JFK film story angers ex-Henry Wade secretary
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/030208dnmetmcnabb.30a7bcb.html
12:37 AM CST on Sunday, March 2, 2008
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News
ehousewright@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- June McNabb had a front-row seat during the most notorious
period in Dallas history. She was secretary to Dallas County District
Attorney Henry Wade at the time of the Kennedy assassination.
JUAN GARCIA/DMN
June McNabb, with a photo of her and fellow secretaries attending a
luncheon with Henry Wade in the 1950s, remembers her former boss as a
good-hearted person and someone to admire. 'His employees, the girls
especially, just loved him to death,' she said. "He was a wonderful
man," she said of Mr. Wade. "His employees, the girls especially, just
loved him to death."
Mr. Wade served as district attorney from 1950 to 1986 and developed a
reputation for winning convictions and securing long prison
sentences.
Ms. McNabb is perturbed at questions raised about Mr. Wade after the
release of JFK memorabilia by current District Attorney Craig Watkins
this month. Do***ents show that Mr. Wade, a straight-arrow lawman,
considered accepting money for giving a filmmaker exclusive rights to
assassination records that wouldn't be made public for 40 years. The
movie deal never materialized.
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Examine recently released JFK case files
Ms. McNabb, who is 75 and lives in Celina, said a story in last
Sunday's Dallas Morning News about the film talks angered her. Mr.
Wade died in 2001 at age 86.
"The man is deceased," she said. "He can't defend himself. I think
nearly everybody who could defend him is dead. If he was here, he
would take care of it."
In the mid-1950s, Ms. McNabb went to work for Mr. Wade when she was
22, and she remained for a decade. She worked as receptionist and a
secretary, watching people stream and out of Mr. Wade's office.
One frequent visitor: Jack Ruby, who fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald as
he was being trans****ted to jail after the assassination. Mr. Ruby
owned the Carousel, a downtown strip club.
"Ruby was one of the guys who just hung out," Ms. McNabb said. "Nobody
paid any attention to him. He came into our office because of hot
checks. He tried to give p***** to everybody in the office. Nobody
went, or at least I didn't."
Mr. Wade personally tried the 1964 murder case against Mr. Ruby. The
jury took less than two hours to find Mr. Ruby guilty and sentence him
to death.
Profiles on Mr. Wade always mention that he never lost a case he
personally prosecuted. His office won convictions in more than 90
percent of the cases it tried.
Since he retired, though, the convictions of more than a dozen men
have been overturned because of DNA testing. Many of the faulty
convictions occurred during Mr. Wade's tenure.
Ms. McNabb doesn't think the exonerations taint his legacy.
When Mr. Wade retired in 1986, tributes flowed in from around the
country. President Reagan sent a congratulatory letter. U.S. Attorney
General Ed Meese spoke to 1,300 people at a tribute dinner, calling
Mr. Wade "the dean of American prosecutors."
Ms. McNabb echoes the sentiments about Mr. Wade.
"He was someone I very much admired," she said. "He was a genteel,
bright man and a good-hearted person."
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