RFK Assassination: New Revelations from the FBI’s ‘Kensalt’ Files

As the American people look back 40 years to the tragic assassination of one of its most gifted leaders conspiracy advocates have once again attempted to prove a conspiracy was behind Robert Kennedy’s murder. Internet sites and blogs are awash with bogus revelations and the repetition of long abandoned myths which imply there is proof that RFK’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, had been aided in his crime.

In the years following the assassination various official investigative bodies concluded there was no credible evidence to link Sirhan with co-conspirators. Yet conspiracy advocates have been persistent in raising issues which cast doubt on those findings.

There were indeed many anomalous pieces of evidence in the case which included problems with the ballistics and forensics evidence and witness statements which raised the possibility that Sirhan had not been alone when he assassinated RFK. This is entirely normal and consistent with most murder investigations, particularly those major investigations where human error is inevitable because of the vast amounts of paperwork and physical evidence accrued. Additionally, forty years ago, police forces were not as careful in securing a murder scene as they are now.

Most of the so-called RFK assassination ‘mysteries’ were addressed by investigative journalist Dan Moldea, who successfully debunked many allegations by his thorough research and interviews with Los Angeles Police officers. (1)

Despite the work of Moldea and others conspiracists have continually resurrected four central areas of contention which they have used to cast doubt on the RFK assassination official investigations –

* The allegation that Sirhan Sirhan was never close enough to RFK to fire the fatal shot.

*The presence of a mysterious ‘polka dot girl’ and her accomplices who allegedly were the only people who fled the pantry after the shots were fired and were seen on a fire escape proclaiming they had shot RFK. Conspiracists claim the mystery woman ‘controlled’ a ‘hypnotically-programmed Sirhan.’

* Allegations that more than 8 shots had been fired in the pantry of the hotel proving a second gunman had been present.

*Witness statements that purportedly established the presence of a second gunman in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel. Conspiracists have alleged the second gunman was either security guard Thane Cesar or bookstore clerk Michael Wayne.

However, overlooked evidence in the FBI ‘Kensalt’ files reveals how conspiracists have constructed their conspiracy scenarios on false assumptions.

SIRHAN’S ‘POINT BLANK’ SHOT

One of the enduring myths of the RFK assassination, repeated ad nauseum by conspiracy writers and documentary makers alike, is the allegation that Sirhan was never less than 3 feet away from the Senator thus the assassin was unable to fire the point blank fatal shot to RFK’s head. The most recent allegations to this effect were made by Sirhan’s new attorney, William Pepper, conspiracy advocate Robert Joling and author David Talbot. Pepper said: “There is no account that pushes him any closer than 3 or 4 feet away from Bob Kennedy in front of him.” Joling stated: “…..Sirhan was never in a position where he could shoot Senator Kennedy from behind….” Talbot wrote in his recent book Brothers (2007): “But not one witness saw Sirhan shoot Kennedy in the back of his skull at point-blank range. According to witnesses, Sirhan attacked Kennedy from the front…..” (2)

Conspiracists are clearly in error as the ‘Kensalt’ files prove. (Kensalt was the codename for the FBI investigation.)

Many of the the 12 eyewitnesses who were close to RFK when he was shot stated that Sirhan was anywhere from 3 to 12 feet away from RFK. However, Dan Moldea established the majority of the 12 witnesses gave estimates of muzzle distance based only on the first shot and did not see Sirhan lunging at the Senator. Vincent DiPierro clearly saw this happen as he has often stated. "It would be impossible for there to be a second gun," Di Pierro told reporter Ron Kessler in 1974, “I saw the first shot. Kennedy fell at my feet. His blood splattered on me. I had a clear view of Kennedy and Sirhan." (3) DiPierro recently stated, “…Sirhan… was three feet away but the muzzle of the gun (in his outstretched arm) couldn’t be more than 3 to 5 inches away from his head.” According to DiPierro, Sirhan managed to stretch his arm around Karl Uecker who was escorting Kennedy through the pantry. Uecker was facing away from RFK when Sirhan reached around him to place the gun at RFK’s head. (4) This is supported by other witness statements, particularly those of Boris Yaro and Juan Romero who had been very close to RFK during the shooting. Boris Yaro stated RFK was shot at ‘point blank range.’ Romero, who had been shaking hands with RFK when the shots rang out initially said the gun was a ‘yard away’ but in a 2003 LA Times interview he said, “(Sirhan) put out his hand to the Senator’s head. . . . Then I see the guy put a bullet in the senator’s head.…” (5)

