Miles Scull Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Has anyone checked the 1963 assassination pictures to see if the two poles in the photo and the drawing were present???Bill Post #96 Duncan Duncan, If you are old enough, you will be among the millions who were shocked & stunned & who will remember what they were doing & where they were when the news of the assassination became known. If anyone should remember it would the assassin. Or would it?. Was the assassin shocked or stunned? Maybe not. His mind works differently. There is no surprise for him. Only the blinkered trance of concentration. Now, in the case of Files, he never said that his drawing was drawn from memory. But, Files new his field of fire well enough to identify the sign which he was concerned might interfere with his shot. QUOTEFiles also said that he needed to shoot before a sign interfered with his sight of the limo. Miller said: But the first shot came around 193 - 195 and the road sign is between JFK and the Files location from what I understand. Miller, no surprise, has got the wrong sign. Files did not shoot the first shot. Miller seems to think he did. Why? This doesn't make sense. QUOTE The mystery deepens? What if Files misremembered & was more like 33 feet from the corner of the fence? Miller said: Yeah ... Something is getting deeper and its smell is no mystery IMO. Remember, if you smell something it is in the room you are in. Miller said: Thats like asking 'What if Ray Charles wasn't blind.' Or what if Files wasn't even in Dealey Plaza ... What if Shorty was not! Miller said: now things are starting to make sense. You mean like saying Files took the first shot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernice Moore Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Hi Duncan: It is not only that the parking pole is there, in his drawing ,that was not on Nov.22/63, but that the Pole Light is not on the grass, they were all on the sidewalk, next to the road.. Bill: I checked the Bonds and others and there are no Parking signs on any separate poles , they were all attached to the Pole lights, which were located on the street in the cement sidewalk, next to the roadway.. within that strech that I have seen within the photos..... Miles : Quote "...If you are old enough, you will be among the millions who were shocked & stunned & who will remember what they were doing & where they were when the news of the assassination became known. If anyone should remember it would the assassin. Or would it? Was the assassin shocked or stunned? Maybe not. His mind works differently. There is no surprise for him. Only the blinkered trance of concentration. Now, in the case of Files, he never said that his drawing was drawn from memory. But, Files knew his field of fire well enough to identify the sign which he was concerned might interfere with his shot."" ********************* I do not agree Miles, as Files has stated he was behind the fence for some time before the Motorcade arrived, that I think would have given him more than sufficient time, to have studied and known his surroundings, where the light pole was, not on the grass, and that the parking pole did not exist.......This drawing must have come from a photo shown to him or seen within a book. article, program, whatever....See below..... ....... I also disagree with you, as you are now showing the sign in front of him, the sign has always been to his right, as he has shown in his drawing...and I thought you also agreed in the past, re the Holland photos etc...though I could be mistaken, I do think that is where you have situated him for some time now...??..before the sign......within many of the photos that you have posted...... but then again, what sign ?? which was he meaning....obvious from his drawing, he meant the Freeway Sign right ??..But Not... apparently.........See below.. It is curious somewhat to me that you have now moved his line of sight , to below the sign....therefore it appears to be in his way.....? ........so please read below....and check your photo that you posted above .. Miles Quote "Now, in the case of Files, he never said that his drawing was drawn from memory."" But he has said and those that have supported him, have stated that he had never seen nor watched nor read anything pertaining to the assn. in the past......but.......See below..... Miles Quote "Was the assassin shocked or stunned?"" No to the contrare so he was not nervous, therefore quite capable to pay his centred attention on his surroundings. I would think.....See also below.... Bill : Quote ""Yeah ... Something is getting deeper and its smell is no mystery IMO. Thats like asking 'What if Ray Charles wasn't blind.' Or what if Files wasn't even in Dealey Plaza ... now things are starting to make sense. "" Could very well be.... Below is a page from Files book, you will notice what he has stated about the "Sign" ??? I know, it will in all likelehood, be put down to an editing error, that is the usual that is given, by some..... but what with all the changing of his postions down through time, and the reasons for such that we have read, that never quite seem to satisfy........ there has been something wrong within.....and .......Bill..Quote ""now things are starting to make sense. ""....a very good possibility imo.. B..... ********************************************* James Files - The Early Days? Below, on the left side of the page, is a scan of a letter sent by James Files to Joe West on July 30, 1992. In light of the claims and counterclaims concerning Files' involvement in the assassination, this letter is rather curious. Assertions were made throughout the mid 1990s that Files was not well read on the facts of the Kennedy assassination and most of what he said came from his own personal experiences. However, this letter seems to contradict those claims. Here is what a review of the text shows: In the first paragraph Files says he can not "be of some help to you [West]." In the second paragraph Files affirms what he said in paragraph # 1 and maintains he knows so little about West's inquiry into the Kennedy assassination that his "knowledge of [West's] investigation is not worth the cost of your coming to see me." Although Files' supporters said he was not well read on the Kennedy assassination, in the third paragraph he admits to seeing movies and reading books about the event. He claims, incorrectly, that Phillips committed perjury. Phillips did what many government officials do to this day - they develop hazy recollections of events, parse their words, or place themselves in a position of plausible denial. This was and is done intentionally to AVOID the charge of perjury. Files then uses the Fallacy of Appeal to Popularity by claiming that West is probably already aware that Phillips is guilty of perjury. In the fourth paragraph Files suggests "the man in the beat up fedora type hat wearing the old brown leather bomber jacket" looks like Frank [Fiorini] Sturgis. Files spells Sturgis' name incorrectly and never reveals, to West, what personal information led him to his conclusion. Files