The Octopus Murders viewers shocked by “real” JFK tape revelation

American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders delves into a tangled web of software, spies, and politics, with a revelation about the alleged “real” tape of John F. Kennedy’s assassination leaving Netflix viewers shocked. 

The story of Netflix’s latest true crime series starts with Danny Casolaro, a writer and journalist who was digging into a multi-tentacled conspiracy he named ‘The Octopus.’ Before he could connect the dots, he was found dead in a hotel bathtub. Though cops ruled it a suicide, due to the suspicious details surrounding his death, many wondered whether he was murdered. 

Photojournalist Christian Hansen is at the center of American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, having picked up the investigation where Casolaro left off. As per the official synopsis, the conspiracy involves “a hidden organization connected to stolen government spy software, a string of unsolved murders, and some of the biggest political scandals of the 20th century.”

A significant scene involves one of the biggest conspiracy theories of our time: the assissination of JFK. Here’s what you need to know about the mysterious reveal, as well as what Netflix viewers are saying about it. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

The Octopus Murders viewers shocked by “real” JFK tape revelation

In American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, investigative journalist Cheri Seymour recalls being shown what she was told was the “real” Zapruder film, the footage of the 1963 assassination of John F. Kenney. In this version, the driver appears to be the shooter. However, Seymour suggests this was doctored in order to generate confusion and jeopardize her credibility. 

The incident unfolded when she went to visit Robert Booth Nichols, a man who claimed to have worked for the CIA. Michael Riconosciuto, one of Hansen and Casolaro’s main sources, said Nichols was “key to The Octopus,” but had warned not to speak to him, describing him as “absolutely scary.”

Seymour said that once you jump on board with Riconosciuto and Nichols, they “screw with your mind… they certainly did with me, and I have no doubt that they did this with Danny. That’s part of the game.”

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When she went to visit Nichols at what she believes was a “safe house,” he started playing the Zapruder tape in slow motion. In this version, the driver took out a gun, turned around, and shot Kennedy. When she asked Nichols if it was a doctored tape, he reportedly replied, “This is the original one.”

Although Seymour wasn’t buying it, Nichols then showed her another tape, one he claimed was “the media” version of the JFK assassination footage. “The next tape is the typical one where the driver just keeps driving,” she explains. “He never even flinches with the gun. And he stops the tape and he says, ‘Look at the tree.’”

In this iteration, the bottom of the trunk is missing, making the tree appear as if it’s floating. “He says, ‘This is the one that you’re seeing in the media and it’s been doctored.’ He looked very, very intently at me and he said, ‘Nothing is as it appears to be.’ That tape was the last thing he did before I left,” states Seymour. 

But, to this day, she doesn’t believe Nichols – but, rather, she believes it reflects the wider themes of the Netflix documentary, where intentional confusion and deception tactics help to mask the truth. 

“It occurred to me that that was shown so that it would provide deniability for Robert Booth Nichols,” adds Seymour. “He had to have doctored that to have put half the tree in that film so that, you know, my ability to see the truth or to report the facts kind of goes out the window when you start describing that film. Especially if you say you believed it. 

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“I can tell you right now, I saw it. There’s no question what I saw. But, like he said, ‘Nothing is as it appears to be.’ In this world, their world.”

The scene has sparked discussion online, with one writing on Reddit: “The part about the Kennedy video is really bothering me. Is the floating tree a real thing? I watched the Zapruder film and I didn’t see that. And what was she saying about why he showed her those videos? Because he was lying or, I didn’t understand if she believed it to be true or believed it to be a lie.”

Another said, “She was saying he doctored it to mess with her. If she went public and said this was the real film, she’d be humiliated. It was undermining her credibility. I got the sense she was saying she didn’t believe it was real once she had some time to think on it and the whole situation, coupled with him saying ‘nothing is what it appears to be.’” 

They responded, “Ok I see that. Crazy. I kind of fell for it. A testament to how conspiracies take root,” while a third added, “And it shows how people in this world operate. Every bit of truth is stuck between a web of lies and you don’t know what to believe.”

Even with the context provided by Seymour, Nichols’ alleged intention to create confusion has impacted Netflix viewers. “Watching American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders and absolutely gasped when I saw the two different JFK motorcade videos,” said one on X. 

Another commented: “Did you watch the Netflix Series The Octopus Murders? Journalist Cheri Seymour claims she saw an original film cut of the JFK assassination with the driver of the car turning around to shoot the President. She’s right! Several YT videos you can see the driver kill JFK.”

Director Zachary Treitz has since shared his thoughts on the Zapruder tape, telling The Wrap: “In this scene with the Zapruder film, it’s a very subjective story that Cheri Seymour is telling. Cheri is a reliable narrator and has a very good memory, but she’s telling an abstract story that feels haunted and creepy. So we chose a play-like, ‘Dogville’-like way of depicting it, which speaks to the subjectivity of the situation.

“I don’t believe for a second that the driver turned around and killed JFK. We’re not saying we have some alternate theory of how JFK died. There’s an element of mind control here, for lack of a better word, or at least manipulation of reality, which the characters in our story seem to be familiar with. 

“This JFK tape story shows a situation where you can’t help but not believe your eyes – there’s that disparity between what you know is true and what you’re seeing. And it does some weird manipulation inside of you, where you suddenly don’t know what’s real.”

He went on to say that this case is significant in understanding the overall story of The Octopus Murders. “It bears mentioning that when they did a report on the death of Danny Casolaro, the story the FBI and DOJ went with was that he was manipulated by con artists into believing a fake story,” he added. 

“And I don’t even completely disagree that con artists were trying to manipulate Danny. But where I disagree is in thinking that we know whether Danny believed all those things. And I don’t think it makes these people any less dangerous.”

The Octopus Murders is on Netflix now, and for more upcoming true crime and documentaries coming to streaming, head here.