James Files

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James Earl Files (January 24, 1942 – ) is a former CIA / Mafia hit man who has confessed to being the grassy knoll shooter in Dealey Plaza on the morning of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

James Files
Illinois Dept. of Corrections photo
Born	January 24, 1942

1 Background
2 Military service
3 CIA Connection
4 Ties to the Mafia
5 Files's involvement in JFK assassination
6 Files's statements & claims
7 References

[edit] Background

James E. Files was born in a small country farmhouse just outside Oakman, Alabama on January 24, 1942. His older sister, Mary Pearl Files, was born at the same farmhouse in 1936. Files states that he used the name Sutton until 1963. The Sutton/Files family moved to Melrose Park, Illinois in the late 1940s, where he grew up in a tough Italian neighborhood. He was labeled as a juvenile delinquent by the local police chief, bought his first car at age fourteen, was known for riding motorcycles and he raced stock cars when he was in his early to mid-twenties. Files states that he joined the U.S. Army in 1959, entered the 82nd Airborne, and was sent to Laos as part of Operation White Star. Files did intelligence work and was among the first U.S. covert combat troops sent into Laos in 1959.

[edit] Military service

There is much debate over Files military service. According to Wim Dankbaar’s site, Files has stated that his military service records have been erased by the CIA, and this is the reason why the FBI and a private investigative agencies has been unable to find any trace of his military records. However in 1995, John C. Grady, the official historian of the 82nd Airborne and the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, claims to have located Files' U.S. Army serial number and a Veterans Administration claim number in an "inactive" file at a remote regional VA office and through the VA computer in St. Louis. After an 18 month search, Grady verified that Files had indeed entered the U.S. Army in 1959 and went into the 82nd Airborne before being sent to Laos on July 10, 1959. One year later, in early 1996, historian Grady checked the service record of Files again. No records were found, and all files under the name "James E. Files" were marked "no further information available."
82nd Airborne officers that were used by the Office of Strategic Services or it's successor organizations were have confused military records because their OSS service is technically not military service by federal government standards. In retrospect the military records have to be sorted out and their time of service corrected. They will retain any military promotions earned. When these discrepancies are corrected the modified records will be made available. Unfortunately this effects almost all the officers that participated in the Kennedy Assassination serving under Jack M Oliphant.

[edit] CIA Connection

After 14 months in military service, Files claimed that he was scheduled to be court martialed at Ft. Meade, Maryland for allegedly killing two of his own men to "save face" with the Laotian Army. Files also claims that it was at this time he was rescued and recruited by CIA agent David Atlee Phillips, although no solid evidence is known to exist. It was also through David Atlee Phillips that Files claims to have met Lee Harvey Oswald (Phillips was Oswald’s controller), and that Phillips gave Files the early model Remington XP-100 “Fireball” that was used to deliver the deadly headshot (more info here). Very little is known about his involvement in the CIA.

[edit] Ties to the Mafia

In a 1994 interview, Files gives his account on how he had gotten involved in organized crime:

“Well, I first became...it's a strange way to start out...but I was racing stock cars and driving at a local track and Mr. Nicoletti had taken a shine to my driving and he'd watched me on several occasions and he had asked me once if I would drive him one evening. I took him out and test drove his car that we'd just picked up a brand new Ford...and he was pretty well pleased with my driving and from then on I became more like an assigned driver to him and I did several drivings for him on different jobs that he did.”

(full interview here)

Files was chosen to drive for Charles Nicoletti in late 1961 or early 1962 and eventually became a "favorite" of Nicoletti. He also claims to have done several “hit jobs” for Nicoletti prior to the JFK assassination, and had impressed Nicoletti on several occasions with his firearms skills. He claims that the Mafia had custom interiors in their vehicles, which would be used to hide various weapons, such as fold down rear seats, removable side door panels, etc.

According to Wim Dankbaar’s site, several eyewitnesses have reported seeing Files and Charles Nicoletti together:

1. Incarcerated Mafia assassin Lenny Patrick has testified that James Files was associated with the Chicago mob and Charles Nicoletti.