records "The last I heard, he's [sturgis] alive and doing well." The fact that Sturgis was "alive and doing well" at the time of Files' letter to West was information available to anyone with an interest in the case. However, sixteen months later Sturgis would be dead of lung cancer. He died on December 4, 1993, just 5 days short of his 69th birthday. In the last paragraph he wonders "how my name surfaced for your investigation." From an article that appeared in the April 11, 1994 Beaumont [Texas] Enterprise it seems that in April of 1992, a Beaumont FBI agent Zack Shelton, most likely in deference to FBI policy, gave Files' name to Joe West, a private citizen. One can only wonder how Files went from an unknowing convict who doesn't know how to spell Grassy Knoll, into the "Grass Knoll" [sic] assassin and from obscurity to the subject of a 70 minute "documentary." See Confession of an Assassin. Chicago: MPI Home Video,1996 [iSBN# 1-56278-898-1] Dave Perry Joe West 23 Campbell Houston, TX 77055 Thursday 30 July 1992 Dear Mr. West: In regards to your letter of 24 July, I sincerely wish that I could be of some help to you. But that is not possible. Please forgive me for not calling, but at the present time we are in total lock-down status. One shower, one phone call per week. I use that call, to call home, sorry. I realize investigations cost money, and my knowledge of your investigation is not worth the cost of your coming to see me. The two items that I know, outside of the movies and the books are, #1. David Phillips perjured himself while giving his testimony during the, "House of Assassinations Committee." And I'm sure that you already know that. Item #2, The Grass knoll, the man in the beat up fedora type hat wearing the old brown leather bomber jacket. I AM NOT saying it was Frank Sturgiss, but it sure looked a lot like him. The last I heard, he's alive and doing well. That's all I know. But I am rather curious as how my name surfaced for your investigation. At that time, I was under a different name, that [man deceased?] in 1964. Sorry that I cannot be of more help. Sincerely http://davesjfk.com/files.html ***************** .......from 1996.. Reprinted courtesy of JFK/Deep Politics Quarterly. All Rights reserved. Used by permission THE MURDER OF JFK-- Confession of an Assassin by Edward Bell (This article originally appeared in JFK/Deep Politics Quarterly. July 1996) In the video--The Murder of JFK-Confession of An Assassin (MPI, #MP 7148), James E. Files, an inmate of Joliet State Penitentiary, confesses to being one of two assassins firing at JFK in Dallas on November 22, 1963. According to Walt Brown's Treachery in Dallas, this makes him one of 28 "suspected shooters in the Kennedy assassination."1 This confession is the result of an investigation launched by the late private investigator Joe West in 1989.2 In a press release of May 11, 1990, West claimed he had new information from an unidentified source directly implicating John Roselli and Charles Nicoletti in the murder.3 This was followed by a November 1990 appearance on CNBC cable's Morton Downey Jr. show. On that program, West made the following revelations: "There was a firing squad in Dealey Plaza. That firing squad was made up of a coalition of the CIA and the Giancana crime family out of Chicago. The firing squad was sent well-trained to Dealey Plaza for one purpose. That was the assassination of the 35th President of the US--John Kennedy...The top hit man for the mafia in the Western Hemisphere--a part of the hit team that executed upon the Mafia Commission's orders. First of all Sam Giancana, secondly John Roselli, thirdly Charles Nicoletti. These men were interrogated before their deaths and each of of them confessed to this Mafia hit man. I have a video recording of him. I have a sworn affidavit from him in which he says each of them confessed that the Giancana crime family was working with Jack Ruby in Dallas for this assassination. It was all preplanned." In the 1996 MPI video, producer and interviewer Bob Vernon states: "In 1989 Houston private investigator Joe West launched an independent investigation to find the true killer of president John F. Kennedy. After three years of disappoint-ments and dead ends...West suddenly received a tip from an FBI agent who asked to remain unnamed. The tip led West to Joliet and a prisoner named James E. Files...Through months of personal visits and detailed correspondence, Files began to reveal his participation in the JFK killing. Files was nearing a full confession when West took sick and passed away in 1993. It took 13 months after Joe West's death, but on March 22, 1994, associates of West videotaped an interview with Files, in which he admitted to being one of the shooters on November 22. He also implicated organized crime members--Charles Nicoletti, Johnny Roselli, and Sam Giancana." If Vernon is correct, West and Files did not meet until 1992. If this is true, it would be interesting to know whom West was alluding to in 1990 in his press release and on the Downey show. James E. Files (Sutton) was born in 1942. He grew up in Chicago, gaining Mafia ties by being a driver for Giancana "hit man" Nicoletti. According to Files, he trained Cubans at No Name Key for the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. This is where he met his CIA controller--David Atlee Phillips. It was through Phillips that he also met Lee Oswald in early 1963 while running guns to Clinton, La. As a results of the efforts of Jim Garrison, we learned that it was in Clinton that numerous witnesses placed Oswald together with Clay Shaw.4 " "Lee Harvey Oswald had the same controller as I did--David Atlee Phillips." This statement may have validity if one believes Phillips and Maurice Bishop are the same person and that Antonio Veciana was accurate in his sighting of Oswald and Bishop when he spoke to Anthony Summers in 1978.5 It was also Phillips who allegedly gave Files the Remington Fireball pistol that he used to shoot JFK with in Dallas. Whether Phillips would have used his real name, not an alias, is a question to consider. In June 1963, Files was told by Nicoletti: "We are going to do Kennedy." According to Files-- "First we originally planned to do the assassination in Chicago, but a lot of people didn't like that idea so it was moved to a different location." It should be noted that neither Thomas Vallee nor Joseph Milteer are mentioned by Files. One week prior to the assassination, Files says he drove a 1963 Chevrolet loaded with weapons to a motel in Mesquite, Texas. The day after he arrived, Oswald allegedly showed up and took him to a place south-east of Mesquite. There, Files "test fired the weapons and calibrated the scopes." Oswald was with him "for a few days" where they drove through Dallas, "so I would know all the streets." Files also claims: "Lee Harvey Oswald could drive; he didn't have a driver's license, maybe, but the man could drive! Hell, he drove military trucks even." (q.v. Benson, Who's Who in the JFK Assassination, pp. 44-45; re: A.G. Bogard) On Nov. 22, Files claims he went to the Dallas Cabana Motel