Woman Sues U.S. Government for Lost JFK Assassination Film

In the decades since the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, a myriad of documentary evidence from the events of that day have been used to try to gain a better understanding of how JFK was killed in Dealey plaza. Audio recordings, photographs, and the infamous Zapruder film have been extensively analyzed to try to paint a picture of what happened that day. However, a second film recording of the president’s motorcade, largely forgotten by history, has become the subject of a lawsuit, launched by an heir of the original filmmaker.

The 8-mm film in question, originally taken by Orville Nix, was taken from the opposite side of Elm Street from where the Zapruder film was taken. This made it valuable to the various investigations into the assassination of Kennedy, including the Warren Commission, in that it offered another visual viewpoint of the assassination itself. The Nix film has since disappeared, last known to be in the possession of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, in 1978.

This lawsuit, filed by Gayle Nix Jackson, the granddaughter of the original photographer, is asking for either the return of the film, or $10 million in compensation. Jackson launched the lawsuit after being informed by the National Archives that the film had disappeared, and that they could not find a chain of possession for it. Jackson is currently writing a book on her grandfather’s film, and believes that it could provide valuable clues as to whether or not a second gunman was involved in the assassination of JFK.