Sirhan B. Sirhan was accused of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy in June, 1968. But one of the mysteries surrounding that awful event - if unofficial records can be believed - is why the shells and impacts recovered in that Ambassador Hotel kitchen passage way exceeded the shots purportedly fired by his pistol.
A likely culprit is Robert Maheu - who would have had access to the CIA’s experiments in hypnosis and mind control, which were being conducted at the time in California and elsewhere. That would have enabled him to frame Sirhan Sirhan as a patsy for the slaying of Kennedy, while other gunmen actually fired the fatal shots. This has been argued by long time Kennedy assassination researcher Lisa Pease, who spent 25 years researching her book, “A Lie Too Big to Fail."
So before anyone blows a brain gasket and goes ape shit considering this possibility, I strongly suggest they read Lisa's book. As a primer they may also wish to get hold of Philip Nelson's masterful 'Who Really Killed Martin Luther King Jr.: The Case Against Lyndon B. Johnson And J. Edgar Hoover'.
On p. 82, we learn of Hoover's "planning list" in which he had listed three sets of initials:
JFK
RFK
MLK
The significance?
"Nothing in the way of planning on the remaining subjects could be started until the first priority was complete: The assassination of John F. Kennedy. Only when that was done could the remaining actions be put into the gristmill of street-level planning. After the first target was eliminated in November, 1963, the next two were moved up to the top of the list, and the two men (LBJ and Hoover) whose cooperation in many hidden areas had been underway for two decades, reached a common goal.
Johnson and Hoover undoubtedly agreed that the next subjects would be planned jointly and simultaneously, because they both knew that time was limited and the plans for each would require long lead times. "
The basis for the above was exposed based on research by author William Pepper, tracking down Hoover's communication of his hit list - conveyed to partner Clyde Tolson then to big mouth Sen. Joseph McCarthy - who was to confidentially convey it Russel Adkins. Clearly, McCarthy was the weak link in the chain in terms of secrecy.
Beyond that, Nelson shows clearly how Johnson and Hoover worked in concert to nail the other two targets after they took out JFK. The key thing with Martin Luther King was to get him to come to Memphis where a SOG hit team could take him out at the Lorraine Motel. To this end Clyde Tolson was instructed to "make it happen in Memphis". So it was decided to enlist the help of Memphis mayor Henry Loeb III to "use the city's garbage workers as a catalyst." Further (p. 83):
"It had to be carefully designed to ensure the target was exactly where they wanted him to be, at the point where the plans and logistics - the men and their equipment - would all be in place. Every contingency would have to be anticipated down to the point of having the patsy - James Earl Ray - on site and ready to be shot and killed, but with a backup plan in place if he wasn't."
Given the scenario worked - but not entirely as planned (Ray wasn't killed but escaped, only arrested later)- it was clear Hoover and Johnson recognized the need for a patsy in every hit. Hence the need to find one for RFK too.
In this latter case, researcher Lisa Pease's efforts are stellar in exposing the warp and woof of how the RFK hit likely went down based on detailed physical findings (e.g. the bullet holes in the Ambassador Hotel kitchen pantry's walls) to the testimony of numerous witnesses. As Pease aptly put it in her second major book ('The Assassinations'), co-written with long time JFK researcher James Di Eugenio (p. 545):
"Those who wish to refute the evidence of conspiracy in this case just choose to ignore statements such as those given to the LAPD."
Some of those include (ibid.):
"The guy with the gun could have left. No one seemed to be paying any attention." - Darnell Johnson, 7/24/ 68
"My god, he had a gun and we let him go by." - Joseph Klein referring to a man leaving pantry in a hurry while Sirhan was being subdued.
"We had reports from two of the eyewitnesses that there were two assailants involved."- Larry Scheer, live broadcast footage from 6/5/68
Even more suspicious, as Ms. Pease notes, the recovered bullet fragments were improperly entered into the evidence log. Nor could this merely be attributed to carelessness. For example, the likely lethal 6 x 3 x 2 mm fragment found in Kennedy's head- saw no mention of recovery. Slides were taken but nowhere in the autopsy report does it state who took them or booked them into evidence. Stranger still, items 13-27 are listed on one page - but items 24, 25 are absent. (The number of the item booked immediately after 23 is 26). In addition, the handwriting changes drastically. According to Ms. Pease, "it looked like the numbers 26 and 27 were added over previous numbers that were partially whited out."
