RFK Assassination Conspiracy

Introduction

Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy — having just won the California Democratic presidential primary — was shot in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He died the following day, June 6, 1968, at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 42 years old.

Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian-American, was tackled at the scene with a .22 caliber Iver Johnson revolver in his hand. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 1969 and sentenced to death; the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment after the California Supreme Court temporarily invalidated the death penalty in 1972. Sirhan has remained imprisoned at various California state prisons since 1969.

The case is unusual in that Sirhan has never denied being at the scene and firing his weapon. The conspiracy question does not hinge on Sirhan's innocence but on whether he was the sole shooter and whether he fired the fatal shot.

The Physical Evidence Problem

The fatal wound in Kennedy's case was controversial from the outset. The coroner, Dr. Thomas Noguchi, concluded from powder burns and wound characteristics that the fatal shot was fired from approximately one to one-and-a-half inches behind Kennedy's right ear. Multiple witnesses placed Sirhan in front of Kennedy at a distance of several feet — never behind him, and never within one to two inches.

This discrepancy is the core of the physical-evidence challenge to the lone-gunman conclusion. It has been documented and discussed by investigators sympathetic to the official account and those skeptical of it; the discrepancy itself is not in dispute, only its interpretation.

Bullet Counts and the Polka-Dot Dress Witness

A secondary issue involves the bullet count. Sirhan's revolver held eight rounds. The official evidence showed Kennedy shot four times, with several additional bullets found in the ceiling, doorframe, and pantry woodwork. Some witnesses and investigators, including criminalist William Harper, asserted the total bullet evidence exceeded eight rounds — implying a second weapon. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) disputed this count; the recovered bullets were destroyed or lost before full independent analysis, which became a source of ongoing controversy.

Sandra Serrano and other witnesses reported seeing a woman in a polka-dot dress running from the hotel shouting "We shot Kennedy." The LAPD investigated and concluded the accounts were mistaken or fabricated; critics argued the investigation of this lead was inadequate.

Acoustic Evidence and Paul Schrade

Paul Schrade, a Kennedy friend and campaign aide who was himself shot at the Ambassador Hotel that night, has been among the most credible voices calling for re-examination of the evidence. Schrade was shot in the head and survived. He has publicly argued that Sirhan could not have fired the bullet that hit Kennedy given his documented position, and that a second gunman fired the fatal shot.

In 2018, a federal court rejected Sirhan's appeal for a new trial. The court examined the acoustic evidence submitted by Sirhan's legal team, which claimed to show a second gun firing in an audio recording of the scene, and found the evidence insufficient to warrant a new trial.

Sirhan's Memory Claims and Hypnosis

Sirhan has at various points claimed no memory of the shooting, suggested he was programmed or hypnotised, and raised "Manchurian Candidate"-style claims. These claims have not been substantiated. Mental-state evidence presented at trial showed Sirhan understood what he was doing; his notebooks, recovered from his home, contained written statements expressing hostility toward Kennedy over US support for Israel. The hypnosis framing has been a persistent element of Sirhan's legal strategy but has not prevailed in any court.

RFK Jr. and the 2022 Parole Proceedings

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of the senator, has publicly stated his belief that Sirhan did not act alone and that his father's case should be reinvestigated. RFK Jr. met with Sirhan in prison in 2018; he later made public statements calling for a reinvestigation. His views are not shared by all Kennedy family members; his sister Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has disagreed publicly.

In 2022, the California Board of Parole Hearings recommended parole for Sirhan. Governor Gavin Newsom reversed the recommendation in January 2023, citing the premeditated and violent nature of the crime. Sirhan remains imprisoned.

The LAPD and Evidence Handling

Critics of the official account have pointed to evidence-handling problems: photographs of bullet holes in pantry doorframes that the LAPD subsequently destroyed or failed to preserve; the destruction of Sirhan's gun shortly after initial testing; and what critics describe as a rushed investigation by a department with institutional interests in closing the case quickly amid the trauma of 1968.

The evidentiary gaps are real, though they cut in multiple directions: poor evidence preservation can reflect either cover-up or institutional incompetence, and 1968 forensic standards were substantially below contemporary ones.

What Would Change Our Verdict

• Full independent re-examination of surviving physical evidence with modern forensic techniques
• Declassification of any withheld investigative or intelligence records
• Corroboration of a second shooter from named witnesses or physical evidence

Verdict

Ongoing investigation. Sirhan Sirhan's conviction stands and he was undeniably present at the scene firing his weapon. The physical-evidence discrepancy between the coroner's wound findings and witness accounts of Sirhan's position is documented and unresolved. The acoustic evidence for a second gun has not prevailed in court. RFK Jr.'s calls for reinvestigation reflect legitimate questions that have not been definitively answered. The case remains open as a matter of historical inquiry.