RFK's son tells his father's convicted killer he was not the culprit: lawyer
(Mainichi Japan)
LOS ANGELES -- The son of Robert F. Kennedy told the convicted assassin of his father that he did not believe the man was the perpetrator in the 1968 murder, a lawyer for the convict has told the Mainichi Shimbun.
The lawyer, Laurie Dusek, was present when Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 64, met with Sirhan B. Sirhan, 74, at a jail in San Diego, California, on Dec. 19, 2017.
RFK, who served as United States attorney general, was shot to death at a hotel in Los Angeles where he made a speech to his supporters on June 5, 1968, while running for president. Conspiracy theories, including ones suggesting the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency, surround his death, as is the case with the assassination of his brother, U.S. President John F. Kennedy five years earlier.
RFK Jr. intends to support activities seeking a reinvestigation of the 1968 case, and Dusek has expressed expectations of a resurgence of public interest on the 50th anniversary of RFK's death.
According to Dusek, the meeting between the two men lasted about three hours. Kennedy told Sirhan at the beginning and end of the session, "I know you didn't kill my father," and shook his hand. Sirhan was very happy, the lawyer said. Kennedy was the first member of his family to meet with Sirhan after the assassination.
In a speech on May 21 this year in Silicon Valley, California, Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, told the audience that Sirhan's gun was able to carry only eight bullets, but 13 shots were fired at the murder scene. He added that autopsy results indicated that his father had been shot at close range, but this finding contradicted witness reports regarding Sirhan.
"If you can count and believe that a revolver cannot shoot 13 shots, then you have to believe that there was somebody else involved," he said.
People injured in the murder are calling for the case file to be reopened. Dusek said Kennedy perhaps thought it was physically impossible for Sirhan to carry out the crime after hearing details of the case from those seeking a renewed investigation.
The Washington Post reported on the Kennedy-Sirhan meeting on May 27. Kennedy did not reveal the specifics of their discussion but told the paper, "I was disturbed that the wrong person might have been convicted of killing my father. My father was the chief law enforcement officer in this country. I think it would have disturbed him if somebody was put in jail for a crime they didn't commit."
(Japanese original by Hiromi Nagano, Los Angeles Bureau)