Melanson, Philip H. The Robert F. Kennedy Assassination: New Revelations on the Conspiracy and Cover-Up, 1968-1991. New York: Shapolsky Publishers, 1991. 362 pages.
There are more than thirty JFK assassination books for every book on the RFK assassination, but in some respects the implications of the latter are more alarming. Philip Melanson, a professor of political science at Southeastern Massachusetts University and director of the Robert F. Kennedy Assassination Archives, has made an outstanding contribution on this difficult subject.The problems with the official version can be summed up in several points: 1) More bullets were recovered than could fit in Sirhan's gun; 2) Nitrite deposits and powder burns indicate that shots were fired at point- blank range, but witnesses are consistent that Sirhan's gun was never closer than two or three feet; 3) Sirhan was seen before the shooting with an associate or handler who has never been found; 4) Evidence suggests that he was in a hypnotic trance during the shooting; 5) The LAPD suppressed or destroyed evidence, and intimidated witnesses who contradicted the official line. The "robot assassin" angle in this assassination seemed incredible in 1968, but since then we have learned much more about the CIA's long history of research into mind-control. It's no longer easy to dismiss such a possibility, nor is it easy to accept it.
Moldea, Dan E. The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy: An Investigation of Motive, Means, and Opportunity. New York: W.W. Norton, 1995. 342 pages.
Dan Moldea, an author whose previous books dealt with organized crime, became interested in the RFK assassination in 1987. He promoted the theory that more bullets were recovered from the scene than could have fit in Sirhan's revolver. Until now, that is. Philip Melanson, another major RFK researcher, refers to this book as a "schizophrenic trip in which, after 300 pages laced with issues and controversies, the author summarily writes them off in twenty pages." Two of the many points made by Melanson are especially strong: 1) Moldea dismisses the issue of Sirhan as a victim of hypnotic manipulation by quoting an LAPD officer in a footnote, and 2) his extensive interviews with Thane Eugene Cesar climax in a lie-detector test which Cesar passes -- but the case for a second gun has never rested solely on Cesar, and certainly not on Cesar's own words, lie-detected or not.I've been impressed by Moldea's gang-buster muckraking style, while noticing that he lacks interest and familiarity with the history of U.S. intelligence. Several years ago he told me that if he had six months, he could crack the RFK case. I suspect that's also what he told others, and one day W.W. Norton heard him and took out their checkbook. As the deadline approached Moldea needed closure, but "lone nut" was the best he could do to justify a fat advance. -- D.Brandt
Turner, William W. and Christian, Jonn G. The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: The Conspiracy and Coverup. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993. 397 pages. First published in 1978 by Random House.
Not only did the earlier edition fail to make it into paperback, but Random House stopped shipping this book because of one letter from a person with links to organized crime. Twenty thousand copies were printed in 1978, and eleven thousand of these were sent to the incinerator in 1985. Though not named, it's obvious that this person is Eugene Hale Brading (aka Jim Braden), who was detained by sheriff's deputies at Dealey Plaza minutes after the JFK assassination. He was also in Los Angeles when RFK was killed.But Brading is mentioned on just three pages, so the Random House bonfire probably had more to do with senior editor Robert D. Loomis, who edited a "lone nut" account of the RFK assassination in 1970, as well as Gerald Posner's "Case Closed" in 1993, in which Oswald is also a lone nut. "They do that with books," Loomis replied when asked about the incineration. When contacted by Publishers Weekly about the Posner book, Loomis had this to say: "All the conspiracy theories have undermined the public's belief in government. They believe that everybody's in cahoots, that we have murderers in the CIA. That's what has been accepted, and that, to me, is a crime." Posner himself acknowledged the influence of Loomis: "His effort on this one was beyond the ordinary assistance.... His imprint is evident throughout."