where he picked up Las Vegas Mafioso John Roselli. They then drove to a Ft. Worth pancake house where Roselli met Jack Ruby. Here, "Sparky" allegedly gave Roselli an envelope containing Secret Service ID and a map of the motorcade route. When asked if the CIA had anything to do with the killing, Files said, "Someone in government organizations had a heavy hand in it because they supplied Secret Service ID for different people. I don't know who used it but I saw the ID that morning of the assassination." In this assertion, Files is either putting Ruby close to the CIA or contradicting his story. Files and Roselli drove back to the Cabana Motel in Dallas to pick up Nico-letti, who was conversing with Eugene Hale Brading when they arrived. Brading did stay at the Cabana the night of the 21st, and was photographed and arrested in Dealey Plaza on November 22.6 It should also be noted that Roselli and Nicoletti figure into the "Gemstone File" and Chuck Giancana versions of these events, respectively. Files says he then drove Roselli and Nicoletti to Dealey Plaza, where they parked next to the Dal-Tex Building. Files and Nicoletti walked the plaza. At 10:30 am, Nicoletti asked Files how he would feel about "backing him up on this." Files, who was "honored," was then asked where he would like to position himself, and where he thought the best place for Nicoletti would be. It's hard to believe two men involved in a conspiracy to kill the president would have waited until two hours before the assassination to decide where to locate themselves! It is also hard to believe that Nicoletti would casually ask Files to "back him up," only two hours before the hit on JFK. This is also in direct conflict with Joe West's statement in 1990 that "the firing squad was sent well trained..."7 According to Files, the two men returned to the car where they picked up their weapons. Files got a briefcase containing the Remington Fireball pistol and Nicoletti took a rifle of unspecified make. Files claimed he turned his jacket "inside out--plaid side showing" and went to his firing position "Behind the tree, behind the fence" on the knoll. On the video, producer Bob Vernon tells Files "there was a picture made of you behind the fence. It was taken by Mary Moorman." Thanks to the efforts of Jack White and Gary Mack, the blowup of the Moorman photo apparently shows three people. One is most likely eyewitness Gordon Arnold, one appears to be a man in a t-shirt, and the other is the "badgeman" figure with a muzzle flash in front of him. The "badgeman" figure is wearing a police uniform and therefore cannot be Files, since he was wearing a jacket, plaid side showing. (See "The Men Who Killed Kennedy, pt. 2, The Forces of Darkness" for an in-depth look at the Moorman photo). Files is vague as to the exact number of shots and also does not specify what floor of the Dal-Tex Building Nicoletti was allegedly firing from. He also is not sure if anyone was firing from the Depository. He claims Oswald "never fired a shot...his plot [sic] was to plant evidence to mislead everybody." Files, along with Canfield and Weberman's book Coup d' Etat, claims Frank Sturgis was in Dealey Plaza on that fateful day. This was investigated and discounted by the HSCA (6 HSCA 260-261). According to Files, Ruby was also in the plaza that day. This has also come up in the recently unearthed Cooper footage and is well examined by Richard Trask in Pictures of the Pain, pp. 177-178. There is an interesting exchange be-tween Vernon and Files: V: "How much were you paid" for the assassination? F: "I had received $30,000." V: "Before you told me you received $15,000--you just said 30?" F: "In the beginning I said 15 because I didn't think it mattered much what the amount was...I never took checks, he gave me cash." Files was later asked if he knew who killed David Ferrie: "Yes I do know who killed ...Ferrie. He died of a ceverial [sic] brain hemorrhage,...brought on in a pacific [sic] way. (For a complete account of Ferrie's death, see DiEugenio, Destiny Betrayed, pp. 151-153). In this last exchange between Files and Vernon, Files leaves us with what is probably his only cohesive thought: V: "When people see this interview on TV, what do you think people with think?" F: "Most of them, I don't think they will believe me." I certainly don't.... [ed. note: Our readers are asked to give their thoughts on this and the other (Morrow, Chauncy Holt) "confessions."] This article cannot be reproduced in any print or electronic medium without written permission from the editors of JFK/Deep Politics Quarterly PO BOX 174 HILLSDALE NJ 07642 USA. All rights reserved 1996. NOTES 1. Brown, Walt. Treachery in Dallas (New York: Carrol & Graf, 1995) pp.343-344 . 2. The Murder of JFK: Confession of an Assassin (MPI Home Video #MP7148.1996) 3. Livingstone, Harrison Edward. Killing the Truth (New York:Carrol & Graf, 1993) pp.259-260 4. Garrison, Jim. On the Trail of the Assassins. (New York: Sheridan Square Press,1988) pp.105-108 5. Summers, Anthony. Conspiracy. (New York: Paragon House, 1991) pp.328-329 6. Benson, Michael. Who's Who in the JFK Assassination. (New York: Citadel Press, 1993) pp.51-52 (heading under "Eugene Hale Brading") 7. The Morton Downey Show (cableCNBC-TV, Fort Lee, NJ. November 1990) ----------------------------------------------------------------- JFK/DEEP POLITICS QUARTERLY. PO Box 174. Hillsdale NJ 07642 USA Editors: Jan Stevens, Walt Brown. "Let the word go forth..." ****************** And for now from 1994......... [[ Review and comments by Martin Shackelford ]] "Confession of an Assassin" James E. Files, Joliet State Penitentiary March 22, 1994: Notes on the Videotape (1996, Bob Vernon, UTL Productions/MPI Video) Introduction: James Files was interviewed by Joe West, who had been tipped off by an FBI agent. West tracked Files to Joliet State Penitentiary in Illinois, where he was serving a sentence for shooting a policeman. West died, and the investigation was delayed, but finally an interview with Files was arranged on March 22, 1994. After further delays, the interview was offered to MPI Video. James Files worked for Chicago organized crime figure Charles Nicoletti. The Interview: Files states that his name was James Sutton until late 1963, when it was changed to James E. Files with the aid of the government, so that he could marry and live a normal life free of harassment and other risks which might have arisen from his activities with a radical Cuban group. Files served in the 82nd Airborne in Laos from 1959 for about 14 months. He was involved in training people to do ambushes. After that, he did some race driving, and his abilities attracted the attention of Charles Nicoletti, who recruited him as his personal driver. At that time, Tony Accardo ran the Chicago Mob. On November 22, 1963, Files went to Dealey Plaza in Dallas about 10 a.m. He checked the area, discussed the assassination plan with Nicoletti. It began with Nicoletti around five months earlier. Files had a connection with the Bay of Pigs operation. He was at No Name Key (gives two other names for it also). His CIA