The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy: An Investigation of Motive, Means, and Opportunity

by Dan E. Moldea

Book Overview

On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles; his death the following day stunned a nation still recovering from John F. Kennedys assassination five years earlier. Officials insisted, however, that this was not another Dallas: this was an open-and-shut case--Sirhan Sirhan acted alone. Yet behind the official version of the RFK assassination lies a story of shadows, controversies, conflicting testimony,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393315347
• ISBN13: 9780393315349
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Bobby Kennedy son just went to see Sirhan Sirhan and he doesn't believe he killed his father.... so now what

well researched book, but leaves too much to be answered

i picked up The Killing of Robert Kennedy not knowing whether the book was a single gunman or conspiracy book. Looking back now and seeing that little Gerald Posner's endorsement of the book pretty much cemented what i should have known.....single gunman. but i gave this book a chance, and it's a solid well researched book. Dan Moldea was hired by Philip Melanson to help research the RFK Assassination. Moldea, who at first believed in the second gunman theory, through his research, comes to the simple conclusion that Sirhan Sirhan did in fact, committ the murder of Senator Kennedy. The book recants the timeline's of Sirhan, Paul Schrade, and Eugene Cesar, who was working security for the hotel on the night of the assassination. Cesar was the closest person to Robert Kennedy at the time of the shooting. Interviewing witnesses such as Cesar, Thomas Noguchi-Chief Medical Examiner, Assistant DAs, LAPD officers, and Sirhan himself, Moldea learns about evidence destoryed such as the door frame possibly containing 2 bullet holes, the ceiling tiles above Kennedy with a bullet hole, Sirhan's Iver Johnson .22 caliber pistol, and 2400 of the 2500 photos taken at the crime scene 3 months after the assassination and prior to the trial of Sirhan. Moldea's interviews with key figures from that night help him conclude that: 1- RFK's head shot (behind his right ear) was at contact to near contact range (point blank) 2- Paul Schrade was shot first (RFK asked "is everyone alright? Is Paul alright?") 3- 8 shots were in Sirhan's gun, all shots accounted (3 in Kennedy, 5 in victims) 4- some witnesses saw a 2nd gun (belonging to Cesar, but he never fired a shot even though LAPD never took custdy of the gun) 5- Sirhan wasn't drinking nor was he under the influence of anything 6- Sirhan made up the "i don't remember anything" 7- Sirhan stalked Kennedy after he arrived at the Ambassador hotel (Sirhan only remembers going to the hotel for coffee) 8- there were no bullets or bullet holes in the door frame, hence the destruction of the door frame 1 year after murder 9- Serrano's statment of polka dot "we shot Kennedy" was correct, but not in context (anti-Kennedy in crowd was happy he was shot, but not part of conspiracy) to explain that Sirhan killed Kennedy, Moldea cites his notes taken from interviews with Sirhan, where he concluded that Sirhan did kill RFK and he did it because he wanted to be a somebody, and in his mind, Sirhan erased the actual moments of the murder. Moldea did write about an interview that Sirhan did where when asked why he didn't shoot RFK between the eyes, Sirhan responded "because he turned around". (oddly enough, there is no footnote to back this statement up...i'm just sayin'.....) All of these circumstanial statments lead Moldea to turn on Melanson and conclude that Sirhan and only Sirhan did it. However, the truth isn't that easy. Several key facts still exist, such as: 1- Sirhan's gun was never at point-blank range, which still do

The definitive text on RFK.

The reasons that no one else has tackled RFK since Dan Moldea did is that Moldea simply wrote the definitive text.

A better Oswald?

