Cllatell Press InteressiSonal Assoelstect Press Sheriff Bill Decker, left, leads Jack Ruby to his sanity trial in 1966, and sits at his desk, right, in November, 1963. Texas Lawman I. E. (Bill) Decker Dies

By Martin Well the Dallas city jail on he knew the whereabouts of Ruby died in January, 1967, WiallInstoo Post Stoat Writer November 24, 1983. the notorious pair. of a blood clot in the lung, J. E. (Bill) Decker, an Oswald was not in Mr. "Somebody told me," was apparently a result of can- oldtirne Texas lawman and Decker's custody at the time of the slaying. all he would ever say. cer. former Dallas County sher- Although Mr. Decker In the Texas of the 1920s Ruby's family claimed iff, whose career encom- that he had. been neglected, may have been most wide- and 1930s, with many of the passed the days of Bonnie ly known for his role in but Mr. Decker denied it. characteristics of the fron- Calling Ruby a "fair- and Clyde and the aftermath events surrounding the as- tier still remaining, a law- haired prisoner," Mr. Decker sassination, his career in man's reputation counted for of the assassination of John law enforcement went back said he got preferential med- F, Kennedy, died Saturday in a lot and spread widely. Mr. many years before he ever ical treatment. Dallas. Decker inspired trust, even became Dallas' sheriff. among criminals. Richard Speck, convicted Mr. Decker, had custody Law officers throughout In the slaying of eight stu- of both Jack Ruby, who A feared gunman named the Southwest had long rec- Raymond Hamilton once dent nurses in Chicago in killed President Kennedy's ognized his ability to estab- 1966 had also been held in alleged assassin, Lee Harvey walked out of a boxcar in lish rapport with criminals the Dallas County jail at Oswald, and Richard Speck, Fort Worth to surrender to when necessary and for his Mr. Decker, while lawmen one time. convicted of mass murder Speck was sentenced in part in the celebrated am- massed for a grim shootout in Chicago, during his 21- bush of bandits Clyde Bar- Texas to 490 days in jail for year tenure as sheriff. 'Although Hamilton carried a knife attack on a woman, row and Bonnie Parker. two weapons, Mr. Decker The lawman who resigned Mr. Decker is credited and served part of his term a few days ago after taking walked in front of the siege in Dallas, before being with making possible the party and called: "This is office in 1949, rode in the May 23, 1934, ambush near transferred to a state prison. left rear seat of the lead car Bill Decker, Raymond. Come Mr. Decker's death Sat- Sailes in Bienville Parish, on out." of President Kennedy's ill- La., by telling officers when urday came two days short fated Dallas motorcade on Mr. Decker once ex- of his 72d birthday, which and where the two bank rob- plained: "It just takes a lot November 22, 1963. bers were due. would have been today. of different kind of people A chronic sufferer from It was to the Dallas Coun- Zealous in protecting his to make a world and the ty jail that Mr. Decker su- emphysema, Mr. Decker had sources as he could be criminals are human too." pervised that Oswald was skillful In cultivating them, been incapacitated for sev- to have been transferred After being held in the eral weeks before his death Mr. Decker was always Da 11 as County jail on when Ruby killed him in tight-lipped when asked how in Baylor Memorial Hos- charges of killing Oswald, pital.