controller was David Atlee Phillips. Nicoletti asked Files if he wanted to help him kill "a friend of yours," knowing that Files hated Kennedy. At first, files thought it was a local hit, but Nicoletti told him the target was JFK. John Rosselli, out of Miami, was involved. Files met Rosselli through Phillips. The original plan was to hit JFK in Chicago, but no one was comfortable with doing it there, so the idea was dropped. About a week before the assassination, Files drove to Mesquite, Texas, with the weapons for the operation, A day or so after he arrived, Lee Harvey Oswald came to him to show him around the area. Oswald also took him to locations where he could test and calibrate the weapons. As far as he knows, Oswald didn't know what the plan was. Files explored Dallas routes, with the idea of getaway options. On November 22, Files drove to the Cabana Motel, where he met Rosselli around 7 a.m.. They went to a pancake house in Fort Worth, where Rosselli met with Jack Ruby, while Files served as lookout. Ruby handed Rosselli an envelope, and left. They opened the envelope in the car: it contained Secret Service identifications and an updated motorcade route map; Rosselli commented that he saw only one change, the double turn in Dealey Plaza. They returned to the Cabana. With Nicoletti, Files went to Dealey Plaza around 10 a.m. They looked over the area further. Nicoletti asked if Files would back him up as an extra shooter, if needed, and Files agreed. As his location, he chose the area behind the fence on the grassy knoll. He suggested Nicoletti fire from the Dal-Tex Building (Nicoletti had a rifle). They separated, Files going to the railroad yard area and making preparations. He had a briefcase with a Remington Fireball inside. As the limousine began coming down Elm Street, Files heard shots from behind it, and assumed that was Nicoletti. He noticed JFK was hit, but only in the body; and that Connally seemed to be hit. If he was going to fire, he had to do it before he risked hitting Jackie, as they had been told not to hit anyone but JFK, and especially not to shoot Jackie. He fired-just after Nicoletti, it turned out, both hitting JFK in the head. Files' bullet hit JFK in the left (actually, right, as he later explained) temple. He put the gun into the briefcase, turned his coat from plaid to gray business suit (reversible), and walked away via the Elm Street extension to Houston Street. He had bit the shell casing, and left it sitting on the fence, as a calling card, but no one realized it had been bitten until 1994, he said. At Houston, he got into a 1963 Burgundy Chevrolet; Rosselli was in the back seat, and Nicoletti in the front passenger seat. They were in a parking lot, and exited turning right onto Houston, went 5 or 6 blocks, then turned left, and near the freeway dropped the two off at another car. Files returned to his room in Mesquite, cleansed himself with hot was to remove any traces of powder, showered, changed, then took care of the guns. Nicoletti's rifle was in the trunk, the briefcase was under the steering wheel; both were taken care of, then placed in a special gun compartment inside the car. The next day, he drove to Southern Illinois, and on Sunday, he drove on into Chicago. He had been instructed to drive only during the day and not to attract any attention. Sometime later, Nicoletti gave him $30,000 for the job, although they hadn't ever discussed money. Files said he first met Lee Harvey Oswald in early 1963, in connection with gun-running, in C.linton, Louisiana, via David Atlee Phillips. Both were doing CIA work at the time. There was obviously some government involvement in the assassination, as otherwise they wouldn't have gotten the Secret Service identifications Ruby gave them. Phillips had given him the Remington Fireball for an earlier job. Files said he saw Frank Sturgis among the crowd of people on Elm Street. He also saw Eugene Brading, whom he had seen at the Cabana with Nicoletti and Rosselli. Files knew Sturgis from anti-Castro activities, as did Rosselli. Files didn't see Oswald at all that day. He and Oswald never discussed the assassination plan. He would not comment on the murder of J.D. Tippit, except to say that Oswald didn't kill Tippit, and the man who did was still alive at the time of the interview (a later reference possibly referring to the same man indicated he is now in his '80s), and had originally been assigned to kill Oswald. The man came to see Files in Mesquite after the assassination, saying there was a screwup and he had killed a cop. Files said he saw Ruby in the Plaza, below the knoll near the sidewalk. He said everyone reacted slowly to the shots. As he walked away from the knoll, he noticed two men in suits behind him, turning people back. He said he didn't see Zapruder, and wasn't sure what he would have done if he thought he had been filmed, but he carried a Colt pistol, and might have shot him. He also didn't realize Mary Moorman's camera had photographed him, and declined the interviewer's request that he autograph a copy of the photo. The Remington Fireball was designed in 1961, but had a tendency to blow up, so was re-designed. It fired a .221 cal. long round. It was a bolt-action pistol with a telescopic sight, effective at 100 yards; not unlike a cut-down rifle. The shells were custom-made, with a mercury load, and fragmented on impact. They were fired at 3100 feet per second. Files believed Giancana gave Nicoletti his orders, and that Accardo had to know about it. In response to a question, Files said he was receiving no money for this interview. He talked about West's first contact, telling West he must have him confused with someone else. Then West calling, and getting into some things Files didn't want discussed in a prison-recorded phone call, so he told West to come and see him if he wanted to talk with him. First they talked only about sports and so on. The second time, Files felt more comfortable with West. As time went on, he began to open up to him more. West had a plan to reopen the case by getting Files to testify in court, first seeking immunity for Files. Files said he had been threatened by both government and organized crime people for discussing the case, but wouldn't specify individuals, as he refuses to give up the name of a living person for any offense. He said the FBI visited him. He had knowledge of the death of David Ferrie, but wasn't willing to discuss it, except to say the brain hemmorhage was caused intentionally, and he had identified the area in Ferrie's brain to look at . He had talked to Joe West because he came to like and respect West. He felt no remorse for his actions in Dallas. He was bitter about the Bay of Pigs. He knew Richard Helms. Antonio Veciana was a good friend, and not involved in the assassination. Nicoletti flew to Dallas via commercial airline. Rosselli said he had been in D.C. and caught a MATS (Military Air Transport Service) flight to Dallas, thanks to the CIA. Files didn't know any details because he doesn't ask questions; he only knows what he was told. In the 1970s, with Senate