Sirhan Sirhan Loses 9th Bid for Parole
A parole board Thursday rejected Sirhan Sirhan’s ninth attempt to be freed from a life sentence for assassinating Robert F. Kennedy more than a quarter-century ago.
The panel said Sirhan’s parole can be reconsidered in two years.
He was present at Thursday’s procedure, unlike his last hearing in 1992, which he refused to attend because guards ordered him shackled with a waist restraint.
This time, Sirhan was allowed in the hearing room without restraints, but correctional officers guarded him closely.
“People should not kill, period,” Sirhan told the parole board. “And I say that with all the sincerity that I can muster to you.”
Sirhan, 50, was convicted of shooting Kennedy as the New York senator walked through the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968.
In 1969, Sirhan was sentenced to die in California’s gas chamber, but the state Supreme Court declared unconstitutional the death penalty law in effect then. That left Sirhan with a life sentence and the right to seek parole.
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