Death of Robert Perrin and harassment of Nancy Perrin Rich
Background
Nancy Perrin Rich was a former bartender of Jack Ruby and husband of Robert Perrin. She explained how police officers would get free drinks at Ruby's and how she had been unable to press charges against him after he physically abused her. After she left Ruby's club, she ran into him at a discussion for an operation to smuggle Cuban refugees to Miami and arms to Cuba. Her husband died that same year, in 1962, according to the New Orleans Coroner's Office due to the voluntary ingestion of arsenic. Just before her Warren Commission testimony she was threatened by phone and followed around by different people, 24 hours a day.
Considering Ruby was the point man in Dallas and the Cuban operations for Chicago mafia boss Sam Giancana, and cooperated with the CIA and Florida mafia boss Santos Trafficante in an early and failed pro-Castro CIA operation, it makes sense what happened to Nancy Perrin.
Warren Commission excerpts
The testimony of Nancy Perrin Rich was taken at 11 a.m., on June 2, 1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C., by Messrs. Burt W. Griffin and Leon D. Hubert, Jr., assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. HUBERT. This is the deposition of Nancy Perrin Rich. Mrs. Rich, my name is Leon D. Hubert. I am a member of the advisory staff of the general counsel of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. ... In particular as to you, Mrs. Rich, the nature of the inquiry today is to determine what facts you know about the death of Oswald, any participation in that death, or the death of President Kennedy by Jack Ruby, certain particular activities of Jack Ruby which you have heretofore told the FBI, and other pertinent facts you may know about the general inquiry.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, Mrs. Rich, I think you appear today here by virtue of a letter written to you by Mr. J. Lee Rankin, general counsel of the staff of the President's Commission, is that right?
Mrs. RICH. Yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. And that--when did you receive that letter?
Mrs. RICH. I actually received in my hands the letter yesterday, Monday, the 1st. I received notification of it via a telephone call from Mr. Fahety of the FBI Bureau, Boston, notifying me of it. It was sent--and at this time I would like to state and opened by Mr. Rod Kennett, of Executive Limited, 100 Boylston Street, Boston, and there was no possible way that letter could have been opened erroneously. It could not have even by any stretch of the imagination been misconstrued as being office literature. It was personally addressed to me, with the President's Commission on it.
I want that in the record.
Mr. HUBERT. It is.
Mrs. RICH. I also want it in the record I came here of my own free will.
...
Mr. HUBERT. Will you please state your full name?
Mrs. RICH. Nancy Elaine Perrin Rich.
Mr. HUBERT. I understand that you recently married.
Mrs. RICH. That is correct.
Mr. HUBERT. What is your husband's name?
Mrs. RICH. Francis L. Rich.
Mr. HUBERT. Where do you reside?
Mrs. RICH. No. 16 River Road, Hanover, Mass.
Mr. HUBERT. When were you married?
Mrs. RICH. April 11, 1964.
Mr. HUBERT. Prior to that time, I think you had been married to a man by the name of Perrin.
Mrs. RICH. Robert L. Perrin.
Mr. HUBERT. And he died?
Mrs. RICH. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. When?
Mrs. RICH. August 29, 1962.
Mr. HUBERT. Where?
Mrs. RICH. New Orleans.
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Mr. HUBERT. What was the occupation of Robert Perrin?
Mrs. RICH. Many things, from a master mechanic, on heavy equipment, cats, et cetera, to a master foundry worker, patternmaker, moulder, to running a foundry.
Mr. HUBERT. And other things?
Mrs. RICH. A writer, contracted by the old Street and Smith Co.
Mr. HUBERT. A writer?
Mrs. RICH. He is an author, short stories. Anything beyond that, I couldn't tell you, because I don't know how much is true of what he told me of his past.
...
Mr. HUBERT. Well, now, what was your occupation with Ruby, and where was it?
Mrs. RICH. I was bartender at [his] Carousel Lounge, on Commercial--well, the main street in Dallas.
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Mr. HUBERT. How long before leaving Dallas did you quit the job at Ruby's?
Mrs. RICH. Possibly a couple of months, 3 months. I wasn't in Dallas more than maybe 5 months, 4 months at the most, 4 or 5 months at the most.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, when you say bartender, what do you mean? What were your actual duties?
Mrs. RICH. I was actually a bartender. I worked behind the bar mixing and serving drinks.
Mr. HUBERT. What sort of drinks?