investigations, things began to get uncomfortable. Giancana didn't know Files had fired a shot, only that Nicoletti had. Files thinks Rosselli, who was in Chicago at the time, may have killed Giancana, as he was one of the few who would have had the access, and he left town right afterward. Rosselli was later killed. Files was involved in guarding Nicoletti, as there had been indications he was a target. In mid-March 1977, Nicoletti gave Files a package, which Files buried. Nicoletti was killed March 29. In April, Files was snatched and brutally interrogated, but didn't give up the package's location. After he was dumped, severely injured, and recovered, he carefully returned to the location where he had buried the package, dug it up, and found inside the Secret Service identifications, the motorcade route map, and Nicoletti's diary. He destroyed all but the diary, which he still has somewhere. He freely admits having worked for organized crime, though he says he was never a member of the Mob. He felt he had lived a good life, doing as much as "a hundred other guys." He was born January 1942 in Alabama, but his family soon moved to Chicago, where he grew up the only English-speaking kid in an Italian neighborhood, and soon became accepted by the community. He did little jobs for mobsters from the age of 11, as they tipped well. He became known as a kid who wouldn't give up anybody, who could be relied upon.. He had his first car at age 14. After his service in Laos, the CIA recruited him to train Cubans. He also raced stock cars. He loved Nicoletti, who was quiet and deadly. Rosselli was flashy, talked too much, loud, boisterous. Giancana was a lovable old man, but like a bulldog if you crossed him. Aside from Nicoletti, the other person he has been closest to is still alive, in his 80s. David Atlee Phillips was cool, good-natured, and once told him he could "kill more people with a typewriter than you can" with a machine gun. Lee Oswald was very intelligent, very quiet, and led a secluded life. Files believes Oswald planted evidence on November 22, but fired no shots. From what he knew of Oswald, he didn't believe Oswald would be a shooter. He never saw Oswald fire a weapon. Although Oswald didn't have a driver's license, he knew how to drive. Files didn't know why he went to Russia, but assumed the government was involved. Files stated that he didn't want to be a part of history. He hadn't picked the target. He just followed orders. He would rather no one had ever found him, and hoped they would forget about him. He didn't think people watching this interview on TV would believe him. Nicoletti hit JFK in the back of the head, Files hit JFK in the right temple. Files was "known for head shots." He declined to say how many people he had killed. He said the two great lies were religion and history. He said history was a self-serving account by a country to conceal its selfish motives. Religion killed more people than wars. "I never disobeyed an order." Besides, he said, nobody he knew really liked Kennedy, including military, Secret Service and FBI people; history later called him great because that's what they say about Presidents. Files worshipped Nicoletti. Nicoletti was strictly Mob. Rosselli worked with both CIA and Mob. Files was told that Nicoletti was dirty, that he had talked, but he never believed it, especially as Nicoletti had given him his diary to hide. He said the government kills people, without question. He doesn't know who killed Nicoletti: if he had, he would have gone after them. He wasn't afraid of death, only of failure to complete whatever he set out to do. Epilogue: Deaths of Giancana, Rosselli, Nicoletti. The FBI dismisses the credibility of Files' confession.. PROBLEMS with the James Files "Confession": 1) David Atlee Phillips, CIA propaganda expert, would seem an unlikely case officer for a Mob driver and hit man on No Name Key. This seems to be an attempt to tie Files credibly in with Oswald (the Veciana sighting in Dallas of Oswald and Phillips, as Bishop, together), but is doubtful. Also, although John Rosselli was active in Florida preparations for the Bay of Pigs, it is likely that someone other than Phillips introduced him to Files, if Files was at No Name Key. The only thing that sounds much like the real Phillips is the quote near the end about the power of the typewriter. 2) Lee Harvey Oswald as tour guide. 3) The plaid reversible coat and the bitten shell casing seem, on the surface, to provide confirmation, but both were details known prior to Files telling his story to anyone. I had heard about the shell well before Files says the fact that it was bitten was discovered (he says 1994). Some people seem to have confused the bitten casing found in the Plaza with the dented casing found in the Depository-these are two separate shell casings. 4) In connection with Oswald, Clinton and gun-running, David Atlee Phillips again seems inserted artificially into the story here. Oswald and Ruby were both connected to New Orleans people involved in gun-running, but inserting Phillips into the Clinton story is, again, highly doubtful. This is not to say Phillips' role was an innocent one, just that Files seems to be inventing things, or perhaps he was fed inventions. 5) Files overlooks the fact that the Elm Street crowd was well-photographed. Frank Sturgis was not among the crowd; nor at that point was Eugene Brading in that area; nor was Jack Ruby on the sidewalk below the knoll. None of this is difficult to check. All the relevant photos are in Groden and Trask. 6) The Secret Service man on the knoll now becomes two men in suits turning people away. There were men turning people away in the area BEFORE the assassination, but not after. It sounds as though Files flubbed some of his borrowed details. 7) He HAD documentary evidence, but he destroyed most of it. How convenient. My guess is that Files was, indeed, Charles Nicoletti's driver, and was involved in the preparations for the Bay of Pigs, but that he is also a good con artist, skillled at blending fact and fiction, which I what I believe he has done here. http://spot.acorn.net/jfkplace/03/MS/1-vr.html B......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles Scull Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Hi Duncan: B......... OOOOOOpppppsssss! If you carefully examine the video taped recording of Files 2003 confession you will see & hear Files say that the sign in question is to the LEFT of a Moorman 5 photo which Files is scrutinising. Now, this means that Files is not confused in his recollection, but tentative & cautious, yet definite. That adds strong & telling evidence of basic verisimilitude. The criticism cited by Bernie above is just as questionable as Files' account. Those dogs don't hunt, EITHER! