James Files
James Files | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Earl Files January 24, 1942 Oakman, Alabama, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | James Sutton |
| Criminal status | Paroled in May 2016 |
| Criminal charge | Attempted murder (2 counts) Aggravated discharge of a firearm Aggravated battery with a firearm Armed violence |
| Penalty | 50 years |
| Details | |
| Date | May 7, 1991 3:45 pm |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| Location | Round Lake Beach, Illinois |
| Targets | David Ostertag Gary Bitler |
| Injured | David Ostertag |
| Weapons | 9mm pistol and AK47 (spring broke in AK, so it would not fire) |
Date apprehended | May 7, 1991 |
| Imprisoned at | Stateville Correctional Center |
James Earl Files (born January 24, 1942), also known as James Sutton, is an American former prisoner. 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 infamously caused Kennedy's 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 1994, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was quoted as having investigated Files' allegation and found it "not credible".
In 2010, Playboy magazine published an article by Hillel Levin in which Files also implicated Charles Nicoletti and John Roselli in the assassination of Kennedy. In 2022 Ted Nelson posted a video interview with Files on his YouTube channel.