James Files

James Earl Files (born January 24, 1942), also known as James Sutton, is an American former prisoner and convicted felon. In 1994, while serving a 50-year sentence for the 1991 attempted murders of two police officers, Files gave interviews stating that he was the "grassy knoll shooter" in the 1963 assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy.

He said he took one shot at Kennedy with a Remington XP-100 "fireball" gun, which was the final, fatal, head shot which caused Kennedy to jerk violently back and to the left. Files has subsequently been interviewed by others and discussed in multiple books pertaining to the assassination and related theories.

In 2010, Files also implicated Charles Nicoletti and John Roselli in the assassination of Kennedy.

Background The wooden fence on the grassy knoll, where Files claims to have made his shot. Files was born in Alabama, moved with his family to California shortly thereafter, then to an Italian neighborhood in Chicago. On May 7, 1991, Files and his friend, David Morley, were involved in a roadside shootout in Round Lake Beach, Illinois, with two police officers, Detective David Ostertag and his partner, Gary Bitler. Ostertag and Bitler tried to apprehend the two for driving a stolen vehicle. Morley shot Ostertag in the chest. Files and Morley shot at Detective Bitler, but missed. Files and Morley fled on foot and were arrested a few hours later. Files was charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count each of discharge of a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm and armed violence. In August 1991, a jury found Files guilty of two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 30 years for the shooting of Detective Ostertag and 20 years for attempting to shoot Detective Bitler. Files was imprisoned at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, before being transferred to Danville Correctional Center in Danville, Illinois. He was paroled in May 2016. On August 17, 1992, West interviewed Files at Stateville Correctional Center. After West's death in 1993, his family requested that his friend, Houston television producer Bob Vernon, take over the records concerning the story.

Critical analysis Vincent Bugliosi, author of the 2007 book Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, characterized Files as "the Rodney Dangerfield of Kennedy assassins", a reference to comedian Dangerfield's repeated claim that he got no respect. Though Bugliosi believes there was no conspiracy to kill Kennedy, he notes how among those who do believe in such a conspiracy very few believe Files's claims warrant serious attention. However, conspiracy author Jerome Kroth described Files as "surprisingly credible" and said his story "is the most believable and persuasive" about the assassination.