Short answers, pulled from the story.
James Sunderland received the letter from his dead wife on the 15th of September 2001. This event occurred three years after Mary had died of an illness. The letter claimed she was waiting for him at their special place in the foggy town of Silent Hill, Maine.
The VHS tape found in a television set within the town revealed that James Sunderland smothered his dying wife with a pillow. This act was committed in a hospital bed and served as the central trauma that defined his existence and the events of the game. The tape showed the truth about Mary's death which James had been hiding from himself and the world.
The voice of James Sunderland was first performed by Guy Cihi in the original 2001 game. Cihi also provided the motion capture for the character and wore a tight body suit with nodes during the physically demanding recording sessions. In 2012, Troy Baker took over the voice acting for the Silent Hill HD Collection before Luke Roberts took on the role for the remake in 2024.
Maria is a doppelgänger of Mary who appeared in the town as a manifestation of James's desire for a second chance. She was not a real person but a projection of James's subconscious designed to test his resolve and force him to confront his true feelings. Her presence served as a constant reminder of what James had lost and what he had done.
James Sunderland's story has left a lasting impact on the horror genre with critics and scholars analyzing his character as a reflection of real-world psychological issues. The game has been compared to conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The character has become an icon of the horror genre and influenced the development of subsequent psychological horror games.