2. A former CIA-U.S. Army intelligence officer who was stationed in Florida in 1963 has also identified James E. Files as being involved with the JM/WAVE CIA covert headquarters in Miami during the early 1960s.

3. CIA contract pilot Robert "Tosh" Plumlee recall a "young hitter from Chicago, who got into trouble down in Mexico and had to be bailed out by Frank Sturgis of the CIA."

4. The garage owner (where Files was once employed) stated that Nicoletti would only let Files "touch" or work on Nicoletti’s personal vehicles.

5. Two of Files' Chicago "buddies" recall Files and Nicoletti as "being very close”

[edit] Files's involvement in JFK assassination

The wooden fence on the grassy knoll, where Files claims to have made his shot.

Through a lengthy interview, taped in 2003, Files gave the following account as to the chain of events that transpired in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy:

One evening, in the spring of 1963, Files was playing a pinball machine (gambling type), when Mr. Nicoletti approached him and said they were going to go for a drive. During that drive, Mr. Nicoletti revealed a plan to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. This plan had come from collaboration between the CIA and the Chicago Mob boss Sam Giancana, and the job delegated to Mr. Nicoletti. In the months leading up to the assassination, several locations were considered, including Chicago. Ultimately, Dallas, Texas had been chosen as the location of the hit.

At this point, Files had not been considered as a shooter in the coming assassination. He is only assigned as an aid to Mr. Nicoletti in weapon arrangements and to survey the location. A week before the assassination, Files then drove into Dallas, and stayed at the Lamplighter Motel in Mesquite, Dallas, where he called Mr. Nicoletti as well as David Atlee Phillips (who he claims was his “controller”). He then states that the next morning, Lee Harvey Oswald (who shared the same “controller”) showed up at the hotel. Over the next five days, Files and Oswald spent the days together (a picture, taken by Oswald, can be found here). Files claims that he and Oswald went to an empty field to test fire the weapons and calibrate the scopes that were to be used on President Kennedy, and that Oswald was picking up the shells as Files fired them. He also claims that he and Oswald never spoke of the assassination the entire time.

Two days prior to the assassination, Mr. Nicoletti arrives in Dallas and tells Files that Johnny Roselli had flown in as part of a CIA abort team to call off the hit, to which Nicoletti states that he is going ahead with the hit anyway. He then asks Files that, since Johnny Roselli will no longer be the other assassin, if Files would like to be a backup shooter, to which Files agrees. Files states this is how he became the other gunman.

When Files had volunteered as the backup shooter, he was given specific guidelines by Mr. Nicoletti:

1. He is not to fire unless absolutely necessary

2. He is not to harm Jacqueline Kennedy

3. They are going for a headshot, and only fire if there has been no headshot

Following these guidelines, Files chose to use a 1962 prototype bolt-action Remington XP-100 “Fireball” given to him by CIA agent David Atlee Phillips. The location he chose for cover was the infamous “grassy knoll”. He states that he was wearing a “reversible” jacket to look like a railway worker, and that he kept the Remington XP-100 “Fireball”, as well as special made “mercury rounds” in a small suitcase.

Files states that he had loaded a special wax tipped mercury round into the Remington XP-100 “Fireball”, and waited in the rail yard for President Kennedy. When President Kennedy came into view, he claims that he was aiming for President Kennedy’s right eye in his scope when he was coming down Elm St. When shots started, he began counting the shots as misses, and had to take the shot as instructed if no headshot had been made. When no headshot had been made, he claims he took his shot, and that his shot was the fatal bullet that took President Kennedy’s life. Afterwards, he packed the gun in the suitcase, bit the shell casing, left it sitting on the stoackade fance, and walked away. He claims he walked to a pre-arranged meeting place (a car garage) where Charles Nicoletti and Johnny Roselli were waiting for him. Files drove them to a gas station to drop them off, and he drove back to Chicago