For numerous years, Robert Kennedy Jr. has adamantly insisted that the incarcerated Sirhan Sirhan is not guilty of assassinating his father, Senator Robert Kennedy, in 1968. He subscribes to the theory that there was an additional shooter participating in the murderous act. This sentiment has seeded discord among family members, a dissonance likely to be amplified as Sirhan, now 81 years old, approaches possible parole in the coming year.
In an unexpected twist, Kennedy Jr. suggested that Thane Eugene Cesar, a security officer who died in 2019 and never faced charges, carried out his father’s murder. He declared, ‘I am of the conviction that Cesar is the real assassin of my father.’
Kennedy Jr.’s stance became public when a 2012 letter he dispatched to the then U.S. Attorney General, demanding a fresh investigation into his father’s demise and an exploration of the two-gunman hypothesis, was unearthed. The letter was discovered in declassification of files related to the assassination by the prior government.
Highlighting the familial disagreements, Kennedy Jr.’s proposal to the California Board of Parole Hearings that Sirhan be considered for parole during his 16th parole hearing in 2021 attracted criticism from six of his siblings. They expressed strong disapproval and collectively rejected the initiative.
An intriguing facet of Kennedy Jr.’s 2012 letter was the attached ‘Summary of Evidence for the New Investigation’, a compilation by Paul Schrade. Schrade, a former labor leader and close associate of RFK, was among the quintuple of individuals injured in the burst of gunfire that culminated in Kennedy’s death at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel in the aftermath of his Democratic presidential primary win in California.
Schrade himself was a victim of Sirhan’s gun during the ruckus, taking a bullet to the head. Despite this, he devoted many years attempting to validate his theory that more than one gunman was implicated in the act of assassination.
Supporting his claims, Schrade cited ‘new forensic tests conducted on a journalist’s audiotape that was created during the crime and later retrieved from the FBI’s files.’ His assertion, as shared in his personal letter dated July 29, 2012, was that the analysis of the sound file substantiated the execution of thirteen gunshots.
He emphasized that Sirhan discharged all eight rounds from his .22 caliber Ivar Johnson revolver but did not refill his ammunition, a detail which was also included in the letter. The acoustics expert who examined the sound recording echoed the same findings.
Schrade, who passed away in 2022 at his ripe age of 97, drew attention to the autopsy report. The findings showed that RFK was assassinated from the rear, contrasting with eyewitness accounts that located Sirhan in front of the candidate.
Kennedy Jr. reinforced the argument in his 2021 letter, ‘While it’s undeniable that Sirhan released gunshots in my father’s direction, the majority of evidence suggests that they weren’t the fatal ones.’ He pointed out how Cesar, engaged as a security officer for the occasion ‘was stationed appropriately to execute the gunshots as recorded in the autopsy.’
Further raising doubts, Kennedy Jr. recorded, ‘Three bystanders testified to seeing him draw out his firearm — which he later confessed — and one witness even reported seeing him discharge it.’ He expressed frustration at the Los Angeles police for their failure to investigate the weapon.
Another peculiar point about the incident is that Sirhan has always claimed to have no memory of the events that transpired on that fatal day. Files uncovered recently shed light on intriguing details. Sirhan’s bedroom in his Pasadena, California, home that he shared with his mother and three siblings was found to be littered with handwritten notes.
A single note among multiple others piques interest, stating, ‘My unyielding resolution to eliminate RFK is increasingly turning into an irrevocable obsession.’ Sirhan’s potential parole in 2021 ignited family conflicts, ultimately resulting in mutual allegations of betrayals.