The statements of Yaro, Romero and DiPierro can now be supported by a previously overlooked statement in the ‘Kensalt’ files by the wife of writer George Plimpton. Freddy Plimpton “….saw an arm go up towards Senator Kennedy’s head, but did not see a gun, heard shots and it was obvious to her that Senator Kennedy had been shot….She saw Sirhan very clearly. She saw his arm up toward Senator Kennedy’s head ….” (6)

SIRHAN’S ALLEGED ACCOMPLICES

Conspiracy advocates have promoted the idea that Sirhan Sirhan had been a ‘hypnotised assassin’ and was controlled by a girl in a polka dot dress when he shot RFK.

Witness Sandra Serrano, who conspiracists often cite as proof of a plot to kill RFK, told police that a girl in a polka dot dress first entered the Embassy Room via a fire escape accompanied by two men. According to Serrano the girl fled with one of her accomplices down the same stairway about 20 minutes after they had arrived proclaiming ‘We shot Kennedy.’

Although there were inherent implausibilities in Serrano’s story from the beginning, including testimony by a Fire Department Inspector who said she was not on the fire escape at the time she stated, there is overlooked evidence in the FBI files which confirms Serrano may have been telling the truth after all – or at least a version of the truth. This newly discovered evidence buried in the FBI files has been ignored by assassination writers and researchers for nearly forty years and sheds new light on what Serrano actually saw and heard.

Serrano told investigators that the emergency fire stairs she had sat on were located on the south side of the Ambassador Ballroom. Large double doors opened on to the stairway from a hallway adjacent to the Ambassador Room. From this doorway the stairs went down to ground level and up to double fire doors leading into the Embassy Room which was located directly above the Ambassador Room.

According to the FBI files Geraldine Agnes McCarthy, a Kennedy supporter, had given a statement to FBI agents which described her activities at the time of the shooting. She had been with members of her family in the Ambassador Ballroom. The party consisted of Geraldine McCarthy, Margaret McCarthy, Winnie Marshall, Mary Towley, Eileen Anderson, Phil Litroh, Chris Marshall and Paul Benedict. They were waiting for the final election results and the victory speech by RFK. Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, she and several members of her family left the stage and went to a small alcove to the left of the stage and near the rear of the ballroom. This alcove had access to a stairway leading up to the Embassy Room and also had access to an outside door opening onto the Wilshire Street parking lot of the hotel. She stated that immediately outside this doorway to the parking lot there was a fire escape leading down from the floor above.

McCarthy and several members of her family were in this alcove attempting to get a breath of fresh air when several people came down the stairway from above and a girl in an orange dress stated “Kennedy has been shot.” Shortly after that a girl in a ‘beige dress with black dots’ came down the outside fire escape and exclaimed “Oh my God, Kennedy’s been shot.” Geraldine McCarthy told FBI agents that at no time did she hear anyone make the statement, “We've shot Kennedy.” She stated that several more people came down the stairway of the fire escape and she asked them questions attempting to verify what they had heard and it became apparent to her that RFK actually had been shot. McCarthy’s story was confirmed by a family member, Mrs. Winnie Theresa Marshall. (7)

Given this ‘new’ evidence it is clear that Serrano had been mistaken in hearing the girl in the polka dot dress shouting “We shot him.”

