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Sirhan Sirhan and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

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Sirhan Sirhan and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy T H E F O R G O T T E N T E R R O R I S T Other Books by Mel Ayton The JFK Assassination: Dispelling the Myths Questions of Controversy: The Kennedy Brothers A Racial Crime: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. T H E F O R G O T T E N T E R R O R I S T SIRHAN SIRHAN AND THE ASSASSINATION OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY MEL AYTON POTOMAC BOOKS, INC. WASHINGTON, D.C. Copyright © 2007 Potomac Books, Inc. Published in the United States by Potomac Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ayton, Mel. The forgotten terrorist : Sirhan Sirhan and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy / Mel Ayton. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-59797-079-2 (alk. paper) 1. Kennedy, Robert F., 1925–1968—Assassination. 2. Sirhan, Sirhan Bishara, 1944– 3. Assassins—Biography. 4. Terrorists—Biography. I. Title. E840.8.K4A98 2007 364.152'4092—dc22 2006100845 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39-48 Standard. Potomac Books, Inc. 22841 Quicksilver Drive Dulles, Virginia 20166 First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii TIME LINE ix INTRODUCTION 1 1 THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL 13 2 RFK AND ISRAEL 29 3 SIRHAN AND PALESTINE 49 4 THE SHOOTING 73 5 THE TRIAL 91 6 CONTROVERSIES: THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE 107 7 CONTROVERSIES: THE WITNESSES 139 8 DISTORTED TRUTHS 161 9 THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE ASSASSIN 181 10 SIRHAN’S OBSESSIONS 203 11 THE UNAFFILIATED TERRORIST 225 12 WHY DID HE KILL? 245 AFTERWORD 263 vi Contents APPENDIX A REPORT ON RFK’S WOUNDS BY BALLISTICS EXPERT LARRY STURDIVAN 271 APPENDIX B ANALYSIS OF “THE PRUSZYNSKI TAPE” BY ACOUSTICS EXPERT PHILIP HARRISON 277 APPENDIX C EXCERPTS FROM SIRHAN SIRHAN’S NOTEBOOKS 281 NOTES 285 BIBLIOGRAPHY 315 INDEX 329 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 335 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS t is not possible to thank everyone who gave so graciously of their time, Ibut I owe a special debt of thanks to a number of people. Anyone who writes about the Robert Kennedy assassination must acknowledge a large debt to Dan Moldea. His book about the murder is indispensable to researchers. Dan has given generously of his time in reading my manuscript and clarifying issues raised. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Robert Blair Kaiser, whose book RFK Must Die is also indispensable to anyone who wishes to gain insight into Sirhan Sirhan’s state of mind and motives for the assassination. This book would not have been possible without the assistance of experts, academics, and scientists who have decisively cleared up many anomalies arising from the evidence in the case. I am therefore grateful for the work done by Steve Barber, Larry Sturdivan, Philip Harrison, Dr. Chad R. Zimmerman, and Michael O’Dell. Their contributions to my research have been outstanding. I also wish to thank others whose contributions have been invaluable, including Anthony Summers, Archivist Nancy Zimmelman of the California State Archives, Larry Sneed, Dr. Graham Wagstaff, Dr. Etzel Cardena, James W. Kenney, Don Bohning, Manny Chavez, Grayston Lynch, and Lonnie Athens. I also wish to acknowledge the work of my literary agent Barbara vii viii Acknowledgments Casey and my editors at Potomac Books, Don Jacobs and Julie Kimmel, who have given excellent advice in the editing of my manuscript. Finally, I would not have been able to undertake this work had it not been for the love and support of my wife, Sheila, my daughter Laura, and my son Tim. TIME LINE March–April 1948 Twenty-two-year-old Robert F. Kennedy covers the Arab-Israeli conflict for the Boston Post. May 1948 The new State of Israel is declared. June 1948 The first of RFK’s four articles about the conflict in Palestine appears in the Boston Post. December 1956 The Sirhan family secures sponsorship from two fami- lies belonging to the First Nazarene Church in Pasadena. The family arrives in the United States the following year, and Sirhan enrolls in public school. 