FE

AT

UR

ES

• TH

E A

RT

S • T

EL

EV

ISIO

N

• O

ne 1, T

he Mike M

onth* Nan

Th

e B

UR

DE

N

Of P

RO

OF

A still photo taken from

a copy of Orville N

ix's film of the

assassination. The original film

is missing.

By K

athy Jack

son

Staff Writer of T

he Dallas hforolag N

ews

Abrah

am Z

apru

der cap

tured

on film

the

assassinatio

n o

f Presid

ent Jo

hn F

. Ken

ned

y

in Dealey P

laza. But w

hile his 8-millim

eter cam

era was reco

rdin

g h

istory

with

colo

r pictu

res of th

e fatal shots, it co

uld

n't catch

w

hat w

as hap

pen

ing b

ehin

d M

r. Zap

ruder.

Orv

ille Nix

did

that.

Stan

din

g o

n th

e opposite sid

e of th

e street from

Mr. Z

apruder, Mr. N

ix filmed

what som

e experts now believe m

ay be a second —

and possibly a third — gunm

an. R

obert G

roden

, a photo

analy

zer and co

-au

tho

r of tw

o b

oo

ks o

n th

e assassinatio

n,

says th

at he can b

ring

tho

se assassins o

ut o

f th

e shad

ow

s if he h

as the o

rigin

al film.

The o

nly

thin

g Is, it's m

issing.

Whisp

ers of b

etrayal, co

nsp

iracy, co

ver-

ups an

d lies clo

ud th

e film's w

hereab

outs.

The sto

ry in

volv

es a missin

g safety

dep

osit

box, a one-sentence contract, an o

ld m

an's

naiv

ete and h

is gran

ddau

ghter's d

etermi-

natio

n.

Fo

r seven

mo

nth

s, Gay

le Nix

Jackso

n

has b

een fig

htin

g to

reclaim h

er dead

gran

dfath

er's orig

inal film

, which

he so

ld

to U

nited

Press In

ternatio

nal fo

r $5,0

00 fo

ur

day

s after the assassin

ation. M

r. Nix

and

Bu

rt Rein

hard

t, then

-man

agin

g ed

itor o

f U

PI N

ewsfilm

, had

a verb

al agreem

ent, sh

e say

s, that th

e film ev

entu

ally w

ould

be re-

turn

ed to

the N

ix fam

ily.

"We w

ere used

to h

and

shak

es and

eye-

ball d

eals," says O

rville N

ix Jr., w

ho w

as w

ith h

is father w

hen

the ag

reemen

t was

made. "W

e were a co

uple o

f country

hick

s in the B

ig Apple."

Mrs. Jack

son w

ants th

e film so

she can

give it to M

r. Gro

den

, who h

as enhan

ced

photos of the shooting for the U.S

. House S

e-lect C

omm

ittee on Assassinations. M

r. Gro-

den

says h

e'll put th

e orig

inal film

on a

Please see O

RV

ILL

E on P

age 2C.

The Daces M

orning New

t. John P R

hodes G

ayle N

ix Jack

son an

d b

roth

er Dav

id N

ix sh

ow

a gap

e copy o

f film tak

en b

y their grandfiaher during th

e Ken

ned

y assassin

ation.

OrvilleN

ix-filihreiiiiitit he: t hottght was a'secO

nfiztlitiiiiiiii*the JFK assassination.

Now

--28:years later, his gran ;., •

,4

.,

As •1.

p•

71—

20 20 EY

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I ir

..--, per m

onth I I ,.." p

a

Orville N

ix's granddaughter isn't giving up C

ontinued from P

age 1C.

"Rack C

intel," a film-duplicating m

a-ch

ine th

at elimin

ates shad

ow

s and

brin

gs o

ut w

hat th

e d

ark

ness

conceals. T

he Nix film

may be one of the

most im

portant pieces of evidence to prove he (L

ee Harvey O

swald) didn't

do it," says Mr. G

roden, who is from

P

ennsy

lvan

ia and

is co-au

thor o

f JF

K: C

ase for

Conspiracy and

High

Treason.

"The Z

apruder film show

s the en-tire sequence closer. B

ut the Nix film

has a great deal m

ore value. I kno

w

from w

hat I know of first-generation

prints that It will prove the existence

of at least one other gunman —

and that proves conspiracy at its m

ost ba-sic level," he says.

Ev

ery d

ay, M

rs. Jackso

n tele-

phones London, N

ew Y

ork, Washing-

ton — w

herever the clues lead her -often relying on her brother and sis-ter to keep the fam

ily's tax-consult-ing business going.