But even if Serrano heard correctly another explanation is possible without resorting to speculations about conspiracies. Serrano may also have been witness to an innocent cry of “We (i.e. the American People) shot Kennedy”; a natural response reflecting the intense concern Americans had at that time to the growing senseless violence that had become a societal phenomenon during the 1960s. In fact, a number of Embassy Room witnesses heard people in the crowd shout “We shot him.”

Albert Victor Ellis, a roommate of John Shamel, the hotel’s convention manager, “….heard a female voice state ‘We shot him.’ He assumed at the time this person meant we the people…..he left the Embassy Room….and went out into the lobby…where numerous people were milling around…he heard several other people…state something to the effect ‘We shot him’ and from the other conversations he was able to determine that they meant that the people were the cause of Senator Kennedy being shot….” (8)

Laurie Gail Porter, the daughter of California State Senatorial candidate Shelley Porter, was in the Embassy Room during RFK’s victory speech. After hearing the shots from about 50 feet away she heard her friend Robin Casden shout, ‘We shot him’. She “….did recall…there were several people who shouted ‘We shot him’ and she attributed the exclamation to the hysterical nature of the situation.” (9) In fact, Sandra Serrano offered this explanation to FBI agents when she was interviewed. According to an FBI memo, “Miss Serrano was asked if this woman could have said, ‘He shot him’ or ‘They shot him’ rather than ‘We shot him.’ Serrano insisted the word was ‘we’ but volunteered that she realized that ‘we’ could have meant we, meaning we as a group of Kennedy supporters or as we as society in general.” (10) This overlooked evidence in the case may also place in the correct context a report made by LAPD Sergeant Paul Sharaga that a couple he remembered as the ‘Bernsteins’ told him shortly after the shooting they had observed a young woman in a polka dot dress, accompanied by a young man, laughing and shouting ‘We shot him.’ (11)

It is clear from the FBI files that a second polka dot girl, besides Valerie Schulte, had indeed been present in the pantry at the time of the shooting.

Howard ‘Cap’ Hardy, for example, amongst others, saw a young woman in the pantry at the time of the shooting and she had been wearing a “…sleeveless dress, off-white in color, with navy blue circles on it. The blue circles were of different sizes and the smaller circles had a white peace symbol in them and the larger circles had the word ‘McCarthy’ in lower case white letters…she was not with anyone….” Howard said she later joined a group of Kennedy supporters in the Embassy Ballroom. (12)

Conspiracists, unable to give any real meaning to the sightings of a polka dot dress girl in the pantry and unable to positively state the girl was with Sirhan, have attempted to show her actions in the pantry after the shooting were suspicious. They have therefore given some importance to the statements made by witness George Green and Security Guard Jack Merritt to the effect that the polka dot girl and her accomplice/accomplices were the only people attempting to leave the pantry at the time of the shooting or immediately afterwards.

Conspiracy writers have clearly misunderstood the testimonies of these witnesses. FBI files also show that they have misinterpreted Merritt’s statement and of how Green was mistaken in his belief that the polka dot girl and her accomplices were the only people fleeing the pantry at the time of the shooting. Others who fled the pantry at the time of the shooting or shortly after the shots had been fired include Charles D. White, Boris Yaro, Thomas Perez, Evan Freed, Uno Timanson, Angelo DiPierro, Robin Karen Casden, Barbara Rubin, James W. Lowe, Gonzalo Cetina-Carrillo, Trudy Jennings, Freddy Plimpton and Marcus McBroom. Richard D. Little recalled, “…one of the Kennedy girls …came running out of the kitchen to the lobby of the Embassy Room shouting ‘They shot him.’ ” (13) Fred Meenedsen said he saw a “…man calling for a doctor (who) came running out. Next, an unknown woman…ran through these kitchen doors and said Kennedy had been shot as she went towards the lobby.” (14) Furthermore, it is clear the conspiracists have mischaracterized Merritt’s original statement. According to the FBI’s Kensalt files, “In the confusion [Merritt] noticed, among others, two men and a woman leave the kitchen through a back exit….she was wearing a polka dot dress….other people also left. ” (15)