Pease goes on to question why the numbers of the actual evidence vials and tags were changed. Also, why were photos of another doctor (George Clayton) booked into evidence instead of items 24, 25? What was so important about the photos it necessitated reordering the evidence the evidence log? Or, was the purpose to hide the bullet evidence related to the only fatal wound?
These contradictions and divergences bear a disturbing resemblance to the confusion that accompanied the JFK autopsy at Bethesda. For example, the original autopsy notes of Dr. J.J. Humes were burned. JFK's brain (remnant) disappeared during the autopsy and up to now has not been recovered. A "special" bullet, designated CE 399 - was deemed to have caused all 7 wounds on Connally and JFK - despite clear evidence this was impossible.
Neutron activation analysis showed separate bullet fragments different in composition from CE399, also that CE399 had likely never been fired into bone mass. In the words of Dr. Robert Shaw, Connally's doctor:
"I am sure the bullet that hit Governor Connally
was fragmented much more than this bullet
shows."
Indeed. And tests conducted by the Warren Commission
itself - using similar bullets, even fired into wads of cotton -
showed more deformity than did CE 399. Further, the
initial draft of the autopsy report (signed by Dr. George Burkeley) stated:
“A bullet had entered his back at a point slightly above the
shoulder to the right of the spine."
But Warren Commissioner Gerald Ford altered it to read:
“A
bullet had entered the back of his neck slightly to the right of the
spine."
Clearly,
Ford wanted the document to conform with the single bullet myth - validating the spurious exhibit CE 333- and would stoop
to altering a document on record to attain the goal. As in the case of the JFK hit, both LBJ and Hoover bet on a chaos and confusion aftermath muddying the waters and diluting any effort to identify a conspiracy. It also appears they "helped" things along at critical points, such as the autopsies. Basically it worked given 9 of 10 'Muricans are convinced Sirhan B. Sirhan killed Bobby. But given the patsy template this is no longer a viable takeaway - especially given Hoover's initial planning list.
Sirhan himself has insisted he didn’t remember the shooting and had been drinking alcohol just beforehand, was convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death after his conviction, but that sentence was commuted to life when the California Supreme Court briefly outlawed capital punishment in 1972.
Robert Kennedy was a U.S. senator from New York at the time seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was gunned down moments after delivering a victory speech in the pivotal California primary. Five others were wounded.
California’s parole board voted Friday to free Sirhan after two of RFK’s sons said they supported releasing him and prosecutors declined to argue he should be kept behind bars. But the governor ultimately will decide if Sirhan Sirhan leaves prison.
Douglas Kennedy was a toddler when his father was gunned down in 1968. He told a two-person board panel that he was moved to tears by Sirhan’s remorse and that the 77-year-old should be released if he’s not a threat to others. As he relate to the Board:
“I’m overwhelmed just by being able to view Mr. Sirhan face to face. I’ve lived my life both in fear of him and his name in one way or another. And I am grateful today to see him as a human being worthy of compassion and love.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spoken in favor of Sirhan’s release in the past and met with him in prison, wrote in favor of paroling Sirhan. He also is one of the few convinced that Sirhan was not the assassin. (See last link)
In the end governor Gavin Newsome will have final say on whether Sirhan gets parole. Alas for Sirhan, Newsome is trapped in a political vice spawned by the idiotic recall vote - to take place on Sept. 14th. There is very little chance Newsome will want to risk his future by letting RFK's alleged assassin go free - thereby triggering yet another media and right wing meltdown just before the vote. Just my 0.02.
“A Lie Too Big to Fail" - for those interested- is also available as a pdf, downloadable file.
See Also:
Sirhan Sirhan's Lawyers Say He Was A 'Hypnotized' Patsy Who Didn't Kill Robert Kennedy - The Atlantic
AND:
Who killed Bobby Kennedy? His son, RFK Jr., doesn't believe it was Sirhan Sirhan