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles Scull Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Miles,With all due respect.: Files said he shot JFK on the left side of the head, when he should have said right. Draws a picture showing him on the right side of the tree, when he should've been left. Now he says that the sign is left of the Moorman 5 photo that he scrutinizes. In Filesspeak, that must, by past association, mean it's the sign on the right. I do not understand how his credibility could not be in question to you. You have proclaimed all along that Hat Man was not real, and yet the foremost authority, I believe, on Files, Dankbaar, says Files is in the very spot Hat Man was. Do you see a problem??? Kathy Hi Kathy, Oh yes, there are some issues with Files' account. But, those issues do not prove that Files account is false. For example, the right side of JFK's head would have been, TO FILES VIEW, the left side. What I am saying to Duncan is only that Files may have been mistaken because Files comments about a sign which would place his field of fire as that of DuncMan's field. That's all. As to Files' accuracy in details such as, for example, placing Ruby in DP at a certain moment when Rudy is not seen in the photos, or, for example, calling the sign the Stemmons sign when that is a misnomer for the sign Files means, it is possible to consider memory lapse over a 40 year period. In other words it, is possible to argue from Files' account that Files' may actually have been at DuncMan's locus, if one believes that Files was a shooter. Files' does not cancel DuncMan, at all. If anyone is interested in Files, see: http://jfkmurdersolved.com/index1.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Miller Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Was the assassin shocked or stunned?Maybe not. His mind works differently. There is no surprise for him. Only the blinkered trance of concentration. That's odd ... You were critical as to how an assassin would not be so stupid as to use a rifle that would put off a plume of smoke so to give his location away, which seems to have been what happened. Maybe one should consider what else may have been a surprise for him. Now, in the case of Files, he never said that his drawing was drawn from memory.But, Files knew his field of fire well enough to identify the sign which he was concerned might interfere with his shot. Files seems to have done nothing that any beginner would not have figured out on his initial visit to the plaza. Now we are supposed to take that general infromation and use it to give credence to File's story ... someone must be joking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Miller Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 You mean like saying Files took the first shot? Miles, I am not the one who has said that Files took the first shot ... it is just one of the many ever changing stories I have heard that has been attributed to Files. My opinion is that Files never fired any shots, nor was he even in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination. Bill Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Miller Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Miles,With all due respect.: Files said he shot JFK on the left side of the head, when he should have said right. Draws a picture showing him on the right side of the tree, when he should've been left. Now he says that the sign is left of the Moorman 5 photo that he scrutinizes. In Filesspeak, that must, by past association, mean it's the sign on the right. I do not understand how his credibility could not be in question to you. You have proclaimed all along that Hat Man was not real, and yet the foremost authority, I believe, on Files, Dankbaar, says Files is in the very spot Hat Man was. Do you see a problem??? Kathy Files said several things that the evidence does not support. Miles can justify Files mistakes by merely claiming that Files was using that same code-language that he tried attributing to Bowers. South means north - plaid means red-plaid - Files says right side - he must have meant left side. See how measy it is, Kathy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Miller Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 ll be happy to do just that. However I'll offer you the chance to correct this very silly statement of yours first. Don't wait on my account, Craig ... get to it. Yes and I've talked to Gary about this. No amount of data from a scientist can help. Gary still cannot say truthfully what caised the difference between the copy prints. Heck Bill...even the UPI prints were different. Was the loss of detrail between these examples due to fading? "Bill, Continuing with our earlier discussion. Moorman's film was Polaroid's Type 37 (not 57 as Craig Lamson suggests), one of the fastest films of any kind at that time. My understanding is that Type 37 was virtually grain-free, and that is what allows for extreme magnification while still maintaining clarity. While I, of course, did not see the original Moorman Polaroid #5 in 1963, I have examined the original Polaroid photos 7 and 8 from the previous role. The pictures were given to Jean Hill in 1963 and only "discovered" by her in the late 1980s. Unlike Mary's Elm Street pictures, the earlier two hadn't faded at all and were remarkably clear. Mary and Jean took pictures of each other in Dealey Plaza less than an hour before Kennedy's arrival, and the clarity of the images clearly revealed the muntins of the TSBD windows more than a block away in the background. Those pictures, which are now in private hands and not available to me, demonstrate the remarkable depth of field that camera produced. Gary Mack" The data you have concluded to be accurate is not accurate. Your position is no stronger than those who actually did the work and have had the hands on experience with these images. Bill Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Lamson Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 ll be happy to do just that. However I'll offer you the chance to correct this very silly statement of yours first. Don't wait on my account, Craig ... get to it. Yes and I've talked to Gary about this. No amount of data from a scientist can help. Gary still cannot say truthfully what caised the difference between the copy prints. Heck Bill...even the UPI prints were different. Was the loss of detrail between these examples due to fading? "Bill, Continuing with our earlier discussion. Moorman's film was Polaroid's Type 37 (not 57 as Craig Lamson suggests), one of the fastest films of any kind at that time. Yes, and I stated that the CURRENT Polaroid product in 4x5 size is type 57. My understanding is that Type 37 was virtually grain-free, and that is what allows for extreme magnification while still maintaining clarity. Wrong. Grain free does not mean high resolving power. IN fact the CURRENT emulsion has a VERY LOW resolving power in lp/mm. That is a FACT that Gary's "understanding" cannot change Now you and Gary might want to think the 1963 emulsion was better than a product produced in 2007 but I don't. While I, of course, did not see the original Moorman Polaroid #5 in 1963, I have examined the original Polaroid photos 7 and 8 from the previous role. The pictures were given to Jean Hill in 1963 and only "discovered" by her in the late 1980s. Unlike Mary's Elm Street pictures, the earlier two hadn't