Mrs. RICH. Whatever was allowed. Actually, you are not allowed to serve mixed drinks there. We do to special customers. You are not allowed to serve hard liquor. But I served beer, and wine, of course, and your setups.
Mr. HUBERT. What customers did you serve hard liquor to?
Mrs. RICH. Whomever I was told to.
Mr. HUBERT. You don't know their names?
Mrs. RICH. I couldn't quote you names, perhaps.
Mr. HUBERT. Who told you to serve them?
Mrs. RICH. Mr. Ruby. It was a standing order. For a particular group of people. Then whenever he would come in and say, "This is private stock stuff," that would mean for me to go where I knew the hard liquor was and get it out, and get it ready for the people in his private office.
Mr. HUBERT. What was the particular group--who did it consist of?
Mrs. RICH. The police department.
Mr. HUBERT. Are you saying that Jack Ruby told you that when any member of the police department came in, that there was a standing order that you could serve them hard liquor?
Mrs. RICH. That is correct.
Mr. HUBERT. And are you also saying that you did so?
Mrs. RICH. I am saying that I needed a job and did so.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you remember the names of any particular officers to whom you served hard liquor?
Mrs. RICH. House, Rayburn----
Mr. HUBERT. Let's see if we can get some first names.
Mrs. RICH. I don't remember what House's first name was, but it was Paul Rayburn, and Detective something House they were partners. They worked as a team, juvenile. And the rest were just faces and uniforms.
Mr. HUBERT. How would you know them?
Mrs. RICH. At that time, I knew them.
Mr. HUBERT. You knew them to be police?
Mrs. RICH. Oh, yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Did they pay?
Mrs. RICH. Oh, no; of course not.
Mr. HUBERT. Was that an order, too, from Mr. Ruby?
Mrs. RICH. That was. Unless they came in in the evening with their wives. Then, of course, they paid. But then again, they didn't have hard liquor, either, at that time. This is when they came in, by themselves, I was to go get the private stock, as he called it, special stock. They were served whatever they wanted on the house.
Mr. HUBERT. Was that widespread?
Mrs. RICH. I am not sure I understand what you mean by widespread.
Mr. HUBERT. Well, you have mentioned two names, and then said there were others whose names you don't remember.
Mrs. RICH. Well, the only reason I remember House and Rayburn is because they were personal friends of mine.
...
Mr. HUBERT. Did you have any difficulty with Ruby?
Mrs. RICH. Except the fact I was about ready to throw a cash register on his head, no.
Mr. HUBERT. What was that?
Mrs. RICH. I shouldn't have said that. I said except for the fact that I was ready one night to throw a cash register on his head, no. I don't like to be pushed around.
Mr. HUBERT. Are you suggesting that he did push you around?
Mrs. RICH. I am suggesting he threw me up against the bar and put a bruise on my arm, and only because Bud King and one of the dancers there pulled me off, I was going to kill him.
Mr. HUBERT. What was the argument about?
Mrs. RICH. The bar glasses were not clean enough to suit him. And I wasn't pushing drinks to the customers fast enough.
Mr. HUBERT. And so he remonstrated with you?
Mrs. RICH. He did.
Mr. HUBERT. And that included pushing you around?
Mrs. RICH. That is correct. And I was refused the privilege of bringing an assault and battery suit against him.
Mr. HUBERT. Who refused you that?
Mrs. RICH. The police department. I went down for information and was going to Mr. Douglas--I believe he was--he is some attorney--I think he was--he is with the DA's office. I don't remember his position. I can't remember his last name. I wanted to file suit against Ruby. And I was refused. I was told if I did that I would never win it, and get myself in more trouble than I bargained for.
Mr. HUBERT. That was told to you by whom?
Mrs. RICH. By the Dallas Police Department.
Mr. HUBERT. But what individual of the Dallas Police Department?
Mrs. RICH. Again--and I wish to God I could--I can't remember his name. There was a detective, plainclothesman.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you say that you had spoken to someone in the district attorney's office?
Mrs. RICH. No; I said that is who I was going to go to. I wasn't advised. I was flatly told not to.
Mr. HUBERT. And you did not go to anyone in the district attorney's office?
Mrs. RICH. No; I did not.
Mr. HUBERT. Did that put an end to your employment with Ruby?
Mrs. RICH. No; I had already ceased with Ruby the night that that happened. I walked out, and left him cold.
