Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (born March 19, 1944) assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968 by shooting him just minutes after he had won the California presidential primary election.

Sirhan, a Palestinian born in Jerusalem, shot Kennedy in the Ambassador Hotel after Kennedy finished addressing supporters. Sirhan was detained at the scene by bystanders, and then arrested. On March 3, 1969, in a Los Angeles, California court, Sirhan admitted that he had killed Kennedy. But as with President John F. Kennedy's assassination, questions persist—such as how eleven slugs came out of an eight-chamber revolver with only six shells in it. The gun used by Sirhan was an Iver-Johnson Cadet Model 55-SA revolver in .22LR caliber, with a 2.5 inch barrel. The serial number was H-53725. Though he never got closer than three feet to Kennedy, the autopsy revealed that there were powder burns on RFK's jacket.

Sirhan said he felt betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel in the Six-Day War. The assassination took place one year after the start of that war. Sirhan later also claimed he acted unconsciously, possibly as the result of "hypnotic brainwashing" which he attributed to the CIA's MK-Ultra program.

The head prosecutor in the case was Lynn "Buck" Compton of Band of Brothers fame. Sirhan was convicted and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 after the California Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional. He was eligible for parole, but as of March 2002 he had parole denied twelve consecutive times. He is not expected to be paroled during his life.

External links

• Who killed R. F. Kennedy? http://www.patshannan.bizland.com/assassinationsrobertkennedy.html
• Crime Library bio http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/assassins/kennedy/4.html
• FBI report summary http://www.fbi-most-wanted.com/robert-kennedy-assassination/ released under the Freedom of Information Act.