faded at all and were remarkably clear. Mary and Jean took pictures of each other in Dealey Plaza less than an hour before Kennedy's arrival, and the clarity of the images clearly revealed the muntins of the TSBD windows more than a block away in the background. Wow...Gary resorts to hearsay. Why am I suprised. Its amazing that Gary's recollection flys in the face of caommon and accepted knowlege among professional photographers. What was the film used Gary? 3000 asa or 100 asa...makes a big difference. I to have handled and examined cases and cases of the most up to date and current 4x5 films offered by Kodak, exposed through multi-thousand dollar lenses. What is CERTAIN is that polaroid prints are very low in resolving power.. Thats why professional photographers the WORLD OVER do not use Polaroid proofing films to check focus. Why? Because the stuff falls apart under magnification. But amazingly the hand held images taken by Mary Moorman, suffering from acute diffraction limiting can resolve more detail than a state of the art view camera on a 400lb camera stand! Those pictures, which are now in private hands and not available to me, demonstrate the remarkable depth of field that camera produced. Sadly, not amount of "depth of field" can overcome amazing low resolving power. Gary Mack" The data you have concluded to be accurate is not accurate. Your position is no stronger than those who actually did the work and have had the hands on experience with these images. My data IS perfectly accurate. You can check it if you like. My position SURPASES the smucks who made the bunny rabbits in the clouds. Bill Miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Lamson Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 ll be happy to do just that. However I'll offer you the chance to correct this very silly statement of yours first. Don't wait on my account, Craig ... get to it. Here you go Bill. This is the master image. I shot this a few years ago with the original 11mp Canon 1DsmkI. It is a 300dpi file, 12.493" x 8.39" This is a direct png save from my original tif file. The tif and the png match perfectly down to the rgb levels at a single pixel. http://www.pbase.com/infocusinc/image/90285105/original Next I created this comp by first opening the original tif file and making 3 duplicate copies. I save each copy directly. One was saved as a png. One was saved as a level 10 jpg. One was saved as a level 5 jpg. and finally the last was saved as a level 2 jpg. These were SINGLE jpg saves. Continued saving of a jpg file causes additional artifacts with each save. With all of the files saved I created a new document at 300 dpi. I then copied each of the above images and pasted them into this new document and cropped them. With the crops in place I flattened the image and added the type. The final images was then saved as a png file. There are no addtional artifacts created by saving in png format. This is the completed composite file. http://www.pbase.com/infocusinc/image/90285099 When you look at this image at 100%, all the different crops really look pretty close to the naked eye. But if you drill down into the image you can clearly see the destructive effects of jpg compression. The best place to look is the back corner of the mouth. Look at the teeth and then to the redish tones in the roof of the mouth. View the image at 300 to 500%. The easy way to do this is to simply do a right mouse click and then a "save picture as" Be sure to select png as the file format. You can then open this image in any image editting program. Please note this is a very high resolution example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles Scull Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 You mean like saying Files took the first shot? Miles, I am not the one who has said that Files took the first shot ... it is just one of the many ever changing stories I have heard that has been attributed to Files. My opinion is that Files never fired any shots, nor was he even in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination. Bill Miller I am not the one who has said that Files took the first shot ... No one ever said that Files took the first shot. No one ever said that Files ever said that he took the first shot. Files has always said that he did not take the first shot. Everyone has always said that Files did not take the first shot. it is just one of the many ever changing stories There has never been a story that Files took the first shot. I have heard that has been attributed to Files. Cite your source & do not make up an apocryphal, non-existent source, please. You do not have a source. My opinion is that Files never fired any shots, nor was he even in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination. But you have asserted that you have heard a story that no one ever told, a story that never existed, a story you have no source for. What is your opinion worth, that being the case? The very FIRST thing one learns from the earliest & most rudimentary acquaintance with Files' confession is that he claims to have fired the Z-313 shot & that shot alone, firing only once. Files says that he counted shots before firing his one shot. Are you making up this alleged story that you heard this alleged story of Files firing the first shot? Because you do not want it to be known that you have not studied the Files case, at all? No? Then, cite your source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wim Dankbaar Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Miles,With all due respect.: Files said he shot JFK on the left side of the head, when he should have said right. Draws a picture showing him on the right side of the tree, when he should've been left. Now he says that the sign is left of the Moorman 5 photo that he scrutinizes. In Filesspeak, that must, by past association, mean it's the sign on the right. I do not understand how his credibility could not be in question to you. You have proclaimed all along that Hat Man was not real, and yet the foremost authority, I believe, on Files, Dankbaar, says Files is in the very spot Hat Man was. Do you see a problem??? Kathy Dear Kathy, Did Files not say he was the grassy knoll shooter? Then you would expect him to know that he was shooting at JFK from the right side, right? Indeed he said in in 1994, he hit JFK in the left side of his head. A mistake of a conman, that has read into the JFK assassination? Or a mistake that only the real grassy knoll gunman could have made? From the interview with James Files 2003: J - where were you aiming? JF - Oh, I was aiming for his right eye, which to me is the left side of his head looking head on. But for him it would be his right eye, and when I pulled the trigger, and I'm right in on it, and it's almost like looking 6 feet away through the scope. As I squeezed, take off my round, his head moved forward, I missed and I come in right along the temple. Just right behind the eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wim Dankbaar Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 You mean like saying Files took the