Mr. HUBERT. That is what I mean.
Mrs. RICH. That is correct.
Mr. HUBERT. After this altercation, you no longer worked for him?
Mrs. RICH. I did not. I was just biding my time until I found another job, which I did find. This was on a Wednesday. I was going to give him notice and leave him--I wasn't going to leave him over the weekend, but I was going to start the other place the following Monday anyway. And this just hastened it.
....
Mr. HUBERT. All right. Now, as soon as we have a xerox copy made of the card, we will identify it and sign the copies as we have done the other.
Meanwhile, let us pass on to another point. I think you have mentioned that you saw Ruby at a certain meeting at which your husband was present and there was a general discussion of guns or Cuban. refugees.
Mrs. RICH. Your statement is partially correct.
Mr. HUBERT. Will you tell us what is actually correct?
Mrs. RICH. At the first meeting there were four people present. There was a colonel, or a light colonel, I forgot which. I also forget whether he was Air Force or Army. It seems to me he was Army. And it seems to me he was regular Army. There was my husband, Mr. Perrin, myself, and a fellow named Dave, and I don't remember his last name. Dave C.--I think it was Cole, but I wouldn't be sure.
Dave came to my husband with a proposition.
Mr. HUBERT. There were only four people present?
Mrs. RICH. Let me clarify the statement about Dave. He was a bartender for the University Club on Commerce Street in Dallas. I became associated with him and subsequently so did my husband. Well, at first it looked all right to me. They wanted someone to pilot a boat---someone that knew Cuba, and my husband claimed he did. Whether he did, I don't know. I know he did know boats. So they were going to bring Cuban refugees out into Miami. All this was fine, because by that time everyone knew Castro for what he appears to be, shall we say. So I said sure, why not--$10,000. I said that is fine.
....
Mr. HUBERT. So at that meeting it came out that the project had two purposes. One was to bring arms in, and the other was to take refuges out.
Mrs. RICH. Yes; to make money both ways. Then it became crystal clear why so much money was to be paid for the pilot of the boat.
Mr. HUBERT. And how was that meeting left?
Mrs. RICH. Well, at that time when he said that, my first thought was "Nancy, get out of here, this is no good, this stinks." I have no qualms about making money, but not when it is against the Federal Government but let's play along and see what happens. I said, "All right, we will go. But you can take the $10,000 and keep it. I want $25,000 or we don't move." It was left that the bigwigs would decide among themselves. During this meeting I had the shock of my life. Apparently they were having some hitch in money arriving. No one actually said that that was what it was. But this is what I presumed it to be. I am sitting there. A knock comes on the door and who walks in but my little friend Jack Ruby. And you could have knocked me over with a feather.
Mr. HUBERT. That was at the second meeting?
Mrs. RICH. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, what facts occurred to give you the impression that there was a hitch with respect to money?
Mrs. RICH. Oh, just that they were talking about, well, first of all when I say we a group of people were supposed to go to Mexico to make the arrangement for rifles but "Well, no, you can't leave tomorrow"--they dropped it. And just evasive statements that led me to believe that perhaps they were lacking in funds.
And then Ruby comes in, and everybody looks like this, you know, a big smile like here comes the Saviour, or something. And he took one look at me, I took one look at him, and we glared, we never spoke a word. I don't know if you have ever met the man. But he has this nervous air about him. And he seemed overly nervous that night. He bustled on in. The colonel rushed out into the kitchen or bedroom, I am not sure which. Ruby had--and he always did carry a gun--and I noticed a rather extensive bulge in his--about where his breast pocket would be. But at that time I thought it was a shoulder holster, which he was in the habit of carrying.
Mr. HUBERT. He was in the habit of carrying?
Mrs. RICH. Yes. Either a shoulder holster or a gun stuck in his pocket. I always had a gun behind the bar. That is normal.
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Mr. GRIFFIN. When did you marry Mr. Perrin?
Mrs. RICH. July of--August of 1960, I believe 1961. I have forgotten.
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Mr. HUBERT. What was the significance of your remark that when you worked he worked, and when you did not work----
Mrs. RICH. As long as I was hustling he would work, and as long as I wasn't hustling he would not work.
Mr. HUBERT. Does that mean he was----
Mrs. RICH. My husband turned me out. That is what it means.
Mr. HUBERT. Turned you out of the house?
Mrs. RICH. This is an expression used in that particular trade.
