The Assasination of RFK

grunion

Penultimate Amazing
grunion
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
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I have vague memories of reading years ago about the "plot" behind the assasination of Robert Kennedy, including:
  • alleged autopsy evidence that shows that he was shot from one inch behind his head (not in front, where Sirhan Sirhan was shaking his hand),
  • extra bullet holes in the pantry that could not have been fired from the alleged murder weapon,
  • evidence of the "brainwashing" of Sirhan Sirhan (and of hallucinogens in his bloodstream) to make him the patsy, and
  • reports of a "woman in a polka-dot dress" talking on the phone to someone moments after the shooting gleefully saying "we got him,"
Now a filmmaker is claiming "95% certainty" by an army general that his associate, a shady Yaqui Indian known as El Gordo who was a known CIA hitman, was right near RFK at the time of the shooting.

Honestly I have spent very little time researching the RFK assassination, just remembering the night it happened very well and wondering who this assassin was totally out of nowhere. The given motive was that Sirhan Sirhan was a Palestinian sore about the sale of bomber planes to Israel. I haven't seen much press at all promoting or debunking conspiracy theories about this assassination. But with the release of a new Hollywood movie about the assassination (I have no idea whether the movie claims conspiracy or "the official story") there's bound to be an surge in the discussion on this one. I didn't see an RFK assassination thread here, but I was interested to hear the comments of JREFers.

Your thoughts, observations, or knowledge on the topic would be welcome.
 
Do you have some backgrounds about the conspiracy theory?
 
I think I read about it in "The Big Book Of Conspiracies," not exactly a reputable source, but there were a number of sources cited. I will try to dig up some of them.
 
Well, though disreputable, it is quite a fun read, with a hodgepodge of conspiracies regarding everything from MK-Ultra to Jim Morrison to The Illuminati. Yet the chapter on the RFK killing reads very well. The website Crimelibrary.com has a pretty good writeup on the assasination and conspiracy theory, and Wikipedia has an overview.

In my mind the police did a rather sloppy job in the case, leaving the door open for a number of radical claims, and the coroner who performed the autopsy aparrently believes that Sirhan Sirhan could not have fired the fatal bullet. I don't know how credible the rest of the eyewitness testimony is that refutes the official story, but it makes for interesting conjecture.

Who stood the most to gain from eliminating RFK's candidacy? Well, who evetually won the 1968 Presidential Election? Mr. Conspiracy himself.

Not making any claims, mind you. "Just asking questions." :p
 
grunion said:
In my mind the police did a rather sloppy job in the case, leaving the door open for a number of radical claims, [snip] but it makes for interesting conjecture.
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You might find this article an interesting read: "Conspiracy Thinking and the John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Assassinations." It's at the bottom of McAdams home page--I'm not allowed to post URLs yet; or you can do a search through the Zapruder Film thread for the link.

Mel Ayton, the author, points to the human 'need' for a reason to explain events of great importance and emotional impact as a common thread connecting all three killings. Then there is the poor police work, that, as you point out, leaves the door open for conjecture. He does not dig deeply into any of these deaths, but instead notes the similarities that make for such fertile imagining.
 
Braynstorme said:
You might find this article an interesting read: "Conspiracy Thinking and the John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Assassinations." It's at the bottom of McAdams home page--I'm not allowed to post URLs yet; or you can do a search through the Zapruder Film thread for the link.

Mel Ayton, the author, points to the human 'need' for a reason to explain events of great importance and emotional impact as a common thread connecting all three killings. Then there is the poor police work, that, as you point out, leaves the door open for conjecture. He does not dig deeply into any of these deaths, but instead notes the similarities that make for such fertile imagining.
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Welcome to the forum Braynstorme!

This is the link http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ayton2.htm

By the way, you could have posted it like this: mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ayton2.htm
 
This filmmaker's claims were outlined on the BBC's flagship serious news-analysis programme Newsnight yesterday. It really is all rather tenuous.

Article otlining his claims in the Guardian: tinyurl.com/v6z2f
Watch the clip here: tinyurl.com/v6z2f


 
I delve deeper into the conspiracy myths in a 'Crime Magazine' article - for some reason I can't give the url. However, if you google Crime Magazine you'll find it immediately.
Thanks
Mel Ayton
 
John Frankenheimer made The Manchurian Candidate in 1962.

John Frankenheimer was a personal friend of RFK and drove him to the Ambassador Hotel the day he was murdered, six years later.

I leave these facts entirely without comment. The aftermath for Frankenheimer was depression, alcoholism and a hiatus in his career as a movie maker.
 
Mel Ayton said:
I delve deeper into the conspiracy myths in a 'Crime Magazine' article - for some reason I can't give the url. However, if you google Crime Magazine you'll find it immediately.
Thanks
Mel Ayton
Click to expand...
Mel - Thanks for the excellent article - it truly cleared up alot for me. Nice research!
 
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