Court Rejects Government's Bid to Stiff Owner of JFK Assassination Film

Orville Nix's family has a valid claim for damages, a federal judge has ruled

Gayle Nix Jackson has won a victory in her long-running quest to recover the original copy of her grandfather’s film of JFK’s assassination. (Credit: Focus Daily News)

The family of Orville Nix Sr. can continue to pursue compensation from the U.S. government for its handling of Nix’s famed 8-mm film of JFK’s assassination, according to a December court ruling.

On Wednesday, Dec. 11, the United States Court of Federal Claims denied the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss a claim by Orville Nix Jr., whose father filmed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

Orville Nix Sr.’s home movie evidently disappeared in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) some time after 1978. His son is suing the government for just compensation, under the “Takings Clause” of the U.S. Constitution.

The Nix Angle

The Nix film, as it is known today, was shot from the south side of Elm Street, opposite the point where Dallas dressmaker Abraham Zapruder was standing when he shot his own home movie, famously known as the Zapruder film. Zapruder himself can be seen briefly in the Nix Film, both filming the motorcade and, in a later cut, walking away.