"They're the ones w

ho cover for m

e when I'm

doing Kennedy stuff,"

she says. "This has been a battle. I've

really been given a hard time. T

hey think I'm

tims dum

b Texas w

oman

and I don't know anything. I'll show

them

.' " M

rs. Jackson first asked UP

I to re-turn the film

in 1988, 25 years after th

e a

ssassin

atio

n. S

he sa

ys sh

e

received

letters sayin

g th

e orig

inal

agreement w

as that UP

I could have the film

for 28 years. S

o she waited three m

ore years, In

Janu

ary, M

rs. Jackso

n ag

ain

called UP

I in New

York and asked

that th

e film b

e return

ed. N

ow

, though, all the people she talks to say they can't find it.

"We have no pursuable leads our-

selves," says Milt C

apps, senior vice president for corporate affairs at U

PI.

"It is not something that anyone here

has dealt with in recent years. A

lot "The Z

apruder film

shows the entire sequence

closer. Bu

t the N

ix film

has a great deal more

value." — R

obert Groden,

photo analyzer

Texas G

ov. John Connally.

Then

the lim

ousin

e turn

ed o

nto

E

lm S

treet. Mr. N

ix quickly realized w

hat w

as hap

pen

ing. H

e kep

t his

camera ro

lling

, aware th

at he

was

recording history — and possibly the

identity of an assassin. "H

e told

us th

ere was an

oth

er gunm

an o

ver th

ere (on th

e grassy

knoll)," says M

rs. Jackson, 33, who

grew

up

hearin

g th

e tale from

her

gran

dfath

er. "He said

, 'I was rig

ht

there. I know it.' E

verybody around him

is dive-bombing into the ground,

and h

e just k

ept (th

e camera) ru

n-

ning." A

t first, Mr. N

ix to

ld ev

eryone

where he th

ou

gh

t the sh

ots h

ad been

fired from. H

e told his golfing bud-dies, an

d h

e told

Forrest S

orrels, a

friend at th

e Fed

eral Bureau

of In

-vestigation.

"He w

as just beside himself," M

rs. Jackson says.

Mr. N

ix rushed his film to a dow

n-to

wn

dev

elop

ing co

mp

any

. In th

e m

idd

le of th

e nig

ht, as d

octo

rs at B

ethesda Naval H

ospital performed

an au

top

sy o

n th

e presid

ent, p

ho

to

lab employees developed M

r. Nix's

film.

Then

they

telephoned

, wak

ing

him

and tellin

g h

im to

com

e right

away. "H

e turn

ed th

e film o

ver to

the

FB

I the next day," Mrs. Jackson says.

'They

kep

t It for fo

ur d

ays, alo

ng tio

ns, th

ough, w

ere not in

cluded

in

the b

rief c

ontra

ct ty

ped b

y M

r. R

einhardt. T

he Nixes returned hom

e the day they closed the deal.

"Th

e ham

bu

rgers th

ere cost $

1,

and that was too expensive for their

blood," says Mrs. Jackson.

Thro

ugh th

e years, research

ers an

d film

mak

ers heard

of M

r. Nix

an

d telep

honed

him

or trav

eled to

his D

allas home. H

e told them w

hat he believed to be the truth: S

omeone

had

fired at th

e presid

ent fro

m th

e grassy knoll. B

ut he was alw

ays quick to add that w

hatever the government

said happened must have happened.

"He w

as of the old school. He w

as scared of the governm

ent,' says Mrs.

Jackson. Y

ears passed. The W

arren Com

-m

ission announced that Lee H

arvey O

swald acted alone. A

nd there were

tales of assassination witnesses dying

mysteriously. "H

e started saying, 'I really don't w

ant to

talk ab

out it,' " re

embers

Mrs. Jackson. "A

nd I said, ' Paw-Paw

, n

oth

ing

's go

ing

to h

app

en to

yo

u.'

ho

kv

ri ic.,..iirect to say

any

thin

g

about it. No one w

anted to think the governm

ent was lying —

especially him

. He w

orked

for the government

at General S

ervices. "T

ow

ard th

e end o

f his life, h

e didn't talk to anybody about the as-sassination at all. N

ot at all."

■

In her desk at Orville N

ix Co. In

Lancaster, M

rs. Jackson has a folder stu

ffed w

ith letters fro

m th

e Na-

tional Archives in W

ashington, D.C

., U

PI and W

orldwide T

elevision New

s, w

hich bought the news film

section of U

PI. M

rs. Jackson says she was told by

Mr. R

einhard

t that th

e film w

as locked in a safety deposit box after It end," says M

rs. Jackson, who never-

theless continues her telephone cam-

paign. "I can't believe a piece of his-tory like this could just be lost."

Several copies of the hom

e movie

exist. But M

r. Groden says it's im

-perative that the original be used to analyze the grassy knoll scenes.

"When you duplicate a film

, there is a degree of loss in clarity," he says.

Thro

ugh m

ore th

an 2

5 y

ears of

Please see NIX

on Page 6C.