From the FBI interviews with these pantry witnesses it is evident they had been fleeing the pantry for non-suspicious reasons including running to a phone, looking for police officers, evading gunfire or looking for doctors to attend to the pantry shooting victims. There were also plenty of deranged individuals around that night to give cause for concern about the behavior of some individuals at the time of the shooting. London Daily Express photographer Harry Benson said that after the shooting he “…went outside the ballroom where there was a white male….with a United States flag in his mouth….a real nutty guy who said something such as ‘Thank God, he’s been shot.’ ” And Henrietta Sterlitz and her friend Evelyn Planavsky saw “…two teenage boys and one teenage girl …pop ballons and… exclaim ‘Kennedy’s Dead!’ ” shortly before the assassination. (These individuals may have been the teenagers in Sharaga’s police report mentioned above.)(16)

Conspiracists believe the fact the ‘girl in the polka dot dress’ did not come forward after the mystery was publicized is supportive of a sinister interpretation of events. However, there is a more logical explanation. The national media were referring to the girl as a possible accomplice in RFK’s murder. And some newspaper reports were seriously considering the possibility RFK may have been assassinated as the result of a conspiracy. Given these conditions it is natural that the girl and her colleagues would not want to risk being charged as co-conspirators even though their actions that night were entirely innocent.

There is also an inherent illogicality to Serrano’s story which appears to be lost on conspiracy advocates – why would escaping plotters immediately proclaim to the world their involvement in the assassination? How could they be sure members of the public wouldn’t take them seriously and ask police officers to apprehend them before they could make good their escape?

ALLEGATIONS THAT MORE THAN 8 SHOTS HAD BEEN FIRED

The notion that more than 8 shots were fired in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel has gained credence amongst doubters since the airing of a Discovery Times television documentary in June 2007.

The documentary claimed that a second gunman aided Sirhan in the pantry of the hotel. An audio engineer hired by the Discovery Times Channel had claimed he had detected 13 shots on an audio tape made by a journalist at the time of the shooting. However, the Discovery Times Channel’s claims have proven to be flawed by acoustics experts. Additonally, the Discovery Channel’s allegation that two shots fired in quick succession had been too close to have been fired by one gunman was also built on erroneous assumptions. The audio engineers quickly discounted a ricochet because the end of the room was too far away to produce a ricochet sound as quickly as it is heard on the tape. However, they never considered the possibility the bullet could have ricocheted off any of the metal surfaces (pots, pans, tray stackers and a metal serving table) anywhere in the pantry, not just off the far wall.

Ear-witness testimony had never established a scenario in which 13 shots had been possible. FBI files show all the pantry witnesses, with the exception of only a few, never heard more than 8 shots and those few who guessed they heard further shots did not put the number beyond 10. The FBI files, furthermore, show that no one who had been in the pantry when Robert Kennedy was shot told the FBI or LAPD that anywhere near 13 shots had been fired. Only one witness gave this number, Nina Rhodes, but she never said this at the time she made her original statement in 1968. In 1968 she said she heard "eight distinct shots.” In 1992 Rhodes told conspiracy authors that she heard from 10-14 shots. (17)

According to the FBI files most of the estimated 77 witnesses in the pantry could not remember how many shots had been fired and described the gunshots in terms of ‘a number of shots,’ ‘a series of firecrackers,’ ‘several shots’ or ‘a number of shots in rapid succession.’ However, of those witnesses who ventured an opinion about how many shots had been fired all but a few put the number of shots at 8 or less, including: Harold Edward Hughes, Pete Hamill, Ralph Elmore, Jesse Unruh, Estelyn LaHive, Joseph A. LaHive, Richard Aubry, David Saul Barrett, Richard L. Cohen, David M. Esquith, Jacqueline Sullivan, James Cummings, Paul Green Houston, Richard Edward Drew, Bob Funk, Roosevelt Grier, Robert Anthony Toigo, Barbara Rubin, Freddy Plimpton, Lon Bruce Rubin, Dun Gifford, Charles Bailey, Jimmy Breslin, Stanley Kawalac, Robert Ray Breshears, Thomas Perez, Uno Timanson and Rafer Johnson.