1958 Bishara Sirhan, Sirhan’s father, abandons his family and returns to Jerusalem. November 1960 John F. Kennedy is elected president of the United States. During the election campaign he states that friendship with Israel is not “a partisan matter. It is a national com- mitment.” March 1963 Sirhan becomes a part-time student at Pasadena City College. November 1963 JFK is assassinated. March 1964 Sirhan secures employment at John Davies’s service station. May 1964 Sirhan is dismissed from Pasadena City College for poor attendance. ix x Time Line August 22, 1964 After resigning his position as attorney general in the Johnson administration, RFK announces his candidacy for the Democratic senatorial nomination in New York. In a campaign speech RFK declares, “we will stand by Israel and come to her assistance” in the event of an attack. November 1964 RFK is elected senator for New York. As senator, he stands by his brother’s commitment to Israel. October 1965 Sirhan secures employment at Santa Anita Racetrack. March 31, 1966 Sirhan quits his job at the Santa Anita Racetrack. June 2, 1966 Sirhan secures employment at the Granja Vista del Rio Horse Farm. September 25, 1966 Sirhan suffers head injuries in a fall from a horse. November 13, 1966 Sirhan is fired from his job at the horse ranch. He then secures employment at the Del Mar Racetrack but is fired after a few weeks. May 24–June 23, RFK gives five pro-Israeli speeches and describes Israel 1967 as a “gallant democracy” equipped with “arms and courage.” September 24, 1967 Sirhan secures employment at John Weidner’s health food store. March 7, 1968 After an altercation with his boss, Sirhan is fired from his job at John Weidner’s health food store. March 16, 1968 RFK declares his candidacy for president of the United States. April 10, 1968 Sirhan tells Alvin Clark he is going to kill Robert Kennedy. May 15, 1968 John Frankenheimer’s CBS television documentary The Story of Robert Kennedy is broadcast. A few days later Sirhan Sirhan learns from a radio broadcast on KFWB that RFK has committed himself to supplying Israel with fifty Phantom jets. (Note: Sirhan said he believed he watched the CBS television documentary on May 18 or 20, 1968) May 18, 1968 Sirhan writes in his notebooks, “Robert Kennedy must be assassinated. My determination to eliminate RFK is becoming more the more [sic] of an unshakable ob- session.” May 20, 1968 RFK, wearing a yarmulke, gives a speech at the Temple Time Line xi Isaiah in West Los Angeles in which he declares that the United States “must fully assist Israel—with arms if necessary.” May 24, 1968 Sirhan attends a Kennedy rally at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. May 27, 1968 At Temple Shalom in Portland, Oregon, RFK, wearing a yarmulke, declares that the United States must defend Israel against aggression “from whatever source.” June 1, 1968 12:50–3:00 p.m. Sirhan visits the Corona Police Department pistol range. On his way home from the range, he purchases two boxes of .22-caliber hollow-point bullets from the Lock, Stock ’N Barrel Gun Shop in San Gabriel, California. June 2, 1968 RFK takes his family to Disneyland and returns to the Ambassador Hotel at 7:00 p.m. Sirhan attends a Kennedy rally at the Ambassador Hotel and observes the senator standing on an outdoor terrace. June 3, 1968 8:00 p.m. RFK flies to San Diego after a ride through the African- American Los Angeles suburb of Watts and a rally in Venice. 8:45 p.m. RFK arrives at the El Cortez Hotel in San Diego. Evi- dence suggests that Sirhan may have stalked RFK at the El Cortez Hotel. 12:00 midnight RFK returns to Los Angeles. June 4, 1968 afternoon Sirhan fires his gun at the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club and then meets friends at the Pasadena City College cam- pus before going to the Ambassador Hotel. 7:15 p.m. RFK travels to the Ambassador Hotel for his victory rally after having spent the day with his family at the Malibu home of film director John Frankenheimer. 9:00–9:30 p.m. Sirhan voices disdain for RFK at the Ambassador Hotel campaign victory party. 10:30 p.m. Sirhan is observed in the Ambassador Hotel pantry area. He asks a hotel busboy if RFK will be coming through the pantry. 11:00 p.m. Sirhan is asked to leave the anteroom behind the Em- bassy Ballroom stage. xii Time Line June 5, 1968 12:15 a.m. RFK concludes his victory speech and is led behind the stage to the kitchen pantry. Sirhan meets the Kennedy party in the pantry, where he fires eight shots. Kennedy and five others are wounded. 1:44 a.m. Kennedy is pronounced dead at age forty-two. All other victims of the shooting survive their wounds. June 8, 1968 Robert Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cem- etery, Arlington, Virginia. INTRODUCTION “What I think the [RFK] assassination did was to sour the whole public, and particularly the Democratic Party, on the election and on the political process. We’d had the Tet offensive—which was a political disaster in this country—and then you get McCarthy on the road, you get Bobby in the primaries, and you get Martin Luther King’s assassination, and the party is now torn in many ways, in disarray.
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