Mr. HUBERT. What you mean is----
Mrs. RICH. He taught me how to be a prostitute, obtained dates for me, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I married into a very respectable family. I come from a respectable family.
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Mr. HUBERT. I think we do have the date of your husband's death.
Mrs. RICH. August 29, 1962, city of New Orleans.
Mr. HUBERT. And you say there was an autopsy made?
Mrs. RICH. Yes; there was. He had been dead 2 days before I knew it. I wasn't there. I think all I felt was a great sense of relief.
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Mr. HUBERT. Did he die a natural death?
Mrs. RICH. Suicide. The coroner's report was arsenic. I also would like to state for the record at this time after my husband's death the Veterans' Administration Hospital, I believe it is the one in Denver, that finally came up with the report, came up with the report that my husband was discharged from the service for hysteria, and had a history of mental disturbance.
Mr. HUBERT. Were you living with him at the time he died?
Mrs. RICH. I was.
Mr. HUBERT. You state to us now that the coroner's report in New Orleans, I suppose----
Mrs. RICH. That is correct.
Mr. HUBERT. Showed that his death was caused by arsenic voluntarily consumed, right?
Mrs. RICH. That is correct.
...
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Mr. HUBERT. How long were you employed by Ruby altogether?
Mrs. RICH. Probably a couple of months.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you work with Ruby after your husband joined you?
Mrs. RICH. Yes; I did.
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Mrs. RICH. They advised me to tell you what I am about to tell you. A week ago last Saturday night I got home about 10:30, my brother-in-law had a stroke----
Mr. HUBERT. Let's get the date of that.
Mrs. RICH. That would be a week ago last Saturday.
Mr. HUBERT. Last Saturday was the 30th--the 23d of May.
Mrs. RICH. I believe so.
Mr. HUBERT. All right.
Mrs. RICH. About 10:30 at night I got home. And some phone calls started.
...
Mrs. RICH. They advised me to tell you what I am about to tell you. A week ago last Saturday night I got home about 10:30, my brother-in-law had a stroke----
Mr. HUBERT. Let's get the date of that.
Mrs. RICH. That would be a week ago last Saturday.
Mr. HUBERT. Last Saturday was the 30th--the 23d of May.
Mrs. RICH. I believe so.
Mr. HUBERT. All right.
Mrs. RICH. About 10:30 at night I got home. And some phone calls started.
Again, let me say this may not or it may have a bearing on this. My life was directly threatened. I called the Hanover police--something I very seldom will do. But I panicked. They also phoned my husband's office [the one after Perrin]. He was working that night on dispatch at the cab company. They threatened my life with him. Sometimes they would call and say something, sometimes just hang up, sometimes just giggle. But they directly threatened my life. I thought perhaps it was something to do with various police organization work I had done, somebody had a grudge or something, or a crank, or anything. The phone calls stopped and they started again. I called the police department again. But then I was in hysterics.
Last Thursday I was on my way from my home up to North Attleboro, Mass. For approximately 30 miles I was followed, and subsequently, up until last Sunday I have had a tail on me. I notified the Mansfield police. They got the registration number and the name of the fellow following me. And he could give no reason why he was almost 60 or 70 miles from where he lived.
Mr. HUBERT. And the Mansfield police have a record of that?
Mrs. RICH. That is correct. Mansfield, Mass.
Mr. HUBERT. And you also reported it to the police of----
Mrs. RICH. Hanover--the phone calls; yes. May I also add at this time that due to a personal contact of mine, I will be doing, not for pay but as a favor, a little bit of looking into a few matters for the Mansfield Police Department for Chief D'Alefie, I believe.
Mr. HUBERT. He recently contacted you?
Mrs. RICH. Well, the day I was up there we got talking and come to find out I could probably help him--in fact, me being here today stopped me from actually doing it.
Mr. HUBERT. And the day you saw him was last Thursday?
Mrs. RICH. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. And it was at that time he said he might be able to use your services?
Mrs. RICH. Yes; most definitely. And then again, come Friday, and I get notification of this, I was just wondering whether or not it added in. It may and it may not. But I was told to tell you. And I have done so.
Mr. HUBERT. Well, what happened on Friday?
Mrs. RICH. No. I received notification, your letter.
Mr. HUBERT. I see what you mean.
Mrs. RICH. And I wondered if it did not somehow have a bearing on this.