THE ‘SECOND SHOOTER’

RFK conspiracy advocates believe a second gunman (whom conspiracists claim was security guard Thane Cesar) had been present in the pantry when RFK was shot. They build their case on statements by witnesses who claim they saw someone other than Sirhan carrying a weapon and who fled the pantry before he could be apprehended.

Conspiracists cite the statements of Marcus McBroom, Evan Freed, Don Schulman, Booker Griffin, Patricia Nelson and Dennis Weaver as indicative of a second gunman firing in the pantry. However, as the FBI files show these statements have been misinterpreted, taken out of context or simply lack credibility due to inherent implausabilities within them.

Conspiracy writers have used these statements to infer that Thane Cesar or Michael Wayne or both men had been assisting Sirhan in the pantry. Conspiracy writer James DiEugenio recently named Michael Wayne and Thane Cesar as Sirhan’s accomplices and said they both participated in the shooting. (18)

However, the FBI files reveal how conspiracy writers have manipulated the original statements of witnesses to claim there is evidence of a second gunman.

In 1986, nearly 20 years after the assassination, Marcus McBroom told a conspiracy writer that “…a man with a gun under his newspaper ran out in a very menacing way and myself and a man by the name of Sam Strain and the man running the ABC camera we drew back instinctively when we saw the gun.” (19)

Marcus McBroom’s original interview with FBI agents reveals no mention of a second gun.(20) And McBroom’s friend, Sam Strain, did not see a gun as his statement to the FBI demonstrates. Strain stated that the young man appeared to be carrying “…a package about two feet long and six inches wide which was wrapped in black paper of some type.”(21)

Dr Fred S. Parrott told FBI agents that while he was standing outside the door to the Embassy Room, a man came by carrying a rolled up newspaper under his arm followed by men shouting ‘Stop that man! Stop that man!’ He described the man with the newspaper as a white male, dark complexion, dark hair, 25 to 27 years old, 5'7" tall, medium build. (22)

This description fits that of Michael Wayne who, at the time of the assassination, was a 21 year old clerk at the Pickwick Bookstore in Hollywood and an avid collector of political memorabilia. After the shooting Wayne ran out of the pantry area and because someone shouted ‘Get him, he’s getting away’ security guard Augustus Mallard grabbed him then put him in handcuffs. Wayne told police he was only running for a telephone to tell friends to turn on their television sets. He was interviewed by the LAPD but was never considered a suspect.(23)

Other witnesses have been used by conspiracists to show a second gunman had been present in the pantry. However, it is clear from the FBI files that the person who these witnesses believed had carried a gun that night was actually Michael Wayne. Patricia Nelson and Dennis Weaver told FBI agents they believed they saw a man with a rolled up newspaper or poster and that the wooden stock of a rifle had been protruding from it. However, they later stated they were likely mistaken and identified the man as Michael Wayne. Nelson later identified Wayne from film footage of the hotel shown to her. “That’s him. That’s the same sweater, the same hair, the same sideburns”, she told agents. She also identified the package as the one she saw (24) Weaver agreed with Nelson. (25) Joseph Klein, who was with them at the time said, “That’s him right there, I’m positive.” (26)

It is clear from these interviews that the man McBroom, Parrott, Strain, Weaver, Nelson and Klein had observed was Michael Wayne despite the differing descriptions given to agents. Wayne had earlier in the evening been photographed by Bill Eppridge. Eppridge’s photo shows RFK autographing Wayne’s poster as the Senator walked to the Embassy Room to give his speech. It is clear from Eppridge’s photo that the poster in Wayne’s hand is too small to hold a pistol let alone a rifle. (27)

Other initial sightings of a second gunman were later found to be the result of misidentification or misunderstanding - or a change of heart many years after the assassination which suggested some witnesses had been heavily influenced by conspiracy buffs. Booker Griffin, for example, told a conspiracy writer in 1987 that he had observed a second gunman. However, in his 1968 interviews with the LAPD he only said the sounds of the shooting appeared to suggest more than one gun. (28)

Evan Freed and Don Schulman are cited by conspiracy writers as having observed a second gunman.