• U

O

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no (1/2 E

sic level," he says. E

very

day

, Mrs. Ja

ck

son

tele

-phones L

ondon, New

York, W

ashing-to

n —

wh

erever th

e clues lead

her -

often

relyin

g o

n h

er bro

ther an

d sis-

ter to k

eep th

e family

's tax-co

nsu

lt-ing business going.

"They

're the o

nes w

ho co

ver fo

r m

e when

I'm d

oin

g K

enned

y stu

ff," she says, "T

his has been a battle. I've really

been

giv

en a h

ard tim

e. Th

ey

thin

k I'm

this d

um

b T

exas w

om

an

and I d

on't k

now

anyth

ing. I'll sh

ow

them

.' " M

rs. Jackson first asked UP

I to re-tu

rn th

e film in

1988, 2

5 y

ears after th

e a

ssassin

atio

n. S

he sa

ys sh

e

received

letters sayin

g th

e orig

inal

agreement w

as that U

PI co

uld

hav

e the film

for 28 years. S

o she waited three m

ore years. In

January

, Mrs. Jack

son ag

ain

called U

PI in

New

Yo

rk an

d ask

ed

that

the

film b

e re

turn

ed

. No

w,

though, all the people she talks to say they can't find it.

"We h

ave n

o p

ursu

able lead

s ou

r-selves," says M

ilt Capps, senior vice

president for corporate affairs at UP

I. "It is not som

ething that anyone here h

as dealt w

ith in

recent y

ears. A lo

t o

f the d

etails are lost in

the p

ast.... T

his is p

art of U

PI's h

istory

, no

t its presen

t."

On N

ov. 22, 1963, as President and

Mrs. K

ennedy shook hands with w

ell-w

ishers at Love F

ield airport, Mr. N

ix w

as finish

ing an

all-nig

ht sh

ift at the

Gen

eral Serv

ices Adm

inistratio

n

dow

nto

wn, w

here h

e work

ed o

n th

e air-conditioning system

. D

ressed in the Frank S

inatra-style hat that he alw

ays wore and carrying

his new K

eystone Auto Z

oom 8-m

il-lim

eter movie cam

era, he w

alked

to

Main and H

ouston Streets and w

aited eag

erly fo

r the p

residen

t's mo

tor-

cade. W

hen

the p

residen

tial Lin

coln

tu

rned

on

to H

ou

ston

Street, M

r. Nix

an

d h

is camera w

ere ready. T

he film

captured M

rs. Kennedy's pink C

hanel an

an

d th

e p

resid

en

t talk

ing

10

identity of an assassin. "H

e to

ld u

s there

was a

noth

er

gu

nm

an o

ver th

ere (on

the g

rassy

kn

oll)," say

s Mrs. Jack

son

, 33

, wh

o

grew

up h

earing th

e tale from

her

gran

dfath

er. "He said

, 'I was rig

ht

there. I k

now

it.' Every

body aro

und

him is dive-bom

bing into the ground, an

d h

e just k

ept (th

e camera) ru

n-

nin

g."

Al first, M

r. Nix

told

every

one

wh

ere he th

ou

gh

t the sh

ow

had

been fired

from

. He to

ld h

is golfin

g b

ud-

dies, an

d h

e told

Fo

rrest So

rrels, a frien

d at th

e Fed

eral Bureau

of In

-vestigation.

"Ile was just beside him

self," Mrs.

Jackson says. M

r. Nix rushed his film

to a down-

tow

n d

evelo

pin

g co

mp

any

. In th

e m

idd

le of th

e nig

ht, as d

octo

rs at B

ethesd

a Nav

al Ho

spital p

erform

ed

an au

topsy

on th

e presid

ent, p

hoto

lab

emp

loy

ees dev

elop

ed M

r. Nix

's film

. T

hen

they

teleph

on

ed, w

akin

g

him

and

telling

him

to co

me rig

ht

away, "H

e turn

ed th

e film o

ver to

the

FB

I the next day," Mrs. Jackson says.

"Th

ey k

ept it fo

r fou

r day

s, alon

g

with

his cam

era." A

ccord

ing to

Mrs. Jack

son, M

r. N

ix sh

ow

ed th

e film to

FB

I agen

ts, p

oin

ting

ou

t three flash

es of lig

ht

coming from

the grassy knoll just be-fo

re a bullet strik

es the p

residen

t's head.

Yet, she says, no governm

ent offi-cial ev

er called M

r. Nix

— n

ot ev

en

the W

arren C

om

missio

n. H

e did

n't

see his c

am

era

again

for e

ight

month

s. And w

hen

the F

BI retu

rned

the equipm

ent, it was broken.

Mr. N

ix d

ecided

to sell h

is hom

e m

ovie to

UP

I the w

eek after th

e as-sassin

ation, an

d h

e and h

is son flew

to

New

York

City

to m

eet with

Mr.