Here are the names most frequently mentioned in the above books:
ABO STANLEY ACE GUARD SERVICE ADAIR RANDOLPH B ALARCON ARTHUR ALLEN MORSE ALLEN RONALD (SIRHAN INVESTIGATOR) ALTFILLISCH BERT AMBROSE JOHN J AMERICAN UNITED BAILEY F LEE BAILEY WILLIAM A BAKER WILLIAM M BARBER JOHN C BARRETT MARILYN BARRY WILLIAM BAZILAUSKAS V FAUSTIN BECKLEY JOHNNY BEHRMAN MAX BELLI MELVIN M BERINGER THOMAS A BERMAN EMILE ZOLA (ZEKE) BEST THURSTON BLAVATSKY HELENA PETROVNA BLEHR BARBARA WARNER BLISHAK GEORGE W BOLLINGER ALAN D BOOTH WILLIAM (LAPD) BOTTING LAVERNE BOYNE GIL BOZANICH DINKO J BRADFORD LOWELL W BRADING EUGENE HALE BRADLEY EDGAR EUGENE BRADLEY TOM BREMER ARTHUR HERMAN BRENT JEFF BREWER C.A. (LAPD) BROWN HUGH I BROWN JACK (SAM YORTY AIDE) BRUNO JERRY BRYAN WILLIAM JOSEPH JR BUCKNER EVERETT BUGLIOSI VINCENT T BURBA HAROLD BURNETT WILLIAM R JR BURNS FRANK J JR BURNS JOHN F (CALIFORNIA ARCHIVIST) BURRIS RICHARD C BUSCH JAMES BUSCH JOSEPH P JR BUSH JOSEPH P BUTLER DAVID (LAPD) BUTLER EDWARD SCANNELL BUTLER L.M. (AMBASSADOR HOTEL) BYRNE MATTHEW CASTELLANO LILLIAN CASTILLO LUIS CESAR THANE EUGENE CETINA CARRILLO GONZALO CHARACH THEODORE CHRISTIAN JONN G CHURCH JESUS CHRIST CHRISTIAN CLARK ALVIN CLARKE JAMES W CLEMENTE JOHN R COLLIER CHARLES (LAPD) COLLINS CHARLES (LAPD) COMPTON BUCK COMPTON LYNN D (BUCK) COOK FRED J COOPER GRANT B CORDERO HUMPHREY CRAHAN MARCUS CREEHAN ETHEL CROSTHWAITE EDWARD W CROWE WALTER CUNEO HENRY CUNNINGHAM CORTLANDT DAVIS ANTHONY E DAVIS EDWARD M DAVIS GEORGE T DE LOSH LAWRENCE L DESPARD PETER M DEVINS THOMAS E DI PIERRO ANGELO DI PIERRO VINCENT DIAMOND BERNARD L DIVALE WILLIAM TULIO DONNARUMMA FRANK (HENRY RAMISTELLA) DORNAN ROBERT K (R-CA) DRULEY ROBERT DUARTE JOSE ANTONIO DUBLIN H.G. (GRADY) DUEHRING THOMAS W DUTTON FREDERICK GARY ELLISON SEYMOUR ENDERSBY VICTOR ENYART SCOTT ESHER MARVIN ESTRADA DANIEL T EVANS ELIZABETH FALZONE CARMEN FARR WILLIAM (L.A.TIMES) FAURA FERNANDO FEDRIZZI JEFFREY J FEINBERG JERRY FERNANDEZ RICHARD FERRIS BOB (CBS) FITTS DAVID N FRANKENHEIMER JOHN FRAWLEY PATRICK J JR FREED EVAN P FULMER CATHY SUE FULMER KATHERYNE RENEE GARDNER WILLIAM F GATES DARYL F GELB EDWARD I GERMAN ELLEN GINDROZ ROBERT GLENN EDWARD E GOLDSTEIN IRA GONZALEZ CRISPIN CURIEL GRAPP WESLEY G GRAY JOHN L GREEN GEORGE (SIRHAN WITNESS) GREINER ALFRED GRIER ROOSEVELT GRIFFIN BOOKER GRIJALVA RICHARD GRIJALVA ROBERTA GROGAN JOHN W GROHS MARY GROLLER RICHARD (LAPD) GUINN VINCENT P GUM GWENDOLYN GUTIERREZ MANUEL (CHICK) HAGER LLOYD HALL MANLY PALMER HAMILL PETE HANSEN SANFORD S HANSON ROGER S HARPER WILLIAM WIRICK HARRINGTON WESLEY S HATHAWAY G.W. (LAPD) HECHT RICHARD W HEGGE ALBIN S HELD KENNETH HENDRIX FRANK J HERNANDEZ ENRIQUE (HANK) HILDER ANTHONY J HITCHCOCK FREMONT BODINE JR (PETER) HOFFA JIMMY (JAMES RIDDLE) HOOVER J EDGAR HOOVER MARION D HOUGHTON ROBERT A (LAPD) HOUTS MARSHALL WILSON HOWARD JOHN (LOS ANGELES D.A.) HUFFORD HARRY L HUGHES CHARLES F HULSMAN ROBERT HUSSEY ROBERT G HYMAN LESTER S ILLUMINATI ISAAC GODFREY JENSEN DANIEL (LAPD) JOHNSON DARNELL