In a June 14, 1968 interview with FBI agents Freed said he saw a two men and a woman leave the pantry in a hurry after the shooting. And in 1992 Freed reportedly signed a document to the effect that more than one gunman was present in the pantry and that he had observed another man who looked like Sirhan. However, Freed had inadvertantly sent an uncorrected draft of what he described as ‘a letter’ to lawyer Marilyn Barrett. He amended it to read, “ At about the same time, I saw the ‘second man’ ….who I described as resembling Sirhan….it is possible he could have been holding a weapon, but I cannot be sure….I cannot say how many shots were fired by Sirhan Sirhan or whether any shots came from the ‘second man.’ ” (29)

Freed’s comments made in 1992 were entirely consistent with his statement to FBI agents on September 11 1968. (30) Furthermore, his 1992 comments about a ‘second man’ is entirely consistent with the preponderance of evidence presented above which suggests Freed’s ‘second man’ was actually Michael Wayne - a Sirhan look-alike.

To this day Freed continues to insist he never saw a second gunman in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel when RFK was assassinated. His most recent denial was in the DVD documentary RFK Must Die. Freed said, “[In the early 1990s] I was asked a number of times did I see a second shooter? Are you sure you didn’t? And I got the feeling that people were trying to convince me that I saw something that I didn’t really see. My recollection is I only saw one person shooting that night and that’s what I told the police when I was interviewed by the police. That’s what I told the FBI when I was interviewed by the FBI.” (31)

However, the conspiracists favorite ‘second gun’ witness is Don Schulman, a KNXT – TV news runner. Statements made by Schulman have been used for decades in an attempt to prove Thane Cesar had fired the fatal shot that killed RFK.

Immediately following the shooting Don Schulman was interviewed by Jeff Brent of Continental Broadcasting and said a security guard ‘had fired back.’ In 1971 Schulman said he did not see Sirhan shoot Kennedy, but he insisted that he saw the ‘security guard’ fire his gun. He also said he saw wounds erupting on Kennedy’s body but refused to make any connection to the two events.

However, Schulman later retracted his statement of having seen a second gunman citing his confusion during the chaotic moments of the shooting. In the mid-70s Schulman told the Kranz Investigation (which was set up by the Los Angeles authorities to look into allegations made by conspiracy theorists), that immediately following the shooting he was “tremendously confused” and that the words he used to describe the shooting to reporters in 1968 were the result of “confusion.” Schulman reported that he meant to tell reporters that “Kennedy had been hit three times, he had seen an arm fire, he had seen the security guards with guns, but he had never seen a security guard fire and hit Robert Kennedy.”(32)

Furthermore, new ballistics evidence has eliminated the possibility Cesar had fired his .38 pistol that night. (33) And the idea that Thane Cesar had carried his .22 pistol -- Sirhan used a .22 to kill Kennedy -- and used it to shoot RFK cannot be supported by either hard evidence or logic.

Thane Cesar carried a .38 pistol on the night of the assassination but he owned an H and R .22 pistol. However, accusing Cesar of having used his .22 pistol to kill RFK appears ridiculous at the outset – why would a murderer, under threat of execution if caught, hang on to the purported murder weapon for 3 months before he got rid of it? Cesar sold his H&R .22 pistol in September 1968.

