Sirhan Sirhan

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, and was soon arrested. On March 3, 1969, in a Los Angeles, California court, Sirhan admitted that he had killed Kennedy. But as with the earlier Kennedy assassination, questions persist—such as how eleven slugs came out of an eight-chamber revolver with only six shells in it.¹

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".

The lead 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 is eligible for parole, but as of March 2003 has had parole denied twelve consecutive times.

Notes

¹The 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.