Dan Abrams’ New Book Kennedy’s Avenger Looks Back On Shocking Trial of Man Who Killed a Presidential Assassin

It has been about 57 years since the United States of America was shocked to the core by the news that the 35th President, John F. Kennedy, had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The event marred November 22, 1963 as a day of infamy for the nation. It was only two days later that Americans were shocked again when the president’s killer was killed himself — and it was all caught on live TV.

Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner with ties to the criminal underworld, was among the crowd that gathered at Dallas Police Headquarters when Lee Harvey Oswald was set to be transported to a more secure facility. As Oswald was being escorted through the corridor where the crowd was assembled, Ruby stepped out in front with a concealed weapon and fatally shot the accused presidential assassin.

Mediaite founder and ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams has partnered-up with David Fisher to write Kennedy’s Avenger: Assassination, Conspiracy, and the Forgotten Trial of Jack Ruby. This is the fourth collaboration between Abrams and Fisher, which comes after their New York Times best-sellers John Adams Under Fire, Lincoln’s Last Trial, and Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense.

For decades, the Kennedy assassination and the events surrounding it have been a magnet of political intrigue and the source of countless conspiracy theories. Kennedy’s Avenger aims to look back on Ruby’s trial for Oswald’s murder and the impact it had as it became a major public spectacle.

From the book’s description:

Under the long shadow cast by the assassination of America’s beloved president, few would remember the bizarre trial that followed three months later in Dallas, Texas. How exactly does one defend a man who was seen pulling the trigger in front of millions? And, more important, how did Jack Ruby, who fired point-blank into Oswald live on television, die an innocent man?

Featuring a colorful cast of characters, including the nation’s most flamboyant lawyer pitted against a tough-as-Texas prosecutor, award-winning authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher unveil the astonishing details behind the first major trial of the television century. While it was Jack Ruby who appeared before the jury, it was also the city of Dallas and the American legal system being judged by the world.

Kennedy’s Avenger is available now.

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