RFK’s Son Says Convict Sirhan Sirhan Not His Father’s Killer

The assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 continues to intrigue many, including his own son, Robert Kennedy Jr. For several decades, Kennedy Jr. has steadfastly claimed that the man convicted of killing his father, Sirhan Sirhan, is not guilty. According to Kennedy Jr., a second shooter was involved in the fatal incident, a theory that has consistently caused friction within his family. The controversy is set to intensify as Sirhan’s opportunity for parole draws closer in the coming year.

Kennedy Jr. went on record stating his belief that the real culprit was Thane Eugene Cesar, a security guard at the scene of the assassination. In 2019, the security guard passed away, never having faced charges pertaining to the senator’s death. ‘It’s my conviction that Cesar was the one who took my father’s life,’ stated Kennedy Jr.

Illumination on the topic was provided when it was discovered that Kennedy Jr., back in 2012, reached out to the then-governing US Attorney General requesting a fresh investigation of his father’s demise, particularly to explore the second-gunman theory. As the documents were declassified by the former government, the existence of this letter became public knowledge.

Kennedy’s decision to advocate for Sirhan’s parole during his 2021 hearing—the convict’s 16th encounter with the California Board of Parole Hearings—resulted in a familial split, with six siblings expressing their objections to his advocate’s role. Kennedy Jr had forwarded the Attorney General a ‘Summary of Evidence for the New Investigation’, in 2012, meticulously curated by a man named Paul Schrade.

Schrade, once a confidant and labor union leader with a close bond to Robert F. Kennedy, was among the five individuals injured during the shocking spray of bullets that contributed to Kennedy’s untimely death at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. This tragic event occurred in the wake of the senator’s victory in the Democratic presidential primary in California. Schrade, who himself was shot in the head by Sirhan during the tumult, committed several years of his life to substantiating his claim of multiple gunmen participating in the assassination.

To substantiate his claim, Schrade pointed to ‘fresh forensic analysis of an audio recording by a journalist uncovered in the FBI’s archives.’ This audiotape was from the scene of the crime and, in Schrade’s words, it was ‘recorded during the appalling incident.’ His letter petitioning for another investigation was dated July 29, 2012.

An acoustics expert, after analyzing the aforementioned recording, concluded that a total of thirteen shots had been discharged. However, in his letter, Schrade asserted that Sirhan had fired the entire load of his .22 caliber Ivar Johnson revolver—eight rounds—and had not taken time to reload.

When he passed away in 2022 at the age of 97, Schrade left behind a compelling argument. He had highlighted the autopsy report’s detail that Senator Kennedy was shot from behind—an inconsistent fact considering eyewitnesses saw Sirhan, the convicted assassin, right in front of the senator.

While Sirhan did discharge his weapon, Kennedy Jr. upheld that this was not the fatal shot. ‘The preponderance of evidence suggests my father’s killer was not Sirhan,’ Kennedy Jr. stated in 2021. He alleged that Thane Eugene Cesar, the security guard on duty that night, ‘was perfectly positioned to execute the fatal shots detailed in the autopsy report.’

Multiple witnesses saw Cesar reach for his weapon, one even claiming that she saw him pulling the trigger. Despite these claims, Cesar’s weapon was never subject to any scrutiny by the Los Angeles police, a lapse that has always been a point of contention with Kennedy Jr.

Meanwhile, Sirhan, who is now well into his eighth decade, has repeatedly professed that he has no memory of the events that transpired on the fateful day of the senator’s assassination. Newly released records pertaining to the case contain scribbled notes discovered in Sirhan’s bedroom within the Pasadena, Californian residence where he lived with his mother and three siblings. One note in particular read, ‘The need to eliminate RFK is morphing into a firm fixation.’

During the 2021 parole hearing for Sirhan, the rift within the Kennedy clan over his potential release exacerbated the family feud, culminating in what was perceived as a ‘betrayal’ by one side.