The assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963 was an inside job, according to a deathbed confession given to the veteran film director Oliver Stone.

After making his acclaimed film JFK – which was sympathetic to conspiracy theories about the murder – Stone was contacted by a man claiming to have been a former member of the presidential security team.

Dying of cancer, the man wanted to share a secret that he had until then only told his son – that 'somebody from his own team… had fired on the President'.

He gave only a code name 'Ron', in reaching out through a series of mysterious letters before the two men eventually met.

Stone said he was naturally skeptical about such a claim, as there have been so many conspiracy theories since Kennedy was killed by two rifle bullets while travelling in an open limousine through Dallas in November 1963.