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JFK and the Confessed Assassin
by Bill Hudson
Please excuse the subject of this newsletter. Normally I discuss some aspect of art – particularly painting with watercolor. But for the past three months, I’ve been in a cast after surgery and have not been able to walk or paint much.
We’ve all been recently flooded with news articles and TV documentaries reminding us of a dark day in the history of the United States…one that continues to have Americans discussing, researching, theorizing, and possibly still covering up the complete truth.
Sixty years ago, on November 22, 1963, our 35th president, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated while riding in the presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald, a Marine veteran, was apprehended 70 minutes later after also allegedly shooting and killing Dallas policeman J. D. Tippit. Two days later as TV cameras covered Oswald being led through the Dallas Police Headquarters, he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub operator. Unbelievable! The one man who could reveal motives, players, plans, etc. was killed by another of questionable reputation who would give up the remainder of his life behind bars. Why?
As strange as that series of events seemed, there was immediate controversy on the number of shots taken, by whom, and from where. Evidence tied Oswald to the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository where he was an employee. But witnesses also testified to hearing shots and smelling burnt gunpowder from both the grassy knoll and the Dal-Tex Building. Was there more than one shooter?
To clear all our suspicions, 10-months later the Warren Commission (established by President Lyndon B. Johnson) concluded that Oswald alone assassinated Kennedy, and there was no evidence that either Oswald or Ruby was part of a conspiracy. The B.S. flag was waving high.
Like most people near my age (79), I remember the exact moment someone yelled, “Kennedy’s been shot!” Many thoughts went through my head. Young Kennedy had been calm, cool, and intelligent debating a nervous, sweating, insecure Nixon on TV. But within his first year in office, he authorized the overthrow of Fidel Castro and the communist government of Cuba. The covert Bay of Pigs Invasion was a complete failure and worldwide embarrassment. Yet, thanks to his self-confidence and humanity, Kennedy was able to listen to the aggressive advice of his military leaders and overrule them in successfully de-escalating the Cuban Missile Crisis. The world still owes JFK.
Because I admired JFK, I’ve always sought the complete truth regarding his assassination which I believed was a conspiracy supported with cover stories furnished by our own government.
Then, one 1997 afternoon in Blockbuster Video, I spotted the VHS tape shown above and purchased it. That night watching a compelling 76-minute interview with James E. Files, I felt far closer to knowing the truth. And it seems the FBI knew of Files’ involvement in the assassination since 1964.
This is a quick summary of the video. Beginning in 1989, Joe West, a private investigator in Houston, devoted all of his resources to revealing the real killers and their motives. On an anonymous tip from an FBI agent (later identified as Zach Shelton), Joe West met with James Files who was serving a 50-year sentence in Stateville Prison in Illinois for the 1991 attempted murder of two policemen. Files and West became friends. But before Files offered a complete confession, West became sick needing medical care. He died after taking a fatally tainted mix of medicines. Files was convinced it was intentional.
Files continued his complete confession with West’s family friend, Bob Vernon, a Houston TV producer.
In his recorded confession, James E. Files claims:
· Files’ family lived in an Italian neighborhood in Chicago. He served in the U.S. Army from 1959-60. Afterwards, he was involved in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. He disliked President Kennedy.
· In 1963 Files was recruited by Charlie Nicoletti (Chicago Mafia hitman) to participate in the assassination. Nicolletti said it was being organized by Sam Giancana (Chicago crime boss who became a target of the Kennedy brothers), Johnny Roselli (Mafia leader who teamed with CIA operatives in the Bay of Pigs) and David Atlee Phillips (CIA agent from 1950-88; helped organize Bay of Pigs; worked with both Files and Lee Harvey Oswald).
· The assassination was originally planned to be in Chicago, but “certain people didn't like that idea, so it was moved to another location.”
· A week in advance, Files drove to Dallas and met with Oswald. Together for five days, they test-fired weapons, calibrated scopes, and studied escape routes on Dallas streets.
· Early November 22, 1963, Files met with Johnny Roselli, Jack Ruby and Jim Brading in Fort Worth, where Ruby handed over an envelope that contained a recently updated Dallas motorcade route map, and Secret Service identifications. Roselli said he had flown into town on a CIA airplane.
Note: Immediately after the assassination, Brading was arrested and interrogated for "acting suspiciously" in the Dal-Tex Building, overlooking Dealey Plaza. He was released without charge.
· Files and Nicoletti agreed that the goal was a fatal headshot to the President. Files would only shoot as a backup to meeting that goal. Nicoletti would be in the Dal-Tex building. Files would be on the grassy knoll with a single- shot, bolt action, Remington XP-100 Fireball pistol and scope that both fit easily into a waterproof, black briefcase. The Fireball, chambered for .222 rounds, was introduced in 1963, but prototypes were first available in 1961. It is a high-velocity, cut-down rifle with low recoil.
· Files states the Fireball was given to him by David Atlee Phillips, (the CIA Controller for both Files and Oswald). Files also claims to have used a mercury loaded bullet. And because mercury has permanent presence, a test of Kennedy’s skull and/or brain would prove his story.
Note: Kennedy’s brain was autopsied and stored on November 2, 1963. But his brain mysteriously “disappeared” within 3 years.
· With the initial shots, Nicoletti hit both Kennedy and John Connally, but had missed the headshot. Therefore, Files fired the final fatal shot from behind the wooden stockade fence separating the grassy knoll from the railroad. An “easy shot” from only 100 feet, he hit Kennedy in the right temple and witnessed the resultant destruction.
· Files ejected the casing, bit into it creating his “signature dent,” and left it sitting on the fence.
Note: In the 1977-78 a man and his son with a metal detector near the fence uncovered a casing that could only be from a Fireball. (ref YouTube)
· When asked about Oswald, Files said, Oswald never fired a shot. But Oswald had voiced concern about being blamed should the President be shot. Files told Nicoletti about Oswald’s worry. Nicoletti told Sam Giancana and Jack Ruby ended up silencing the patsy on Sunday November 24, 1963. And the person who actually killed police officer J. D. Tippit was there to kill Oswald. Files knew that hitman was still alive in 1991 but will not name him.
· Files is convinced he was not tried for the assassination because it would expose the government’s involvement.
Today, there are researchers who discredit some or even all of Files’ story claiming he fabricated it for the money. Yet, there are many others like myself who think James Files is a credible witness with a persuasive story far more believable than the Warren Commission report or any subsequent official report from the Rockefeller Commission, Church Committee, or House Select Committee on Assassinations.
On May 8, 2016, James E. Files was released from prison. He is 81 years old.
The video confession of James E. Files (both excerpts and the complete confession) are available on YouTube. It is worth watching for its many spontaneous details on people and events. Many reference articles on Files and his conspirators are available on the internet.
Also, director Rob Reiner recently announced his new 10-part podcast series titled “Who Killed JFK?” He claims the involvement of 4 men, and he will identify the shooters and their locations. I’ll be interested if James E. Files is one of his references.
Books available:
Interview with History: The JFK Assassination
Pamela J. Ray with James E. Files "The Grassy Knoll Shooter"
Files on JFK: Interviews with Confessed Assassin James E. Files (2008)
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Sorry for going so far off the topic of art. I’ll be back on target next month.
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