't think Jack ever lied to me. He would have no reason to lie to me in any of our conversations, and that he made it a point to tell me that one of the things that he detested about people who would try to impose on their friendship with him to get him to influence any of the girls in his club to go with them.
He made it a point to tell me that he didn't approve of this type of thing. He said what they do when they are out of here is their business.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you have any indication, any information, that Jack Ruby was a homosexual.
Mr. MEYERS. I have been asked that question by the FBI. If Jack Ruby is a homosexual, I know absolutely nothing about it. He certainly never indicated to me in any shape, manner, or form.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, let me now switch from Jack Ruby to some of your own activities. Let me ask you have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFINS. Have you ever been a member of any political group, let me state it, have you ever been a member of any group who lobbied for any bills or----
Mr. MEYERS. Let me answer by telling you this. I have a daughter who is a nuclear chemist and who has worked at Argonne and various nuclear reactors. I have a son who was in the ASA for a couple of years.
Mr. GRIFFIN. What is the ASA?
Mr. MEYERS. Army Security Agency, who had a crypto clearance and I and my wife and my family and my wife's family have been investigated two or three times by various agencies who have to do with these things, and there is absolutely no record of any subversive, Communist, or neopolitical organization or any of this type.
Now, I will answer these questions one by one as you ask them of me if you want me to, but these facts have already been established through my son and my daughter.
You see, when Vicki went to work for Argonne, she had to get a security clearance, and Ralph was in this operation, Ralph was stationed someplace outside of Turkey, and to this day he can't tell me what he did. I said, "Ralph, what were you actually doing." He said, "Dad, if you don't ask me I won't have to lie to you."
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you see Jack Ruby at any time on Sunday, November 24?
Mr. MEYERS. No.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Have you seen Jack Ruby at any time since November 24?
Mr. MEYERS. I have been tempted, but I decided the thing to do is to stay away from him. I have been to Dallas any number of times since, but I don't see where I could do him any good by seeing him. and I certainly can't do myself any good by seeing him. He doesn't need me.
I will tell you this. Had I been called--for any reason had I been called to testify at his trial, I would have testified.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Have you ever seen a gun in Jack Ruby's possession?
Mr. MEYERS. You mean in his pocket.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Either in his pocket or----
Mr. MEYERS. I have seen a gun in his hands.
Mr. GRIFFIN. On how many different occasions?
Mr. MEYERS. One occasion I remember distinctly. I saw on one of my trips to Dallas--I don't remember which one it was---I stayed with Jack until he closed the club and then we went from there and got his car and went to have some coffee or something, and then we said goodby. He went home and I went home. When he left the club he had a money pouch, I suppose you would call it, and he always kept his car in the garage adjacent to his club. He opened the trunk

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of his car and opened a little bag that looked to me like a little airplane bag, and he put the pouch in this bag, and a gun.
Now, I am actually trying to remember, although I am almost positive the gun was in the bag. In other words, I don't think he took the gun out of his pocket and put it in the bag. I think it was in the bag and then I said to him, "Jack, why do you carry that damn thing?" He said, "Well, you never know. You have got money around," and so forth and so on.
I said, "Well, it is yours. You do what you want to. Include me out." I have a very healthy respect and fear for those things.
Now, the gentlemen from the FBI asked me if I knew whether Jack Ruby carried a gun, and the answer I would have to give you is the same I gave them. I don't know. I don't know if they were carrying a gun. They had their coats on. Maybe he did have a gun, maybe he didn't. I would have no way of knowing.
Mr. GRIFFIN. In your conversation with Jack Ruby Thursday night, November 21, at the Dallas Cabana, do you recall an incident in which Jack Ruby was angry at the headwaiter?
Mr. MEYERS. No; I don't. I really don't.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I want to ask you--
Mr. MEYERS. That this happened while he was at the table with me?
Mr. GRIFFIN. I don't know. I am asking you if you recall it?
Mr. MEYERS. I don't recall it. I have no recollection of it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I am going to ask you if you can identify for us a couple of people--a person by the name of Elsa Hacker?
Mr. MEYERS. Yes; how in the hell would she get into this?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Is this a business associate?
Mr. MEYERS. No; this is a friend.
Mr. GRIFFIN. A person by the name of William Heiman?
Mr. MEYERS. William Heiman?
Mr. GRIFFIN. H-e-i-m-a-n.
Mr. MEYERS. He was my former employer.
Mr. GRIFFIN. A person by the name of Chris Diaz Carlos or Carlios.
Mr. MEYERS. Who?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Chris Diaz Carlios, Puerto Rico. Do you know any people in Puerto Rico?
Mr. MEYERS. No; nobody. That is, I don't know--offhand I couldn't tell you of anybody I know in Puerto Rico.
I have got to ask you this question. How did Elsa Hacker get into this thing?
Mr. GRIFFIN. I can't answer the question for you.
Mr. MEYERS. If there was anything more farfetched, this would be it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I say I can't answer that.
Mr. MEYERS. Oh, my goodness.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Is there anything else that you can think of that we haven't discussed here which you think might be relevant?
Mr. MEYERS. Really not--I mean--we have talked about it. The only thing that I discussed with the FBI other than what you and I have talked about is, of course, my personal feelings about Jack, and I have given you indications of these as I have gone along.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I don't believe I have any more questions. I want to thank you very much for coming here. You have been very helpful to us.
Mr. MEYERS. Fine, I hope so.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I hope we haven't interrupted your schedule too much.
Mr. MEYERS. Just took a day out of my life, that is all.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Okay, fine.
Mr. MEYERS. I don't think I have left anything out of any consequence, actually. There is really nothing. I tried to think if there is anything that I could add to this and I can't, other than, as I say, my own personal opinion of what the beck went on, this is beside the point, because it is all over and done with, more or less. That is right.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Thank you very much.


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