For forty years conspiracy theorists have used human error to build their case for a non-existent conspiracy. Conspiracists believe Thane Cesar murdered RFK. Why? Simply because Cesar was standing behind RFK at the time of the shooting and pulled his gun after RFK fell to the floor. Don Schulman saw Cesar pull his gun and Schulman believed he fired it. Schulman later retracted his statement and confessed he had been mistaken. Sandra Serrano thought she heard a girl in a polka dot dress shout ‘We shot Kennedy’ but the preponderance of evidence suggests what she heard was entirely benign. Some witnesses believed people running away from the scene of the crime were co-conspirators but the police investigation proved that many of them were simply running to a telephone or seeking medical assistance or evading gunfire. Some witnesses believed the girl in the polka dot dress and her companions who were in the pantry during the shooting were the only ones to flee the scene of the crime, thus rendering their actions suspicious. But, as we have seen, others fled the pantry at the same time.

The new and overlooked evidence in this case highlights more than anything else the way conspiracists have tortured the evidential record in order to build smokescreens and spread doubt. To paraphrase historian Richard Hofstadter, the RFK conspiracy theorists’ procedure is to start with defensible assumptions using heated exaggeration to prove that the unbelievable is the only thing that can be believed.

Notes

NOTES:
(1) See here and here.
(2)National Geographic Channel – CIA Secret Experiments Written, produced and directed by Tria Thalman, (2007).
RFK Assassination Controversy, April 19th 2008. Brothers (2007) by David Talbot, 373
(3) Experts Discount Second- Gun Theory By Ron Kessler Washington Post, December 19, 1974
(4)Vincent DiPierro interviewed by Shane O’Sullivan, ‘RFK Must Die’ DVD, Produced and Directed by Shane O’Sullivan (Dokument Films, 2007)
(5) Steve Lopez, “Ex-Busboy Will Never Forget Bobby Kennedy”, Los Angeles Times, June 1st 2003.
(6) FBI Interview with Mrs Freddy Plimpton, 1 July 1968
(7) FBI interviews with Geraldine Agnes McCarthy, 24 June 1968 and Winnie Theresa Marshall, 27 June 1968. (Statements by pantry and hotel witnesses are from the FBI ‘Kensalt’ Files – RFK LA 56 - 156 - 1968-1978.)
(8) FBI interview with Albert Victor Ellis, 20 June 1968
(9) FBI interview with Laurie Gail Porter, 14 June 1968.
(10) FBI interview with Sandra Serrano, 8 June 1968.
(11) Shadow Play (1997), William Klaber and Philip Melanson 157
(12) FBI interview with Howard ‘Cap’ Hardy, 2 July 1968.
(13) FBI interview with Richard D. Little, 2 October 1968.
(14) FBI interview with Fred Meenedsen, 8 November 1968.
(15) FBI interview with Jack Merritt, 13 June 1968.
(16) FBI interviews with Harry Benson, 31 October 1968, and Henrietta Sterlitz, 2 October 1968.
(17) FBI interview with Nina L. Rhodes, 15 July 1968 and Klaber and Melanson, 142
(18) Black Op Radio, Show No. 355, 3 January 2008
(19) Klaber and Melanson, page 146
(20) FBI interview with Marcus McBroom, 11 July 1968.
(21) FBI interview with Samuel S. Strain, 1 July 1968
(22) FBI interview with Dr Fred S. Parrott, 21 June 1968
(23) Kranz Report Part 2 page 49
(24) FBI interview with Patricia Elizabeth Nelson, 8 June 1968
(25) FBI interview with Dennis Steven Weaver, 8 June 1968
(26) FBI interview with Joseph Thomas Klein, 8 June 1968
(27) Robert Kennedy – The Last Campaign by Bill Eppridge and Hays Gorey, page 90, FBI interview with Bill Eppridge, 19 June 68
(28) FBI interview with Booker Griffin, 11 June 1968
(29) Klaber and Melanson, page 144
(30) FBI interviews with Evan Freed, 14 June 1968, 11 September 1968
(31) Interview with Evan Freed, ‘RFK Must Die’,
(32) Kranz Report Section 2 page 3
(33) See Appendix - A Report on RFK’s Wounds by ballistics expert Larry Sturdivan in ‘The Forgotten Terrorist’ (2007) by Mel Ayton