Shadow Play: The Murder of Robert F. Kennedy, the Trial of Sirhan Sirhan, and the Failure of American Justice

New York: St Martins Pr, 1997. Stated First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. NY. May 1997. St. Martin's Press, 1997. black hardbound 8vo. 8º (octavo). Fine Condition, No Dust Jacket. Stated First Edition with full number line. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of markings. 355p. glossy b&w photo illustrations. notes. index. american history. biography. politics. true crime. conspiracy theory. psychology. ~ THIS RIVETING NEW EXPLORATION of the murder of Robert F. Kennedy is a work of history and a critique of our justice system ~one that raises profound and disquieting questions. On June 4, 1968, just after he had declared victory in the California presidential primary, Robert Kennedy was gunned down in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Captured a few feet away, gun in hand, was a young Palestinian~American named Sirhan Sirhan. The case against Sirhan was declared by the police to be "open and shut," and the court proceedings against him nine months later were billed as "the trial of the century" ~ American justice at its fairest, swiftest, and most sure. But was it? Investigative journalist William Klaber and political science professor Philip Melanson have spent six years examining the crime. After poring over previously secret LAPD and FBI files, interviewing scores of witnesses and investigators, and talking with Sirhan in prison, the authors conclude: Sirhan may not have acted alone, his gun may not have killed Robert Kennedy, and the police investigation and courtroom defense were deeply flawed. Among this book's most troubling questions are: What happened to the evidence that at least eleven shots may have been fired at the crime scene, when Sirhan's gun held just eight bullets? Why did some LAPD interrogators refuse to accept the testimony of key witnesses, continuing to challenge them until they changed their stories? Why were the police files of the Robert Kennedy murder investigation kept secret for over twenty years? Why did Sirhan's attorneys fail to challenge any of the physical evidence at his trial? Who was the attractive woman some said they saw with Sirhan at the crime scene, or fleeing the hotel moments after the assault, laughing and shouting "We shot him! We killed him!"? Why did Sirhan, who had no violent or criminal past nor any terrorist connections, plead guilty to a crime he did not remember planning or committing~and does not recall to this day? Where are the only photographs alleged to have been taken of Robert Kennedy during the murder? These "missing" photographs were the subject of a 1996 lawsuit that resulted in a $500,000 judgment against the LAPD. The assassination of Robert Kennedy was a tragic moment in American history. Few events are so widely known and at the same time so deeply misunderstood. Through the careful examination of evidence, Shadow Play challenges the official assumptions and conclusions about this most troubling, and perhaps still unsolved, political murder. ABBBB