I read this book after reading and being favorably impressed with Dan Moldea's book "The Hoffa Wars". This book is a result of Moldea's lengthy investigation and the research of many individuals. "The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy" is composed of three sections. Part 1 concerns the official police investigation. Part 2 explains the controversy arising from the official probe. Part 3 is Mr. Moldea's own investigation. He interviewed Sirhan Sirhan and Thane Cesar many times. The most troubling aspect of the Robert Kennedy murder investigation was that the controversy was self inflicted. The crime scene wasn't properly secured, the disposal of possible evidence, the controversy surrounding DeWayne Wolfer, and numerous "clerical errors" in related documents are just some of the factors that helped fuel conspiracy theories. Were there bullet holes in the center divider of the pantry? That's a question which a second gunman theory hinges on and Mr.Moldea hasn't convinced me that they weren't there. The girl with the polka-dot dress is another theme that was addressed. I do agree that the conclusion that he arrived at with the aid of Thomas Noguchi is correct. Especially after reading "Whoever Fights Monsters" by Robert Ressler ,his interviews with Sirhan Sirhan seem to confirm Moldea's theory. This is a good book and it reads like a novel with different twists and turns in the investigation.

Motive, Means, and Opportunity

The author of this very readable book has specialized in reporting on organized crime since 1974. He re-investigated the assassination in 1987, and began to accumulate evidence from the police investigators. Robert Francis Kennedy earned a reputation as an enemy of mobsters and labor racketeers while chief counsel of the Senate Rackets Committee (p.17). No one has ever prosecuted organized crime more than RFK did while Attorney General.June 4, 1968 was primary day in California. At first RFK was trailing, then he and his friends went to the Ambassador Hotel to await results. When the results showed RFK ahead, he went to the Embassy Room to make his victory speech. They then retraced the same route to return to the hotel suite. Sirhan was able to get into the kitchen although he didn't belong there. When RFK walked there, Sirhan opened fire. None of those shot admitted to seeing the gunman (p.43)!Pages 85-89 discuss the 8 shots, and the other five victims. RFK was shot from a gun at his right rear side angled upwards, not from his front at 1 to 3 feet away. The fatal wound behind his right ear came from a one inch distance. There are discrepancies between the testimony of the eyewitnesses and the coroner's analysis from the autopsy (p.91). This is critical evidence (pp.95-98). The history of Sirhan is on pages 101-109. Two weeks after the shooting Sirhan was represented by a lawyer who formerly represented mobsters (p.116). The Defense and the Prosecution agreed to a guilty plea and a life sentence (p.120). The judge wouldn't allow this. Sirhan was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death (p.123).The next month the 'Los Angeles Free Press' printed an article that cast doubt on the official theory (p.13). Extra bullet holes suggested a second gunman. There was a discrepancy between eyewitness testimony and the muzzle distance. A criminalist and firearms expert disputed the claim of a lone gunman (pp.138-9). The Coroner said there was no eyewitness to testify Sirhan fired at point-blank range (p.159). The American Academy of Forensic Sciences recommended a re-examination of the physical evidence (p.170). A court-authorized study concluded the original bullets were matches, but could not be matched to Sirhan's gun (p.175)! Note 123 tells about the traces of wood found on spent bullets in Sirhan's car (p.176). Chapter 19 says the case was badly mishandled by the LAPD in regard to physical evidence (p.192). There was a report of removing two bullets from a strip of molding (p.263). A former FBI special agent said he saw two bullet holes in the center divider (p.269).A polygraph test was administered to the guard; he passed and could not have been involved (p.290). DEM interviewed Sirhan" he doesn't remember the shooting, only what happened after (p.299).What really happened? "Complicated investigations sometimes have very simple solutions" (p.305). DEM thinks the LAPD and FBI erred in not thoroughly investigating organized crime as a possibility;

Moldea gets it right!

As a 10 year student of the RFK assassination,I was eager to get ahold of Dan Moldea`s work on the case.A prior magazine article of his had been primarily responsible for the release of the long witheld LAPD files on the case.The book does not dissapoint.Moldea carefully and articulately moves through the entire case and looks under every stone in the search for answers.NO other researcher has interviewed so many personnel connected with the case.He is not biased to any side,as the reader can easily see in Moldea`s scathing comments on LAPD,and in his meetings with Sirhan.Moldea`s thoroughness had me enthralled and by the time the dramatic end arrived I realised that I simply had to read it again...it was that good...and most of all,it closed the door on my research into the case.This account of the RFK case cannot be bettered,in my opinion.