Rein

hard

t. Mr. N

ix so

ld th

e righ

ts to

the film

, his g

randdau

ghter say

s, on

two

con

ditio

ns: th

at they

even

tually

retu

rn it to

his fam

ily, an

d th

at no

one know his identity. T

hose stipule-

• .:1

Jackson. Y

ears passed

. Th

e Warren

. Com

-m

ission an

nounced

that L

ee Harv

ey

Osw

ald acted

alone. A

nd th

ere were

tales of assassination witnesses dying

mysteriously. "H

e started say

ing, 'I really

do

n't

wan

t to talk

about it,' " rem

embers

Mrs. Jackson. "A

nd I said, 'Paw

-Paw

, noth

ing's g

oin

g to

hap

pen

to y

ou.'

Bu

t he w

as scared to

say an

yth

ing

ab

out it. N

o o

ne w

anted

to th

inkIlie

go

vern

men

t was ly

ing

— esp

ecially

him. H

e worked fo

r the g

ov

ernm

ent

at General S

ervices. "T

ow

ard

the e

nd o

f his life

, he

did

n't talk

to an

yb

od

y ab

ou

t the as-

sassination at all. Not at all."

■

In h

er desk

at Orv

ille Nix

Co. in

L

ancaster, Mrs. Jackson ih

as a fold

er stu

ffed w

ith le

tters fro

m th

e N

a-

tional Archives in W

ashington, D.C

., U

PI and W

orldwide T

elevision New

s, w

hich

bought th

e new

s film sectio

n

of UPI.

Mrs. Jackson says she w

as told by M

r. Rein

hard

t that th

e film

was

locked in a safety deposit box after it w

as exam

ined

by

the W

arren C

om

-m

ission and the key was turned over

to A

lexan

der P

. Bock

, UP

I's retired

treasurer. In

Mrs. Jack

son

's file is a letter from

Mr. B

ock saying he never had the key, "although I w

as aware of

its existence." U

PI o

fficials, Mrs. Jack

son

says,

told

her th

at the safety

dep

osit b

ox

was k

ept in

the C

linto

n U

nio

n T

rust

building in Manhattan. T

he building w

as demolished about 10 years ago.

UP

I's Milt C

apps say W

orldwide

Telev

ision

New

s sho

uld

hav

e the

film in its files; a W

TN

employee w

ho I

doesn't want to be iden

fed says UP

I m

ust h

ave it. "T

he rig

inal

was

turned over to the leade ship at UP

I," h

e says. "ft w

asn't tu

rn o

ver to

us.

Som

e of the bigshots might have got-

ten it." "B

asically, right now I'm

at a dead

Mr.Orville Nix 252? Penley Driae Dallas Texas

UPI Newsfilx agrees to pay yo-.1 $5C'00.00 (five

thcusand dollars) for your Fran-, film covarage cf th.

of President Kennedy.

assassignatinn

by Burt 13.•!iiihardt Nanagir.E,,!ditor 15PI Newsfilm

agreed

•

6 C Ei) f Za I Itag Awning Nelu$ Monday, .duly 15, 1991

A simple contract was typed up by UPI Newsfilm managing editor Burt Reinhardt for the purchase of Orville Nix's film of the assassination.

Nix came to_fear talking about his film Continued from Page 2C. work, Mr. Groden says he has deter-mined that the man many people -including himself — believed to be Lee Harvey Oswald standing in the doorway of the School Book Deposi-tory during the assassination was, in fact, Mr. Oswald's co-worker, Billy Lo-velady. He also determined by analyz-ing films that Mrs.. Kennedy picked up a piece of her husband's head when she climbed onto the trunk of the limousine.

After watching a copy of the Nix film in slow motion, he came to be-

lieve that the first and third flashes of light on the grassy knoll are merely shadows. But the second one may well be gunfire. Mr. Groden says there are two .men standing in the shadows about 15 to 20 feet apart. And one seems to be in a military stance.

If he had the original film, Mr. Groden says, he might be able to make out more.

Mark A Oakes, an assassination researcher in St Louis, Mo., says the original film could be invaluable. Al-though other films and photos taken

that day indicate that someone was standing on the grassy knoll, he says the Nix film could be more defini-tive.

"I've seen parts of that film, and I think it would be excellent," he says. "If anyone can do it, Groden can."

Mrs. Jackson says she is not seek-ing the original film for fame or money. She simply wants her grand-father, who quit school in the fourth grade and picked cotton to help sup-port his family, to have the place in history she feels he deserves.

"I know this might sound real corny, but God put him down there for a purpose — I really do believe that," she says.

-My hope is that this film will hold the answers. If this film shows what happened, what a tribute it would be to my grandfather."

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