first shot? Miles, I am not the one who has said that Files took the first shot ... it is just one of the many ever changing stories I have heard that has been attributed to Files. My opinion is that Files never fired any shots, nor was he even in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination. Bill Miller I am not the one who has said that Files took the first shot ... No one ever said that Files took the first shot. No one ever said that Files ever said that he took the first shot. Files has always said that he did not take the first shot. Everyone has always said that Files did not take the first shot. it is just one of the many ever changing stories There has never been a story that Files took the first shot. I have heard that has been attributed to Files. Cite your source & do not make up an apocryphal, non-existent source, please. You do not have a source. My opinion is that Files never fired any shots, nor was he even in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination. But you have asserted that you have heard a story that no one ever told, a story that never existed, a story you have no source for. What is your opinion worth, that being the case? The very FIRST thing one learns from the earliest & most rudimentary acquaintance with Files' confession is that he claims to have fired the Z-313 shot & that shot alone, firing only once. Files says that he counted shots before firing his one shot. Are you making up this alleged story that you heard this alleged story of Files firing the first shot? Because you do not want it to be known that you have not studied the Files case, at all? No? Then, cite your source. Miles, You're great, especially for not divulging any stuff I shared with you confidentially. I know that must be hard Wim PS: Indeed Files never said he fired the first shot. He doesn't know how many shots were fired, and his shot would probably have been the last shot, unless another shooter made one more miss. Oh man , these conversations are so boring and tiring. Why can't "JFK researchers" do some research before they talk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernice Moore Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 (edited) Hi Duncan: B......... OOOOOOpppppsssss! If you carefully examine the video taped recording of Files 2003 confession you will see & hear Files say that the sign in question is to the LEFT of a Moorman 5 photo which Files is scrutinising. Now, this means that Files is not confused in his recollection, but tentative & cautious, yet definite. That adds strong & telling evidence of basic verisimilitude. The criticism cited by Bernie above is just as questionable as Files' account. Those dogs don't hunt, EITHER! ******************** Miles : Blue does nothing for you......I believe you need to get up to full research within Mr File's information..on your own. Do not try to put Mr.Files into the Duncanman area, he is simply not there....and never was...according to his first stated information.. if he ever was in Dealey let alone behind the fence... I have the 2003, his other confession... I would suggest that you purchase Mr.Files 1994 video..." Confession of An Assassin" ....and Examine...... The 2003 version contained changes that occurred...within his story..after.....94... What is it they say about first reports...?? He says all freely, and when not asked a question continues to speak of his own thoughts.........Below is from some notes I had taken....... He says they ( he and Nicoletti ) parked in the parking lot beside the Dal Tex, there was no parking lot......the Dal Tex had none... Nicoletti asks approximately two hours before a Presidential hit, where he would postion himself, if he were him... ..Files tells him the Dal Tex....and where would...he..... "Well, I said, from looking everything over & walking in the week that I've been down here, (LHO was his tour guide ), I think I would choose up there behind the tree behind the stockade fence behind the high ridge on the knoll up there".... He and Nicoletti walked around the area, the parking lot........walked back to the car.... He was asked if he would back up Nicoletti.... They went back to the car, where he got the suitcase containing the fireball....shortly before noon...turned his jacket inside out, to the red plaid side... Went to the area walked down the grassy knoll, looked things over..no one paid any attention to him and he went back up.... Went behind the fence the big tree ...15 feet from the end of the fence... The shots......He states......Looking at JFK it was his , JFK's, left side....... He zeroed in on J.F.Ks left eye, it came (the shot ) in on the left side of the temple..left side of the head... He says .....Nicoletti's shot, hit him an instance before his shot...moving him forward like we see, ( Zapruder film ) and then Files shot.. that is why his shot hit him in the left temple.......Nicoletti hit him in the left hand side of the back of the head...and blew a hole out...????? But then that is confusing also, as then he then speaks of and motions a shot from the front to the back..blowing out the back left hand side of the President's head......?? He says ........Looking at him (Files...) the right hand side of the head????????? After the hits, there were two men about 15 feet down from him, and they turned people away as they came into the parking lot.....?? ...He then turned his jacket to the correct side out, put a cap on his head, and walked away with the suitcase, with the fireball......... He then walked to the end of the stockade fence, around down the steps.....carrying the suitcase, walked back over across the grass to the dead end street there by the parking lot..and he proceeded to cross Houston to the Dal Tex parking lot.(.That never existed ) ...they all get in the car, he drives out of the none existing parking lot, makes a right turn, which did not exist either........ He recalls after being asked about, he bit a shell and left it on the ( railing ) of the fence..... Earlier he is told that the interviewer ( B.V) has a Moorman photo, that shows him at the fence....and he is asked would he autograph it for him, he says on Sunday.. That is all and enough that concerns the fence.... William Bonnano, in his book "My Life in the Mob", stated that John Roselli confessed to him that he had shot JFK from a sewer manhole.?? B...... Edited December 14, 2007 by Bernice Moore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Bailey Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 From the interview with James Files 2003:J - where were you aiming? JF - Oh, I was aiming for his right eye, which to me is the left side of his head looking head on. But for him it would be his right eye, and when I pulled the trigger, and I'm right in on it, and it's almost like looking 6 feet away through the scope. As I squeezed, take off my round, his head moved forward, I missed and I come in right along the temple. Just right behind the eye. From that angle, the bullet would exit from the left side of JFK's head or neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now