JOHNSON RAFER JOLING ROBERT J JONES CANDY JONES JAMES D JORDAN WILLIAM C KADAR GABOR KAISER ROBERT BLAIR KARALEKAS VASILOS T KEENE ROY KENDALL JOHN (L.A.TIMES) KENNEDY EDWARD M (D-MA) KENNEDY ETHEL KENNEDY ROBERT FRANCIS KESSLER RONALD KEVIN ART KHAN KHAIBER KIENAST BETO KIRSCHKE JACK KLEIN JOAN DEMPSEY KLINE MILTON KOUCHAN MARIAM KRANZ THOMAS F KROGER WILLIAM LA HIVE JOSEPH LA JEUNESSE ROGER J (FRENCHY) LA VALLEE ALBERT J LAMOREAUX ALBERT L LANGMAN BETSY LAWRENCE LILLI LE BEAU ALBERT LEE MARTIN A LEE WILLIAM J LESAR JAMES H LINDBLOM ROBERT E LINLEY FRANK LIVESEY MICHAEL G LOCKE SUSAN LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT LOS ANGELES TIMES LOWENSTEIN ALLARD K LUBIC RICHARD LYNCH CECIL R LYNCH THOMAS C (CALIF ATTY GEN) MAAS FELICIA MACARTHUR JAMES R (LAPD) MACDONELL HERBERT LEON MANASIAN EDWARD MANKIEWICZ FRANK MANN DONALD W MARSHALL HAL MCBROOM MARCUS MCCAULEY KENNETH J MCCOWAN MICHAEL MCDEVITT GORDON MCGANN MICHAEL J MCGEE FRANK (NBC) MCINTIRE CARL MCKISSACK LUKE MCQUISTON CHARLES R MELANSON PHILIP H MENDELSOHN DAVID MERRITT JACK J METOYER PATRICK G MEYER ROBERT L MILLER DANNY J MILLER THOMAS J (LAPD) MINASIAN EDWARD MINER JOHN MOLDEA DAN E MONDALE WALTER F MORGAN HARV MORSE BERT MURPHY FRED NAGEN LARRY NELSON FLOYD B NIELSEN MICHAEL NOGUCHI THOMAS T NOLAN WILLIAM (FBI) NOYES PETER NUNLEY WILLIE OBRIEN CHARLES A OFFICE PUBLIC SAFETY OREILLY WILLIAM E (LAPD) OSTEEN PAUL E OSTERKAMP PEGGY OWEN OLIVER BRINDLEY PARK JAMES W.L. PARSONS RUSSELL E PATRUSKY MARTIN PENA MANUEL (MANNY) PEREZ JESUS PERKINS JONOTHAN PICKARD ROBERT BRUCE PLACENCIA ARTHUR PLIMPTON GEORGE POLLACK SEYMOUR POORE DALE L POWERS JOHN W (LAPD) POWERS WILLIAM LEE POWIS ROBERT E RABAGO ENRIQUE RATHKE W THOMAS RAY JAMES EARL REDDIN THOMAS J REUTHER WALTER PHILIP RICHARDS AMADEE O ROCK ROBERT F ROCKEFELLER NELSON ALDRICH ROLON RAYMOND M ROMERO JUAN ROTHBLATT HENRY ROTHMILLER MICHAEL ROYER JUDY ROZZI ROBERT G RUBY JACK RUIZ GUSTAVO RUSSO PERRY RAYMOND SANCHEZ VICTOR R SANDLIN LYLE SARTUCHE PHIL SCHLESINGER ARTHUR MEIER JR SCHMIDT DAVID G SCHNEID WILLIAM SCHORR MARTIN SCHRADE PAUL SCHRAGA PAUL SCHULMAN DONALD SCHULTE VALERIE SERRANO SANDRA SEVERSON ELEANOR SHARAGA PAUL SHIRLEY JOHN (PHOTOGRAPHER) SILLINGS ROBERT K SIMSON EDUARD SIRHAN ADEL SIRHAN MARY SIRHAN SHARIF SIRHAN SIRHAN BISHARA SPANGLER TOM SPIEGEL HERBERT STEINBACHER JOHN STONE GREGORY FREEMAN STONER GEORGE R STRICK LARRY STRICKEL WALTER A STROLL IRWIN STUART DONALD ANGUS SWIHART WILLIAM C TALCOTT ROBERT TAYLOR THEODORE (WRITER) TEW WALTER THOMPSON C.B. TRUE BRUCE TURNER WILLIAM W UECKER KARL UNRUH JESSE URSO LISA LYNN VAN DE KAMP JOHN K VARNEY DUDLEY O VAUGHN ROBERT (ACTOR) VELASQUEZ ROBERT J VOGL KENNETH E WALKER HERBERT V (JUDGE) WARD BAXTER WASHINGTON POST WEATHERLY JOHN CHRIS WEBER GARLAND WEIDRICH ROBERT WEISEL WILLIAM WENKE ROBERT A WEST ANDREW WHITE TRAVIS R WIEDRICH ROBERT WOLFER DEWAYNE A WRIGHT CHARLES A (LAPD) YARO BORIS YODER JIM YORTY SAM W YOUNGER EVELLE J
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