ROBERT KENNEDY’S ‘ASSASSIN’ ELIGIBLE FOR RELEASE AFTER PAROLE

MYSTERIOUS DEATH

Sirhan Bisara Sirhan, a Palestinian convicted for the assassination of former US Senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy on 5 June 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, is now eligible for release after the Parole Board’s recent decision. However, whether he comes out from the jail in San Diego would depend on the legal formalities as well as the consent of the California Governor. The entire matter could take up to five months. The killing of RFK, who was on the threshold of being nominated as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee to face Richard Nixon, in 1968, had shocked the entire world. There have been multiple movies based on conspiracy theories that have sought to establish linkages between RFK’s mysterious death with the assassination of his brother, President John Kennedy, who was gunned down in Dallas on 22 November 1963 as also with the Watergate scandal which led to the resignation of Richard Nixon. The murder mystery resulted in the conviction of Sirhan, who while admitting that he had fired a shot, did not recall having killed RFK.

There were certain developments that followed the shooting which do not seem to add up. For instance, the hotel where the slaying took place was razed to the ground within a very short span. Many files and documents related to the crime also went missing. There were witnesses who had seen a man and woman descending from a staircase claiming that they had done it. Like in the case of JFK’s killing, there are a whole lot of people who refuse to believe that the former President was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald since there was evidence that some shots appeared to have been fired from behind a white picket fence in front of the presidential convoy. This was other than the theory that JFK was shot from a multi-storey building. The killing of Oswald within 24 hours of his arrest by Jack Ruby, a night club operator, and a known police informer, further deepened the mystery. It is said that during the course of the investigation of the assassination, the authorities discovered that more than 300 people, who could have had some knowledge of the killing had also died under circumstances that could not be properly and rationally explained. One theory that did the rounds had stated that both JFK and RFK were victims of a special elite force, raised during Dwight Eisenhower’s tenure to target Cuban leaders. Nixon like some others, amongst them J. Edgar Hoover, the then FBI chief, were aware of the existence of this force. The Watergate scandal too had something to do with the existence of such a force.

There is another theory that the mafia got both the brothers. RFK had the list of the kingpins and they ensured that both brothers died. Political assassinations always leave open many questions rather than addressing them. In the case of President Abraham Lincoln’s shooting too, there are aspects which have no clear answers. In our own country, there are gaping holes in the prosecution charges concerning the assassinations of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son, Rajiv Gandhi.

Sirhan, the 77-year old convict in the RFK killing, has been behind bars for more than 53 years. RFK’s son is amongst those who have recommended his release. His walking out of the prison would only be possible once the due process of law goes through its requisite motions..