Sirhan Sirhan Parole Hearing: 14th for RFK Assassin

by Jordan Yerman | March 2, 2011 at 10:37 am

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Sirhan Sirhan's 14th Parole Hearing

Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of murdering US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, will stand before a parole board for the 14th time [Update: Sirhan Sirhan has been denied parole]. Sirhan Sirhan is serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley Stat Prison in Coalinga, California. Sirhan Sirhan's full name is Sirhan Bishara Sirhan; he is a Palestinian Christian who moved to the United States at age 12.

Sirhan Sirhan shot RFK on June 4, 1968 oustide the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, just after Kenedy won the California Presidential Primary. Sirhan was sentenced to death in 1969, but that sentence was commuted to life after capital punishment was declared unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court in 1972.

Sirhan's attorney, William F. Pepper, has long held that there was a second shooter in the RFK assassination, and that it was part of a larger conspiracy. Pepper also represented James Earl Ray, who was convicted of murdering Martin Luther King, Jr., making similar arguments.

The parole board will not be hearing arguments over Sirhan Sirhan's initial conviction, but will only hear arguments on his suitability for parole.

William Weisel, a journalist who was one of five people hit by stray bullets during the 1968 shooting, said that he will not object to Sirhan Sirhan's parole if it is granted. Still, the numbers are not on Sirhan Sirhan's side: only around 10%of California inmates serving a life sentence ever get paroled.

Pepper has suggested Sirhan was brainwashed to target Kennedy. "There is no question he was hypno-programed," Pepper told ABCNews.com this week.

But at his trial, Sirhan declared that he killed Kennedy "with 20 years of malice aforethought." His motive is said to have been anger about U.S. policy in the Middle East.