Mr. HUBERT. But this tailing was after you got the letter, and after you had spoken to----
Mrs. RICH. No; it started the day before. It was the same week. Thursday I started to be tailed. Rod got the letter Thursday, called the FBI, and God knows how many people he told. Thursday afternoon I picked up a tail.
Mr. HUBERT. And you reported that to the Mansfield police.
Mrs. RICH That was the first time I saw a policeman that I could pull over and say, "Get the guy, he is tailing me." And he most definitely was.
Mr. HUBERT. But there were two occasions when you observed that you were being tailed.
Mrs. RICH. No; from last Thursday up until Sunday night I had a tail on me.
Mr. HUBERT. But you reported to the chief of police in Mansfield on Thursday that you had a tail on you.
Mrs. RICH. The Mansfield police is the one that caught the guy that was tailing me Thursday. I have not had a chance to report----
Mr. HUBERT. It was a different person, then, you think.
Mrs. RICH. The person that has been tailing me Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is not the same person that has been tailing me Thursday. They caught the guy Thursday.
Mr. HUBERT. What sort of an automobile was it that was tailing you?
Mrs. RICH. Thursday?
Mr. HUBERT. No. Well, Thursday first.
Mrs. RICH. Thursday was a black Pontiac, Massachusetts registration, a Mr. Alberto, from Hyde Park. They got him.
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Mr. HUBERT. That is his name, Alberto?
Mrs. RICH. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. What is his first name?
Mrs. RICH. I have forgotten.
Mr. HUBERT. And the other car that has been tailing you?
Mrs. RICH. Plural.
Mr. HUBERT. What?
Mrs. RICH. More than one.
Mr. HUBERT. More than one individual, or more than one car, or both?
Mrs. RICH. Both. Friday and Saturday it was a green, I would say, probably 1961, 1962 Chevrolet.
Mr. HUBERT. Green?
Mrs. RICH. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Was it the same man?
Mrs. RICH. No; it was not. It was an older man. The fellow following me was probably maybe 21, 23 years old.
Mr. HUBERT. That is the first fellow.
Mrs. RICH. Yes.
Mr. HUBERT. Friday and Saturday it was the same man?
Mrs. RICH. Middle aged; I didn't get a real good look at him--I would say probably in his forties. He rather looked to be a husky-looking fellow. And Sunday I picked up a tail, and it was a man and a woman. And I thought I recognized the girl, and I cannot be sure.
Mr. HUBERT. Same automobile?
Mrs. RICH. No; it was not the same vehicle.
Mr. HUBERT. Tell us about that automobile.
Mrs. RICH. The vehicle that was on me Sunday was a blue two-door hardtop. And I do not know the make of the car.
Mr. HUBERT. And you have not reported those last incidents?
Mrs. RICH. No.
Mr. HUBERT. Well, they tailed you from where to where?
Mrs. RICH. Wherever I went. I would leave the house, and believe me I think I know when I am being tailed. When I pull over to the side of the road, and a car pulls up and doesn't pass me I will do this two or three times. And when I take a turnoff where nobody else will take, and the car is still there, I think they are tailing me.
Mr. HUBERT. You tried to shake them?
Mrs. RICH. Precisely.
Mr. HUBERT. And you were not able to do so.
Mrs. RICH. That's correct.
Mr. HUBERT. When you get to your house, did they park around it?
Mrs. RICH. The one time the man did, down on the bridge--the boundary line to our property is a river. And he sat down there and pretended to be looking in the water. And then I would see him down by Jordan's, which is an eating house. Then he would be cruising around. And finally he would give up and go away. And in a couple of hours he would be back. Every time I took the car out, they were there.
Mr. HUBERT. What about at night? Did you observe anything?
Mrs. RICH. I didn't go out at night.
Mr. HUBERT. Therefore you did not observe anything.
Mrs. RICH. No; I didn't bother. Saturday I went to Maine--took my daughter down to my mother's. I had the green car on my tail all the way to Maine and back.
Mr. HUBERT. How did you get to Washington to come to this deposition?
Mrs. RICH. By plane; American Airlines.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you notice anything about being tailed in that regard?
Mrs. RICH. I didn't notice. I don't think I was. I left my house in my own car and drove to North Quincy, where I was subsequently picked up by Mr. Milton of the Secret Service and taken directly to the airport, and he stayed with me until I left. I was subsequently met here by Bill something-or-other of the Secret Service.