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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. XIV - Page 571« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Dr. William Robert Beavers)

Mr. Specter.
Dr. BEAVERS. Yes; I'm a member of the Dallas neuropsychiatric group, the Texas Neuropsychiatric Society and the American Psychiatric Association.
Mr. Specter.
Have you now set forth the major items of your background with respect to qualifications in the field of psychiatry?
Dr. BEAVERS. Perhaps it should be mentioned that I am on the attending staff at Parkland as a psychiatrist and that I consult at the Terrell State Hospital as a psychiatrist.
Mr. Specter.
Have you had occasion to examine Mr. Jack Ruby prior to today?
Dr. BEAVER. Yes; on numerous occasions prior to about 4 weeks ago, did I see him.
Mr. Specter.
On approximately how many occasions have you examined Mr. Ruby?
Dr. BEAVERS. Without my records here, it would not completely accurate, but it would be in the area of about 9 or 10 times, I believe.
Mr. Specter.
And what did you observe with respect to Mr. Ruby's mental condition during the course of those examinations?
Dr. BEAVERS. I saw him first-can I get somebody to help me with a date?
Mr. Tonahill.
April the 27th, the 28th, or 29th of this year.
Dr. BEAVERS. The day that Dr. West first came down was on a Sunday.
Mr. Tonahill.
Yes, that was the 26th of April.
Dr. BEAVERS. He testified Monday morning and then I saw Mr. Ruby first on that Tuesday.
Mr. Tonahill.
The 28th.
Dr. BEAVERS. Right, and at that time he had briefly what I call a psychotic depression, that is, he had evidences of auditory hallucinations and a poorly defined but definite delusional system which waxed and waned during the time of the interview, and he had evidence of a severe degree of depression.
Because of the combined symptoms of the hallucinatory activity, the delusions in which, and I should spell them out, that he felt that both members of his family, his close family, were being harmed, mutilated and/or destroyed because of his crime, and further, that there was a pogrom concerning Jews generally because of his crime.
These symptoms plus the depression which was evident, caused me to diagnose a psychotic depressive reaction.
Mr. Specter.
Have you now stated your conclusion regarding his mental state?
Dr. BEAVERS. At that time.
Mr. Specter.
And have you set forth the essence of the underlying factors relating to that conclusion?
Dr. BEAVERS. In very brief nature yes.
Mr. Specter.
Do you have any different conclusion as to his mental state today?
Dr. BEAVERS. Yes, I do. I think that as I have seen him, the depressive element has diminished, and that the delusional system has become much less open and obvious, and that it has become more fixed and it seems to--and this I'm not sure of---whether it waxes and wanes depending on the time in the weeks or whether it waxes and wanes depending on the closeness of the people that he sees.
Mr. Specter.
Doctor, when you say that the state is much less open, do you mean by that, that it is now more obvious?
Dr. BEAVERS. Less obvious.
Mr. Specter.
Less obvious?
Dr. BEAVERS. Less obvious.
Mr. Specter.
But is it present, notwithstanding the degree of how much it is apparent?
Dr. BEAVERS. In my opinion it is. Yes. The thing that I'm trying to make clear here is that. you take a person that has a mental illness which shows itself in delusions, that is, ideas that things that we say aren't real--they can be very uncertain and changing and very obvious, and which the person will share them with just about anybody, or they can be much more covert--hidden- -and shared only seldom, and much more fixed, not shifting around, but fixed.
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