The Men Who Killed Kennedy is a 9-part video documentary series by Nigel Turner^[1] that began with two episodes originally aired in 1988 in the United Kingdom in two one-hour segments about the John F. Kennedy assassination. The United States corporation, Arts & Entertainment Company, purchased the rights to the original two segments. In 1989, the series was nominated for a Flaherty Documentary Award.^[2] Three more one-hour episodes were added in 1991. A sixth episode appeared in 1995. The series typically aired in November every year, but also from time to time during the year as repeats. But in November, 2003, when three additional segments (“The Final Chapter”) were added by the History Channel, the consequences were so immense that the entire series is no longer aired, though the History Channel still sells DVD copies of the first six documentaries.^[3]

The ninth documentary in the series, titled “The Guilty Men”, directly implicating former U. S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, created an outcry among Johnson’s surviving associates, Johnson’s widow, Lady Bird Johnson, journalist Bill Moyers, ex-President Jimmy Carter, Jack Valenti (longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America), and the last-living (at the time of the outcry) Warren Commission commissioner and ex-President Gerald R. Ford, who lodged complaints of libel with the History Channel. They subsequently threatened legal action against Arts & Entertainment Company, owner of the History Channel.

The History Channel responded by assembling a panel of three historians (Robert Dallek, Stanley Kutler, and Thomas Sugrue, considered as advocates of the Warren Commission’s decision that Oswald acted alone).^[4] On a program aired April 7, 2004, the panel agreed, based on their assessment of the character of President Johnson, that the documentary could not be credible. “In a press release issued before the telecast, the History Channel apologized, and withdrew “The Guilty Men” from future availability. It will not be re-broadcast. Nor will any response to the panel’s broadcast be allowed to be aired on the History Channel.”^[5] The refusal to allow any replies to the panel’s conclusion created even more controversy. The History Channel then aired a live discussion about the documentary, “in response to objections by a group including Motion Picture Association of America President and former Johnson aide Jack Valenti, and journalist Bill Moyers.” All three new documentaries by Turner (“The Guilty Men,” “The Smoking Gun” and “The Love Affair”) were then permanently withdrawn by the History Channel, though they were originally slated to be viewed at least annually on the History Channel until the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination (November, 2013). That action resulted in considerable controversy. The three documentaries are now called “The Banned Documentaries” in the Kennedy assassination saga.

In another episode that has warranted discussion, French prisoner Christian David named Lucien Sarti as one of three French criminals hired to carry out the assassination of Kennedy, when David was interviewed by author Anthony Summers. This claim is one of the most strongly investigated theories presented on the show. – Wikipedia

Episode List

1. “The Coup D’Etat” (1988)
2. “The Forces Of Darkness” (1988)
3. “The Cover-Up” (1991)
4. “The Patsy” (1991)
5. “The Witnesses” (1991)
6. “The Truth Shall Make You Free” (1995)
7. “The Smoking Guns” (2003)
8. “The Love Affair” (2003)
9. “The Guilty Men” (2003)